Shadow Slave

1481 Emergency Repairs

The Chain Breaker was assaulted by hurricane winds as it plummeted into the heart of the colossal whirlpool. Nephis had yet to run out of essence, so their fall was controlled… for now.

However, that would change soon.

Sunny was still overwhelmed by the destruction of Aletheia's Island. Shaking off his reverie, he took a deep breath and forced himself to move.

All across the flying vessel, deep shadows stirred and surged forward, turning into inky-black hands. The manifested shadows pulled on the ropes, unfurling the horizontal sails. Those sails extended from both sides of the ship and were meant to help it glide on the winds.

At the same time, he nervously looked down.

…All Sunny could see was darkness.

It was not the true darkness that his sight had never been able to penetrate. Instead, the abyssal chasm was simply so deep for him to see anything.

'Great…'

By now, the slopes of the vortex had almost turned vertical. It was as if the Chain Breaker was surrounded by a vast wall of dark water, its current so fast that its surface was like a blur. At first, the dreadful maw of the whirlpool was dozens of kilometers wide, but the further they descended, the narrower it became.

Eventually, it was as if the Chain Breaker had entered a twisting vertical tunnel that was just a few kilometers in diameter. They were surrounded by absolute darkness, with only a scattering of lanterns illuminating the deck. It was like a small island of light in an ocean of nothingness. No one except for Sunny could see the spinning walls of the tunnel… which was, perhaps, for the best.

He knew that if the ship touched the water, it would be torn apart by the tremendous pressure of the current.

'What the hell am I thinking? It's not for the best! Not at all!'

The Chain Breaker was falling vertically, for now, but it was only possible because Neph was still empowering its enchantments with her essence. Once her essence ran dry, they would have to move in a wide spiral along the watery walls of the tunnel to keep the ship balanced. Otherwise, it would be too easy for it to roll and overturn.

By then, not seeing where the darkness ended, and the furious current began, would be lethal.

Even worse, the tunnel was not strictly vertical. Looking down, Sunny could see it twisting and turning, like a descending tornado.

He gritted his teeth.

"Damnation…"

Could they even survive in this abyss without the Chain Breaker's enchantments?

at the stern of the ship, where Nephis was struggling with the steering oars, but at that moment, Cassie's

"Sunny! Here!"

was standing near the entrance to the main cargo hold, waving at

hesitated for a few moments, then rushed to

"What is it?"

cargo hold, a grim expression

Summon her and make her as strong as

his shadows to augment her. As soon as the taciturn knight

on the wooden floor. There were amphorae containing strange liquids, brushes, stone etchings of complicated runes,

chamber of Aletheia's

Cassie

"What's this?"

already walking toward the

by trying to escape… but I had plenty of time to think, as well. About

stopped and pointed at the chunk of

shatter it. I tried to do it myself… but I'm not

open a jar of pickles for her… whatever that was. In any case, the jagged piece of black rock was not

Cassie was not strong enough to

circuit of the flying vessel, connecting its enchantments to the sacred tree. If Cassie succeeded in

sure if he was strong enough to crush the black stone, either. But Saint was a Transcendent Devil, and augmented by six

indifferent onyx knight, he gestured at the black stone. Her ruby eyes shone darkly, and, summoning her tenebrous blade, Saint took a

fell on the jagged piece of rock… and bounced away, not leaving even a single scratch

flowed from beneath Saint's armor, entering the black blade. The blade itself rippled and changed

such as this was far better suited for piercing armor and breaking

a step back, then slowly raised her weapon

with enough force to make

a flash, a shockwave,

again, Saint had already lowered the lucerne. Her ruby eyes were cold

lay broken

them and

"Again!"

large pieces had turned into smaller ones, and then were finally ground into fine dust inside one of the mortars. The stone dust was then mixed with the strange liquid stored inside the ceramic vessels… some of which turned out to be blood. Hopefully, that of

the time they emerged from the cargo hold, Nephis was running out of

moment, then

"Go! Help Neph!"

appear by Neph's side. Using his ability to see in the dark, he helped her guide the