Shadow Slave

Sunny was riding north through the bitter cold of the polar night, shivering in his raggedy, tattered bodysuit. The coastal highway stretched forward, strangely silent and empty. From time to time, he encountered bleeding carcasses of slain Nightmare Creatures that lay on the concrete, staring into the darkness with glassy eyes.

Those were the only signs left behind by the passing of the convoy. The rest of the abominations must have been pulled away by it, rushing in pursuit of the small column of vehicles. That gave Sunny a chance to catch his breath.

'Ah... I am tired...'

Now that the thrill of the battle was gone, he found himself in a somber mood. The cold, dark, and desolate landscape of the Antarctic Center was only adding to the gloom. Looking ahead, Sunny winced as he rocked in Nightmare's saddle. His wounds were hurting, and the lethal toxin was still trying to kill him from the inside.

Most people would have been dead already, but Blood Weave was slowly overcoming the black venom. Sunny was still bleeding from the torn bite wounds on his side and his forearm, though. His thumb was also a mess.

Since he had not encountered anything capable of making him bleed in a long while, that was a bit disconcerting. However, there was very little that Sunny could do. He had a mundane medkit stored inside the Covetous Coffer, but lacked the essence to summon it.

He could not summon an armor to protect himself from the cold for the same reason, as well. After being completely exhausted, essence was slow to return to the vast reservoirs of his cores.

What little he had received from dismissing the Sin of Solace was almost instantly absorbed by his essence-starved body. Until his flesh w'as saturated at least to a small degree, he was not going to be able to summon any Memory.

It was not too bad, though. The more of the rejuvenating essence returned to his body, the better he was able to resist the cold, and the stronger Blood Weave became.

the feeling of sickening

trickle of essence flowed into his

'...Finally.'

cold and required armor to

Eventually, he sighed.

can be my weapon, for

out a medkit and awkwardly applied the clotting agent to his wounds, then plastered the sealing patches on top of

then put it on and raised the collar, hoping to save himself from the

do

into the saddle, he sent his steed forward. Nightmare went slowly at first, so as not to disturb his master's wounds too

for some time. Eventually, Sunny recovered enough essence to summon another Memory, choosing the Cruel Sight this time. He had considered calling upon the Sin of

mental defenses were not as good as they had been. Sunny scowled when he remembered the loss of the Transcendent armor, and hurried to throw the bitter thoughts out

finally decided to bestow Sunny with some luck. He had not encountered

luck was bound

the shadows, which was scouting ahead, Sunny frowned. There was a dark mass of moving bodies blocking the road about a kilometer further north... the concrete was littered with corpses, and the abominations were feasting on the flesh of their fallen

Sunny looked past the morbid feast, his