Shadow Slave

1527 Leaving Twilight

The Chain Breaker left the drowning remains of Twilight behind and turned away from the rising suns. Drifting above the currents, it traversed the dreadful battlefield and escaped into clear waters.

The Great River flowed below them. By now, the sight of the world in constant motion was both familiar and calming. Sunny had a feeling that returning to reality, where the ground was solid and unmoving, would be a strange experience.

There were no Nightmare Creatures in the vicinity of Twilight, so they could relax for a few days. The members of the cohort rested and recuperated, not doing anything in particular. They slept, consumed delicious meals, and spent their time in idleness.

Even Mordret's presence did not dampen the peaceful mood. He was nothing if not accommodating, even pleasant to be around. Of course, he was… true monsters knew better than anyone how to appear sympathetic and friendly, after all. And the Prince of Nothing was a singular existence even among the insidious monsters.

But that was fine. Sunny did not mind sharing a ship with him, as long as Mordret was an ally. Gods knew that the cohort needed all the help it could get in this dreadful, utterly unreasonable Nightmare.

Sunny himself did not do much in the first few days of their journey across the Great River. He slept some more, spent some time staring at the sky, and chatted with Kai, describing the past events of the Nightmare in more detail.

The month he had spent with Nephis on the carcass of the Black Turtle, the battle with the Azure Serpent. Their meeting with Ananke and the visit to forlorn Weave. The journey to Fallen Grace and their reunion with Cassie. The battle against the Defiled sybil… the dreadful months they had spent on Aletheia's Island, and their eventual escape.

In the process, Sunny also spoke about the many mysteries they had solved and the startling revelations they had received in the Tomb of Ariel. Looking back… he had truly learned a lot here, both about the past and the present.

And about himself.

little. He was not quite alright — after suffering so much

Almost.

Twilight to deal with. If there was a way to deal with that, even. Sunny felt that

being in that strange dispassionate state, talking with her about deeply emotional issues did not seem like a good idea. She was slowly recovering, at least. So, Sunny decided to wait until she was back to her usual self before

nothing for him

the endless dawn, but the waters the

beneath the waves once more. The radiant sky would harbor terrifying abominations once more. And so,

aboard the Chain

strangely, Sunny

it was arrogance, but looking at the seven people gathered on the graceful ship, he felt

more deadly cohort of Masters? Surely

Effie were veterans of both the Forgotten Shore and the Antarctic campaign, with plenty of incredible feats under their belts. Soul Reaper Jet was one of the most feared individuals in the world, with even Saints being wary of her sinister blade. Cassie

Divine Aspects, unheard of in history. Their individual power was already outside the scope of

have

Speaking of Mordret...

of knowledge the Prince of Nothing possessed was simply too tempting. Granted, the bastard lied as easily as he breathed, so anything he said had to

thumb, nothing Mordret said could be trusted. But Sunny still wanted to ask him a few questions, especially those that almost no one else could

could usually be seen at the bow of the Chain Breaker, where Saint stood guard with Morgan's Warbow in her hands. He seemed to be very interested in the graceful stone knight,

the branches of the sacred tree, walked past Ananke's ketch, and approached the Prince of Nothing. Sensing

pleasant surprise. Did you