Shadow Slave

[Soul Conduit].

The Attribute had no description, nor was its acquisition announced by the Spell. Staring at the runes for a few more seconds, Sunny cast one last glance at the white void of his Soul Sea and left it.

He had no answers for this mysterious sequence of events, but his intuition was ringing the alarm bell.

He was almost sure that the strange and painful process that began after he had absorbed the last shadow fragment was somehow interrupted. The white light permeating the Soul Sea felt unnatural and wrong, like something external to it rather than natural. The mysterious new Attribute was most likely connected to this external influence instead of to the saturation of the Shadow Core.

In fact, [Soul Conduit] was most likely the manifestation of the radiant force that was currently suppressing the core. In that sense, this Attribute was more akin to the mind hex of the Soul Devourer than to the Blood Weave. It wasn't something that Sunny had achieved or acquired. It was forced upon him, for reasons yet unknown.

Gritting his teeth, Sunny shifted and changed his grip on the handle of the Moonlight Shard. Then, he summoned the Ordinary Rock and immediately dismissed it. Finally, he ordered the shadow to wrap itself around his body, then shift to the ghostly stiletto and back.

...At least the new Attribute did not seem to be directly harmful. Sunny was still in control of his body and mind, as well as having full access to his Memories and Shadow Control. All it seemed to be affecting was the Shadow Core itself, preventing it from… from achieving whatever it was that had failed to happen.

At least for now. But how long would that safety last?

Raising his head, Sunny stared at the pinnacle of the Crimson Spire. Something unexplainable had transpired there, causing this strange turn of events.

Why was he trying to guess if all the answers were most likely waiting for him up above?

To his side, a massive slab of stone had lodged itself between stumps of broken coral roots. More debris piled on top of it at steep angles, forming a twisting path to the distant sunlight.

Pushing himself off the wall of the tower, Sunny glided forward and landed on the inclined stone surface. Then, he lingered for a few moments and began climbing up.

more sunshine surrounded him. Eventually, the whole tower was filled with nothing but stark beams of light and deep, dark shadows. The world was black and white, as though no other color was

Sunny approached the broken dome of the

hall was hidden in the darkness, both its floor and roof now shattered, letting

Sunny reached with his hands and pulled himself into the hall.

lair of the Terror of the Forgotten

***

chamber. It seemed as though it had a large circular opening in its center, allowing sunlight to easily

had become overgrown by crimson coral. And now it

floor of the chamber partially collapsed,

the chasm in the Spire's roof, Sunny could see the boundless white skies and the burning orb of the

a moment, he then lowered his gaze and looked at the chamber

who was

when a dweller of the depths had pulled her beneath

on her ivory skin. Just like then, white flames were seeping out of them instead

Neph's wounds appeared to be healing, but at a very slow pace — a far cry from the miraculous restoration that Sunny had witnessed so many times in the

power that had always burned deep within

Sunny shuddered

had created the Forgotten Shore might have looked as a human once, but now, it was like a feverish

Sunny had expected to see the familiar shape of the nameless goddess, whose statue was created in the likeness of

of crimson coral and mutilated human flesh. In a sense, it was similar to the crimson golems he had fought at the base of the Spire. It was a twisted approximation of a living being, one that

agony and suffering. Their mouths were open, as though

they were. When the Terror was alive, they must have shone with blinding, annihilating

it was, unmistakably,