Shadow Slave

Eventually, the four of them were invited into the room where Nephis slept… this time on a hospital bed instead of inside of a closed coffin of a sleeping pod. The administrators of the Academy wanted to avoid any more damage, so asking the members of Changing Star's cohort for help was a logical step.

Seeing familiar faces first after waking up would probably calm her down. And if not… having four Masters at hand would be enough to deal with any unforeseen complications.

Most likely...

Sunny stood in the corner, looking at Nephis with a somber expression. Her pale face, her silver hair. For the past two years, he had often seen her through the transparent lid of the sleeping pod, bathed in its ghostly light. Now that she was out and returned to the real world, Changing Star seemed much more… material. And strangely vulnerable.

She was truly back.

He sighed.

Cassie was sitting on a chair beside the bed, while Effie and Kai were resting on a sofa. None of them knew when Neph was going to wake up, and they had already spent a couple hours waiting. Without having to discuss it, all four decided to stay quiet. So… by now, they were pretty bored.

Sunny, on the other hand, was filled with more and more tension.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

'This anticipation is killing me. It's pure torture.'

not think that Nephis would abuse her power over him. But it was better to prepare for the worst. For that reason, Sunny was mentally going over all the clever ways he had thought of to undermine her absolute authority as his master. There were always ways... owning an unwilling slave was not an easy endeavor. Especially one as powerful and resourceful as

chosen to kill the Mirror Beast instead of subjugating it,

but feel a hint of

he shook his head and moved slightly. Then, without being noticed

and then called upon Nightmare. A vast shadow appeared near him, all around him… this was the dark destrier in his true, shapeless

larger shadow, and then gave it a

done this a few times in the past, and each time was as strange. It was a bit like traveling to the

sense in prolonging his anxious anticipation, anyway. He had to see if Changing Star

found himself on

slope, with furious waves crashing against the cliffs far below. Some distance away, a tall and beautiful lighthouse stood, illuminating the absolute darkness

while, and then nudged Nightmare to walk along the edge of the cliff.

adhere to the logic of the real world and were

Nightmare and Sunny. The threats contained within them might not have been real, but by invading this subliminal space, the

from his travels. If an Ascended dreamt of a powerful abomination, the dark destrier had to battle the abomination as if it was real. However, not only dreadful fiends posed a threat.

was very strong. So her nightmares were bound to be terrible, as

city appeared from nowhere. With a bit of apprehension, Sunny recognized the familiar shapes of the

luxurious PTV lay overturned some distance away, its armored frame bent and riddled with holes. Blood was

off Nightmare's back. After hesitating for a moment, he bent down and looked inside

Most disturbingly, these people lacked faces, and instead looked like smooth-faced mannequins. Their flesh,

a frown, he looked away and studied the surroundings. It did not take him long to notice a trail of blood leading away from the