Shadow Slave

The dark sea was gone.

And all the horrors that dwelt in its cursed depths were gone with it, too.

The world was bathed in pure sunlight. The surface of the Labyrinth suddenly became vibrant and bright, with stark shadows hiding under the jagged pillars of the crimson coral. The furious white sun burned above the Crimson Spire, as if frozen in the middle of the sky.

Sunny even had to cover his eyes for a few seconds.

Laying on the ground, he allowed himself a few moments of rest. A short laugh escaped from his lips.

'I actually did it?'

Speak about the unlikely events...

Unfortunately, he couldn't really rest yet.

The battle wasn't over. The horde of Nightmare Creatures was not defeated yet.

…And somewhere in the Spire, the Crimson Terror itself was not defeated, either.

With a deep sigh, Sunny collected himself and rose to his feet. They were almost there. They almost escaped. Now, all that was left was to make one final push. Even if it was going to be the hardest one yet...

Looking at the tall mound of coral towering above him, he squinted against the light and began climbing it.

Was it always so bright?

As Sunny climbed, he summoned the runes and glanced at them.

Shadows: [Marble Saint].

'Thank gods.'

He knew that Saint was alright, but still wanted to check. The taciturn demon had been heavily damaged and was bound to spend a long time restoring herself, however, her existence was not in danger.

his eyes slid

Shadow Fragments: [999/1000].

'...Crap.'

scared to find out what was going to happen once he saturated the Shadow Core. It was

into a slumber for several weeks, as Saint had? Or suddenly become incapacitated amidst furious combat, as

cost him

like I can do anything about

very top of the coral pillar. Standing

he saw a drop of blood rolling off his skin.

across his upper lip. It came away wet

bleed?

it, why did he

stared at his hand in confusion, a violent ripple suddenly ran through his

***

the deep moat that surrounded the island, the remnants of the Dreamer Army were at the precipice of turning the

black water and the relentless onslaught of the horde, lost in the fury of a

retreated. The sun shined brightly in the sky, drowning the battlefield in its light. Bathed in it, the Nightmare Creatures seemed to become hesitant…

to attack the humans in a frenzied rage, their claws and

will. More and more Nightmare Creatures fell to their blades, and the horde did not seem to be

Changing Star now burned even brighter. She had promised to guide them out of this hell, and somehow, even the black water had capitulated to

impossible anymore. They could

appeared on her face. Dodging the claws of an

of the swarming monsters for a few

at the

***

Kai was

'What is happening?'

speed, struggling against the crushing wind, dodging bolts of lightning and the cursed Spire Messengers, pushing the limits of both his body and mind… the exhaustion was catching up with him now, making it

Let alone react…

didn't feel well. His whole body ached, and his vision was slowly turning blurry. A sickening feeling of weakness permeated