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."

the day when the Vessel of the Artificial Sun had gone mad, and the curse of the all-consuming darkness had escaped the prison created

castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its

the halls of the Bright Castle in blood to become its ruler, and then watched as it burned to the

the golden armor was Gunlaug, who had died on his white throne, killed by

a bronze spear and the desperate archer were Effie and Kai, who had almost

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 angel bleed, I suddenly felt as though… as though something

who stared

the prophecy… it wasn't that hard to

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

It was their fate.

remained of my sanity seemed to disappear. That was when

the last thing Cassie

Nephis, Sunny

I? I told you that this story won't have a happy ending. That

day Neph had asked him to join her

up as enemies had already

This was the word that had given him hope, no matter how small. Hope that

that hope, Sunny had been preparing for this moment

combat that he had decided to incorporate Saint's methodical style into his technique, why he trained without rest, day and night, not sparing himself from the pain and hardship. If his only skill was one that

night alone there, steeling himself for the inevitable future. Forcing himself to accept the terrible truth that, soon, he

because of this that he had refused Changing Star's offer to heal him. How could he allow her to endure the terrible pain of the white flames, knowing that she would be suffering for the sake of her future

comfortable in his role as a hired mercenary. An outsider. He had known that, no matter what, they would end up here, in this moment, forced to

fate was a terrifying enemy to fight against. He knew it