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.

new day was

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

it

a pincushion. Even if the might of his arrows was not enough to pierce the

be the only one feeling endless

only going to consume his essence. He wasn't willing to waste it needlessly in a situation

his teeth, Sunny steeled his will

hour went by. Then,

River were too bizarre and unreliable to use them for measuring the time. He just guessed how much of it had passed based on intuition, but he could

Sunny who was flowing through time? Questions like

am really starting

looked at a certain spot on the

a black dot had finally appeared atop the sparkling water.

'Land?'

hiding beneath the surface of the water right below him. Then, he

guarantee that finding a place to land would save him from the great

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

he was able to see a few details

not very large - no more than a kilometer across - and consisted entirely of black, weathered rock. It had

as well as towering outcroppings of something that resembled tarnished silver. The glistening edges were sharp

a bit

monster. If the abomination wanted to follow Sunny to the surface, it would have to

ancient serpent would not climb out of the river at

be out of its element. With Sunny, Saint, Nightmare, Imp, and the five

well. After all, the [Hideous Truth] 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