Shadow Slave

The interior of the somber cathedral was as bizarre as its exterior. Sunny expected the actual floors to be constructed properly, and some of the corridors they walked through were. But other parts of Night Temple were upside-down, as well, the flat floors serving as ceilings and the arching ceiling serving as uneven floors.

And that was just the outward ring. He didn't even want to imagine how the temple itself and the inner sanctum looked.

As they walked, he saw several Lost silently going about the mundane business of maintaining the Citadel. They were dressed in the same crude clothes he was now wearing, and wielded no weapons.

However, every one of them, from a person calmly changing the oil in the wall lamps to a man sweeping the floors, radiated the same aura of strength and lethality as the two sentinels that had met them at the gate.

They were all battle-hardened, veteran elites.

'...Just what is this place?'

After descending a few sets of twisting stairs, Sunny and Cassie were led to another, slightly bigger room. That one had a large table in its center.

The sentinel gestured at it and said, his voice not betraying any emotions:

"Sir Pierce is on his way. Please, present the items you brought from the outside for inspection."

Cassie took a step forward and place her belt and scabbard on the table. The Lost shifted his gaze to Sunny and waited.

"Uh… all my things are stored inside a Memory."

He considered hiding the existence of the Covetous Coffer, but thought better of it. There was nothing inside of it worth hiding, anyway... or rather, almost nothing.

The sentinel frowned, then said in a dark tone:

"Summon it."

Soon, the small box was sitting on the table. Sunny opened it and started producing item after item, slowly building a large pile. They were spices, cooking utensils, hygienic products, several packs of underwear… both male and female, which earned him a strange look… a piece of a broken mirror, a couple of soul shards, a folding chair, various snacks, packs of tea and coffee, and many more.

As the pile slowly became larger and larger, the sentinel's face grew more and more incredulous. Finally, his eye twitched.

"How much trash do you have in that box?"

Sunny smiled.

"Almost finished!"

He fished out a tube of sunscreen and several sticks of lip balm, threw them into the pile, then thrust his arm into the maw of the Coverous Coffer up to the shoulder, swept its bottom a few times, ignoring Weaver's needle and diamond string, then finally took a step back.

"That is all."

started picking up the items one after another, inspecting them carefully. What he was expecting to discover, Sunny

the room opened, and a tall man with sharp features and steely eyes came in. His dark hair was cut short, and there was stubble on his cheeks. The man wore a scale armor forged out of lusterless blue steel,

didn't need an introduction to realize that he was standing

be less frightening than Morgan of Valor, but Morgan was barely older than Effie while this man had a decade or two to sharpen his

surrounded by an army of a hundred

this? We are here

to go well. Depending on how convincing they could be and how receptive Sir Pierce was, Sunny would either have to do things the easy way, the hard way… or

had

back to the Night

Cassie bowed slightly.

"Sir Pierce."

suppressed the desire

I am

and the formidable Master had ignored his existence entirely, preferring to address the blind girl. Part of the reason must have been that they already knew her, but mostly it had to do with her status

liked to remain as unnoticeable as

Pierce and Cassie exchanged several pleasantries, slowly approaching the discussion of the real issue.

however, he

'What… what was that?'

moment, he thought that he heard someone sigh deeply behind him. No…

there was no one

Sunny frowned.

'Am I hallucinating, or…'

was then that a familiar voice

I am so glad that you

showed any sign that they had heard

Where have you been,

but

voice chuckled, making Sunny feel a bit

him… or did the mysterious prince sound

Oh… actually, I was with you this whole time, watching as you traveled across the Dream Realm.

times. A heavy, cold feeling settled

wrong. Very, very

chose not to

silent for a few moments, then said

that you wouldn't come if I