Shadow Slave

1021 The Fall of Falcon Scott (39)

The voice of the Spell resounded in the boundless darkness of the ocean, making Sunny shudder.

[You have slain a Corrupted Terror, Sybil of the Fallen Grace.] [...Your shadow grows stronger.]

As the veiled body drifted down, wreathed in billowing white silk, one last whisper brushed against his ears:

[You have received a Memory.]

The Terror was falling down, deeper and deeper into the cold abyss. Sunny spared one last glance at the pallid blossom of the great burial shroud, knowing that it would be consumed forever by the dark depths soon. Then, he turned away and tiredly pushed himself in the opposite direction.

Sunny... was not in great shape.

His mind was slowly recovering from the dreadful mental assault, but his head was in the throes of a splitting headache thanks to catching the smallest glimpse of the tapestry of fate. His body felt weak and feverish, still suffering from the backlash of draining all of his essence.

There were the remnants of the trauma caused by touching a Nightmare Gate, as well. Sunny felt like he was about to cough his lungs out. Holding it back was not an easy task...

And yet, a hint of dark, somber glee still managed to overcome the cold numbness that encompassed his battered mind.

'...I did it. I killed that vile thing.'

In the end, he ended the Terror with his own hands. The stain of their disastrous first meeting had not been erased, but his failure at LO49 was... vindicated, now. Somewhat.

Or rather, it would be if he managed to return to the surface alive.

of the ocean around him, Sunny was not sure that he would be able to

'Curses.'

dead and drifting lifelessly into the lightless depths. However, its thralls had not perished with their master. They seemed directionless and sapped of power, but there were still almost a

without the active enchantment of the Nimble Catch, Sunny did not count his chances against the creatures as high. A dark grimace contorted his

'Essence! I need essence...'

essence fell into the arid desert of

eyes peering through the mass of dark water at Sunny, Bloodwave, and Naeve. Some had begun moving in their

'Bloodwave and Naeve?'

against all hope to see them up and

was still stunned, drifting listlessly on the

The Saint, however...

whale flinched, then jerked his head sideways. The span of white cloth still wrapped around it slid off, revealing the great beast's glowing blue eyes. For a moment, they seemed disoriented, but then sharp intelligence shone

at the drowning remains of the Terror and the approaching swarm of

body and shielded Sunny from the enemies with its bulky mass. The enormous jaws snapped, pulverizing the fastest of the approaching Nightmare Creatures. Then, the killer whale surged forward to meet the

of minutes, a one-sided massacre took

way, he swam closer to Naeve, grabbed him, and dragged both of them further away from the boiling

"S—sunless?"

at least. Sunny nodded, then turned the two of

a few seconds of silence, he

"What... about... the Terror?"

thought for a moment, then dragged his

"Ah... good..."

of them watched silently as Bloodwave tore the hundred abominations to shreds. Watching a Saint in action was a... sobering experience, to say the least. Sunny shuddered at the

yet... the Terror of LO49 had dealt with the fearsome Transcendent, only to end up being