Shadow Slave

On a beautiful island of ancient trees and emerald grass, a lone figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. It was a young man with alabaster skin, wearing a simple tunic of fine black silk. He remained motionless for a few moments, then walked to the edge of the island and froze there, looking down. If not for the wind playing with the young man's black hair, he would have looked like an exquisite statue.

The Ivory Island had changed a bit in the past few months. The great pagoda itself was the same, of course, but the comely wooden buildings created by the Fire Keepers now resembled a small, peaceful village that blended harmoniously into the landscape. The ancient trees of the grove now had fruit hanging from their branches, each looking ripe and delicious.

The white bones of the ancient dragon were still bathed in sunlight, and a graceful ship was still swaying on the placid surface of the clear lake.

There was one big change that startled Sunny a lot, though, pulling him out of his reverie. 'What the hell...'

Looking down, he did not see the familiar abyssal darkness of the Sky Below. Instead, he saw a mosaic of flying islands, all connected by colossal chains, slowly floating by.

The Ivory Island was moving.

Although the movement was very slow, it had already left the empty expanse of the Tear behind, and was now drifting through the clouds toward the southern border of the Chained Isles.

Sunny blinked a couple of times. 'Since when can this thing move?'

He lingered for a while, studying the landscape below, then walked along the edge of the Ivory Island.

that many things had changed

was a stone bench near the shore, and a familiar

Effie was relaxing in the sun and watching the

and remained silent for a while.

"Who knows? That's what I'm trying to find out. Hopefully! I developed a taste for fish... and sea monsters...

suddenly froze, and slowly turned

shone with glee. "Sunny?! It's

"Who else would it... argh! Gods!

into a crushing hug, and considering their difference in height, Sunny felt his feet leaving the ground. lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm. His voice was full of righteous indignation: "I said... gods, don't you have any modesty?! Let go of

exploded with laughter and put him down... and it was a good thing, too. Sunny was this close to using the [Feather of Truth] to turn himself as heavy as a huge chunk of marble.

are you?! Neph told us that you are

her a resigned look,

East Antarctica. I

convoy of tens of thousands of refugees to safety, rode a Saint into the depths of the ocean to fight a Corrupted Terror, killed that Terror, got blown up, then killed some more Nightmare Creatures, then lost to a different Titan, crossed the strait on a raft, rode a horse all the way to the nearest siege capital... that pretty much covers it, I guess. Oh, I also learned how to play

Effie

moment, then grinned, wrapped her arm around his shoulder,

Don't think that you're getting out of really telling us what happened, though... we've been worried sick, you know! Kai almost had a heart attack right before we disembarked in East Antarctica, when the news of what happened in

allowed himself to be led toward the Ivory Tower. That was why he had come here, after all, to speak with the other members of the cohort. He needed