Shadow Slave

"Sunny! Wake up!"

Sunny opened his eyes and tensed. Sensing the world through the shadows, he couldn't feel any danger, but there was urgency in Neph's voice. Something was wrong.

As his mind entered a state of battle readiness, he pushed himself off the ground and briefly studied the fissure. It was still night, so everything was enveloped in deep darkness… that darkness, of course, could not hinder his sight. Sunny saw every detail of their small camp and of the weathered walls of black rock surrounding it.

Everything seemed fine.

Saint, who was guarding them from high above, was also calm.

He turned to Nephis and asked:

"What is going on?"

She pressed a finger against her lips and whispered:

"There was a sound."

The next moment, he heard it too. A dull, echoing crackle that came from somewhere below, spreading through the rock in a subtle vibration. Like a stone breaking.

He frowned.

'What is this…'

Sunny and Nephis froze, listening to the eerie sounds coming from within the carapace of the Black Turtle. They had not dared to venture there after salvaging the meat. The shell had been hollowed out, but they didn't know by how much, and even though they had heard the sounds of Nightmare Creatures inside the carcass of the Great Monster from time to time, this crackling was entirely new.

A small whirlwind of sparks appeared in the air, manifesting into a softly glowing paper lantern. Placing it on the lid of the Covetous Coffer, Nephis lowered her head and pressed her ear to the ground.

was another cracking sound, and she suddenly

he noticed something that was out of place in their

thin crack appeared on the floor of the ravine. Just as Neph

climbed a few meters up the wall, and when the cracking noise disappeared, a

suddenly grew

think it's going to

loud that it was almost deafening. Sunny felt the ground

"It's breaking!"

knew what was happening, Sunny jumped. As Nephis and he soared into the air, the floor of the fissure below them

disappeared in a whirlwind of sparks, everything else — the fire pit, the sleeping bag,

was

grabbed onto the rocks, the walls tilted, too. A horrible stench of blood entered his nostrils, and he saw

'Goddammit!'

the surface with the next jump, but the spot that he was aiming for suddenly broke off and plummeted down in an avalanche

on the ground, then dashed back

away in a heap,

panicked thought that the entire island was

the devastation was

of them watched, the landscape of the Black Turtle's shell was changing. It seemed that the schism originated from the location below the central region, where their camp had been located. Wide cracks spread through the black stone, and a wide surface either crumbled entirely or at least sank, forming deep

was affected, to, but to a smaller degree. It was just a chain reaction that forced the ground

shelter was still

covered in stone dust. Struggling to breathe, he slowly pushed himself away and stood up. A couple moments

above the newly formed pit, Sunny and

they had spent so many

island was showing signs of breaking apart. It was just a part of the central region today, but there would be more collapses in the future. Eventually,