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?

turned to look at the stern of the ship, where Nephis was struggling with the steering

"Sunny! Here!"

to the main cargo hold, waving at him.

a few moments, then rushed to her

"What is it?"

into the cargo hold, a grim

help… or rather, your Shadow's help. Summon her and make her as

soon as the taciturn knight appeared, her onyx armor shone with dark radiance, and a feeling of

various objects were neatly laid out on the wooden floor. There were amphorae containing strange liquids, brushes, stone etchings of complicated runes, mortars, and items that Sunny did not even know

the black stone from the hidden chamber of Aletheia's Tower was also there, illuminated

gave Cassie a

"What's this?"

was already walking

spent a lot of time inside the loop. Most of it was occupied by trying to escape… but I had plenty of time to think, as well. About how

pointed at the chunk of

it. I tried

was. In any case,

course, Cassie was not

runic circuit of the flying vessel, connecting its enchantments to the sacred tree. If Cassie succeeded in time… perhaps, they would not

black stone, either. But Saint was a Transcendent Devil, and augmented by six

he gestured at the black stone. Her ruby eyes

on the jagged piece of rock… and bounced away, not leaving even

black blade. The blade itself rippled and changed form,

weapon such as this was far better suited for piercing

took a step back, then slowly raised her weapon

struck down with enough force to make

a flash, a shockwave, and a thunderous

regained his vision once again, Saint had already lowered the

black stone lay broken into

them and

"Again!"

fine dust inside one of the mortars. The stone dust was then mixed with the strange liquid stored

cargo hold, Nephis was running out of

hesitated for a moment, then pointed

"Go! Help Neph!"

Using his ability to see in the dark, he helped her guide the flying vessel into a spiraling descent. Nephis steered the ship, while Sunny played the role of a