Shadow Slave

1517 Supernova

On the crumbling streets of Twilight, a grotesque Nightmare Creature was mauling another with its fangs, while a rain of swords and spears fell on its tough hide. Each strike caused streams of fetid blood to pour out of ghastly wounds, but the abominations paid it no attention.

'Ah… it hurts.'

Mordret, who had taken the body of the Nightmare Creature, was not having a great time. Not only was he being cut and mangled by the vessels of the impostor, but it was also getting hard to breathe. The air was full of smoke, and the buildings around him had caught fire, at some point.

But he was so close…

Finally, the abominations he had been brutalizing shuddered and died. An ethereal stream of power flowed into his soul, and he fled into the reflections, escaping the cruel blades of the hollow vessels.

Appearing a few hundred meters away from the pursuing mob, he left the dying body of the battered Nightmare Creature and returned to his own. Before too long, a familiar pain tore apart his soul, forcing Mordret to groan.

'Why… does it have… to be so unpleasant?'

A new core was being born in the depths of his soul. He was becoming a Monster once again.

'This will give me some breathing room.'

The human flood was already surrounding him, seemingly endless. Mordret had only a few seconds of reprieve before the puppets of Soul Stealer would assault him again.

His perception spread far and wide, jumping between countless reflections to observe the world.

He saw Song of the Fallen, the blind witch.

He also saw a giant made of shadows wield a jade sword against a harrowing dragon… Sunless, the madman, was fighting against the Dread Lord.

Nightingale was there, as well, kneeling near a puddle of water.

At that moment, Mordret's eyes glistened, and a sinister thought entered his mind.

'Can I?'

He hesitated for a moment, unsure. But then, a dark smile twisted his lips.

'Well, even if I fail, it will at least be entertaining.'

Mordret moved, contemplating how much essence he had left. Reaching the distant fortress would be a challenge...

But then, he was distracted from these calculations.

That was because he saw something else.

Turning toward the heart of the city, Mordret froze for a moment.

His eyes widened slightly.

***

her mangled neck. Her armor was slick with blood, and she felt

"Go."

cobblestones. She was going to buy her master some time to escape, and then drown

the wall and continued to flee. She dodged and evaded the Nightmare Creatures

were literally hanging from her neck, hidden in an iron locket. That locket pressed her down with the weight of

herself to make

'I must escape.'

turn, she came to a

staring at her with those eerie empty

of Twilight. Beyond them, there was nothing

nowhere else to

out a

lowered her bloodied hand and unsheathed the Quiet Dancer. The slender rapier glistened in

She gritted her teeth.

"Come, then."

'It's time.'

***

heart of Twilight, Nephis finally reached the

had collapsed, at some point, turning into a

Dread Lord was not here. Sunny was nowhere to

She was late.

sigh escaped from her

her, a dozen warriors stood

she would not have recognized Mordret of Valor…

the monster silently, an incandescent void

took a

Her white tunic was torn and cut, revealing the soft radiance of her skin. Even her sword was covered by a

She was tired.

"Found you."

him moved to meet her. At the same time, thousands upon thousands of human vessels were pouring from the burning streets, surrounding

no matter how many she killed,

'I…'

her, summoning

from the side… the third, the fourth… she tried to block, evade, and

few moments later, her sword

Step after step, wound after wound, she slowly, torturously made her way

She almost made it.

monstrous creature now… but those

fell to her knees. Seven spears were piercing her radiant body, nailing it to the ground. She couldn't heal these

them and held down, Nephis couldn't

movement ahead, she raised her head and looked at the

at her with an empty gaze. His pale lips

"Sis… ter…"