Shadow Slave

Lowering his sword, Sunny stood in the silence of the empty room for a while. In the window, the distant axis of the Crimson Spire loomed, the light of dawn slowly painting it red.

A subtle smile appeared on his face.

"Aww. Thank you, Spell. What a nice birthday present."

Summoning the Endless Spring, he greedily drank delicious cold water and then sat on the floor, crossing his legs and drawing a few deep breaths.

'Let's take a look…'

Leaving his worries behind, Sunny dove into the Soul Sea and walked past the rows of motionless shadows.

A long time ago, there had been just a handful of them. Now, hundreds of dark silhouettes watched silently as he approached the tenebrous sun of the Shadow Core. Among them were all kinds of horrors, creatures whose appearance alone would drive weaker men insane. The Mountain King was there. The Black Knight was there, too. The terrifying Spire Messenger stood lifelessly on the tranquil surface of the water.

…And there were humans, too. Harus was among them, and so was Harper.

Sunny didn't pay them any attention.

Standing beneath the Shadow Core, he sighed and summoned the runes.

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

Rank: Dreamer.

Shadow Core: Dormant.

Shadow Fragments: [977/1000].

…He was so close to accumulating the whole thousand. If Sunny really wanted to, he could have abandoned caution and pushed to reach it before the inevitable journey to the Crimson Spire. However, he was wary of delving into anything unknown right before the fateful confrontation.

He also felt that his time was better spent consolidating and perfecting everything that he had already learned and earned, not wasting it trying to acquire something new.

Still, it was not an easy decision.

With a sigh, he continued reading.

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Midnight Shard], [Ordinary Rock], [Prowling Thorn], [Endless Spring], [Blood Blossom], [Moonlight Shard], [M… …old], [Weaver's Mask].

Echoes: —

Shadows…

an amused expression appearing

...[Marble Saint].

…Marble?

'How fitting…'

depths of the Core. She appeared in a whirlwind of black flames,

Sunny couldn't

it was cut from granite before, was now entirely black and glossy, like obsidian… or onyx. In fact, it was very much like the shattered onyx

became smooth and as white as alabaster… at least the small portion of it he could see through the

seemed much stronger, aware,

was not what made Sunny

Within the shadow that populated Saint's body, there used to be

now, there were

stared at her for a

rise to a higher

and made the runes describing the Shadow appear. A moment later,

Shadow: Marble Saint.

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Demon.

a

Master], [Stalwart],

line had not been there before. Sunny held his

[Weapon Sage], [Underworld

trying to suppress

always known that Saint was not a typical Nightmare Creature. But to think that she would acquire an actual Ability before even becoming a devil…

anticipation, he read

Description: [Shadow Saint

Saint's armor can accommodate a charm Memory to inherit its

his head and stared at the taciturn monster…

Demon.

satisfied smile finally

"Ah. How wonderful…"

only had his Shadow grown tremendously stronger, but she now also had the ability to use any weapon he would provide

truly endless. The potential combinations, the flexibility… all it took was to

shook his

that Saint was

now, he understood that he had