Shadow Slave

Welthe froze… but only for a moment. Then, she threw Cassie aside and dashed toward the door, disappearing in a blur. Sunny was pushed away, rolling on the floor and almost crashing against one of the empty mirror frames. By the time he regained his balance, she was already gone.

Pierce growled, then threw a murderous look at him and screamed:

"Kill them!"

With that, he dashed out of the chamber, too, dismissing most of the Echoes to take them with him.

…The fools still hoped that they could save their men.

Or avenge them, at least.

Sunny also couldn't really be mad at Pierce for ordering their death… he would have done the same. Now that their plan to bind Mordret had failed, the next best option was to make sure that there were no more vessels for him to possess. The sentinels were already as good as dead. That left only Sunny…

However, Sunny was not one to let go of the grudge.

'Curse you, you bastard…'

There were only two Echoes remaining in the mirror chamber. One was moving toward Cassie, already thrusting its sword forward. The other was towering over Sunny, its heavy battle axe raised.

Sunny glared at the Echo, not amused.

In the next moment, a stygian serpent appeared from the shadows behind the creature, wrapping its long and powerful body around the macabre effigy. Then, its head shot forward, the maw opening to a terrible width. Sharp fangs closed on both sides of the Echoe's face, easily piercing through the skull and crushing it with a grisly crunch.

At the same time, Cassie rose to one knee and deflected her enemy's sword with a long dagger. A slender rapier flashed from behind her, piercing the creature's neck and emerging from its other side in a shower of blood.

Both Echoes fell to the floor, disintegrating into a rain of sparks. From start to finish, they had not made a sound.

Sunny rushed to Cassie and bent down, trying to ascertain the severity of her wound. His voice sounded tense and worried:

"Are you okay?"

the cut seemed shallow and

The blind girl nodded.

Go! There won't be

moment, then rose without saying a word, and

faced with two equal threats —

make sure that

of them. He didn't know how to destroy the mirror fiend, so leaving Mordret without a vessel was going

had left one of his shadows at the precipice of the stairway, and then commanded it to hide. Now, he appeared out of it, turning into a shadow himself — just in

'...Fast.'

lanterns aflame. Rushing through it, he followed the Masters, and reached the doors of the last stronghold of the

door, pulverizing it into a

What met them inside…

Was a bloodbath.

***

was unrecognizable. Before, it had been clean and orderly,

Sunny could

of the crimson liquid, with severed limbs and mangled bodies sprawled in it, some of them mutilated so thoroughly that it was almost impossible to recognize them as

of it

center of this vile slaughterhouse, a lone figure was sitting cross-legged, a carefree smile on her

beautiful female sentinel looked

appearance was the same, but everything else about her — her bearing, her gaze, her presence — had changed. It was relaxed and friendly, almost polite. She looked…

demeanor and the gruesome bloodbath surrounding her

eight Echoes weaving themselves from sparks of light

knife cut out of a single piece of a pristine white stone into

Sir Pierce, Lady Welthe.

looked directly at Sunny, who

to face. Well… I guess we've already met a few days ago. Still, what an occasion. I've waited

back to Welthe and Pierce, his smile remaining the same, but his eyes growing cold and frightening, as though there was a dark ocean

long as I've waited to meet the two of

growled, taking a step