Shadow Slave

Sunny swayed a little, and then looked down at his shadow.

The shadow seemed to be in pain. It was slumped, clutching at its chest with one hand and waving at him with the other. When it noticed that Sunny was staring at it, it desperately pointed to itself.

'What… what is this guy trying to say?'

Was he having a heart attack? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. Shadows didn't have hearts…

What was it pointing at, then?

Sunny scowled.

The shadow was his reflection. So maybe it was not pointing at its own heart, but at his.

But his heart felt fine. What else was there to point at?

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

The Soul Core. The Soul Core usually overlapped over a human's heart…

With a shudder, Sunny dove into the Soul Sea.

Instead of the usual peace and quiet, he was met by ominous chaos. The dark waters that were always tranquil and still were now restless and turbulent. They rippled and surged, as though under the assault of the invisible winds.

Up above, the spheres of light that represented his Memories shimmered and blinked, as if about to be extinguished. The black sun of the Shadow Core was trembling. He could almost see tiny cracks appear on its transparent surface.

Only the silent shadows were still the same, not disturbed by the approaching disaster at all. They stood motionlessly, staring at him with no expression on their black, lifeless faces.

Sunny did not pay them any attention and stared at the Shadow Core with wide eyes, dumbfounded.

'...Soul damage. I am receiving soul damage.'

He was under the effect of a continuous soul attack.

Escaping the unquiet sea in panic, Sunny wiped the blood off his face and looked around with a grim expression. He was even paler than usual.

'What the hell is attacking me?'

After a few moments, he suddenly shivered, stunned by a chilling revelation. And then looked up, at the blinding disсus of the sun.

been wrong. Its light was indeed

always been grey, were now almost white, full of merciless heat and radiance. It looked as though someone had erased reality itself, leaving behind nothing but an endless white void. With each second, it

'The sun…'

soul attack

It was sunlight itself.

slowly eroded and destroyed. And since the sun

was no escape from

Except for…

at the opened gates of the Crimson Spire. Behind them, welcoming darkness promised shade and safety.

'The army!'

around, he peered across the

the Nightmare Creatures had stopped their endless onslaught. Now, they were stumbling and swaying, as though drunk. Many had already fallen to the ground, blood streaming

souls had been destroyed, and they

full of both relief and confusion. Sunny wanted to scream, warning them of the terrible danger they were in, but knew that he was

mound of coral he was standing on, he could see the graceful shining figure in their midst. He knew that Nephis must have figured

she didn't know that the gates of

'Think, think!'

few seconds,

bell spread across the Labyrinth, rolling over

battlefield, Nephis spun and

on! Come

rang the Silver Bell again and waved his hand in the

had already moved, thrusting her sword toward the Spire. In the next moment, the Dreamer Army lunged forward. Sleepers were running with all the speed they could

Wait… what

not follow her soldiers. Instead, she turned around and ran

they had left at the

bit when he realized

there was nothing he could do to

'Good luck…'

he rolled on the ground and ran toward the darkness

it, he

'What the…'

rolled several times before coming to a stop, then remained still. Sunny dashed toward

if barely conscious. A graceful rapier was worriedly

had begun, much closer to its source, and so suffered more than those

the collar and dragged him toward the opened gates of the Spire.