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…"

and froze for a split second, thinking feverishly about the

northern wall of Falcon Scott, so nothing could escape the shore without being torn to shreds by the defensive armaments… granted, most of the First Army forces were currently concentrated on the southern side of the wall, fighting against the Devouring

by its own garrison. Bloodwave and the Awakened of the House

to put a dent in the defenses of the port.

through Sunny's mind, he saw something that made his blood run cold. There, behind the slowly advancing figures of the drowned residents of LO49, the

back, then steeled himself and raised the

thralls could not be allowed to reach the port. Hundreds of thousands of refugees were currently there, with even more already

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

But it didn't.

obliterating onslaught of heavy rounds, all that came were

on the wall of the

felt a chill run down

'The hex…'

a chance

Sunny shifted, trying to deflect the incoming attack, but his reaction was too slow. A

'Curse it…'

the thralls had been before falling prey to the Terror. Whatever the creature had done to

neglectful fool, aren't

he had already known that the hexed residents were capable of

of civilians…

blind to their

situation was

long while, Sunny forced himself to

'No, not everyone…'

most of the defenders seemed to be ignoring the Terror's thralls, some were still firing their rifles. That meant