Shadow Slave

The seven suns were shining in the azure sky.

Sunny was sitting close to the slope of the island, staring fixedly at the flowing water. His eyes were dark and tired. With the temporary camp destroyed, he felt strangely homeless. Much worse, neither he nor Nephis had managed to come up with a viable solution for their fatal problem.

They had considered many things.

Every Memory in their possession had been studied and examined, but none of them, nor any combination of them, revealed a way out of the perilous situation. The best they could hope for was prolonging their stay on the carapace of the Black Turtle, somewhat.

They could use the Dark Shaper to try and repair the cracks in the stone shell. There were other unreliable measures, as well… but that would just buy them a few more days, at most.

There were other Memories that they could use to try to escape. But attempting escape was tantamount to suicide. The Great Nightmare Creatures guarding both the water and the sky were not something they could outrun.

…Then, there were Sunny's Shadows.

He had once thought that Saint was their best hope of slaying the Azure Serpent. However, after witnessing the mad beast in battle, he didn't think that the taciturn knight could achieve such a feat anymore. Not only because she could not enter the water, but also because his plan to augment her with both the shadows and the white flames had been crushed.

Saint… could not receive the blessing of the fire. Or rather, she could not reap its full benefits.

The augmentation had worked perfectly fine in his basement before could not reap its full benefits.

The augmentation had worked perfectly fine in his basement before the Southern Campaign, but Saint underwent a fundamental transformation after that. She was now a Devil whose body and soul were infused with elemental darkness. And while true darkness somehow worked in tandem with Sunny's shadows, it refused to accept Neph's light.

Saint could either use one or the other. In any case, the result was not nearly as powerful as Sunny had imagined it to be.

They could bestow the power of shadow flame on his other Transcendent Devil, though. Sadly, Imp was not nearly as formidable of a warrior as Saint. On top of that… the little bastard was in a coma.

Or a food coma, at least.

had a hunch that after the great mass of mystical metal was fully digested, his gluttonous

case, Imp was of no help

an Awakened Terror. Even if the black stallion managed to unlock

that could help them escape from the shell

on the cold stones and staring aimlessly at the

before. The vivid red color had receded, turning pale pink. The Black Turtle only had so much blood, after all, and by

a giant serpentine head rose from its depths. A familiar gaze pierced him, brimming

the Black Turtle, which had once seemed grand

was gone, replaced by a bloody hole. Half of the terrifying fangs in its obliterating maw were either cracked or broken. Whole

just the same. Its fury was the same,

and Sunny stared at the

you a

sounded

remained silent for a

you think you're so special? I know fury, too. I know hunger, too. I know madness, too! Oh… and I've killed plenty of creatures more powerful than

smile appeared

you to dare stare me down, beast? I am Lost from Light, who was born from the shadows. I am the rightful heir of death and the bastard son of fate. Wherever I go, ruin follows. If you had any sense, you would

shivered slightly,

too late now. What a

Sin of

a speech! What

looked

way to leave the island. He had known it for

was no time to lie to himself anymore. Now, it was the time for the truth, no matter how hideous

the dark island, Sunny found Nephis. Despite everything, she was