Shadow Slave

The Chain Breaker was steadily advancing down the Great River. The gale Nephis could summon by uttering its name was not powerful enough to push the ship as fast as it had pushed the ketch, but to their luck, the winds were blowing in the same direction.

Carried both by their power and the current of time, the graceful vessel rushed forward at great speed.

All around them, there was nothing but sunlight and sparkling water. The vast expanse of the Great River was beautiful and exhilarating... of course, great horrors were hiding behind the deceptive facade of its beauty.

But nothing had attacked them yet.

...Life went on.

Sitting in the shade of the sacred tree, Sunny felt strangely indignant about that fact.

He had been constantly busy during the week they spent patching up the battered ship, which was a mercy. Now that there was really nothing for him to do, Sunny found himself feeling numb and hollow. His lightless soul seemed even darker than usual these days.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the calming sound of the rustling leaves.

'Just... how much can a person endure?'

He was tired of loss.

He was also tired of losing.

'Sometimes it feels like I was better off not caring about anyone except myself. Those were the days, weren't they?'

As he smiled crookedly, a familiar voice suddenly resounded from above:

"Do you mean the days of being a frightened, pathetic, miserable little wretch that not a single person in the world cared about, in turn? Well... I suppose it's indeed the best you deserve. That's how you'll end up anyway, eventually."

Opening his eyes, Sunny looked up with a dark expression.

as if nothing had happened. The loathsome wraith looked like he always had... exactly like Sunny. The bastard was even wearing a perfect copy of Ananke's mantle. His face was

Sunny scoffed.

show up. I thought you chose to crawl back into whatever

The apparition smirked.

you fail, lose, and get people killed all the time. Even imaginary creatures like me have a limit, you know? Ah,

him for a while, silent. His eyes

his

are too helpful. Why save me from the Mad Prince

Sin of

you even have the audacity to call someone mad after spouting such

his head, then said with a derisive

did not save you. I just saved myself from having to endure more misery. Being stuck with a hateful worm like you is already bad enough, but being stuck with you if you become Defiled? Gods... that would be

his head,

tell me was truly dangerous enough to turn me into

in a sense, it was... but

Sin of Solace was a part of

...Wasn't he?

Sunny frowned.

have no idea what that

had even gotten a good grasp of how to

it

influence of the Tomb itself? It had been built by the Demon of Dread, after all, from whose whisper the curse that caused

the Sin of Solace, Sunny

in my dream was dangerous? Why did you try to stop him from subjecting me

The apparition grinned.

saying anything, he lingered for a while, then looked down and touched the

a wonderful mantle. You should really get more people killed and collect a piece of clothing from each one. Then, we'll be able to add an apparel section