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.

when it comes to you, at least… you really are a devious bastard, you know that, right? Oh, don't take it

shook his head, then took

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 of

own were closed, he suddenly felt slow and sluggish, strength draining from his muscles. He swayed, and used the Cruel

start this, answer me

Mordret smiled.

Why not. What do you

strained, as if trying

instead of saying anything, he simply

His saber flashed forward to meet the blade of the

moment later, though,

***

the bastard occupied the body of

had

back he had taken was meant to bring them into the right positions. The angle at which he held the Cruel Sight had

it didn't reflect

of his

the end, he had chosen to trust

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

by Nephis, one that Changing Star had received after slaying an Awakened Terror in her First

on the floor in front of

engraved with a complicated weave of a beautiful, but disorienting pattern. The lid

Sunny suppressed a grin.

'Good thinking…'

been part of the plan, but Cassie seemed to have

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

was lined with plates of polished silver, each reflecting the one opposite it, thus creating an infinite labyrinth of reflections. The pattern

laughter cutting short. His hand seemed

spear forward, aiming to end