Shadow Slave

The side passage was full of impenetrable darkness, too, flowing around Sunny as it turned him blind and deaf. The blade of the Cruel Sight was shining with a soft radiance, creating a small circle of light around him. That light seemed to be struggling against the tide of chilling blackness, making it appear more absolute.

The walls of the passage were much closer to each other than that of the main tunnel, its roof lower, and the circle of light was even narrower still. All of that made Sunny feel extremely claustrophobic. He walked forward with a resentful expression on his face, feeling the floor slope downward beneath his feet.

If there was one thing that reassured them, it was the silent silhouette of Saint, who was by his side. The taciturn demon moved with her usual indifference, wielding the Sin of Solace in her hands. Together, they descended deeper into the belly of the mountain.

'Curse it... damn it... this is such crap...'

Sunny was, unsurprisingly, very nervous.

There were a lot of things for him to be nervous about. Not only was he willingly walking into a trap of an unknown, but immensely powerful Nightmare Creature, he was also surrounded by true darkness - the element that directly countered most of his abilities.

Not only that, but he also found himself in a strange situation. Most Awakened possessed at least one luminous Memory - those were usually both cheap and easy to get, so everyone had some sort of enchanted item to serve as a lantern in their arsenal. However, Sunny had never needed one, so he only had the Cruel Sight.

Its [Light Eater] enchantment allowed the somber spear to absorb light, and then expel it. After months spent in the darkness of the polar night, most of the sunlight that it had devoured in the past was long gone. What little remained was supposed to last him a few hours... but what if he failed to complete his mission by then?

Sunny brought several chemical flares with him, just in case, but he really hoped to not get a chance to use them.

Additionally, he had to leave one of his shadows with the convoy. Surrounded by true darkness, he could not turn into one to swiftly travel across the network of tunnels, but he could still Shadow Step back to one of his invaluable helpers. That was why Sunny had ventured into the depths of the mountain alone, hoping to escape whatever disaster waited ahead in an instant.

of his power was gone,

the Cruel Sight, and the haughty one was wrapped around his body. The five of them were a fearsome quintet... nevertheless, Sunny did not feel

were just stacked against him

creepy, inescapable mountain full

a little and stared at him, the ruby jewels of her eyes glowing with cold crimson light. It was only then

forced out

cold here,

traveling far into the narrow passage. Sunny grew quiet, not wishing to announce his position to anything

It was the first one of many - just as Professor Obel had said, there was

how they were arranged, but the intent of the engineers that had built this place escaped him. If anything, the system of passages and chambers

Almost... organic.

feel as though the darkness was moving around him, flowing through the tunnels, like blood rushing through

He shivered.

'Calm down, damn it...'

the heart,

a metaphorical heart,

it following a simple principle - each time they arrived at an intersection, he chose the path that led further down. For now, this method seemed to be working, since the surrounding darkness seemed to have become thicker, and flowed

a while, he started to hear a strange hum. Low and distant like a quiet whisper, it reverberated through the cold stone, echoing and growing more persistent as Sunny ventured deeper into the network