Shadow Slave

1504 Frozen City

The walls of Twilight were tall and imposing, built from stone and reinforced with the scales of powerful Nightmare Creatures. In the dim twilight of the early dawn, they looked like towering black cliffs. However, now, these cliffs were shattered and ruined. Many sections of the wall had collapsed, others had been breached or severely damaged. The corpses of dead abominations piled high, reaching the ramparts in several places.

The siege of Twilight had truly been terrible.

But what caught Sunny's attention the most was not the devastated state of the city wall, but the eerie nature of the devastation.

Time was indeed frozen in Twilight.

Shards of broken stone hung in the air, unmoving. Rivers of blood were like abstract sculptures carved from ruby. Dancing flames had turned into motionless, searing blossoms.

It was as though some deity had frozen the world in the middle of a fierce battle.

"We will have to be more careful now."

Mordret's voice was strangely somber. His usual amused smile was nowhere to be seen — instead, the Prince of Nothing seemed full of grim apprehension. Looking at the breached walls of Twilight, he sighed.

"Soul Stealer is most likely inside the city. We will move stealthily through the backstreets and reach the palace. Once we are there… the Memory of yours better work, Sunless."

Sunny suppressed the desire to grimace.

If even that bastard was nervous… the rest of them had to be ready for anything.

Without having to say much, they entered the city through one of the breaches in its wall. Finally, Twilight lay in front of them in all its glory.

It was entirely unlike the other cities Sunny had seen in the Dream Realm. There were a few similarities, of course — like the extensive use of materials scavenged from the Nightmare Creatures in construction, for example. But the architectural style of the Twilight Sea was very unique. It was both robust and aery, paying more attention to practically than aesthetics, but at the same time expressing the latter in a myriad of subtle ways.

Fitting for a culture that had come from a world of water and frequent storms.

Sunny did not pay a lot of attention to how the city looked, however, taken by what was happening on its streets.

There, countless humans were frozen in the midst of a terrible battle against vile Nightmare Creatures. Hundreds of thousands… no, millions of them.

Some had been frozen in the middle of swinging a sword…

been frozen in the middle of being torn

Sunny the most was not the eeriness of the motionless slaughter, but the faces of the people of

who were dying maintained calm expressions, their eyes full of cold resolve. They did not show anger or fury,

kind of army did the Serpent

changed them. But they were still people. Sunny had spent plenty of time with seasoned soldiers, and none of them was immune

Awakened, while most were mundane. Some were old, while some were young.

'Strange…'

about their chances of becoming allies with these alien people. However, he did not have time to ponder these matters — Mordret was already walking ahead, carefully

a narrow street and stealthily advanced toward

near their guide. He hesitated for a

here for a long time.

glanced at him with

"How so?"

Sunny frowned.

are too stalwart, I

for a

seem a bit

'Figures.'

already talking to

really surprised to learn that there's another you walking around, huh? I know I was. It's a

raised an

it must

at

'What a curious answer.'

preferring to keep quiet. Who knew how good Soul

city and entered its middle part. The battle seemed much more intense here, as if all participants — both the Nightmare Creatures and the humans — were

but the defenders of

the invaders would have to fight their way

Somehow, it seemed that the epicenter of the battle was not behind them, at the outskirts of the city, but instead ahead of

extended his shadow sense outward and frowned, feeling the row of buildings coming to an end

just before entering

square, as well, her hand resting