Shadow Slave

Sunny almost stumbled because of the terrible realization.

Was the mutilated body inside the nest of moss… still alive?

'How could that be?'

Thousands of years must have passed since the flying ship crashed on this desolate island. How long had this poor soul suffered this harrowing torture? What sin had they committed, and who had doomed them for an eternity of ghastly suffering? How had the vines ended up growing from their flesh, and why?

But most importantly… how the hell was that mangled thing not dead?! Even divine flame was powerless to end its grisly, gruesome existence.

If Sunny could find the answer, maybe he would be able to kill the Corrupted Monster, after all.

Using the momentary lull in the onslaught of the vines that Saint's appearance had bought him, he faced away from the fight and tried to understand what the host of the abominable growth was pointing at.

He desperately hoped that the ancient human was, indeed, trying to point at something, and not just convulsing in terrible pain.

'Where is it… what is it…'

His gaze flew to a certain point on the wall of the cargo hold and lingered on it.

At first glance, there was nothing different about it. That section of the bulkhead was just like all the rest, ancient and overgrown with brown moss. But as he looked closer, he noticed a small gap in the layer of moss, as well as a strange bend to the vines growing on that particular wall.

It was as though they, too, wanted to avoid something lodged into the wooden boards.

That had to be it!

a splinter of wood sticking out of it at

the flood of slithering vines, he hesitated for a moment, and then rushed toward the wall instead of joining her

to be something… there

the ancient human pointed at that section of the wall for

sideways to avoid another one, Sunny slashed, hacked, and tore his way through the cargo hold, feeling

that the poison came from a creature two whole

last vine in his way, leaving it broken and singed, and crashed into the overgrown bulkhead near the small gap in the brown moss. Drawing in a

'Wait… is it?'

His eyes widened slightly.

thought to be a splinter turned out to be something

the wall of the cargo hold, thrust deeply into it by someone's hand, was a rather simple-looking knife.

the same as the knife that lay on the white altar of the Sanctuary of Noctis, except for the fact that this one wasn't cut from a

wasn't

somehow grown in the shape of a knife, and

'What does it mean?'

himself to remain confused and perplexed for a split second, and then decisively grabbed the handle of

don't tell me that I need a

for an offering. Although it took some effort, a moment later, the wooden blade slid from where it was thrust into the

Something else happened, though.

wooden handle, all the vines in the cargo

Sunny paled.

'Crap!'

the mass of slithering vines could crush him, he abandoned all

wooden knife slipped from his grip, cut a sharp arc in the air, and was

the opportunity that the sudden shift in the Corrupted Monster's behavior gave her, the taciturn demon immediately dashed toward the pulsating mass of brown moss… and thrust the wooden knife right into one of the ancient human's