Shadow Slave

For a moment or two, Sunny's mind was empty. He crawled back, looking up at the familiar figure towering above him.

Verne… it was Verne. There was no mistake.

…Or something wearing Verne's corpse, at least.

His shadow was much more vast and dreadful than a human's shadow was supposed to be.

The hollow gaze of the dead Master pursued Sunny, his face still and unmoving like a mask. Behind him, the dark waves stirred, and more figures rose from the water. Men, women… dozens of them, hundreds even. They marched forward like an army of the dead, silent and emotionless, their eyes drowning in darkness.

All their shadows were wrong.

The people of LO49 that Sunny had left to die. He recognized all of them, staring at the undulating surface of the ocean in horror.

'The… the Terror…'

Strangely, it was the contemptuous laugh of the cursed sword that shattered his paralysis.

"Look, Lost from Light… your sins have come to haunt you!"

Sunny shuddered, coming to his senses.

'What sins, you bastard? I did everything I could to save them!'

The insidious voice laughed again, then whispered, its hissing words falling like drops of poison:

"Weakness is also a sin, you pitiful worm… it is the greatest sin of them all…"

then rose to his feet and froze for a split second, thinking feverishly about

now behind the city. There were tall cliffs between the ocean and the northern wall of Falcon Scott, so nothing could escape the shore without being torn to shreds by the defensive

was nearby, though, and defended by its own garrison. Bloodwave and the Awakened of the House

dent in the defenses of the port. As for the

residents of LO49, the black water seethed and boiled,

steeled himself and raised the

already on the ships. Thankfully, the elevator platforms leading to Falcon Scott were empty, the evacuation stopped briefly on account

of the metropolis had also spotted the new threat. Powerful beams of light fell from above, illuminating

But it didn't.

not noticing anything. Instead of an obliterating onslaught of heavy rounds, all that came

armaments on the wall of the port

felt a chill

'The hex…'

not get a chance to finish the

shifted, trying to deflect the incoming attack, but his reaction was too slow. A devastating blow sent him flying backwards, the breath knocked out of him entirely. He crashed to the ground and rolled, feeling cold numbness

'Curse it…'

on how powerful the thralls had been before falling prey to the Terror. Whatever the

are a neglectful fool, aren't

teeth. Indeed, he was… he had already known that the hexed residents were capable of showing unnatural strength. Why would the slaves be different? If anything, their change

of civilians… and thousands upon thousands of Nightmare Creatures, all controlled and changed by the

everyone seemingly blind

was

a long while, Sunny forced himself to

'No, not everyone…'

still firing their rifles. That meant that the creature's hex