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.

what to think anymore. Not when it comes to you, at least… you really are a devious bastard, you know that, right? Oh, don't take it as an insult, by the way. Coming from me, it's actually

Prince of Nothing shook his head, then took another step

can only reflect what is in front of it, Sunless. Is it my fault that the things in front of me are cruel, vile, and deceitful? I think not… then again, maybe it is. Either way, I don't really care. Blame your bad luck for being

although Sunny's own were closed, he suddenly felt slow and sluggish, strength draining from his muscles. He swayed, and used the Cruel Sight to support

this, answer me

Mordret smiled.

What do

as if trying

of saying anything, he

of Nothing laughed, amused by this little deception. His saber

though,

***

not when the bastard occupied the body of a powerful Master, one whose Aspect allowed him to weaken his enemies and strengthen

then again, when had Sunny

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 only reflected what Sunny wanted

it didn't reflect

of his attack, his efforts

in the end, he had chosen to

were hidden by the silver half-mask, but the polished steel armor and the midnight blue coat were gone. Instead, she was wearing the familiar light tunic and a cloak the color of sea

received after slaying an Awakened Terror in her First Nightmare. The armor that possessed an enchantment which made enemies less likely to pay attention

something on the floor in

of a beautiful, but disorienting pattern. The lid was still slightly opened, rising above the lip by a few

Sunny suppressed a grin.

'Good thinking…'

box had not been part of the plan, but Cassie seemed to have made a correction when a beneficial opportunity presented

met Welthe's saber, the blind girl grabbed the lid, threw

opposite it, thus creating an infinite labyrinth of reflections. The pattern on its surface shined with

staggered, his laughter cutting short. His hand seemed to

thrust his spear forward, aiming to end the fight with one ruthless strike. However, the