Shadow Slave

Sunny sttod at the edge of the water for a while, looking at the ocean with a wary expression on his face.

'Funny...'

Back when he had first developed the habit of climbing the southern wall of the fortress, he stared at the ocean in hopes of witnessing the fearsome silhouette of the mighty battleship appearing from the darkness. But now that the Ariadne was about to arrive, his thoughts were far away.

Eventually, Sunny sighed and finally dismissed his chair, planning to return into the warmth of the settlement.

...However, just before he turned away from the dark water, something attracted his attention. A subtle gleam a few steps further down the shore, revealed from beneath the retreating waves. As though bleak starlight was reflecting from a small piece of glass.

Sunny hesitated for a few moments, then walked a meter or two forward, stopping at the spot where he had spotted the gleaming object. A new wave rushed in, licking his armored boots. He had to wait for it to crawl back before kneeling and taking a closer look at the wet rocks.

There, between them, something glistened, buried under several shards of ice. Sunny brushed the ice away and picked the object up, then stood up before the next wave came.

His frown deepened.

In his hand was a simple brass button, similar to those that could be found on the countless winter coats issued to soldiers of the First Evacuation Army as part of their kit.

By itself, the button was nothing special.

However...

"Huh?"

under his command were not part of the First Evacuation Army. They were locals of Antarctica, and had served at LO49 long before the Chain of Nightmares. As such, their uniforms were slightly different.

for cold weather, and included well-designed parkas that could keep a person warm in most dire of circumstances instead of cheap mass-produced

how did this button end up

and then slowly looked up, facing the darkness of the ocean. There was a

eyes and extended his shadow sense forward,

show yourself, bastard. I

under the black surface of the cold water. Everywhere light reached, there were shadows, after all. And even

Sunny did not sense the Terror no matter how hard

shape. It rested on the seabed, moving slightly from time to time as the currents pulled it back and

irregular and mostly flat, with a very slight curve. Its

the shape was not that of a living thing, considering that the shadow lacked the quality of being

no idea what

of

some reason, he

Sunny looked at the undulating waves for a bit. Then, he slowly took a step forward, and then

reached his shins first, then his knees. Then, his waist. He shivered, gasped for breath, but continued walking

not mesmerized, am

couldn't be... he had broken the hex... his mind was

even one as thin and light as the Undying Chain. However, he possessed strength and endurance that far

cold like he had never experienced enveloped his body, making it hard for

ignored it and

the seabed and pushed himself along its uneven surface, getting closer and closer to his target. Far away on the shore, Saint