Shadow Slave

Slowly walking away from the edge of the chasm, Sunny stopped opposite Nephis and looked at her.

In his dark eyes, there was nothing but coldness.

"Well… it's not like we didn't know for a long time that this would be how things end. Did we?"

She stared at him for a while, then smiled bitterly.

"...We did."

Indeed, they knew.

From that terrible day when Sunny had first understood the meaning behind Cassie's vision, he suspected that one day, in order to survive, he would have to kill Nephis.

This was the truth he had chosen to hide from, even if it meant losing his mind. The final and most unbearable reason for why he had spent months alone in the Dark City, hunting monsters and slowly turning into one of them.

How does one come to terms with the knowledge that, one day, they will have to kill the person they care for the most?

…Knowledge, indeed, was the heaviest thing in the world.

Back at the beginning of it all, far away from the Dark City, before they had even known that the Crimson Spire existed, Cassie had shared with them a terrible vision.

She said:

"At first, I saw a… a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals. Something vast was churning in the darkness. I felt like if I directly saw it, I would lose my mind. As I watched, terrified, the seals broke one after another, until only one remained. And then that seal broke, too."

of the Artificial Sun had gone mad, and the curse of the

skies, and under its light, the castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls. I saw a corpse in a golden armor sitting on a throne; a woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monsters;

who had drowned the halls of the Bright Castle in

armor was Gunlaug, who had died on

Kai, who had almost perished fighting against the nightmare horde during the siege of

I saw a colossal, terrifying crimson spire. At its base, seven severed heads were guarding seven locks. And at the top, a… a dying angel was being consumed by hungry shadows. When I saw the

locks were the heads of the giant statues, who

of the prophecy… it

precious thing that was going to be taken from Cassie, and Sunny was the hungry

It was their fate.

felt so much sorrow, pain and rage that what little remained of my sanity seemed

the last

at Nephis, Sunny sighed and

won't have a happy ending. That there will be only sorrow, pain, and rage. Do you

on the day Neph had

suspicion that they would inevitably end up as enemies had already

the word that had given him hope, no matter

Sunny had been preparing for this

have to face Nephis in combat that he had decided to incorporate Saint's methodical style into his technique, why he trained without rest, day and night, not sparing

reason that he had climbed to the highest point of the Hunter's statue and spent a night alone there, steeling himself for the inevitable future. Forcing himself to accept the terrible

Changing Star's offer to heal him. How could he allow her to endure the terrible pain of the white flames, knowing

had not tried to learn all of her secret plans, remaining comfortable in his role as a hired mercenary. An outsider. He had known that, no matter what,

fight against. He knew it better