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?"

of Antarctica, and had served at LO49 long before the Chain of Nightmares. As such, their

kits were far better suited for cold weather, and included well-designed parkas that could keep

did this button end

a few minutes, and then slowly looked up, facing the darkness of the

a sigh, he closed his eyes and extended his shadow sense forward, as far as it

yourself, bastard.

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

the Terror no matter how hard he tried. He did

on the seabed, moving slightly from time to time as the currents pulled it

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

that and the fact that the shape was not that of a living thing, considering that the shadow lacked the quality of being cast by something

had no idea what

ocean contained all kinds of

for some reason,

for a bit. Then, he slowly took a step forward, and then another. And then,

knees. Then, his waist.

am not mesmerized,

broken the hex... his mind was his

task, even one as thin and light as the Undying Chain. However, he possessed

cold like he had never experienced enveloped his body, making

it and swam

shore, Saint emerged from the shadow of the wall and approached the edge of the waves, raising her bow. If anything happened, she would be able to send an arrow