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.

if the Dread Lord was chasing them. Instead,

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

inwardly and called upon his Shadows, at

However, before he could…

in

[STOP.]

following the Dread Lord's

frozen in place. It was as if the dragon's words were the law, and he

but

Kai was frozen still, as well. It was only then that Sunny realized that the Dread Lord had

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

power had always been more than a 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 truly terrifying

anything — at least those of lesser Ranks than you —

and caring Kai who had become the dreadful lord of Verge… with Kai's upright character destroyed by the curse of the Defilement, the insidious side of his Aspect would have had nothing to keep it in check

knowing and experiencing it himself were

'Curse it!'

command, Sunny kneeled in front

***

else, on the devastated streets of Twilight, Nephis was released from the inescapable trap of frozen time. Disoriented, she fell and rolled, jumping to her

undone. Their cold eyes were regaining the spark of life. Their chests were beginning to rise and

— he had returned to his physical body, which was lost somewhere in Twilight. Cassie, Effie, and Soul Reaper Jet had to be

we can still win

mirror realm, their primary goal was achieved. Time had

the invading legion of abominations. The battle

when had it ever been

step forward and hesitated for a moment,

had an ominous premonition. Something felt wrong about the