Shadow Slave

Sunny had grown accustomed to using his shadows to scout ahead in dangerous situations. explore the world around him, and discover hidden threats. However. this time. he could not - simply because the shadows were as blind as him in the embrace of true darkness.

Walking deeper into the tunnel, he instantly felt tense and incredibly vulnerable. Things were even worse than Sunny had thought. Not only was his sight suddenly limited to a mere single point of View. not only could he not see anything outside the narrow circle of light created by the luminous Memories like a more human...

Even his ability to sense the shapes and movements of shadows was crippled. Because. of course, no shadow existed within darkness.

That unique part of his perception had become so ingrained into him that now that it was gone, Sunny felt blinded. It was as though he suddenly lost his eyes and ears. The whole world seemed strange, unclear, and muddled.

The sudden change was so severe that he almost lost balance.

'D-damn...'

Belle and Dorn. who lived their whole lives like that, did not seem to be disturbed. Sure. they had somewhat come to rely on the ability to see in darkness that Kim often shared to them. but not to a degree where it became their second nature.

Sunny, on the other hand...

He was disoriented. and felt utterly exposed.

'How horrible...'

Grimacing. he gripped the shaft of the Cruel Sight tighter and continued walking. The blade of the somber spear did not shine yet. instead absorbing some of the light produced by the lanterns of the Irregulars, in case he needed it in the future.

The tunnel was wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other without brushing sides. and utterly empty. Nothing but impenetrable darkness filled its silent expanse. and so. their steps echoed. reflecting from the cold stone walls.

Sunny glanced at Belle and Dorn will] a bit of displeasure. He was walking as noiselessly as usual, trained to remain unnoticed by the long months of hunting down powerful abominations in the Dark City. However, the two fighters of the melee vanguard were not versed in stealth, and their equipment was not suited for it, either.

'Way to announce our position to everyone... and every thing. I have a bad feeling about this...'

to being the one to stalk his prey unseen. Now. however. the roles were reversed... Sunny was at the mercy of whatever creature it was that hid

to be something there, without a

all. had not

horror will I have to

tunnel. A few minutes passed. then a dozen. What Sunny feared the most: did not happen - nothing attacked them, and there were no collapsed sections of the tunnel's roof that could block the convoy's

there was also no Sign

seemingly endlessly, and completely empty. After a while, Sunny managed to shrug off his discomfort and adjust

still

passed without them encountering

far do you think we

alld Dorn thought for a

"Three kilometers? Maybe less."

deep frown appeared on Sonny's

out there... the floor also seemed flat and did not slope neither

they

"...Keep your eyes open."

small opening in the wall of the tunnel, leading into the depths of the mountain. The narrow branch, too, was drowned ill

distant hum. However, a moment later, it

Professor Obel spoke about. There's probably a whole network of them inside the mountain, excavated to house the population in case of

back

nuclear bombs to kill

looked at. him

tell that to

moment, Dom

used both nuclear and bioweapons in

'Oh.'

good education. He had barely known that places other than NQSC existed