Shadow Slave

Sunny glanced down at the young man, then slowly moved toward him. The Awakened shuddered and took another involuntary step back, then gritted his teeth and lowered his stance, raising the sword into a proper defense position.

"Lord, shine thine light upon me! Let my s—soul burn unextinguished, as the sun can never be extinguished…"

'Huh… I've seen suns fade away and disappear before. Never say never, fool…'

Sunny listened to the strange prayer and allowed one of his shadows to slide off his menacing body, flowing to the ground like a dark veil. After that, he hissed from pain and stopped near a mangled human corpse.

He stared at the trembling youth for a few moments, and then bent down, stretching his hands toward the body.

The young man flinched and fell silent, then shouted:

"Get your vile hands away from him, demon!"

Sunny ignored the Awakened and used his claws to rip the white tunic off the corpse. Then, he straightened and glanced at it with displeasure, his black eyes narrowing.

This one was not too dirtied by blood, bud sadly, its previous owner was of a normal size for a human. As such, the tunic was way too small for Sunny's new towering body. He snarled, and then tried to tie the tunic around his waist like a makeshift loincloth.

There was a big problem, though… his tail.

Sunny froze, somewhat confused about what to do. Then, he awkwardly tore a hole in the tunic and made another attempt, this one, thankfully, successful.

With his nakedness finally covered, he instantly felt better and turned his attention back to the trembling youth.

The young man was staring at him with wide eyes, periodically glancing at the unceremoniously disrobed corpse at his feet. Finally, he opened his mouth:

"You… you barbarous beast! Have you no shame?!"

Sunny grinned, revealing two rows of sharp fangs and four long, terrifying canines.

In the next moment, though, his smile dimmed, because there was suddenly a familiar pressure rising in his mind.

So, his Flaw remained, as well…

'Damn it.'

slowly shook his head. Instantly,

the damned curse even if when I'm mute…

The Awakened blinked.

demon know shame…

its magical ability to translate any language in the Nightmare was gone, too. However, Sunny found himself able to discern what the young man was saying, as well as

the ones he had learned before, first in the Academy and later during his travels in the

at the youth from above, then nodded

The young man blinked.

you are not one of the Corrupted, then? What kind of a creature

infected, changed, and perverted… a being cursed with some

then shook his head again, and pointed to

The youth frowned, confused.

a serpent? Can that demon be Shadow's kin? No wonder the

is he talking to me? Or

then took a step forward. The Awakened

demon,

gaunt, towering monstrosity walked past him with

not going to play the part of an obedient slave. He had no qualms with

come down in person if

the color of their white garments. Some had been unarmed, and some had wielded weapons. The weapons were what he was really

at it, and then threw it back

too. He just stood there, staring at the corpses, a dark and inconsolable

did not seem to want them to kill each

rose, opening the path to the third box, this one

Awakened

then walked toward the

***

and more comfortable… well, he at least could stand up

in any mood to

In each box, a new Nightmare Creature, or a group of