Shadow Slave

Visible only to Sunny, the diamond weave beneath the surface of the gate ignited with ghostly light. Almost immediately, a thin vertical crack appeared in the ancient stone.

Then, the gates silently opened, and a gust of wind hit Sunny in the back.

He took a few steps away, hiding behind Saint, and cautiously looked over her shoulder at the dark entrance.

Nothing was moving in the darkness. From what he could see, the interior of the Obsidian Tower seemed quite mundane. As soon as the gate opened, his Shadows Sense could finally penetrate the invisible barrier surrounding the graceful pagoda — it didn't detect any danger, as well.

It really did seem safe.

He waited for a few moments, then coughed and waved a hand in front of his face, trying to get the soot that had flown into the air away from it.

"Ah, well. Nothing to worry about, then. Let's go!"

Sunny glanced at Saint, lingered for a second, and added in a polite tone:

"...Oh, ladies first."

The taciturn demon turned her head slightly, stared at him with one ruby eye, then simply walked forward and stepped over the threshold of the ancient tower. Sunny waited for a few moments, and followed.

Tightly gripping the handle of the Moonlight Shard, he dove into the darkness that reigned behind the tall frame of the entrance, made a dozen steps forward, and found himself in a wide corridor that seemed to encircle the entire first level of the pagoda.

The corridor stretched both far to the left and to the right. Here and there, Sunny could see large doors leading to differently sized rooms that were situated in the direction of the tower's outer wall, all the way to the bends of the corridor. And right in front of him was an intricate wooden gate decorated with beautiful engravings.

central hall of

for a bit, then pushed the wooden gate, which opened easily and

'That smell…'

His eyes widened.

with a very tall ceiling. As soon as the gate opened, glass lanterns ignited on its walls, filling the interior of the Obsidian Tower with ghostly blue light. There were various things in the hall, all of which

its black surface. A stone wall with mysterious schematics cut into it, the cuts themselves

of astronomical instruments, but also very mundane things, like chairs, tables, and even something that resembled a very

not a speck of dust anywhere, cleaner than even his own house in the

slightly different. The shapes of the handles of all the tools were slightly strange. The way the pieces

on this for too long. Neither did his gaze linger on any of these items. His attention was pulled toward

far from him stood a simple wooden table. And on it… was

pots full of steaming tea, all of it

Sunny's mouth watered.

This has to be

layers of soot, sweat, and blood, he walked toward the table. His boots left black marks on the pristine floor of the hall. Arriving at his destination, Sunny reached

clattered to the floor, thrown off the table by his careless

down the sweet wine and

is

without alcohol, but then

grin on Sunny's face, but also dirty traces left

really hits