Shadow Slave

…The autumn was in full swing. Out in the waking world, the skies were grey and the winds were turning cold. The trees were showering the wet ground with a fragrant carpet of dead leaves.

But under the boundless, lethal expanse of the Sky Above, the world was still warm and bright. On an especially large island, one covered with emerald grass and moss-covered ruins, a frightening Nightmare Creature was stalking its prey.

It had four mighty paws, a lean body covered in black fur, and a wide maw full of sharp fangs. Above it, two furious red eyes burned with hatred and madness.

The abomination noiselessly moved through the tall grass, approaching the source of loud noise. A human's voice was screaming, full of indignation:

"I'm right here! Come and get me, damned bastards! Curse you all!"

The creature snarled and prepared to jump.

…Before it could, however, a slender arrow fell from the sky and hit the abomination right in the eye, instantly killing it.

[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Black Ravager.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

Several hundred meters away, safely hidden in the shadows cast by a fragment of an ancient wall, Sunny lowered his bow and frowned.

The happy shadow jumped up and down several times, then turned to him and applauded.

at it, his frown turning

you mean, great shot? I was aiming for its

his head, he threw the bow on

two months since the day he had gained — and promptly lost — the lineage of Shadow God,

now, his aim wasn't terrible, but it was also not nearly

Warbow, of course, reluctant to be seen with a Memory awarded to Mongrel — even if no one except for the terrifying Master knew what exactly that Memory was, people

the Blackhorn Bow, which Saint had used to wield back when he had been too weak to handle

suppressed the desire to give it a good kick. Dismissing it with a sigh, he retrieved the Cruel Sight from where it had been thrust into the ground and

Chained Isles, Sunny was much stronger now. He had a vastly better arsenal of Memories at his disposal, an additional

forbidden — rightfully so! — lineage of Weaver had swallowed the drop of Shadow God's blood, three of his Attributes evolved. The [Ember of Divinity] was now [Flame of Divinity], rising his divine affinity even

and kill. He probably couldn't bleed to

was something, at

he picked it up from the ground, hid it on his

its head and stared at the

'This guy…'

Sunny rolled his eyes.

pervert, come

the blade of the Prowling Thorn, which was then used to cut the tough hide of the dead Nightmare

the air and swallowed it with a metallic click. Usually, that would be it, but today Sunny needed to retrieve something else as well. Grimacing from time to time, he cut several large slabs of meat off the carcass, wrapped them, and

"Should be enough… right?"

with the gruesome task, he stood up, picked up the Cruel Sight, and headed toward the southern edge of