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..."

around. After a short pause, she

it

hope, he raised an

She nodded.

have protections against someone like you bypassing its fearsome armor by teleporting directly inside. The Black

silent for a

think about

Nephis shook her head.

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

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

Nephis silently. As if reading his thoughts,

same. Shadow Step was refusing to

drew in a shaky breath and belatedly realized that he was still holding her hand. ...He was in no hurry to let go, finding

he looked in the direction of the entrance of the tunnel. Right now, the Azure Serpent and the Great Monster it was fighting were

tantamount

turned around and looked into the depths of the tunnel, then pulled

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

most rational

the seething water. Shortening the length of the golden rope to keep them closer to each other, Sunny and Nephis swam through

'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, and the chaotic movement of

still. They were going to reach

that the great river beast had wrecked, both when killing the Black Turtle and while feeding on its flesh later on. The walls of the tunnel sometimes expanded into vast caverns where the turtle's organs had been, now torn to pieces and completely obliterated. Pieces of bone and tough cartilage protruded

found it all both grotesque

Great Monster. I feel like

was. A

distance in front of them... it was as though something was softly shining in the

a moment, he suddenly pulled on the golden rope and pushed his tired body against the current once again, trying to make his way to the

looked at the

took a

radiant crystal that shone with ethereal

two Supreme soul shards that the