Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the blind girl with surprise clearly written on his face. Allowing this surprise to seep into his voice, he asked:

"The vine creature? You want to kill that thing?"

Why would she want to attempt to do something that dangerous?

Cassie nodded.

"Yes."

He shook his head.

"That bastard sprawls through the entire island, its vines buried underground. It is Corrupted, which means that our weapons will barely be able to cut it. And, if that was not bad enough, the vines produce clouds of deadly poison. Are you sure that you want to attack it?"

The blind girl lingered for a few moments, then answered calmly:

"It is a Corrupted Monster, indeed. It is terrifying and lethal, yes. But I am sure that we can destroy it, with enough preparation. Everyone has weaknesses, after all. That creature is susceptible to fire, for example. There must be other things we might be able to exploit, too."

Sunny thought for a while, then shrugged.

"Fine. I will help your cohort fight the monstrosity on the Shipwreck Island. I will not promise that we will succeed, though."

Cassie sighed.

"Then we have a deal. My cohort and I will remain in the Desecrated Growth until our business here is done. I expect it to take a month, at least. Maybe more. After, we will return to the Sanctuary, recuperate, and proceed to the Shipwreck Island."

She paused for a moment, and then added:

"And then, I will help you challenge the Second Nightmare."

Sunny smiled.

don't die before that,

back to the roots of the dead

don't die

***

the Sanctuary, Sunny had

Cassie again, which made him feel all sorts of complicated emotions. The manner of their relationship, at least, was set clear — it was purely an alliance of convenience,

of mutual benefit. After all, Sunny could

time to do battle with the vine monster that ruled over the island. Sunny knew very well how dangerous that thing was, so he had a lot of preparations to do if he wanted to come out of that fight in

Cruel Sight,

Below, at least. That… he didn't even know what to think about that. However, Sunny was not going to let this vision affect his decisions.

it in his mind, but continue to act as if nothing had changed.

the middle of

familiar sound of water falling over the edge

it, for now. First things

the sky, which meant that he was

the miraculous coins the dead Chain Worm had brought with it to the Iron Hand Island started this whole

was waiting for

empty garden and approached the clear pond in its center. Stopping for a couple of moments to make sure that no one was watching him, he then crossed the stone path leading to the small

white altar stood in the shade of an ancient tree, and an obsidian knife lay on its

'The moment of truth…'

gold coins out of it, and placed

coin shimmered, reflecting the moonlight, and

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

appeared on

the runes, he

Shadow Fragments: [224/2000].

'It works!'

a dozen or so on the altar each time he had to return to the real world — to minimize the chances of being noticed and well as arising

now that the reward was in his