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

into

his instructions without asking questions. The convoy continued to move forward. However,

the darkness. Moving much faster than the vehicles had, he soon reached the point of the previous stop

tninutes. After that, Sunny commanded them to put the vehicles in reverse - the

gave the

'...This is bad.'

actions, of course,

go back to a previously visited spot inside the tunnel - Belle, Dorn, and himself

Indeed, he had been able to return to the marked portion of the wall from five

was to test if something

should have long seen the imprint of his fist and the net of cracks around it, but there was none. At some point in time. somewhere between five and ten kilometers of separation, the mark had disappeared

to the collapsed exit from the tunnel. The way back, and the second option

into the darkness, Sunny felt a cold shiver run down

further... would they have been separated from the

had come close to

'I was lucky.'

if their strength seemed overwhelming. However, he was as powerless as the rest against circumstances like the one they found

Simply by existing.

like that, he needed someone like Cassie. Sadly, she was far away, probably preparing for the war between Valor and

'...Damnation!'

at the stone walls of the tunnel, then at the battered vehicles of the convoy. There were almost four hundred people in them that he had promised to rescue... was he going to become a liar? Sunny tilted his

I thinking about? I have always been a liar! There's nothing for me to

took a