Shadow Slave

"What the hell?!"

Sunny reached the edge of his makeshift raft and froze there, his fingers submerged in water. A perfect copy of him was standing motionlessly a few meters away, looking down with a mocking smile on his lips.

The pale face, the onyx eyes, the raven black hair... it was all the same. But the apparition was much more composed and full of malice than Sunny. There was a boundless ocean of madness hiding behind the cold darkness of its amused gaze.

For a moment, Sunny was convinced that one of Mordret's Reflections had somehow found him within the mist. But the tone with which the apparition spoke was simply too familiar. With a shudder, he realized that this copy of him was the manifestation of the Sin of Solace.

However...

"Gods. You look so pathetic."

'Yeah... that's definitely that damned sword.'

But how could it be?

At first, Sunny had only heard indistinct whispers when holding the Sin of Solace. Later, he could clearly hear its voice. And later still, after Falcon Scott, a vague illusory figure would follow him around... now, however, that figure seemed perfectly real.

That was not the most frightening fact, though.

The most frightening thing was that Sunny did not have the Sin of Solace summoned. How could the spirit of the cursed sword be here, if the sword itself still rested within the still darkness of his soul?!

Suddenly, a chill ran down Sunny's spine.

As if reading his mind, the Sin of Solace laughed.

"Ah, how fun. I'll give you some credit, Lost from Light... you never fail to amuse, at least. What, are you afraid of me now?"

Sunny hated to admit it, but he was. He did not know what to expect from the cursed jian... it was tied to Ariel, after all, who was both the Demon of Dread and the architect of the harrowing pyramid of nightmares. Even if the Transcendent Memory only contained a facsimile of a distant whisper left behind by the ancient daemon, it was still an artifact of terrifying power.

He knew that power all too well. Sunny had slain many Corrupted Nightmare Creatures with its help, after all - some of whom he had no business being able to kill - and, as a result, was exposed to its destructive influence in turn. He had thought that he was handling the insidious influence of the Sin of Solace well...

But if he had, then why did the apparition feel more real than ever? How was it able to appear before him without him even holding the cursed sword?

Sunny remained silent for a while, then forced out a smile.

"Afraid of you? Nonsense! Of course not."

The Sin of Solace tilted his head a little, studying Sunny with some interest.

"Oh... but I think you should."

relaxed, but that only

Sunny exhaled with

You're not real. Am I supposed to be frightened of every imaginary bastard? Life's

young man in front of

sure that I

Sunny scoffed.

long time, of course, but since you were not annoying enough to waste my time on getting to the

raft and looked up at the Sin of Solace while

a tiny, insignificant part of my mind that the enchantments of

apparition remained silent, looking

Sunny shook his head.

to you, and I also don't have to answer all of your questions. That is only possible when I am talking to myself. You asked me if I was

He grimaced.

annoying questions, and I told you to shut up instead of giving you a real

of

not because I am a part of you, but simply because you

Sunny smiled.

that is not the case. Plus, I had no reason to believe that you weren't an actual entity before. If anything, it would have been the other way

remained motionless, staring at him with a bleak expression. Then, the spirit of the cursed sword... the small

caught me. I am not real. Indeed, I am just a figment of your

Solace was quiet for a few moments,

piece of your

He laughed.

completely lost your mind? Lost from Light... damn

laughing copy of himself with a

he had nothing to

turned away and uttered through gritted

"...Shut up!"

makeshift raft forward. The mist was slowly growing less

the clear water around him

have stocked up before leaving

an army scout, but after becoming an envoy to Clan Valor, there was no need to anymore. So, there had not been a lot of useful things

time had passed since Sunny entered the Nightmare, too. The dim twilight permeating the mist never grew brighter or darker. However, he felt as if it had not been more than

at the wood grain of his makeshift raft. For some reason, it looked strangely familiar. The strange sense

that he had gone crazy that caused the irrational

all, there had to be a reason why the spirit of the Sin of Solace was suddenly much more clear, frighteningly real, and even able to appear without Sunny summoning the cursed sword.

just numb, heartbroken, and emotionally drained. However, which lunatic knew