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.

light was indeed much brighter than it had been

merciless heat and radiance. It looked as though someone had erased reality itself, leaving behind nothing but an endless white void. With each second,

'The sun…'

attack was

It was sunlight itself.

since the sun was now directly above them, at high noon, there was almost nowhere where

was no escape

Except for…

around, Sunny stared at the opened gates of the Crimson Spire. Behind them, welcoming darkness promised shade and safety. This was the only place

'The army!'

he peered across the

Now, they were stumbling and swaying, as though drunk. Many

been destroyed, and

staring at them in bewilderment, their distant figures full of both relief and confusion. Sunny wanted to scream, warning them of the terrible danger they were in, but knew that he

of coral he was standing on, he could see the graceful shining figure in their midst. He

the gates of the Spire

'Think, think!'

lingered for a few seconds, and then raised his

bell spread across the

Nephis spun and looked in

on! Come

Silver Bell again and

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

Wait… what is

not follow her soldiers. Instead, she turned around

the distant pillar of coral that they had left at the start of this

bit when he realized that she was going

was nothing he could do

'Good luck…'

rolled on the ground and

he

'What the…'

figure slammed into the crimson coral and rolled several times before coming to a stop,

barely conscious. A graceful rapier was worriedly zipping in the air around him, the

erasure had begun,

by the collar and dragged him toward the opened gates of the Spire. The Quiet Dancer