Shadow Slave

As it turned out, Nephis had not found a Gateway to escape the Dream Realm and Awaken.

Instead, after two long years of solitude and relentless battles for survival, she had found a Seed of Nightmare and conquered the Second Trial of the Spell as a Sleeper.

She had done it alone.

At least that was the only way Sunny could explain the runes he was staring at.

Ascended.

'That is impossible.'

Surviving the Second Nightmare was already not easy for a cohort of prepared Awakened. More people perished while trying than returned victorious. How could a lone Sleeper accomplish the same?

No one had done it before.

However… no Sleeper had been a Tyrant before.

No Sleeper had escaped alive from a battle with a Corrupted horror of the depths before.

No Sleeper had slain a Fallen Terror before.

Nephis had long established her penchant for accomplishing the impossible. Why was Sunny so surprised that she had done it again?

No, he wasn't surprised. He was… dismayed.

A deep, unsettling emotion nestled in his chest, making his face grow dark and his eyes grow dim. The shadows around him seemed to become deeper.

The important part is that she is back.

To him, it was of paramount importance. His obsession with becoming more powerful than Nephis was not born out of simple vanity or empty pride. Someone else might have been tempted to chase power just for the sweetness of it, but to

in stunned silence, the sound of hurried footsteps resounded near him. Looking up, Sunny saw Effie pushing her way through the crowd. She was not shy about using her prodigious strength, so people did not really have any choice except

Nephis into the Dream Realm. It was no wonder that

and froze

Is it true? Princess is

looked at her for a

I passed her to the healers

did not move for several seconds. Then, a wide grin split her face. It looked

I never had a doubt! No Nightmare Creature exists that can keep that

smile a

long, Kai arrived, as well. Usually, his appearance would have caused

confirmation, an expression of profound relief appeared on the young man's beautiful

"Gods… thank the gods…"

realized it, but his friend must have been blaming himself for leaving Nephis behind all that time. He was truly too decent of a person for this vile world, and infected by a misguided sense of nobility to boot. Knowing that he had escaped the hell

seeing sincere happiness

no reason to feel a

at them, Sunny decided to ignore the darker part of his mind for a

If he had to die to avoid becoming a slave, he would. If

chose to just share this

founder of their cohort was back, after

the Awakened healers in

Valor looked up from her communicator, strange

the government agents couldn't

she? Lady