Shadow Slave

"Dusk... Sybil of the Fallen Grace."

Sunny shivered.

Of course, he remembered who Dusk was. He was wearing a tunic called Shroud of Graceless Dusk, after all - the Transcendent Memory of the Sixth Tier he had received for slaying the Terror of LO49.

...That damned horror.

If he were to try and assign numbers to the enemies he had faced in Antarctica based on how many mental scars they left him with, the beautiful flower of floating white silk would be squarely placed second, right behind the Winter Beast. Even Goliath, who had literally killed him, did not leave as harrowing of an impression.

Of course, Dusk was most likely neither dead nor corrupted yet in the Nightmare. She was still a human, and seemed to be ruling a place called Fallen Grace. Since Sunny and Nephis wanted to reach the civilization of the Great River and find the sybils, this destination was perfect.

...It was a little bit too perfect, even.

Ananke had answered one of the most important questions they had. The improbable coincidence of them finding her ketch just when they needed it was no coincidence at all. She had come knowingly, expecting to find them.

But who was it that had instructed her where to find them? In her dreams, no less?

Who was pulling the strings of this Nightmare behind the scenes?

'Is it, perhaps, the last sybil herself?'

Sunny frowned, knowing that he would not find the answer any time soon. The earliest opportunity was probably going to be when he came face-to-face with the Sybil of the Fallen Grace... again.

He sighed.

"...Fallen Grace? How far is that?"

Old Ananke hesitated for a few moments.

that I

It almost seemed as though she

the old woman

as I can go, my Lord and Lady. Ah... you see, we daemon followers weren't welcome here, in Ariel's Tomb, either. They chased us away, and we traveled upstream for a long time before settling down and building Weave. Weave... it's one of the human cities on the Great River, like

and Nephis looked at

it that Ananke was unable to return downstream? Was there some kind of internal strife between the locals of the Great River? Would it be dangerous for her to enter the waters controlled by the

she mean, that Weave only used to be

Nephis spoke cautiously:

put you in danger,

The old woman smiled.

privilege, my Lady. Do

It was obvious that the old woman was

have understood that,

raised her hands. In the next

a whirlwind

is summoning

humans. It was the ability of those infected by the Spell, after all, and no one they had met in all

wooden box appeared on the deck in front of them. Ananke

painted ceramic teapot with steam rising from its spout, two small cups, and two plates - one full of ripe

items were simple and modest, even

spread through

tablecloth and offered the food to Sunny and

My Lady... you must be tired after braving the horrors of the future. Please, eat and

slowly rose to her feet and walked back to the helmsman's bench with effort. Sitting down on

moment, the

by themselves and billowed in the wind, while the steering oar swayed, turning the bow of the boat downstream. Soon, they were sailing across the sparkling expanse

hesitated for a bit. Both of them were completely exhausted and incredibly hungry,