Shadow Slave

There could not have been a tunnel that stretched under the Antarctic Center for hundreds of kilometers. Not only would a structure like that be a miraculous feat of engineering, but far too many people - especially the army strategist and someone as knowledgeable as Professor Obel - would be aware of its existence.

However, no one had been.

Sunny remained silent for a while, then looked at the old man. Professor Obel simply shook his head.

"I am afraid I can't explain. Which... is not too surprising. After the Nightmare Spell descended, there are many things in the world that science - or rather, our limited scientific understanding - fails to explain."

Sunny sighed.

'Great.'

What was he supposed to do now?

It was clear that the laws of nature were either broken or worked differently inside the tunnel. Space was not behaving as it was supposed to behave... or maybe they had simply traveled to some. strange pocket dimension that was filled with nothing but true darkness.

Maybe they were all under the influence of another mind hex. Maybe they had all been devoured by the swarm of Brood beasts, and were now condemned to an eternal purgatory.

Who could tell?

Sunny cursed silently, then wrapped all four shadows around the Undying Chain to ramp up its mental protection. Nothing changed. The oppressive darkness did not disappear... if anything, it seemed even more foreboding now.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Alright. Let's not panic yet."

the tunnel, echoing in the darkness. In the place where his steel gauntlet had landed, a small impression appeared, with a net of cracks spreading

into your

convoy continued to move forward. However, this time, Sunny made it stop after ten minutes and left the

activated the [Light Eater] enchantment of the Cruel Sight to illuminate the path and ran back into the darkness. Moving much faster than the vehicles had, he soon reached the point of the previous stop

moved for another ten tninutes. After that, Sunny commanded them to put the vehicles in reverse - the tunnel was

while, he gave the

'...This is bad.'

actions, of course, had not been

was possible to go back to a previously visited spot inside the tunnel - Belle, Dorn, and himself had walked for around six kilometers during the initial scouting, and then

the same principle still applied. Indeed, he had been able to return to the marked portion of the wall from five

test if something would change with more

seen the imprint of his fist and the net of cracks around it, but there was none. At

to the collapsed exit from the tunnel. The way back, and the second option he had of escaping

the darkness, Sunny felt a cold shiver run

kilometers further... would they have been separated from the convoy forever? Would they be doomed to wander the

close to disaster without even knowing

'I was lucky.'

more than capable of fighting against enemies that he could strike down, even if their strength seemed overwhelming. However, he was as powerless as the rest against circumstances like the one they found themselves in right now - against threats that were both unseen and

Simply by existing.

Cassie. Sadly, she was far away, probably preparing for the

'...Damnation!'

the convoy. There were almost four hundred people in them that he had promised to rescue... was he going to become a liar? Sunny

have always been a liar!

a