Shadow Slave

1508 Unleashed

"Sunny? What is it?"

Kai must have read something from his expression. But Sunny did not know how to answer — he was suddenly in a state of mild panic, feeling like there had been a mistake in their plan. They must have misunderstood the situation, somehow.

But what was there to misunderstand? Twilight was besieged by the forces of the Defilement. In the middle of the battle, the Mad Prince had activated the defensive array, trapping Soul Stealer and the Dread Lord in frozen time… and, therefore, escaping from the clutches of his master.

The madman had also manipulated the events of this cycle to make sure that Sunny arrived at Twilight wearing the Serpent King's crown. He must have wanted the battle to resume… so that his future self, free of being enslaved to the Dread Lord, could turn its tide and destroy the tyrant of Verge.

…Right?

"I… don't know. Something is wrong."

Sunny gritted his teeth and pulled Kai to follow him, aiming to leave the throne room as soon as possible. They had to traverse the battlefield and find the other members of the cohort, first. Together, they would stand a much better chance of surviving the clash with the Defiled legion.

But before he could take another step, the palace shuddered, throwing both of them to the ground. There was a deafening rumble behind them, and the great hall was suddenly much brighter than it had been before.

A whole section of the dome shattered and collapsed, revealing the beautiful twilight sky above…

And the giant head of the harrowing dragon that had broken it.

Enormous chunks of stone fell down, burying the black throne beneath debris. Luckily, Sunny and Kai had already distanced themselves from the dais — otherwise, they would have been buried with it.

'Damnation…'

The Dread Lord's head passed through the breach, hovering in the air on his long neck. His eyes shone with starlight, full of sinister madness and malevolence. Then, the harrowing dragon pushed his enormous body inside, causing more of the dome to collapse.

A moment later, he landed in the throne room with a loud thud, and the palace shook once more.

not look as if the Dread Lord was chasing

gazed at them and opened its maw, his porcelain fangs glistening in the

his Shadows, at the same time summoning the

However, before he could…

resounded in his mind, causing him enormous

[STOP.]

the Dread

place. It was as if the dragon's words were the law,

but, but the

well. It was only then that Sunny realized that the Dread

authority of his voice. It was Kai's Ascended Ability, amplified and

little bit sinister. The charming archer was a good and honest person by nature, so he only ever used it to inspire his allies and influence Nightmare Creatures. However, in the hands of someone less decent, it had the potential to produce

to make anyone do anything — at least those of lesser Ranks than you — was very much like wielding absolute power over them. And power,

caring Kai who had become the dreadful lord of Verge… with Kai's upright character destroyed by

knowing and experiencing it himself were two

'Curse it!'

Sunny kneeled in front

***

streets of Twilight, Nephis was released from the inescapable trap of frozen time. Disoriented, she fell and

regaining the spark of life. Their chests were beginning to rise and fall as they breathed for the first time in countless years. Their weapons

deactivated, he must have reached the palace already. Mordret of Valor was nowhere to be seen — he had returned to his physical body, which was lost somewhere in Twilight. Cassie,

still win

had been separated when escaping Soul Stealer's mirror realm, their primary goal was achieved. Time had been unfrozen, and the warriors of Twilight were

and overcome the invading legion of abominations. The battle would not be easy… it would

had it ever

took a step forward and hesitated for a moment, looking

an ominous premonition.