Shadow Slave

Eventually, they arrived at the bone orchard. The skeletal remains of the dead horrors towered above them, and the subtle sweet smell emanated by the Hollow Butterfly permeated the flowing fog.

The members of the cohort looked around tensely, unnerved by the eerie scene. Sunny, however, had been to this sprawling graveyard many times. He walked nonchalantly between the bones, his steps hurried.

"Follow me. It's right ahead."

Soon, the Great Monster revealed itself from the mist. Even though Sunny had explained that it was not dangerous, his companions still couldn't help but grip their weapons tighter.

"What... the hell... is that?"

Jet's voice sounded hoarse.

Looking back, Sunny gave her a pale smile.

"Nephis and I call these creatures Dark Butterflies. We've seen another one in action, much further upstream... needless to say, it's a blessing that the one in front of us is Hollow."

The four of them stared up at the gargantuan form of the Great Monster in apprehension. After a few moments of silence, Nephis finally asked:

"So, why are we here, exactly?"

Sunny lingered for a few moments.

"Since it's Hollow, we won't earn anything by killing it - no soul shards, no Memories. But its body is perfectly healthy. And it's a body of Supreme quality, so... we are here to butcher it."

sparks ignited

weapons out of

nodded with a tired

but they'll still be

stared at the motionless

get to work, shall

one was capable of rending its impregnable carapace. Sunny was by no means an master artisan, but knew more about

almost certain that they would be able to achieve success, even though it was going to take some time. But wasting some time here was also part of his plan - Neph had yet to replenish enough essence to use her Dormant

want to enter the caverns before both of those things had

the middle of the bone orchard for a while. Luckily, this place was one of the safest on Wind Flower - perhaps because the Hollow Butterfly's

and Jet simply rested and observed, while Sunny, Cassie, Saint,

Monster. Severing them was no easy task, but with the help of the five shadows and the augmentation of the Crown of Dawn, as well as a scattering of useful utility Memories, the work progressed at a steady pace. Saint and Fiend,

enough essence to heal Jet, the lower parts of the Hollow Butterfly's legs were laid out on the ground in front of them. They were still too large to be used as pikes - each at least ten meters in length - so Sunny had to splinter and shave

her augmenting

them, each crafted from chitin of Supreme quality. There was also a bundle

a Corrupted abomination, then enchanted and used to kill a Fallen Titan. Sadly, there was no time for him to enchant the

vengeful creature had used a crude sword fashioned from

Hollow Butterfly's chitin. Its edge was sharp enough to serve as a

of black chitin, this one flat and roughly circular, to Saint. Sunny had personally

think we are

would be... at