Shadow Slave

Sunny looked at the terrified young girl, and then… laughed.

...His laughter sounded more than a little bit unhinged.

His lady shuddered:

"Sir, you… you…"

Sunny waved a hand in the air.

"No, no. No need… I understand. I sound crazy."

The night sky above them was covered in an impregnable veil of clouds, and the one below them was empty and dark. The ancient stones they stood upon were slick with rainwater, and it was too dim to see anything except for vague silhouettes.

The silhouette of the Awakened hunter was towering, menacing, and embodied the very concept of terror.

But Sunny didn't care that much.

Massaging his chest, he smiled crookedly and said, his voice hoarse and raspy:

"...But then again, this whole world is insane. Someone told me once… ah, I don't quite remember who… that we can only reflect what is in front of us. Is it my fault that there is nothing in front of me except for madness?"

He looked down, his smile turning into a wicked grin.

"And someone else once told me that they wanted to destroy the world. Back then, I thought them insane… I think… but now, I wonder…"

his monstrous voice permeating the darkness like an insidious

so weak… his mind

Sunny laughed again.

feeling that I wasn't supposed to be able to last that

glanced at his sword, then

yet, I did. Actually, while some of those nightmares… gods, how cruel they were… did hit a nerve, overall…

Awakened hunter with a concerned expression, then scratch the back of

is almost as if after you have already been gutted once, nothing else can impress you that much. Or if you have already watched your mother die once, the second time won't be

him, her face painted with fear. The Awakened killer

"What?"

Sunny shrugged.

really hard to break. As it turns out. At least not to the point

raised his sword and pointed it at the

that my heart always seems ache, doesn't matter whether it's in a nightmare or in the real life. So, that demands a question… if the heartache is the same, then maybe the nature of both

a confused expression on his

feelings, ideas, and judgments that I have to cause to possess will just appear on their own. Easy to explain in a dream… not so much in the waking world. And

position, waiting for the terrifying Awakened

the souls of living beings… or vile orbs of darkness in those of the Corrupted. It took me a few nightmares to realize that those were soul cores. Strangely, once again, this ability pursued me from the nightmares into reality, making

smiled, ready to meet his death… once

of creatures. Awakened warriors, Corrupted monsters…

and then looked past his enemy, at the mighty black steed

is… why does

where the hunter's sword flashed, abandoning the young

the flying blade and jumped to his feet, putting all

strike was not directed at the menacing killer… instead, it was directed at