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."

that only made

exhaled with

would I? You're not real. Am I supposed to

in front of

sure that I am not

Sunny scoffed.

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

looked up at the

real being... no, you're just a tiny, insignificant part of my mind that the enchantments of the Sin of Solace turned against me. How

remained silent, looking

Sunny shook his head.

of your questions. That is only possible when I am talking to myself. You asked me if I was done

He grimaced.

have realized it the first time you kept distracting me with annoying questions, and I told you to shut up instead of giving you a real answer. Ah... I

of Solace

not because I am

Sunny smiled.

easy to deceive? No... that is not the case. Plus, I had no reason to

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

real. Indeed, I am just

was quiet for a

that, maybe, quarreling and conversing with a splintered piece of your own mind is

He laughed.

completely lost your mind? Lost from Light... damn lunatic... oh, this is simply

stared at the laughing copy of himself with a

once, he had nothing

a few long moments, he turned away and

"...Shut up!"

The mist was slowly growing less thick, but Sunny still couldn't see or feel

the Endless Spring and drank from it, looking at the clear water around him with suspicion. When he got hungry, he summoned

have stocked up before leaving the

serving as 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 left inside the bottomless

permeating the mist never grew brighter

spent most of his time numbly staring at the wood grain of his makeshift raft. For

that he had gone crazy that caused the irrational sense of familiarity with a random piece of

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. The less stable his mental state was, the more substantial the

numb, heartbroken, and