Shadow Slave

On the far side of the island, the misty forest was less thick. The trees stood further apart from each other, and were not as tall as in the other areas. The ground, however, was more rocky and uneven. It rose and fell, forming steep hills and deep ravines - not that it mattered. Usually, terrain like that would make it hard to see a potential enemy in advance, increasing the risk of walking into an ambush...

But with the damned fog veiling everything around, why did it matter? Every kind of terrain was just as bad here.

Sunny still commanded Nightmare to slow down, afraid to encounter another chasm and plummet down without ever having a chance to stop. Flying through a thick forest at breakneck speed was already thrilling enough, and he really didn't want to fall into a nest of monstrous millipedes due to the lack of caution.

Riding the black steed through the mist, Sunny held the Guiding Light high and followed its shine.

His breathing was heavy.

Just a few minutes ago, he had fought a Corrupted Monster and killed it. The creature had almost sent him into the next revolution - it was not particularly strong, as far as Corrupted abominations went, but rather insidious.

Its camouflage was good enough to make Sunny unaware of the imminent attack right until the moment thick roots sprouted from beneath the ground, and a rotten tree that he had been riding past suddenly moved to envelop him with creaking branches.

If not for Shadow Step, Sunny might have been caught, swallowed, and digested by the creature without being able to put up any resistance. Since he managed to escape its grasp, though, a short and violent clash followed.

The abomination looked like a monstrous tree and was as resilient as a tree. It had no organs to destroy and no blood to spill. Even after cutting it down, Sunny had to summon the Cruel Sight and burn it with divine flame - only when all the branches, the rotten trunk, and the roots of the monster had turned to ash did the Spell announce a kill.

Slaying that thing had been a lot of work... but Sunny was still satisfied with the result. At least he learned that there were normal Nightmare Creatures on Wind Flower. If he had to face another Great abomination, his patience would have run thin.

'I feel like I'm not far from the edge of the island, now.'

If so, Effie couldn't be too far away.

Unless she was not on Wind Flower...

Frowning, Sunny jumped to the ground, allowed Nightmare to turn into a shadow, and continued forward on foot.

was so close, his heart

if he finds Effie... only to discover that he was too late?

to endure something like that. At least not without

the foot of the hill, he used a pile of rocks to stop himself, sending a few of them flying. Then, Sunny looked

was then that he noticed a vague shape in the

it seemed

object. It hit the slope of the hill

produced an explosive shockwave. A moment later, pieces of rock, dirt, and moss rained

thing that had flown past him was now

a strange-looking spear with a shaft of grey wood and a long spearhead

the veil of mist, he looked forward

In the next moment...

His eyes widened.

What the hell?!

him in

What the... why on...

Raised by

in dirt and scratches, but there was no mistake. The dewy olive skin, the perfectly sculpted, lean

her Transcendent armor, instead wearing a crude garment made out of something that

was something different about

his

I came on... on a...

and

mind was momentarily

'Huh?'

build was different... or rather, certain parts of it. Her already generous figure had become even more outstanding, but much more glaringly than that... her belly was round and protruding forward, so much so that she was supporting it with

much did she eat? Gods,