Shadow Slave

The word hung in the air, both ominous and strangely familiar. Sunny frowned and studied the remains of the crude weapon. Finally, he asked:

"The Drowned? We have never met abominations like that."

Which, of course, meant that they had.

Nephis nodded.

"Yes. A group of them attacked the Chain Breaker once... Drowned Outcasts, that was what the Spell called them. They weren't too powerful, apart from the depth dweller that arrived with them."

Cassie shook her head somberly.

"The Outcasts are the dregs of their kind. Most Drowned are much more dangerous. They are... a special tribe of Nightmare Creatures here in Ariel's Tomb. No one really knows where they come from, but many believe that the Drowned were humans, once. They hunt in groups and herd true horrors of the depths to use as war beasts. Most troublesome of all, all of them possess at least a rudimentary level of sentience... they follow strange rituals, too."

Nephis frowned.

"I'm sure we will manage. Unless there are titans or Great Ones among them, the three of us should be enough to deal with these Drowned."

The blind girl remained silent for a few moments.

"That is true. Although the trace of the Drowned is bad news, they're nothing we can't handle. I am concerned about what their presence here represents, though."

She turned to face the ruined temple and gritted her teeth.

"These abominations are very territorial. They constantly battle with other Nightmare Creatures, and leave signs to avoid the waters where truly powerful foes dwell. The fact that the Drowned are here, on the island... means that they have accepted the sybil as their ruler."

Cassie paused, then added with a dark expression:

"Which means that she has become a Tyrant, at least. Only those have enough authority to make the Drowned submit to them."

out

a Corrupted Tyrant,

more powerful Nightmare Creatures... but only a handful. While a Corrupted Tyrant was not beyond their ability to slay, it was certainly not an easy

His voice sounded glum:

Tyrant, anyway? Wasn't she

again, Dusk of Fallen Grace had met him as a Terror. It was obvious that Nightmare Creatures could reach a greater Class than what they had started from, just like Saint could.

that corrupted humans shared that ability, as well. Not

Cassie shrugged.

what else since then. In any case, she won't be waiting for us alone.

smiled behind

don't have an entourage of our

One was a graceful knight in a suit

terrifying black steed rose from the ground behind them, crimson light reflecting from his adamantine horns

let out a quiet sigh, then summoned her Echoes, as

the blind girl wore, her face hidden by a veil. Sunny suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the silent figure... why did it seem like

above the ground or slithering like an eel instead of taking steps. He thought he saw a glimpse of a glistening black tentacle appearing for a split second from beneath the hem of her

gaze. Sunny had never felt comfortable around human Echoes, and

second Echo was less disturbing, but just

looked like a clockwork man. His movements were somewhat awkward, but

in appearance to the steel mount that Morgan rode sometimes. So, that Echo

they do it... the complexity

distracted from his thoughts by a disdainful grunt. Turning his head, Sunny glanced at Fiend with surprise. The steel ogre was staring down the clockwork swordsman with an obvious air of

Saint, and then stuck his chest out even further. His

of course,

she was not impressed, the infernal ogre deflated a little. Then, he stared at the steel Echo

think about

swordsman with an innocent look, as if the thought of