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."

but that only made the words more chilling to

Sunny exhaled with

Am I supposed to be

young man in front of him

that I am

Sunny scoffed.

before, but I am now. I suspected for a long time, of course, but since you were not annoying enough to waste my time on getting to the bottom of this, I chose to concentrate on other things. But hey, since it's just the

looked up at the Sin of Solace while still

you are not. And what you are not is a real being... no, you're just a tiny, insignificant part of my mind that the enchantments of the Sin of Solace turned against me.

apparition remained silent, looking

Sunny shook his head.

only possible when I am talking to myself. You asked me if I was done feeling sorry for myself? I was not compelled to answer. You asked if I was afraid of you? For a moment or two, I was, and yet I was able to say that I wasn't.

He grimaced.

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

Sin of Solace

a subjective thing, isn't it? Maybe you can lie to me not because I am a part of you, but simply because you believe that I am a

Sunny smiled.

is not the case. Plus, I had no reason to believe that you

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

you caught me. I am not real. Indeed, I am just

quiet for a few moments,

you not considered... that, maybe, quarreling and conversing with a splintered piece of your own mind is a bit more frightening than being haunted by a

He laughed.

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

the laughing copy of himself with a

once, he had

moments, he turned

"...Shut up!"

The mist was slowly growing less thick, but Sunny still

water around him with suspicion. When he got hungry, he summoned

stocked up before leaving the siege

supplies were already running low. He had kept the Coffer well stocked while serving as an army scout, but after becoming an envoy to Clan Valor, there was no

was hard to tell how much time had passed since Sunny entered the Nightmare, too. The dim twilight permeating the mist never grew brighter or darker. However, he felt

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

perhaps it was the fact that he had gone crazy

able to appear without Sunny summoning the cursed sword. The less stable his mental

did not feel particularly insane, just numb, heartbroken, and emotionally drained. However, which lunatic knew