Shadow Slave

As the Ivory Dragon died, an invisible ripple spread through the world. The whole city trembled slightly, and then, one of the two remaining chains that bound the Ivory Island to the rest of Hope's shattered kingdom broke with a deafening ring.

The broken chain fell into the darkness of the Sky Below, leaving only a single tether holding the island in place. The island's position shifted… not by much, but enough to cause the arching stone bridge to crack, shudder, and then slowly crumble.

A cloud of stone dust rose into the air as the massive structure collapsed, enveloping the patch of grass where Sunny and Mordret lay, still reeling from the deadly soul attack.

Sunny coughed and waved his hand in front of his face, weakly trying to chase the dust away.

'Damnation…'

The Prince of Nothing, meanwhile, was slowly rising to his feet. With a stagger, he regained his footing and looked in the direction of the Ivory Tower, his old face growing dim.

Mordret remained silent for a while, and then said evenly:

"Well, that… is a bit unfortunate."

Sunny let out a hoarse laugh, causing the old man to turn around and glance at him darkly. Then, he tried to sit up, but failed.

The Prince of Nothing scoffed.

"Drop the act, Sunless. I know you are not that weakened."

Sunny cursed, then stopped pretending and sat up with a groan. He was indeed in a very bad shape, drained of essence, and barely alive because of how severely damaged his soul was. However, he was indeed not as weak as he had wanted to mislead Mordret into believing.

The old man shook his head, then smiled.

"Using my own Reflections against me… how clever. I expected something like that from you."

Then, his face abruptly grew dark, and he gazed in the direction of the Ivory Tower once again. His voice sounded quiet and uncertain:

"That, however… that I did not expect at all. It should not have been possible! I don't understand… giving one of the knives away is not in your nature. With how cynical and distrustful you are, you should have clung to them to the end… how did I make this mistake?"

Sunny grinned.

"I guess I've changed."

Mordret frowned, then slowly shook his head.

"People don't change that easily."

Sunny's face became

"...It wasn't easy."

motionless for a while, then sighed heavily and turned around to face him. At the same time, his remaining Reflection did the

stared at the battered shadow

my fried… please give me one reason

blinked a couple of times, then answered

notice, people who try to kill me

Mordret grinned dangerously.

sure I

a bit sure

his head, then

Divine Memory

old man took a step forward, causing the Reflection

that would have been a good reason. But right now… to be honest, Sunless, I am starting to wonder if it's worth the

bit, then raised

"...Pretty please?"

Prince of

"Not good enough."

themselves in the nurturing black flames of his soul… his strength was depleted… his allies were far away

Things were looking bleak.

said in

make it easy for you. More importantly, I'll make sure to resist for

Mordret smiled politely.

I am liking everything

Sunny grinned.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

lingered for a moment, then

might that

backrest and let out a relieved sigh. Then,

to the real world. Precious time that you are going to waste

at him with a

is suddenly free,

Sunny shook his head.

the opportunity to kill the Demon of Desire. But have you forgotten about the Demon of Destiny? There is a whole Ebony Tower beneath us, free for

man's

more intense and plentiful during this time. The rift in them can't be traversed by the likes of us. Not that

His expression suddenly changed.