Shadow Slave

Sunny crawled onto the shore and lay on the cold stones of the pebble beach for a bit, breathing heavily. It was incredibly nice to lie on solid ground again, but at the same time, his body felt heavy and cumbersome. A part of it had to do with spending some time in the depths of the ocean, and a part of it was simply because he was still tired and low on essence.

'Curse it...'

He had enough sense left, at least, to let one shadow slide off his body and take a look around to make sure that there were no enemies in his immediate vicinity.

There were none, at least not close by. There was only Naeve, who seemed to be doing a little bit better than Sunny. The Nightwalker took a few deep breaths, then slowly sat up.

"We... we actually made it. Gods, I really did not expect to live through this one."

He glanced at Sunny, receiving a vague gesture of confirmation. Sunny shared the feeling.

Naeve grasped his shoulder for a moment, then asked with a hint of morbid curiosity in his voice:

"I low did you manage to kill that horror, anyway? Such a devastating mental attack... even Uncle failed to resist it."

Sunny remained motionless for a few seconds, pushed himself off the ground with a tired groan, and glanced at the scion of Night somberly.

Spitting out the Essence Pearl, he then grimaced and said: " I guess it was just fate... that fiend was fated to die by my hand, and so, fate helped me kill it."

Naeve smiled weakly, then looked away.

"Never took you for a fatalist."

That was when a third figure rose from the water. Bloodwave walked onto the shore, his eyes glinting with shades of deep blue and indigo. Drops of water were rolling down his smooth ebony skin, contours of steel muscles clearly visible under it.

Saint remained silent for a few moments, looking into the distance. Then, he sighed, and suddenly disappeared. A strong gale threw a scattering of pebbles into the air, making Sunny cover his face with his

is

hand and looked in the direction

"No..."

Naeve's voice sounded defeated.

in the cold. Snowflakes were dancing in the air as they fell from the empty sky. There were. no

All good signs.

one

between the rubble with unsteady steps. Beyond that, Sunny could see nothing else. lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm ѕhоuld nоt bе іgnоrеd ․․․ Remembering the sight of the vast crowd of

anchored near the fortress

Essence Pearl and the Nimble Catch. Black threads

crestfallen

"Lets go."

made their way to

they approached, more

here than there had been protecting the Terror — thousands of them, all slain despite their dreadful power. it seemed that the defenders of the fort had not

had finally found their final resting place thousands of kilometers away from the distant research

the First Army soldiers among the dead

felt a bitter feeling grasp his

a part of his victory, as

drawn away by the defenders of the port. While Sunny was fighting the Sybil in

not diminish his accomplishment... however, it did put

Sunny remembered something Master Jet had told him once, years ago, while driving him to the gates of

can survive in the