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.

heart

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

was not sure that he would be able to endure something like that. At least not without something inside him

searching for a way down, and then slid down the wet moss. At the foot of the hill, he used a pile of rocks to stop

that he noticed a

seemed to notice

Sunny could react, something shot in his direction with astonishing speed. Cursing, he barely dodged the flying object.

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

past him was now embedded deeply into stone,

a shaft of grey wood and a long spearhead

its passage had torn the veil of mist, he

In the next moment...

His eyes widened.

What the hell?! You almost

at him in shock,

the... why on... how

Raised

than usual, covered in dirt and scratches, but there was no mistake. The dewy olive skin, the

clad in her Transcendent armor, instead wearing a crude garment

was something different

his gaze, Sunny

else? I came on... on

stuttered and

mind was momentarily

'Huh?'

more outstanding, but much more glaringly than that...

much did she eat? Gods, that gluttonous... gluttonous...