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..."

After a short pause, she suddenly

hindsight... it

of hope, he

She nodded.

its fearsome armor by teleporting directly inside. The Black Turtle is dead, but some of its defenses must still remain... perhaps if the gap in power between us wasn't so vast, your Ability

silent for

I think

Nephis shook her head.

is too much? We couldn't have known. We've never

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

As if reading his thoughts, she

result was the same. Shadow Step was refusing to

Neph's flame leaving him, Sunny drew in a shaky breath and belatedly realized that he was still holding her hand. ...He was in no hurry to let

entrance of the tunnel. Right now, the Azure Serpent and the Great

their options, though? Staying here was tantamount to death, as well.'Actually... there is

looked into the depths of the tunnel, then pulled

entrance is blocked, but there's still the exit. The old snake burrowed right through, didn't it? The exit wound is on

the most rational

to each other, Sunny and Nephis swam through the diluted blood of the

'Hurry... hurry...'

of the Black Turtle spanned less than two kilometers, and the bloody path the Azure Serpent had burrowed through had to be half that. Of course, it was twisting and turning,

going to reach

on. The walls of the tunnel sometimes expanded into vast caverns where the turtle's organs had been, now

it all both

a Great Monster. I feel

it was. A Nightmare, to be

passed the middle point of the tunnel and felt the 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 was so faint that Sunny thought

suddenly pulled on the golden rope and pushed his tired body against the current once again, trying to

the wall of

took a

crystal that shone

Supreme soul shards that the