Shadow Slave

The five members of the cohort were gone, off to scout the approach to Verge. Sunny felt uneasy and worried about their safety, but not tremendously so. Each of them was a powerhouse in their own right, and possessed a wealth of experience when it came to moving stealthily through a region infested with Nightmare Creatures.

Nephis, Kai, and Effie were veterans of the Forgotten Shore, where humans had been at the very bottom of the food chain. Effie, who had hunted in the Dark City alone for many years, was especially proficient in navigating dangerous terrain without alerting anyone or anything of her presence.

Jet had already been a frightening existence before the Southern Campaign, and grew only more tenacious after going through the disastrous months in the Antarctic Center, followed by serving in the military reconnaissance in East Antarctica.

Mordret was by far the most slippery of the five, so even if Sunny was inclined to care about his well-being, the bastard was the last person in the Tomb of Ariel he would be worried about.

So, the scouts were more than capable of fulfilling their mission unscathed.

If anything, Sunny was more concerned about himself and Cassie. The restlessness he had felt for the past few months reached an apex, telling him that something was about to happen.

The Sin of Solace was not shy about voicing his opinion, either:

"You've done it now, fool. What madness made you think that staying here alone with her was a good idea? It wasn't me, that's for sure. Now, you are completely defenseless against whatever new betrayal she had in mind, with no one to cover your back."

Sunny looked at him somberly, then turned away.

Saint, Fiend, and Nightmare were still aboard the Chain Breaker. So, the loathsome wraith was wrong — there was someone to cover his back. There were plenty.

'No, that's wrong...'

need that? Cassie was not going to betray the cohort. That was just his paranoia

his was a bit concerning. He had grown so used to the Sin of Solace that listening to the apparition's poison was already a habit. It had failed to

simply the result of the incredible mental strain he had

that how the Mad Prince started to

filtered out the incessant whispers of the sword wraith and went about

shore of the ice land, hiding it in the shadow of a tall rock mound. Sunny moored the ship, making sure that the ropes could be cut at a

was nothing for them to do

Cassie seemed perfectly at ease. If she had been surprised by his sudden decision to stay back —which, in all honesty, went against how he would usually act — she did not show it. The blind girl remained at the stern of the ship, ready to activate the runic circle and send the Chain

eye on Cassie, while the other five spread out to have a better view of the environment.

tense silence, with

...It was strange, really.

a direct confrontation for the most part, her powers were. So, he was understandably wary of the Defiled version of

Ability? How had her other Abilities grown,

nervous. If there was one thing he did know, however, it was that the Last Plague would be

was definitely a dire danger. They had already exterminated the other Plagues, after all. So, Sunny had been fully prepared to fight their way to Verge through a sea

void. There was no one laying in ambush at the shores of the frozen landmass, either. ?ìg??օ???verse~?օ?. Even now, when the

Why was that?

of Ariel, just like Cassie was unable to

would certainly make

Cassie was really unable to see

result of the Mad Prince's