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…

and read, an

...[Marble Saint].

…Marble?

'How fitting…'

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

Sunny couldn't help

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

least the small portion of it he could see through

seemed much stronger,

not

was what hid beneath the armor. Within the shadow that populated Saint's body, there used to

there

stared at her for

she… rise to a higher

the runes describing the Shadow

Shadow: Marble Saint.

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Demon.

a Shadow

[Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark

not been there before. Sunny

Abilities: [Weapon

for a moment, trying to suppress a

typical Nightmare Creature. But to think that she would acquire an actual Ability before even becoming a devil… and

with anticipation, he read

Description: [Shadow Saint can effectively wield any weapon-type

armor can

then turned his head and stared at the taciturn monster… no, not

Demon.

satisfied smile finally

"Ah. How wonderful…"

she now also had the ability to use any weapon

The potential combinations, the flexibility… all it

shook his head

he had sometimes thought that Saint

understood that he had