Shadow Slave

Sunny studied the old woman's armor, hesitated for a few moments, then looked at the Chain Breaker with doubt. He felt rather impatient to meet Dusk of Fallen Grace, but reminded himself to keep calm and take it one step at a time.

"...We've yet to moor our ship."

The old warrior bowed again.

"Everything will be taken care of."

'How convenient...'

These ancient soldiers did not seem like much of a threat. The old woman was an Awakened, but the rest were mundanes. Sunny had no doubt that he would be able to escape any ambush or trap they could potentially lure him into... and it didn't even seem like there would be a trap.

Still, he didn't like the idea of leaving their only means of escaping Fallen Grace behind.

...That said, if Dusk had really anticipated their arrival, wouldn't she have also anticipated his reluctance? If she knew that he would be wary of a trap, wouldn't she have been able to construct a trap insidious enough to fool Sunny?

Suddenly, he was full of apprehension.

'Damnation...'

Sunny had mostly been blessed by finding himself on the right side of people with prophetic powers. Now that he was about to meet an unfamiliar oracle, though, he fully realized how terrifying of an enemy one could be.

His unease wasn't helped one bit by the fact that he had actually already met Dusk of Fallen Grace once... in a way. There were deep scars left on his psyche by the Terror of LO49.

'Whatever. What else can we do, demand that she comes to meet us here on the pier?'

After exchanging a glance with Nephis, Sunny shrugged and followed the group of soldiers deeper into the city. The old man who had greeted them joined, as well, which caused an irritated sigh to escape from the lips of the old woman in charge of the soldiers.

"Cronos... why are you tagging along with us, kid?"

The old man simply smiled.

"Why, I'm the one who greeted the esteemed guests first. Surely, they'll feel better having someone familiar escort them!"

else.

How ancient is this woman, to be calling a

through Fallen Grace, he couldn't help but look around with a

wrinkled faces, and frail bodies of people

it was because of their status as guests in the city at first, but then realized that it

Sunny and Nephis, there was not a single

'They are all Riverborn.'

implications

as the city migrated into the future to allow new families to be formed. Therefore, there had to be a mix of people of different ages on the streets, just like there would

mean if everyone here was...

reason other than ushering in a new generation, at some point. Killing the older population and thrusting everyone else into decrepit old bodies

face grew somber as he looked at

she was incredibly ancient, but because the old man was actually a child, or a youth no older than Sunny

few moments, then

was it? Say, how old

smiled, his face turning into a labyrinth of deep

Uh... I'll be seventeen in a few days, to be precise. But who's

inhaled deeply, disturbed by the

have figured out the reason for why everyone in Fallen Grace looked so old, as well. Hearing Cronos

why aren't you at

old woman leading the soldiers darkened. While

entire downstream half of the city during those dark days. And if it wasn't for the Lady, we would have lost the other half,

and the old soldiers. But there was also something

reached the point that should have been

was

but empty water where countless island-ships should have been. The rope bridges leading to them had been cut, their remnants singed and floating aimlessly in the water. The closest buildings to the edge bore

one still drifting on the crimson waves, the other long gone, lost to

how it

indeed migrated upstream, escaping an attack. A large part of it had been lost in the

looked away with a grim

it because of the

woman chewed on her lips, then nodded with a strange