Shadow Slave

Sunny sighed, then dismissed the runes, feeling the familiar heat igniting deep within his soul, growing stronger and stronger with each breath.

Effie and Kai looked at him, curiosity and concern mixing in their eyes. Cassie silently retrieved the Quiet Dancer and turned away, listening to the dark forest that surrounded them.

A few moments later, the little girl asked:

"So, uh… what exactly happens now?"

Sunny gave her a grim look.

"...Now I will scream and thrash for a while. Forming a new core is probably the third worst pain I have ever experienced… and that was just the Demon core. Damnation."

Effie blinked a couple of times:

"What are the second and the absolute worst, then?"

He hesitated for a bit, and then said hoarsely:

"Attaining a daemon's lineage was pretty bad. But the most terrible thing, by far… was catching a glimpse of fate. That one I only survived by accident."

The gloomy shadow shivered, remembering their past. Sunny, meanwhile, scoffed.

'Being gutted by the Black Knight did not even make the list, huh… maybe I need to rethink my life choices.'

At that moment, the heat burning within his soul reached a critical point, and the Spell whispered into his ear:

[Your shadow is taking shape…]

A blinding pain exploded in his chest, sending Sunny to his knees. He gritted his teeth and remained silent, refusing to let out a shriek, a wail, or even a growl. This was not his first time experiencing that pain… even though, this time, it was far more intense.

A human soul was not meant to contain many cores…

That was the conclusion Sunny had come to a while back, thinking about how the process of Awakening was pleasant and euphoric, but gaining new cores and a daemon's lineage was harrowing and torturous. Humans were meant to walk the path of Ascension, but becoming a different type of creature was against their nature.

And Weaver's lineage was simply against all nature… it was aberrant and forbidden, something that was never meant to exist at all.

'Argh!'

The pain grew stronger, and stronger, and then stronger still. Just like before, he felt as though his soul was being torn apart, something rising from its depths and cutting his very being with its sharp edges. However, Sunny was used to this torment. He accepted it, allowed himself to dissipate into it, and endured.

However, then, something entirely unexpected happened.

soul was going through a transformation, his body followed suit, as well, catching him by surprise. This time, Sunny failed to suppress a scream, and fell to the ground in convulsions.

it! What…

tearing, and his skin was on

rolled across the forest, the roar changed, growing lower and

consuming his soul grew cold, and his tortured body was released from the cage of

voice of the Spell resounded from the darkness,

[...Your shadow is complete.]

moments later, he heard

He is

***

intending to take a look at his runes. However, even before that,

considerably further down than

'Huh?'

were staring at him, forgetting their task of watching out for a potential attack. Luckily, Cassie was still vigilant… Sunny frowned, then glanced down to

changed it, too. The shadow demon… devil… grew even taller, now standing at almost three meters of

could see that his horns had grown longer and sharper, as well. More than that, there were now four of them… well, three and a half, considering that one had been broken in

been entirely black previously,

he was simply terrifying. Even Sunny himself would not

shook his head, then looked

at you. Is this how

the smiled

well… that is presuming that they

The little girl snorted.

Sunny way too

Sunny curiously looked

a new shadow, after all… what would its personality

a four-armed devil were there, staring at each other. Nevertheless, to Sunny, they

disdain. The other… was also

They were of the exact same height, and yet, the

The haughty shadow, however, did not seem impressed even a little bit. It was as though the very

continued to drill

groaned, then covered his face

two

***

miss the happy shadow, that

away from

the air in