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

full of merciless heat and radiance. It looked as

'The sun…'

soul attack

It was sunlight itself.

creatures were being slowly eroded and destroyed. And since the sun was now directly

was no escape

Except for…

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

'The army!'

he peered across the

had stopped their endless onslaught. Now, they were stumbling and swaying, as though

been destroyed, and they were

confusion. Sunny wanted to scream, warning them of the terrible danger they were in, but knew that he was too far away

he could see the graceful shining figure in their midst. He knew that Nephis

know that the gates of the Spire were

'Think, think!'

few seconds, and then raised his

a clear ringing of a silver bell spread

Nephis spun and looked in his

on! Come

and

next moment, the Dreamer Army lunged forward. Sleepers were running with all the speed they could muster, following the command of their

Wait… what

her soldiers. Instead, she turned around

coral that they had left at the

heart skipped a bit when he realized that she was

could do to help, not

'Good luck…'

and ran toward the darkness of the Spire's doorway without

Sunny could reach it, he

'What the…'

and rolled several times before coming to a stop, then remained still. Sunny dashed toward it, quickly recognizing the bright colors of

graceful rapier was worriedly zipping in the air around him, the steel of its blade bleak and devoid of the usual

up in the sky when the soul erasure had begun, much closer to its source, and

wasting any time, Sunny grabbed Kai by the collar and dragged him toward the opened gates of