Shadow Slave

Standing above Caster's corpse, Sunny tilted his head slightly.

Despite his expectations, there was not a lot of joy in his heart. Instead, defeating the powerful scion of a true Legacy clan left him feeling somber, and a little bitter.

There was, however, a sense of… if not validation, then at least vindication. It was as though some profound need in his soul was finally satisfied, making it more solid.

Steady.

With a pained groan, Sunny took a step back, turned around, and dismissed the Weaver's Mask.

He was in better shape than he had expected to be. Countless cuts on his body were painful, but not dangerous. Blood Weave was diligently doing its job, preventing him from losing too much of the precious red liquid. The cuts were already starting to scab over and close.

The only serious wound was the gash on his side, but it, too, had already stopped bleeding. Very soon, it was going to start healing, too. Until then, it was not going to hinder his movements a lot, as long as Sunny was ready to endure a bit of suffering.

After a year on the Forgotten Shore, dealing with pain was one of his best trained skills.

'...I've been through worse. Much worse. This is nothing.'

Then, another thought entered his mind.

'That shadow fragment… it should have brought me to a thousand, right?'

A moment later, he realized that his whole being was somehow… weird. It felt as though there was intense heat in his chest, slowly growing more and more scalding. This sensation was not exactly physical, but more of a spiritual one. Like the core of his soul was undergoing a violent change.

With a mix of anticipation and dread, Sunny concentrated on this feeling.

'Here we go…'

What was going to happen to him?

Suddenly, he heard the voice of the Spell again. In the eerie expanse of the Crimson Spare, where ancient darkness fused with otherworldly light, it sounded solemn and almost… triumphant?

[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]

tensely, trying to guess what was it going

shadow is

he staggered and fell to

heat that was building up in Sunny's soul had reached a critical point, and then exploded. It felt as though his core was being torn apart,

into shreds. Sunny knew that he couldn't stop

on the ground, the

[...Your shadow is complete.]

then, something strange

Spell was about to say something else, but then the entire Crimson Spire suddenly shuddered. This quake was much stronger than all the previous ones, making it feel as though the gargantuan structure was about to topple. Sunny

he was suddenly enveloped in absolute darkness, all light disappearing from the echoing interior of

abruptly fell quiet, its last

his soul apart was also gone. It didn't feel as though the process was finished, though. It felt as though it

'Wha… what is happening?'

and disoriented, Sunny looked

it so

a premonition, he then raised his

'...What?'

the Crimson

around this fact, two

that he felt very strange. His chest was still full of ethereal heat, but there was also something else. Some kind of… interference? He was having trouble finding words to describe that sensation, but knew that it

one

'Crap!'

noticed was that, currently, there were giant slabs of stone plunging down on

himself up from the ground, Sunny dashed to the edge of the wide root and jumped off of it. Just a second

a moment, Sunny found himself in free fall. Then, the transparent blur of the Dark Wing finally weaved itself from sparks of light on his back and allowed

up and at the descending mass of broken stone, Sunny thrust the

waiting for the avalanche of debris to pass and praying that nothing hits him. A few moments later, the Spire shuddered again, and then

on the interior of the Spire, but this high, it was relatively

Sunny opened his eyes.

He was still alive.

was not as impenetrable now, suffused with that light. Dust particles floated in the air, sparkling like