Shadow Slave

Mordret was right below them, walking out into the great hall of the somber cathedral at a relaxed pace. Above his shoulders, a dozen blinding orbs of light hovered in the air, throwing white reflections of the dark stones.

Sunny silently stepped back, pulling Cassie with him. Pressed against the back wall of the gallery and safely hidden in the deep shadows, they slowly moved away.

Below, the spheres of light suddenly shot in different directions, illuminating a large portion of the dark nave. Luckily, their radiance did not reach the hidden gallery, be it just barely.

…What it did reach, though, were the hundreds of mirror shards scattered around the vast expanse of the inverse hall. Each of them shone, reflecting the white light.

It was as though countless stars suddenly ignited in the darkness.

Sunny silently cursed, knowing that those shards served Mordret as eyes. Who knew how many more were hidden throughout the cathedral? Without slowing down, he dismissed the Memories he had left behind, and continued moving toward the distant end of the vast circular chamber.

The Prince of Nothing, meanwhile, tilted his head a little:

"Where are they hiding? I wonder…"

Suddenly, he was surrounded by a whirlwind of white sparks. Sunny did not linger to see what Memories Mordret was summoning, and instead concentrated on reaching another door.

Before the sparks of light coalesced into tangible shapes, Cassie and he had already left the gallery, finding themselves in another corridor.

They had successfully left the sanctum behind and were now in the main structure of the Citadel. It was a large and convoluted space, so finding them here was not going to be easy — from where they stood now, just outside the nave, they could go anywhere in the temple proper, exit into the outward ring, or descend into any of the six belfries.

They could even circle back and try to hide in the seventh, the main bell tower, hoping that the mirror fiend would not expect them to return.

However, somehow, Sunny doubted that escaping Mordret would be that easy.

around

then pulled Cassie in the direction of the outward ring. That was the part of the Citadel they both knew the best, which was an important advantage. Of course,

was a risk Sunny had

of the day, their goal was to escape… and they

***

and closer to the outward ring. On the way, they took a short break — partially to eat and replenish their strength,

a safe spot, he fell to the floor and remained motionless for a while, breathing hoarsely. Then, he dismissed the breastplate of the Undying Chain, pulled the shirt hiding beneath up, and tentatively explored the dire wound dealt

not too good… Sunny wasn't going to die anytime soon, but neither was he going to heal quickly. For the time

"Curses…"

he had not bled to death… that was something,

and took out a couple of tubes of synthpaste. The two of them hurriedly consumed the nutritious sludge, and then, it was time to get back up

that, however, Cassie handed

hold on to

and raised his eyebrows, recognizing the shape. It was a small piece of cold steel,

that the thing was not at all simple. In fact, it seemed like one of the

When did

The blind girl sighed.

should have tried to reach his body in time, instead. If only I had more essence, I could have seen… could

threw the amulet into the maw of

of Valor did. That's not too bad of an achievement, isn't it? Plus, Mordret's plans are also ruined… he might seem in control, but trust me, that guy is in as much trouble as

silent for a few moments, then nodded and helped him

exhaustion, they continued moving

they did, however, Cassie suddenly froze, then