Shadow Slave

1524 Bitter, Sweet

By the time Sunny woke up, it was night.

Even this place of endless dawn had a night, just like the crimson expanse of eternal dusk had one. However, nights were short and fleeting at the edges of the Great River.

Before he knew it, the sevens suns were already rising again.

The world became painted by the soft colors of the breaking dawn.

With a sigh, Sunny rubbed his eyes and sat up.

He felt… strangely great. His body was in perfect shape because of Neph's healing flames, and his mental energy had been restored with the help of the Shroud of Dusk after having a good sleep.

Nightmare had also guarded his dreams, as well as the dreams of everyone else aboard the Chain Breaker. Here in the pyramid built by the Demon of Dread, that alone was more important than one would think.

'Great…'

Nevertheless, his good mood was diminished when he remembered what had transpired in Twilight.

'I... should probably be happy, right?'

Beyond himself, even.

Ariel had been slain, so why wouldn't he? Finally, the end of this Nightmare did not seem so distant as to be impossible anymore. Salvation was within reach, already visible far in the distance — just like the

feel completely happy. That victory of theirs had been too perilous, almost turning into defeat.

that… he was not happy with

the throne room of the Serpent King's palace, lifting the curse of frozen time, resisting the authority of the Dread Lord, fighting the Defiled Saint almost to a standstill while being inhabited by madness, and even realizing the full potential of his current level of mastery

limited to a single static form? Turning into monstrous serpents, winged horrors, and dreadful beasts… truly, the depth

have accomplished. And without him

And yet….

been defeated by the Dread Lord, and he had been defeated by the [King's Resentment] enchantment of the Crown of Twilight. Most of all, he had been defeated by his own lack of foresight and knowledge. He

that did not feel

Sunny sighed.

can't

He had long realized, after all, that his allies were a part of his power. So, their triumph was his triumph, just like his triumph would be theirs in turn. Still... Sunny couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed in himself. He had done remarkably well in this Nightmare up until yesterday. Experiencing a serious setback was a change of

the fact that Nephis had to resort to using Shadow Bond in

not know how to feel

the lives of his friends, too. In fact, if Sunny had been able to think at that

humans were not

moment. The horror of having his will violated in such a tyrannical fashion. The hopelessness he felt when his body and soul moved despite his wishes, refusing to obey him. Obeying someone else instead. The demented fury he had felt at that time only made the experience

like a shadow that hung over his

Sunny shook his head

soured. He noticed a pair of hateful eyes glaring at him

awake, are you? So, how