Shadow Slave

A tenebrous stallion was galloping across the vast expanse of white sand.

On his back, leaning tiredly in the saddle, sat a beautiful young woman in black garments. The steed and the rider were like a wave of darkness that absorbed the incandescent sunlight, and only the young woman's striking silver hair reflected the light back as it danced in the air.

Nephis was following a swift shadow that glided across the dunes in front of them, guiding the two back to the group.

Cresting a tall dune, she saw a scene out of a nightmare. The immaculate whiteness of the sand had been painted red by blood, and grotesque corpses were strewn about, torn asunder and gaping with terrible wounds.

Her expression turned grim.

At the same time, down below, Sunny turned his head slightly and glanced at the black silhouette of the rider, which was outlined against the azure sky at the top of the dune. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he sighed tiredly and leaned his back against the scaly limb of a dead abomination, hidden in its shadow.

'She's back.'

Nephis had survived her mission... the rest of them had survived, as well, albeit barely. This swarm of Nightmare Creatures had been too tough even for Sir Gilead to handle - the Saint had dealt with the leader of the pack, a Great Beast, and the rest of them had faced off against the pack of Corrupted abominations.

Now, Summer Knight was severely wounded, and they were similarly battered and drained of strength. In any other situation, a Transcendent vanquishing a Great Nightmare Creature would have been a legendary feat worthy of a triumphant celebration, but now, they were just tired and afraid.

This was the first Great abomination - aside from the Skinwalker - they had stumbled on in the Nightmare Desert, but would it be the last? Certainly not.

They had not even reached the inner regions of this cursed land yet, and the situation was already so hopeless.

Nightmare descended from the dune, and the members of the group crawled out from the shaded spots beneath the gigantic corpses to meet Nephis.

She jumped from the saddle and looked at Morgan with a composed expression. The princess of Valor raised an eyebrow.

"How did it go?"

Nephis lingered for a moment.

"I lured that titan toward the Skinwalker's vessel. They fought, but more vessels showed up. The titan should be dead by now... there is still the sea of quicksand between us and the pursuers, with the thing that dwells below, but it won't delay them for long. We have several hours, at most."

Morgan let out a heavy sigh.

"Damn it. It was a desperate gambit, but I really hoped to achieve more."

She grimaced, then turned west and stared at the distant silhouette of the black pyramid with a grim expression.

By now, everyone knew that her desperate desire to reach the Tomb of Ariel, or at least get closer to it, was futile. Perhaps even Morgan knew, even if she refused to admit it.

Sunny was sure that she was not trying to conquer the black pyramid for their benefit, but still, he was almost touched. The rest of them had pretty much already surrendered... only Morgan continued to stubbornly cling to the impossible goal.

Sir Gilead shook his head.

"Lady Morgan... this is the fourth day. I promised to give you time, but we've made no progress. You need to accept reality."

The princess remained silent for a while, then winced.

the sun sets. If nothing changes until then, I'll follow

Knight looked

probably survive until the sunset... in any case, there was still the issue of finding a suitable spot for traveling between worlds. The

I will have to trouble

consent to help Sir Gilead and Morgan escape the Nightmare

that loomed just beyond the horizon. He

Tomb of Ariel... how can one reach

been moving into the depths of the sea of dunes for seven days

that they had made no progress... traveling during

that one could only get closer to

it was really impossible for them to approach it. Because the Nightmare

land of the

sigh, he took a sip from the Endless Spring, dismissed it, and

'It's so damn hot...'

***

them were on the verge of wishing that they hadn't. There had been more fights, more blood spilled. The Skinwalker

black pyramid, as if being pierced by its sharp tip. The Tomb of Ariel was just as it had been from the very start, seemingly within grasp but also utterly unreachable,

black obelisks that served as a gateway to a buried ruin. This place was going to be their shelter for the night - the seventh night

Knight and Morgan were going

hidden beneath the ruin, the members

broken arm. Her resilient body was littered with wounds, and she was too low on soul essence to heal them. There was a dark and resentful expression on her

seemed to have tacitly agreed

who had a lot of

Valor, he lowered

looked up,

disappointed in me. Sorry... it seems that I am not as

remained silent for a while, then

I don't

She smiled bleakly.

have not come to chastise me, then what do you

looked at her

the only way left for us, so... I just wanted to ask if Clan Valor was going to start harassing me again, in

one was allowed to become a Saint without the permission of the Sovereigns. It might have had something to do with what Professor Obel theorized once - that the appearance of Gates was innately tied to the advancements of

was not going to be hunted down by the great clans, on the small chance that he actually managed to

him, Morgan suddenly

don't have to worry about

He frowned.

maintained facade. If that was the case... he suddenly felt a

I have

silently. Sunny met her gaze and asked with a hint of curiosity in

independent Awakened for decades. An old man once told me that you might have been pursuing noble goals... like limiting the number of powerful Nightmare Gates that open across the world. Someone else told me that all you think about

paused, and

clans have also been at odds with each other for a long time, but you only decided to start a real war now that a whole damn