Shadow Slave

Sunny felt like he was going insane.

He was tired, sleep-deprived, and cold. He was stuck in a fortress on a remote continent, which had been built around an eerie abandoned observatory. The fortress was being besieged by an unknown horror from the depths, and he was the only person who had managed to escape from the horror's hex.

The strangest thing about all that, however, was that Sunny was sometimes invisible. Every time he subdued and dragged one of the victims to the containment facility built inside the old observatory, everyone in the settlement acted as though he did not exist.

No, not exactly invisible... people were able to observe him. But the fact of his existence seemed to flow out of their consciousness almost immediately after being registered there. As long as Sunny was in the presence of one of the mesmerized victims, the residents of LO49 looked at him, frowned, and then went about their business, instantly forgetting what they had seen. It was really unnerving.

In his exhausted state, Sunny felt a deep and irrational fear that if this went on, he would be forgotten by everyone, forever.

He wondered if that was how the Demon of Oblivion had felt.

...Luckily, the bizarre effect seemed to only last for as long as Sunny was transporting prisoners to their cells. As soon as he placed them in the containment units, his existence was made normal once again. Well... as far as his existence could be called normal, to begin with.

On the first day of his catcher duty, Sunny had fought, subdued, and imprisoned twenty-nine people. His muscles were sore, and his armor was wet from being close to the water for so long. Despite his efforts - and to his relief - the Terror had not reacted to the sudden obstacle that appeared in the path of its satiation. At least not yet.

Saint continued to hide in the shadow of the tall wall of the fortress, monitoring the deep, dark, cold waters of the ocean.

At midnight, Sunny reported the results of his effort to Verne. They walked over to the observatory together, where the other Master remained silent for a long time.

"Are you telling me that there are people in these cells?"

Sunny struggled with a yawn, failed to suppress it, and then nodded.

"...Yeah. Around thirty of them."

Verne stared at the cells with a deep frown for a minute or two, then shook his head in bewilderment.

that they're there, I

bit late to

me, they're there. They just stand near the southern side of their units and do nothing. At least they are staring at the walls, and not at us.

looked at him with

think this situation is sufficiently creepy

he turned away from the cells and asked

change in the

Sunny shook his head.

not that I've

silent for a moment, and

Continue, then. The Ariadne should be arriving soon, so... we just have to endure a little

caught the people trying to drown themselves in the ocean, and

'Damn cold..."

of Ice and continuously fed it with essence to save himself from the chilling

that day, Sunny rescued thirty-five people from being devoured by the waves. His skill of making chains out of shadows improved by a

empty thermos in his hand, and stared at the

sound

and stared at the undulating black surface of the ocean with intense

something seemed to change about the world. Sunny frowned, but before he could do anything,

'Forty... it is accelerating.'

step through the shadows and subdue the fortieth victim, but there was something strange about the figure. Instead of moving toward the edge of the wall like the rest of them,

"Huh?"

It was Quentin.

forward, then lowering his body slightly and mounting the wall with one inhumanly high jump. He landed on the concrete surface of the rampart, walked a few

"What? What happened?"