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."

sounded relaxed, but that only made the words

exhaled

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

young man in front of him raised

sure that

Sunny scoffed.

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 still remaining in a

point in pretending to be something that 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

remained silent, looking at him with

Sunny shook his head.

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.

told you to shut up instead of giving you a real answer. Ah... I feel ashamed that it took

Sin of

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.

Flaw was so easy to deceive? No... 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

Then, the spirit of the cursed sword... the small

am not real. Indeed, I

of Solace was quiet for

maybe, quarreling and conversing with a splintered piece of your own mind is a bit more frightening than being

He laughed.

mean, wouldn't that mean that you have completely lost your mind?

stared at the laughing copy

he had

a few long moments, he turned away and

"...Shut up!"

raft forward. The mist was slowly growing less thick, but

from it, looking at the clear water around him with suspicion. When he got

stocked up before

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 need to anymore. So, there had not been

too. The dim twilight permeating the mist never grew brighter or darker. However,

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

he had gone crazy that caused the irrational sense of familiarity

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