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

narrowed as he noticed

small, thin crack appeared on the floor of the ravine. Just as Neph flinched, it suddenly grew, spreading through the black rock in both

the cracking noise disappeared, a small piece of

suddenly grew

it's going

could finish, there was another sound, this one so loud that it was almost deafening. Sunny felt

"It's breaking!"

he soared into the air, the floor of the fissure below them suddenly split and collapsed, revealing

small camp was instantly swallowed. Except for the Memories like the Coffer that were dismissed and disappeared in a whirlwind of sparks, everything else — the fire pit, the sleeping bag, the bed made of soft moss, and the rest of it — fell into the darkness

collapse was

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

'Goddammit!'

and jumped higher. He was aiming to repeat the process and send himself to the surface with the next jump, but the spot that

second later, he flew out of the fissure, rolled on the ground, then

heap, the entire

island was falling apart

devastation was not as

the central region, where their camp had been located. Wide cracks

a chain reaction that forced the ground to tilt and slide

their shelter was still

laying on Nephis. Their limbs were entangled, and both of them were covered in stone dust. Struggling to breathe, he slowly

pit, Sunny and Nephis looked down

had spent so many peaceful nights,

It was just a part of the central region today, but there would be more collapses in the future. Eventually, the entire shell would crumble, leaving them stranded and lost in the sea