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

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

'The sun…'

of the soul attack was not a

It was sunlight itself.

And since the sun was now

no escape

Except for…

promised shade and safety. This was the only place where

'The army!'

he peered

the Nightmare Creatures had stopped their endless onslaught. Now, they were stumbling and swaying, as though drunk. Many

been destroyed, and they were

Army were staring at them in bewilderment, their distant figures full of both relief and confusion. Sunny wanted to scream, warning them

figure in their midst. He knew that Nephis must

know that the gates of the Spire

'Think, think!'

seconds,

a silver bell spread across the Labyrinth, rolling over

away on the battlefield, Nephis spun

on! Come

rang the Silver Bell again and waved his hand

the next moment, the Dreamer Army lunged forward. Sleepers were running with

what is she

follow her soldiers. Instead, she turned around and ran

coral that they had left at the start

realized that she was

he could do to

'Good luck…'

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

could reach it, he saw something falling down from the

'What the…'

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

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

of them must have been high up in the sky when the soul erasure had begun, much

collar and dragged him toward the opened gates of the