Shadow Slave

Sunny glided through the dark sky above the luminous expanse of softly shining water. The wind was caressing his skin, and tranquil silence ruled the world. If not for the need to pierce himself with the sharp needle over and over again, he would have found the situation relaxing.

Of course, there was also the monstrous sea serpent that patiently pursued him, staring at the perfectly black canvas of the night sky with cloudy eyes.

He also had to constantly remain on high alert - there was no telling what else could attack him from above.

After a while, Sunny let out a sigh.

'How tiresome.'

He was starting to miss the days of plummeting into the Sky Below. At least he had the dead mimic to sit on back then. Now, there was nowhere for him to rest - Sunny continued to fly forward, surrounded by nothing except empty air.

He had the Sin of Solace with him instead of Mordret, too. It was really hard to tell which one of them was worse company.

"What? Have you lost... I strongly protest against this comparison!"

The apparition glanced at him with contempt, then looked away.

Sunny sighed again.

"Yeah, yeah... you are way more handsome than that guy. Sorry. I went too far."

The Sin of Solace scoffed, and they continued forward in silence.

After a long while, the faint radiance of the flowing water grew a little dimmer. The eastern horizon brightened, and then, the first of the suns appeared from below in a crown of lilac hues.

day

seven suns appeared from below the water one after another. Soon, the western

else, it was

Even if the might of his arrows was not enough to pierce the azure scales of the creature, he was sure that they

be the

his essence. He wasn't willing to waste it needlessly in

his will and continued flying above

hour went by. Then,

no idea if those were really hours - the seven suns shining above the Great River were too bizarre and unreliable to use them for measuring the

Or was it Sunny who was

am really starting

suddenly froze and looked at a certain spot

away... a black dot had finally appeared atop the sparkling water. His heart skipped a

'Land?'

him. Then, he changed the direction of

no guarantee that finding a place to land would save him from the

wind whistled in Sunny's ears as he glided along the current of the Great River, moving - perhaps - further into the

he was able to see a few details of what

more than a kilometer across - and consisted entirely of black, weathered rock. It had steep slopes,

vast patches of green moss scattered across the surface of the island, as well as towering outcroppings of something that resembled tarnished silver. The glistening edges

felt a

obstacle for the sea monster. If the abomination wanted to follow Sunny to the surface, it would have to leave the water entirely - and fighting on land

ancient serpent would not climb out of the

element. With Sunny, Saint, Nightmare, Imp, and the

enchantment of the jade blade promised immense power to those who succumbed to its madness... and, judging by how real the sword wraith seemed, Sunny had met quite a lot of