Shadow Slave

Sunny suddenly paled.

'Wait. No way...'

The runes describing the Shroud of Graceless Dusk resurfaced in his memory...

[There, they found solace, safety, and shelter. In time, the voices of the gods grew silent one after another, leaving behind only a vast and dreadful silence. That was how the sybils embraced the Estuary, and that was how they fell.]

He looked at Cassie somberly and said, his voice slightly hoarse:

"The... Defilement?"

The blind girl nodded sadly.

"Yes. The Defilement spread from the Estuary, consuming Verge, the city of the Seekers. And from there, the Defiled slowly moved upstream, threatening to devour all other settlements on the Great River. The sybils and their people waged a war against them for a long time. Eventually, most of their cities fell - some fell to the Defiled... but not all."

Her beautiful face looked forlorn for a moment.

Cassie sighed.

"The sybils were truly formidable at the height of their power. It was no coincidence that they had managed to guide their people through the horrors of the Doom War and enter the Tomb of Ariel unharmed. Even the Defiled found it difficult to conquer the cities reigned by the sybils... how would they not, if the defenders knew the secrets of the future?"

She paused for a moment and took a small sip of the wine.

"But the very thing that gave the sybils power ended up becoming their undoing. The most stalwart cities... they fell to the sybils themselves. Because they were corrupted by the glimpses of the Estuary and succumbed to the Defilement, letting the rot spread from within."

The blind girl sighed again, then shook her head.

Fallen Grace. One was already Defiled, and entombed in her temple. Of the other two, Dusk was the junior. The senior sybil... she had hidden the signs of Corruption from everyone until it was too

for a moment and gestured to the

had already been lost. Much worse, the seals containing the other Defiled had been broken. And she... she was a much more terrifying creature than the other one. All I could do was abandon the contested island-ships and evacuate the remaining ones as

hands, allowing the golden

deaf guards. I am the ruler of this city, but at the same time, I am a threat to it... or so the River People think, since they don't know that I am not truly Dusk. I was afraid that my own affinity to revelations would place me in the same danger the sybils had been exposed to, but funnily

Nephis looked at her silently, not knowing what

Her soul is incorruptible... but how can Cassie be

He shook his head.

"I'm not sure."

chuckled, then pointed

"It's because I'm blind."

blue eyes gazed upon the

visions of the Estuary, I can't see. That is why the truth of the Estuary can't corrupt me... or at least, can't corrupt me in the same way it corrupted the sybils. In the visions I had before entering the Tomb of Ariel, I usually had sight. But ever since coming here, all

her hands slightly, allowing the

but I did not know how long it would take. So, I remained in

hand. White sparks glinted in

We encountered a time storm on the way... which is why, while a year has passed for you, it was only a

lingered for a few

already, right? It was thanks to you that Ananke knew to meet us and point us in the direction

face. He frowned, confused by

"What? What's wrong?"

The blind girl hesitated.

sorry... but who is Ananke? And what do you mean she knew to guide you to

exchanged a somber look. After a moment

it not you who sent a dream message to the Priestess of