Shadow Slave

Sunny studied the tranquil surface of the crimson lake, unnerved. He had died in its waters a few times, and each of those deaths was both torturous and gruesome. But now that he knew what had caused him to die, he felt even more wary of the red water than before.

Indeed... the entire blood lake was, in a sense, a Nightmare Creature. However, it was not a single living being.

Instead, there were mindless, microscopic, insatiable creatures living in the bloody water, too tiny to see and too numerous to count. Each drop of the bloody water contained millions of them. Sunny had fought and killed many abominations, from titanic behemoths to insect-like vermin that hunted in giant swarms. However, he had never faced Nightmare Creatures that were no different from flesh-eating bacteria.

The whole lake had become a colony for these tiny horrors. Sunny did not know whether they had come from inside the giant corpse, or if the winged being simply was one of their victims. Perhaps it was both. What he did know was that the abomination's blood provided nearly endless nourishment for the tiny devourers, allowing them to propagate at astonishing speed and infect the entire lake.

Thus becoming the lake.

...No wonder he had died screaming in its crimson waters.

Sunny took a deep breath, dismounted, and gave Effie a grim look.

"Stay away from the water."

The huntress climbed off the Covetous Coffer and sighed.

"Yeah. I gathered that much... but, Sunny. How are you going to kill a lake? Short of somehow evaporating the entire thing, I don't see a way."

He hesitated.

Indeed, how was anyone supposed to kill a lake?

head, then headed toward

out of that lake alive, though... I think

they made their way to the shore - Effie stayed back, but Sunny

overbearing stench of blood assaulted his

uncomfortable, Sunny took a deep breath and summoned a Memory. White sparks swirled around his hand, and soon, a beautiful chalice of white jade appeared in his hand, overflowing

did not use this Memory often. The last time he had, it was to coat the arrows and bullets of the First Evacuation Army soldiers with the Black

who knew it would come in

tilted it and watched as a stream of black liquid fell into the crimson water. The poison

with a cup of the sweetest nectar. No matter how much of the sweet nectar they drank, the cup remained full. The more of

of the sinister Memory surfaced

that more of it had flowed out of the Bitter Cusp than the jade chalice

as were many Memories. Mundane logic almost never applied to how they

did not need an explanation, though. All he needed was for the blood lake to drink as much of

over the lake's surface, and shallow waves licked its shore. Forcing himself to stay still, Sunny threw

"Step back."

grew still. He did not move a centimeter, though, no matter how

to look more and more eerie. Its crimson waters seemed to be tinted a subtly darker shade now, and rippled silently. Although there was no wind, the waves

a

poison grew thinner, then thinner still. Then, it broke, and only a few

Cusp

"Well. That's done."

some distance away, Effie

that you've poisoned this lake so thoroughly...