Shadow Slave

1486 Colorful Ribbon

The Chain Breaker was still flying at high speed in the direction it had been expelled from the vortex. Thankfully, Nephis had rolled the ship in time, preventing the members of the cohort from plummeting down… but Sunny was still pressed into the deck, struggling to stand up.

The world was dark, with only the soft glow of the sacred tree illuminating it.

Finally, he rose to his feet, swayed slightly, and called out in a stifled voice:

"Is… is everyone alive?"

He could see Nephis nearby... she was safe. Looking across the deck, he noticed Effie leaning on the sacred tree, a startled expression on her face. Luckily, the huntress did not look injured.

Jet was a bit further away. It seemed that she had used the fifth form of her mist blade, the scythe, as a hook to keep herself in place. Her icy blue eyes were alert and focused.

Cassie had been sleeping in her cabin when the strange event happened, so she was definitely fine — the blind girl might have suffered a few bruises, but she wouldn't have been thrown overboard.

"I'm fine!"

"Alive is a strong word…"

Hearing Effie and Jet answer his question, Sunny let out a relieved sigh. Almost at the same time, Cassie appeared from below the deck, looking a bit haggard.

With each member of the cohort accounted for, he relaxed a little.

They seemed to have escaped the dreadful whirlpool. At least it looked that way.

The twisting tunnel was gone, replaced by a vast empty space. The oppressive feeling Sunny had felt in the depths of the Great River was gone, too, and time seemed to be flowing naturally as well.

Space, however…

was a bit

definitely there. Humans, after all, were not meant to perceive the fabric of space —

of Ariel, many things that he had considered absolute had proven to be less than reliable. The existence of the Tomb was in and of itself a paradox, considering that it contained an entire

Sunny could not perceive the fabric of space, he could still sense that something was

going on? No, first… where

hull of the Chain Breaker, no sunlight, no glow that suffused the Great River at night. There was only darkness,

Nephis. She was still holding the steering oars, but at the moment, there was nothing for her to do. The ship was still flying… rising?...

alright, and then looked behind her. There was nothing there… only a vast, boundless

wind played with her

hesitated

think… we have left

so there could very well be a vast empty space inside it. However, somehow, Sunny

Had they reached the bottom of the Great

up instead of being thrown down? In fact… the Chain Breaker

"What the hell happened?"

frowned, struggling to find an answer, and eventually said with no confidence in

we had crossed a

say something else, but then

later, her eyes

raised a hand and

"Sunny… behind you…"

knew that there was nothing immediately behind him — otherwise, he would have felt it through shadow sense. Frowning, he

he had seen before, but when he shifted his gaze

Sunny grew still.

am I

floated in the darkness. It was like a colorful ribbon painted in lilac, azure, and crimson, with parts of it drowning in shadows. Seven small motes of light slowly moved through the darkness around

its surface twisted on itself

a few moments to realize what the