Shadow Slave

Giving him a nod, Nephis went about asking Cassie to use the Guiding Light to locate Effie. Sunny, meanwhile, remained motionless. He was somewhat lost in thought.

'First of all... stay calm.'

His behavior up until now had been nothing short of embarrassing. Of course, there were extenuating circumstances. During his first... round?... Sunny had been barely conscious of the fact that time was repeating itself. During the second try, he was still reeling and in shock from dying gruesomely at the hands of Undying Slaughter.

But this was his third attempt - this time, he had to maintain his composure and not lose control.

'...No, not quite right.'

Who was to say that this attempt was his third? It was only the third attempt since he had become aware of the fact that everything was repeating itself. There was no telling how many times he had died before that.

Still deep in thought, Sunny glanced at Nephis and Cassie. He remained motionless for a few moments, then silently walked over to Nightmare and adjusted the stirrups of the Overpriced Saddle to make it easier for the blind girl to mount.

Soon, they abandoned the ship and stepped on the white sand of the misty beach. Sunny walked in the back, looking down with a somber expression on his face. He did not react in any way when the Sin of Solace suddenly appeared from the fog.

The sword wraith stared at him mockingly.

"Calling the Shadows? Shame the only thing you achieved was getting them killed... like you get everyone else who follows you killed. Hey, here's an idea! How about you ask Nephis and Cassia for help next?"

Sunny spared him a grim look, causing the Sin of Solace to cover his mouth with a hand theatrically.

"Ah. I've said a bit too much, haven't I?"

Sunny looked away.

'It is as I thought.'

It seemed that the sword wraith had become aware of the fact that time was repeating itself long before Sunny. What was it that the Sin of Solace had said the last time?

starting to enjoy this. Let's go for another round,

then, Sunny had only paid attention to the fact that the wraith was behaving differently from the past, unlike everyone else. But now, it was clear

think

first alerted Sunny to the anomaly? The wraith had stared at Sunny silently, and he turned to ask

time... is repeating

looked into the

later, he

'...I'm such a fool.'

was a river of time. Wind Flower was surrounded by a mystical whirlpool... and what did whirlpools do? They spun. The

the time here must have revolved in a circle,

theory, but not an

a few things. Why the ancient stone steps did not look weathered at all, for example. How

'...Wait.'

Wind Flower... then was Undying Slaughter caught in it, too? She had not shown any signs of knowing what Sunny would do in advance. Which meant that she did

Six Plagues ended up being trapped

importantly, why was Sunny the only one who seemed to be aware

few moments, his eyes widened

me. It's... it's the

He was somehow immune to forgetting the events of every previous revolution... was it because the cursed sword was innately tied

was a part of his mind... a splintered and twisted one, but a part nevertheless. Was it possible that he had slowly become contaminated by the knowledge

he was certain that it was because of the Sin of Solace that

His thoughts turned somber.

"how" and "why"

far more fearsome than Sunny had expected. He

to say that he

Nephis, Nightmare, Cassie, and her

the first few times, at least... few dozen times?