Shadow Slave

Days passed in a strange mix of idleness and tension. Aletheia's Island had always been like a misty hell, but now, that hell was boiling - even secreted away inside the tower, the members of the cohort could feel the echoes of the harrowing clashes between the abominable Nightmare Creatures.

These fiends had been caught by the island across many centuries, but now that the loop was destroyed, they were eradicating each other with terrifying speed.

Of course, Undying Slaughter and Devouring Beast were at the forefront of the massacre.

Sunny caught glimpses of the two from time to time. His shadows were always keeping an eye on the outside world. With the mist growing thinner with each day, the landscape of Aletheia's Island gradually cleared - so, by now, he could see a good chunk of the ancient forest from the top of the tower.

The lumbering shape of the bestial giantess was easily noticed. Undying Slaughter was much harder to spot, but he could clearly see the death throes of her victims. For now, nothing seemed to be able to prevail against the two Defiled Saints... to his disappointment.

He would have preferred to see the two Plagues killed by the powerful Nightmare Creatures residing on the island. If they perished, there would be no need for the cohort to stay. Sunny and his companions would be able to return to the Chain Breaker and slip away into the darkness at the heart of the vortex.

But, of course, reality was not that convenient.

Speaking of his companions, each of them was recuperating in their own manner. Nephis was replenishing her soul essence with stunning speed, and spent most of her time training. Her singular devotion to her sword seemed almost obsessive, by now.

Cassie had disappeared into the spherical chamber of Aletheia's Tower, where she was supposed to be studying the runes. And she did do that, of course... but, somehow, Sunny felt that the blind girl mostly went there to be alone. That was why she only returned above ground to eat meals prepared by Nephis and sleep. Most of the time, it was easy to forget that she was even with them.

Nightmare Creatures across the Great River, the tragic destruction of their nomadic tribe, the escape from the swarm of the Drowned, and the

first real opportunity to rest

two women mostly relaxed and remained idle. Sunny spent some time with Effie, describing his own experiences in the Tomb of Ariel and sharing valuable knowledge. Jet also listened, sometimes offering her opinion or asking questions... but mostly, she just looked deeply and comfortably

how overworked Soul Reaper had usually looked since the first day they met, he just figured that she was catching up on nap time after a decade of being worked to

could only get

there were enough of the succulent golden fruits to last her a long while... she

sure what she meant, but he wasn't going to

rather, the memories of his gruesome death were too vivid when

Now that Sunny had five Supreme soul shards to spare, he could start thinking about how

weaker Memories. For example, he managed to transplant the [Blessing of Spirit] - the enchantment enhancing recovery from mental fatigue

even have to add an additional nexus to his first Memory armor, because it already possessed five, but only two relatively light enchantments.

he transplanted the [Blessing of Flesh] - the enchantment that enhanced recovery from physical fatigue - to the Eternal Spring. Now, not only could the beautiful glass bottle provide a near-infinite supply of water, but

the [Unseen] enchantment of the Moonlight Shard. That single enchantment, which allowed the ghostly stiletto to be summoned instantly, could qualitatively change every Memory in his arsenal. Sadly, it remained unattainable and elusive. He often felt that he was almost there... but at the last moment, the weave always

were all minor projects, though. His true desire, the white whale Sunny continued to pursue... had little

with Echoes. He had already studied Cassie's blade mannequin before, but now, he also asked her to lend him the Quiet Dancer. By comparing the two Echoes - one created by

him, or at least too time-consuming to