Shadow Slave

In a dark underground chamber, a metal sarcophagus stood shrouded in silence. Nothing had disturbed the silence and no light had penetrated the darkness in a long, long time.

Until now.

Suddenly, the sarcophagus came to life, and a scattering of lights ignited on its surface. A crack appeared on the smooth alloy surface, revealing where the edges of a heavy lid were. The lid smoothly slid away, and a flood of radiant light chased away the darkness of the underground chamber.

Cold vapor shined as it rose from inside the sarcophagus. Then, a pale hand rose from within it and forcefully grabbed the metal lip, easily bending its armored alloy.

Sunny struggled to climb out of the sleeping pod for a few moments, then lowered his feet to the cool plates of the dojo's floor. A moment later, he swayed and fell down with a yelp.

"Damnation!"

Sunny remained sprawled on the floor for a few seconds, trying to understand what had happened and why he suddenly lost balance. Then, his eyes gleamed.

"Wait… I can speak again? I can speak again!"

A happy smile slowly appeared on his lips.

Of course… he was back to being a human! He had returned to his own body. Trying to move like a towering demon was not going to do his sense of balance any good…

With a mad grin, Sunny nimbly jumped to his feet and looked down, enjoying the sight of his slender, pale body. Then, he suddenly spun and performed several lightning-fast strikes and kicks.

"Ah, it is good to be home!"

quite literally — the shadowspawn must have weighed three times what Sunny weighed. Being a tall, powerful devil

target for the enemies to stick their blades in. And although

to

happy with his natural stature and height. Only after being forcefully turned into a lumbering monstrosity did he learn

the sleeping pod. He had inadvertently damaged the armored alloy by simply grabbing

disheartened about the damage he had done to the expensive machine. Replacing the bent panel was not

he tilted

do I even

about the luxurious

didn't need

now… a true Ascended. If Sunny wished to enter the Dream Realm, he would travel there physically.

Realm behind, forever. If he wanted to, he could never go back to that hell. He could just remain

the Nightmare Spell, Sunny was free to refuse it. He had won his right to have a choice. He… he was not a

For now…

like he had wanted. With his accumulated arsenal and knowledge of sorcery, creating a thriving enterprise would not be a

even sleep in an actual bed, and

a beautifully happy ending for a homeless street rat

distance. Slowly, a pale smile

that would

extricating himself from the Spell would be that easy. Even if he learned how to manage the unpredictable nature of

Master with a Special Strategic Asset designation, he was bound to attract the utmost attention of the forces that governed humanity. Neither the government nor the Great Clans would leave him be… especially the latter. Sunny suspected that he was going to receive a friendly visit from a

they had largely let him be when Sunny had been simply a promising Awakened. Now that he proved his mettle and elevated himself to the venerated status of an Ascended,

to pass on a message that trying to become a Saint without