Shadow Slave

Bringing the ketch to the towering side of the battered ship... the Chain Breaker... Sunny and Nephis lingered for a while, looking up. Both felt more than a little bit of apprehension, but at the same time, they were relieved.

Traveling across the perilous expanse of the Great River on a mighty ship would be much more reassuring than on a small, damaged sailboat.

Eventually, Nephis summoned the familiar golden rope and glanced at Sunny.

He nodded, then hesitated for a moment.

Bending down, Sunny picked up Ananke's black mantle and looked at it with a forlorn expression. It was the only thing she had left behind... the last reminder of her existence, if one didn't count the ketch itself.

It was also the vestment of the priests of the Nightmare Spell.

He remained motionless for a while, then silently wrapped the mantle around his shoulders.

As soon as his body became shrouded by the dark folds of the nebulous fabric, Sunny felt a strange shiver run down his spine. He had donned the black mantle in honor of Ananke, to have something to remember her by, but the act suddenly seemed deeply symbolic.

It was as though he was devoting himself to Weaver... which Sunny had no intention of doing.

And there was another, far more chilling detail.

'This mantle...'

Was he just imagining things, or was it eerily similar to the tattered rags the Mad Prince wore in the nightmare? It was hard to tell due to how faded and sunburnt the rags were, but if he just pictured what they might have looked like decades, or even hundreds of years ago...

frowned, his gaze turning dark. But, in the end, he

bastard will not define

he took a step forward and joined Nephis, who had already thrown the rope up, tightening the loop at its end around the broken railing of the ghost ship. She gave it

Sunny followed.

later, they jumped down on the

feeling

familiar and unfamiliar. It was very similar to the one he had spent so much

was hard to tell what the differences were exactly... because it

cutting into its surface - as if some enormous beast, or a legion of them, had torn through the ancient wood with monstrous claws. The railings were shattered and broken in many places, the

deck, as well, revealing the devastated interior of the ship. Their jagged edges hinted that something dreadfully powerful had either broken into the cargo hold, or had

was not a soul

Then, without saying anything, he sent his shadows to scout the

discovered anything except for more signs of

let out a quiet

empty. There's no one

nodded, lowering the sword that had appeared in her hand as soon as they climbed aboard.

"Let's explore properly."

they went, they were met with signs of dreadful devastation. Sunny knew for a fact how enduring the enchanted wooden walls of the Chain Breaker were... he shuddered when imagining what

the skies and rammed an immortal Saint at full speed. This time, however, it seemed

tell

know what kind of defenders could have resisted their assault. Whoever they were, the aftermath of their cataclysmic clash gave

there was good news,

and rested in the shade of