Shadow Slave

For a moment, Sunny's heart grew heavy, his mind consumed by murderous darkness. He thought that he had been betrayed again…

There were very few people in the two worlds who knew the secret of his Flaw. Nephis was one, but she was far away. Kai and Effie probably had their guesses. However, they chose to remain silent out of respect for his unwillingness to speak about this matter.

That left only Cassie.

Cassie, who was right here in the Night Temple and had already turned on him once…

But after thinking about it a little, Sunny realized that there had been another being who possessed the knowledge of his Aspect. The problem was that it had been dead for a long, long time.

The Mirror Beast.

The Ascended Reflection had mirrored his Aspect, so it had to have glimpsed it somehow. And it was connected to Mordret far more thoroughly than Cassie ever could be.

The Prince of Nothing had not known everything about the Shadow Slave Aspect before, Sunny was sure of it. Back in the abyss of the Sky Below, Mordret had expressed genuine curiosity and surprise about things that he would have already learned otherwise.

Which meant… which meant that he had most likely only received that information after the mirror shard was brought into the Night Temple. It also meant that he was only informed about what the Mirror Beast had learned, and what had been true then. If this guess was correct, maybe Sunny would be able to use a gap in Mordret's knowledge to his advantage.

…Or he was wrong, and Cassie had really betrayed him again.

A lot of things depended on whether or not he was ready to trust her again. His very life, most likely.

Sunny frowned, then said, his voice even:

"You seem to be having fun. So… now that you know that I have nothing to do with Asterion, whoever that might be, are you going to rethink your previous plans and leave me be?"

Mordret chuckled.

"...What do you think?"

Sunny sighed.

don't know what to think anymore. Not when it comes to you, at least… you really are a devious bastard,

Prince of Nothing shook his head, then took

it, Sunless. Is it my fault that the things in front of me are cruel, vile, and deceitful?

were closed, he suddenly felt slow and sluggish, strength draining from

before we start this, answer

Mordret smiled.

Why not. What do you want to

if trying to

instead of saying anything, he

of Nothing laughed, amused by this little deception. His saber flashed forward to meet the

moment later, though, his laugh abruptly

***

occupied the body of a powerful Master, one

had Sunny

he had been subtly manipulating the banished prince. Every step back he had taken was meant to bring them into the right positions. The angle at which he held the Cruel Sight had been calculated so that the mirror blade

reflect what Mordret was not

of his attack, his efforts

had chosen to trust

Her eyes were hidden by the silver half-mask, but the polished steel armor and the midnight blue coat were

gifted to her by Nephis, one that Changing Star had received after slaying an Awakened Terror in her First Nightmare. The armor that possessed an enchantment which

placed something on the floor in

beautiful, but

Sunny suppressed a grin.

'Good thinking…'

the plan, but Cassie seemed to have made a correction when

Sight met Welthe's saber, the blind girl grabbed the lid, threw it open… and then poured her soul essence

trap was lined with plates of polished silver, each reflecting the one opposite it, thus creating an infinite labyrinth of reflections. The pattern on its surface shined with a

cutting short. His hand seemed

spear forward, aiming to end the fight with one ruthless