Shadow Slave

She wasn't wrong.

As the members of the cohort left the room to give Nephis time to rest, Sunny was deep in thought. Changing Star was an Ascended Tyrant now. Killing her was much harder than assassinating a mundane child that was protected only by the dwindling forces of a fallen clan, especially due to the nature of her powers.

In fact, short of sending a Saint to do the job, nothing the great clans could throw at her would work. Saints were a precious resource, however, and more than that, rare enough to make their movements almost impossible to hide. Unless the Sovereigns were ready to abandon all pretenses of civility, there was no easy way to get rid of Nephis anymore. She had ensured that by becoming a Master directly.

The situation had fundamentally changed.

And that was not even accounting for the tremendous public outcry that would result from something like that ever coming to light. Whether the great clans wanted to admit it or not, they were still tied to the rest of humanity. All Awakened came from mundane humans, after all. Losing the support of the masses would threaten the very base of the power that the Sovereigns enjoyed.

Come to think of it, getting rid of Sunny was almost equally as hard. He doubted that any Master, with the exception of maybe direct children of Anvil of Valor, would be able to pose a serious threat to him. There were two more great clans to consider, of course. But he doubted that any scion of Song or Night was more dangerous than the Princess of War, Morgan.

So… what did it all mean?

It meant that their position in the negotiations had vastly improved. They could exert much more pressure on Valor, and achieve much better results.

…That was if Nephis did not do anything extreme, of course. Which she was more than capable of doing, considering her searing hatred for the three Sovereigns.

After hesitating for a bit, Sunny walked over to Cassie, leaned on the wall near her, and asked quietly:

"What do you think she will do?"

The blind girl understood his meaning without having to specify what exactly the question was about. Perhaps she was considering the same issue.

for a moment,

"Negotiate."

suppressed

are? Somehow, I feel that two years of barely clinging to life in the Dream Realm did nothing to blunt her

remained silent for a

weak to face the… the enemy directly.

appeared on

have you ever known Neph to

head slightly, facing him. Her expression

whatever she needs to be to achieve her goals. Same as you. Don't forget

that

After a while, he asked

where does

Nephis. That bond was strong, but not unbreakable… if he really wanted to, he could attempt to destroy it. He could kill her. He could run away.

not until he saw a sign that Changing Star was willing to wield her power

did, he was only a slave in the name. Although reluctantly, Sunny was barely able to tolerate such an arrangement. Having a master that was unwilling to exercise her power was even beneficial to him, since it protected him from others who would want to abuse that power… like Mordret,

was going to have to die. That Sunny was certain of. He wouldn't hold anything

come. And hopefully, it was never going

to be influenced by the decisions

The blind girl sighed.

leave us? Even I don't know. Everything is changing, Sunny, and all we can do is try to change as fast as it does. That is