Shadow Slave

So... this is it, then.

The Tomb of Ariel had been built from the remains of the Stone Titan, while the Great River created from its blood was contained within it, illuminated by the seven suns made from its broken soul cores.

The secret hidden at the Estuary was the truth that Ariel had wished to forget. The Nightmare Desert was the result of the battle between him and the unholy creature.

Looking at the blue sky above them, Sunny couldn't help but wonder...

So the daemons were capable of creating artificial worlds?

Then, a sudden thought made him shiver.

What is the difference between a real world and an artificial one, though?

Was there even a difference? And if there was not... had the rest of the worlds been created by someone, as well? The daemons? The gods? The unknown?

He sighed, then shook his head.

Do I really have time to ponder the cosmic origins of the world?

Right now, they had more practical questions to answer. Many of the mysteries of the Third Nightmare had been revealed to them, but many more remained. At least they now knew where they were, and what their next step had to be.

Travel downstream, find the syblis, and learn how to conquer this Seed.

Well... that is easier said than done, though.

saw the sharp blades of the azure serpent's dorsal fin break its surface as

dark expression appeared on

"Neph...

faintly. Sunny had expected to hear some kind of a crazy answer, like always, but she unexpectedly

that there is no hope. But then again, we did eventually kill a

moment, and then added somberly: "However, the gap between Ranks grows much wider the higher those Ranks are. The difference between a Corrupted creature and a Fallen one is much greater than the difference between a Fallen creature and an Awakened one... while the gap between a Great abomination and a Corrupted one is even greater still. Worse yet, this Great Beast is in its natural element in the water, while we are not. My Aspect

serpent intensely, Sunny slowly

can still kill it,

unexpected words, Nephis

Both of them were strong, and they were even stronger together. There were his Shadows, and the powerful Memories they possessed. Most importantly, the azure serpent was a mere Beast... no

all kinds of devious schemes,

perilous, but not

sighed. "Maybe... but maybe we won't need to gamble with our

a while,

current goal was to travel downstream, far into the past, and find those humans who had escaped the war between

corpse of the Great Monster they were using as shelter, meanwhile, was being

all the way to their destination. Since that was

moment. The future was unclear, and there

moving downstream, wouldn't it be the past that is unclear? Ah...

"What do we

starting to drown in the radiant waters of the Great River, and the dawn of the eastern horizon

Nephis lowered her gaze.

morning, with fresh eyes. I don't know about you, but I am thoroughly exhausted. I haven't slept in a long while, and the battle between the turtle and the snake

Sunny smiled crookedly.

of days except drift through the sky, but as it turned out, doing nothing was very exhausting. Especially when one