Shadow Slave

Sunny sighed heavily, then subtly studied the world through his shadows. There was no danger around them. Everything seemed fine.

That said, his intuition was indeed telling him... something. It was not exactly ringing an alarm, but there was an eerie sensation at the back of his mind.

He rose to his feet and studied the Great River with his own two eyes.

After a few moments, Sunny asked: "What is it? I don't see anything."

Cassie did not move, her frown deepening. The waves rustled as they brushed against the hull of the ship. The sails rippled in the wind.

Raising a hand, she touched her cheek briefly, then said somberly: "I feel... strange. As if I'm drunk."

Sunny stared at her wordlessly.

"Huh?"

The blind girl grimaced. "It's like I'm seeing double. Only, of course, it's not my sight that is blurry. Rather, it's my Aspect Ability. The one that allows me to sense what will happen a few seconds into the future."

He remained silent for a few moments.

The shadows across the Chain Breaker moved, stirring.

"...So, what you're saying is that something is wrong with the future?"

Cassie hesitated a little.

"Or at least with my ability to perceive the future."

That was a rather terrifying thing to hear. Sunny looked around once more, noting how peaceful their surroundings looked. The sky was burning beautifully with countless shades of red, with not a cloud in sight. The surface of the flowing river was spotless, with nothing hiding beneath it.

And yet, there was something sinister happening to the world, unseen and imperceptible. If not for the keen senses of the oracle, none of them would have known that something was wrong.

"Let's go."

the stern of the ship, where Nephis was holding the steering oar. He had not had to guide the blind girl in a long, long time... but

the hell is happening in this damned

the news. She remained silent

while, Neph

felt that something

his head

"How?"

called these vague feelings his intuition, but it was not exactly a sixth sense. It was actually a rudimentary ability to feel the tremors

Nephis to feel the wrongness,

pointed to

There's something strange happening, though... for the last hour or so, our course has been changing slightly. It's like we are being pulled toward something. But if we are, I don't know how. I don't

had a very, very bad premonition.

on a hunt for a Defiled sybil, and Cassie's perception of the future was suddenly behaving strangely. More than that, the world itself was not working quite as it was

no. It can't be. Can

the blind girl, he

free when the temple was unsealed.

hesitated for a

remember is that all the soldiers I sent to stall her were torn to shreds in an instant, unable to land a single blow on her hide. Arrows and magic projectiles missed, enchantments failed. She was too dreadful of a creature for us to handle, especially

beautiful blue

retreat and disconnect the entire section of

Sunny inhaled deeply.

revelations are a manifestation of extreme affinity to fate. That sybil was capable

teeth and shared a wild suspicion that was making him incredibly

the abomination is now capable

looked at

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged.

a Transcendent Outsider who comes from the time before the Doom War. She becomes Defiled and turns into a

Sunny shook his head.

three go searching for her. And just at that moment, Cassie's ability to perceive the future starts behaving weirdly, while our ship is inexplicably moving in a direction that it's not supposed to be moving. Wouldn't you say that it's quite possible that this primordial horror of a Defiled abomination is more than likely to possess powers that have to do with affecting the flow of time... or at

After a while, the blind girl