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…"

step forward, his monstrous voice permeating the darkness like an insidious

his mind

Sunny laughed again.

weak. But I am not weak enough, I guess? Somehow, I have a feeling that I wasn't supposed to be able to last that long. Who would be able to endure that

at his sword, then at the approaching

Actually, while some of those nightmares… gods, how cruel they were… did hit a

hunter with a concerned expression,

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 as… well… maybe it would? I don't

away from him, her face painted with fear. The Awakened killer tilted his head a little, then asked

"What?"

Sunny shrugged.

that, real or not, I am really... really, really hard to break. As it turns out. At least not to the point where I'll be unable to think. And notice things. Oh, and I did

and pointed it

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 the dream

took a step forward, a

make sense. Sometimes my hands will try to do something on their own, and sometimes fragments of feelings, ideas, and judgments that I have to cause to possess will just appear on their own. Easy to explain in a dream…

and assumed a defensive position, waiting for the terrifying Awakened

radiant spheres of light I seem to be able to see inside 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,

ready to meet his death… once

warriors, Corrupted monsters… even Transcendent immortals. Some of them had one soul core,

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

is… why does this damned horse always have

that, he dashed in the opposite direction from where the hunter's sword flashed, abandoning the young girl he was sworn to

dove under the flying blade and jumped to his feet, putting all

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