Shadow Slave

In the end, Sunny had once again drawn the map of Aletheia's Island on the ground. Only, this time, it was much more detailed. He also knew where most of the truly dangerous Nightmare Creatures would be at any given point... his time map was complete.

The members of the cohort studied it for a while, listening to his explanations. Sunny described the prisoners of the nightmarish island in as much detail as he could, sometimes relying on Cassie to provide the most crucial pieces of information. As the two of them spoke in turns, the faces of their companions grew more and more somber.

Eventually, Sunny looked at the map with a dark expression and fell silent for a few moments. When he spoke again, his voice was even:

"Destroying the loop will not be easy. However... it is what comes after we destroy it that is truly dangerous."

He pointed to the map.

"We will still be trapped on the island after the loop is broken. And... the rest of its prisoners will be, as well. These terrible Nightmare Creatures, as well as Undying Slaughter and Devouring Beast. But this time, none of us will be revived by the loop, should we die."

Sunny looked at his companions.

"Which means that we will have only one attempt to escape this hell alive."

Despite his solemn tone, Effie suddenly chuckled. He threw her an annoyed glance at her, then asked:

"What's so funny?"

She shook her head.

"No, nothing. Sorry... but that's how it usually goes, isn't it? If you die, you die. Cassie and you might have been living by a different set of rules recently, but for the rest of us, everything is pretty much how it has always been."

He sighed.

'Well... she's not wrong.'

No matter how much he tried to avoid it, the loop had messed with his perception of life and death. But for Effie, Jet, and Nephis... what he had warned them about was already perfectly natural.

Sunny shrugged.

"Well, good. Keep that attitude. In any case, what I meant is that there can't be any mistakes. We will have one day to destroy the loop. On that day, three things need to happen."

spoke, the tip of the Sin of Solace traced a few marks on

We must retrieve the enchantment key from the shrine and find something on the bottom of the lake before entering the tower. Once inside, we will

His voice grew somber:

where the Nightmare Creatures are anymore - once the loop is broken, most of the knowledge Cassie and I have so painstakingly gathered will become worthless. Returning to the Chain Breaker will be just as dangerous as our first exploration of

Sunny grimaced.

exploration. Well, at least I think we did - I wouldn't

the

don't need to go to the

subtle smile appeared on

it. Good

to the tower with his sword,

Tower is more or less the safest place on the island. Once the loop is broken, the Nightmare Creatures will continue killing each other... or, at least, Undying Slaughter and Devouring Beast will continue killing to satiate their Flaws. So, the smartest thing we can do is lock ourselves in

Finally, Sunny grinned.

dust settles, we can slip away, board

at him with a

moments of silence,

"Or... we don't escape."

there was dead

looked at her

"What do you mean?"

of action himself, despite how risky it was. It was just that... Sunny was not

Nephis shrugged.

on the island. Why don't we kill them before we

Jet smiled darkly.

of Undying Slaughter. But, Nephis... you haven't seen that thing. You haven't fought her. Do you know

answered. Looking up from where she sat

though. They are us, so... we know their weaknesses. We can exploit those weaknesses - that is how

She smiled.

we? I mean that we should wait for them to grow weak from hunger, then finish the wretches off to make sure

to her,

smile dimming. After a moment of silence, she

of the