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.

were perhaps the most tired of them all. They had experienced months of battling dangerous Nightmare Creatures across the Great River, the tragic destruction of their nomadic tribe, the escape from the swarm of the Drowned, and the horrors of

inside the tower were the first real opportunity to rest they had received since entering the

Effie, describing his own experiences in the Tomb of Ariel and sharing valuable knowledge. Jet also listened, sometimes offering her

much, but after remembering 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

could only get enough

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

sure what she meant, but he wasn't going

quickly grew bored with doing nothing. Or rather, the memories of his gruesome death were too vivid when Sunny was not doing anything, so he quickly found something

spare, he could start thinking about how to empower the cohort best. He had a few ideas, but was

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

Memory armor, because it already possessed five, but only two relatively light enchantments. Additionally, the [Blessing of Spirit] suited the

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,

to be summoned instantly, could qualitatively change every Memory in his arsenal. Sadly, it remained unattainable and elusive. He often felt

all minor projects, though. His true desire, the white whale Sunny continued

asked her to lend him the Quiet Dancer. By comparing the two Echoes - one created by the enchanters of Clan Valor, the other by the Spell - Sunny was able to

far beyond him, or at least too time-consuming to try. However... Sunny came up with