Shadow Slave

The Chain Breaker was sailing across the bloodred expanse of flowing water. Under the blazing crimson sky, no mystical force seemed to be influencing it... and yet, its course was being set by someone other than the person holding the steering oar.

The ship was being pulled toward the lost temple of Fallen Grace.

On its deck, three Masters were preparing for battle.

Sunny was stretching, his expression calm and focused. Not that Cassie and Nephis could see it - he had summoned Weaver's Mask a long time ago. In the battle against a corrupted oracle, it was both his best weapon and shield.

Cassie had summoned her armor and half-mask. The Quiet Dancer and a long dagger were resting in twin scabbards on her hips. Nephis was still wearing her white tunic, but there was a beautiful longsword in her hands now. Its hilt was black, with the symbol of a scarlet anvil being pierced by a sword etched into the pommel.

"How do we even fight an enemy who can influence the future?"

After Sunny asked the question, both he and Nephis turned to Cassie.

The blind girl frowned slightly.

"...How should I know?"

Who else would know but her?

Sunny hesitated for a few moments, then said awkwardly:

"Wouldn't a person who can perceive the future know how to kill one of her kind best?"

The blind girl shifted, then turned to face him. After a short pause, she smiled faintly and asked:

"What, haven't you thought about how to kill someone like me before? A lot?"

He coughed.

"...Never crossed my mind."

Hearing him, Cassie laughed.

"It's like Nephis said, her power has to have a limit. Say she can alter the path of one arrow... then, hit her with two. If she can alter the path of a hundred arrows, hit her with a hundred and one."

come up with when pondering how to deal with Cassie... purely out of academic curiosity, of course. Since she could perceive a few seconds into the future, the only way to

to alter the future, in theory. Assuming that the Defiled sybil could raise the probability of certain events happening, the

He sighed.

the brute force

at

you

shook his head

"No."

for a few moments, then let out a quiet

"This mask... is confusing."

so that he could only tell lies. As it turned

but he did not think that a person who only deceived could be a part of a community... at

no one survived in the Dream Realm alone.

Flaw, he would have continued to lie and deceive, remaining isolated and untrusting. The

precious friends. And

ditch, but at least his death was not going to be quite

personal growth right

his breath, he

to improve... and thus, being flawed was

did it mean for the gods and

imperfection to fuel their own rise to power? If so, which god was it that had created such

motionless for a while,

gods were dead, anyway. And he was going to be dead, too, if the three of them failed to

"I don't see anything."

an eyebrow, then

you do see

and peered at the

was slowly appearing from the scarlet

and beautiful, were covered by cracks and overgrown

had once stood upon was broken and partially submerged. What little of

Chain Breaker drew closer to the drifting derelict.

I'm sure there's nothing to worry