Shadow Slave

As the Dreamer Army was drowning in the rising waters of the cursed sea and the insatiable tide of monsters, Sunny approached the crimson tower.

Far away from the rest of them, completely alone, submerged in roaring darkness, he struggled against the seething mass of black waves and the hurricane winds to cross the last few meters that separated him from the shining star sigil engraved into its gates.

Finally, his hand touched the cold surface of the ancient stone. Wiping the rainwater off his pale face, Sunny stared at the radiant shapes of the seven stars.

'This better work…'

Summoning the first of the Oauth Keys, he lingered for a moment, and then carefully inserted it into the black chasm of the keyhole.

***

Separated from him by the vast expanse of the swelling sea of darkness, the surviving Sleepers desperately fought the advancing horde of monsters. The black water had already reached their waists, making it hard to move. The army was trying to retreat up the slope of the crimson coral, but the pursuing sea was much faster than them.

Changing Star was still slaying one monster after another, her radiance only growing brighter in the tenebrous hell of the furious storm. Raindrops were evaporating as they touched her brilliant skin, its incandescence making even arching bolts of lightning seem pale and bleak.

…Suddenly, an almost imperceptible ripple ran across the surface of the black water. A gust of cold wind blew over the Forgotten Shore, sending a shiver running through the hearts of countless creatures.

***

Moving on to the next star, Sunny summoned the second key and put it into the lock. Nothing terrible happened, so he struggled through the water to reach the third one.

'Terrible… what would that even look like? What can be more terrible than my current situation?'

As if to answer his question, somewhere behind him, a black tentacle suddenly rose out of the seething waves and blindly whipped through the air. Crashing into a mount of coral, it easily shattered it. A rain of debris fell into the water.

Just a moment later, countless others followed the first one.

the

my big

near the remains of the seven golems

to the fourth star. Another Oath Key

struggle against its weight. A strong gust of wind hit Sunny in the back, almost causing him to

the keyhole,

'Curse it all!'

into the lock and dove into the black water, swimming toward the last

twisting tentacles descended on him, he found the last shining star and

Suddenly, the world shuddered.

***

whole Forgotten Shore

on the battlefield, the surviving humans froze for a second, startled by the sudden change that rippled

furious onslaught of the wind died down. The torrential flood of rain stopped. The

seemed to have ended as suddenly as it had appeared, dissipating into nothingness like

and paused for a moment, staring

then, the dark veil of clouds was broken by a

the restless black water stopped rising, and then flowed in

cursed sea was

***

"Crap!"

as Sunny put the last Oath Key into the seventh lock, the whole Crimson Spire shuddered. An indescribable sound came from its depths, echoing

the gargantuan gates opened. The giant slabs of ancient stone

slamming into Sunny and dragging him through the mass of black water with terrible speed. The unexpected blow threw him off his feet and almost caused him to drown. Not

brought him away from the damned tentacles,

was thrown onto the slope of a tall coral mound. Coughing a few times, he tiredly crawled a few meters up, then fell