Shadow Slave

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

Two identical questions sounded at the same time, but they couldn't be more different. Neph's voice was tinged with a hint of sincere concern, while the voice of the sword wraith was full of biting mockery.

Sunny was motionless for a few moments, still holding Nephis by her hand. He shivered slightly after his second attempt to use Shadow Step failed, and she must have felt it.

He looked up at her and hesitated. When he spoke, his voice sounded hollow:

"My Ability... doesn't seem to work anymore."

An insidious fear suddenly drowned his heart, and at the same time, the dark island quaked again... the source of the tremor much closer than it had been before.

The fear was irrational and animalistic. It had little to do with their perilous situation, and more with that fact that his powers had abandoned him without a warning. It was as though he had suddenly found himself missing a limb. There was disbelief, confusion, dread... and, finally, terror.

It took all his willpower to push that terror down.

The Sin of Solace laughed.

Ignoring it, Sunny forced himself to speak:

"Just... just give me a moment."

He had no idea why Shadow Step, which had never failed him before, was suddenly ineffective. Perhaps something was wrong with the shadows populating the insides of the Black Turtle... if so, there was an easy way to check.

A few moments later, the Shadow Lantern appeared in his hand, and a flood of shadows flowed out of its open gate. However, the result was the same - it was not the shadows that were wrong, but Sunny himself.

"Ah... ah, really... such an idiot!"

The damned sword wraith was having the time of his life.

Sunny clenched his fists, then uttered through gritted teeth:

"I don't seem to be able to bring us away, at the moment. S-sorry..."

looked around. After

it

sense of hope, he raised an

She nodded.

Monster, after all, and we are inside its body. A creature like that would have protections against someone like you bypassing its fearsome armor by teleporting directly inside. The Black Turtle is dead, but some of its defenses must still remain... perhaps if

silent for a few

think about

Nephis shook her head.

didn't, either. Don't bl... don't you think that blaming yourself is too much? We couldn't have known. We've never faced an enemy such as

was right, but she was also wrong. Sunny might not have tried to enter the body of a colossal enemy through Shadow Step before, but he saw how the Azure Serpent had killed the Black Turtle. He could have

simple in hindsight. He winced, then looked at Nephis silently. As if reading his thoughts, she guided her flames from

same.

a shaky breath and belatedly realized

he looked in the direction of the entrance of the tunnel. Right now, the Azure Serpent and the Great

options, though? Staying here was tantamount

depths of the

snake burrowed right through, didn't it? The exit wound is on the other side of the turtle's body,

was the most rational decision he could

of the golden rope to keep them closer to each other, Sunny and Nephis swam through the diluted

'Hurry... hurry...'

strength as he could muster. The tunnel was not that long... the entity body of the Black Turtle spanned less than two kilometers, and the bloody path

They were going to reach the exit

its flesh later on. The walls

both grotesque and strangely, darkly

Monster.

was. A Nightmare, to be

current change, pulling them in the direction of their goal, he suddenly noticed something strange. Out there, a small distance in front of them... it was as though something was softly shining in the darkness. The glow

suddenly pulled on the golden rope and pushed his tired body against

and Sunny climbed onto a frayed piece of cartilage and looked at the wall of the tunnel. Out

took a deep

radiant crystal that

soul shards that the