Shadow Slave

Sunny waited for a moment... then waited some more. He was back on the deck of the Chain Breaker, surrounded by flowing mist. A slight tremor ran through his body.

'I'm tired.'

He straightened slowly and stared into the fog. It was time for him to take a break, but... Sunny wasn't even sure what he was supposed to do. His companions were just as useless as far as resting was concerned - none of them had given him a single good idea.

Well... except for Jet. She had looked at him for a few moments, chuckled, and told him to take a good nap.

Which was not a bad piece of advice. As a government officer who had always looked overworked and suffering from sleep deprivation, she would know best.

That said...

Even though this revolution was supposed to be his day off, Sunny still had to rescue Jet. Relaxing while she was being killed by Undying Slaughter did not sound restful at all. He couldn't bring himself to even think about skipping this step.

'Ah...'

Glancing at Nephis and Cassie, Sunny walked over to Nightmare and climbed into the saddle. Neph looked at him questioningly.

"Sunny? What are you doing?"

He couldn't be bothered to explain things properly.

"Leaving. Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Until then... just stay here."

Leaving the two bewildered young women behind, Nightmare leaped into the mist.

As the familiar scenes flew past him, Sunny summoned the Mirror of Truth and studied the reflection of Nephis on its mercurial surface. After hesitating for a few moments, he activated the [Searching Reflection] enchantment.

At the same time, he imagined a pure white flame and thought:

'Soul Flame.'

appeared on the silver

if his soul, which had always been still and silent, was in motion... rolling, billowing. Burning. It was not painful, just

soul burns with the purest of flames. That flame can both restore and destroy,

'How peculiar.'

an important detail - possessing something and being in control of it were two different things. He should have

manifest Soul Flame. As he did, more tiny cracks appeared on the surface of the Mirror of

not last for more than one. A Transcendent Ability might shatter the Mirror of Truth in mere

was

on his palm.

'...It's black?'

had expected to see the pure white flame,

flame produced from one's soul. Nephis's soul

the potency of his Ascended soul fueled it, he lacked Nephis's lineage Attribute, [The Fire]. That Attribute granted her unmatched affinity to flame and, among

Sunny lacked the innate resistance to fire it

"Ouch!"

the black flame when the skin on his palm started to blister. It hurt like

burning... burning was up there with the absolute worst

frown contorted his

his newfound Ability. Eventually, he managed to summon soulflame again, this time channeling

a strange dark radiance. Concentrating it on his hands, he watched as

had just healed

'Wow.'

nice would it be, to be able to

He shook his head.

audacity

she was the ultimate

get it to empower his body. Augmented both by both the dark flames and the shadows, Sunny felt dire strength coursing

akin to his five shadows. Instead, it was a single mass of flame which could be divided however he

'Huh...'

the authentic soulflame, all of the mirrored soulflame, Effie's Ascended Ability, and the Crown of Dawn on top