Shadow Slave

Sunny staggered as the gaze of the being hiding beneath the still water of the lake fell on him. A scream almost escaped from his lips, but he gritted his teeth and pushed it down.

'Ah...'

The feeling of being looked upon by the invisible watcher... whatever it was... was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Sunny had been in the presence of powerful people before, and even more powerful Nightmare Creatures. He had been crushed by the suffocating force of their presence, and struggled to move while being pressed down by it.

But the gaze of the being hiding under the silent dark waves was entirely different.

It was not only heavier and more insurmountable, hinting at the terrifying power of the hidden watcher, but also did not feel the same. The force of oppression emanated by mighty beings was usually aimless and directionless, while the chilling gaze... was piercing and penetrating.

It felt as though the mysterious being was not simply looking at Sunny from beneath the mass of dark water, but rather looking through him.

Sunny's body, mind, and his very soul were like an open book in front of the hidden watcher, and they were being read, one page after another.

'G—gods, gods...'

His soul was being witnessed.

And, somehow, Sunny felt that it was more than that.

His soul was being judged.

Paled, he slowly looked around, seeing the floating corpses of the Great Nightmare Creatures in a new light.

Had all these harrowing abominations... failed to pass the judgment?

Just what was this place? Was there something else hidden at the very heart of the nebulous lake, even after all the forbidden knowledge left behind on its shore and in the depths of its outer reaches? Why had Ariel placed it behind the labyrinth of rushing currents and mist, leaving a fearsome guardian behind?

Sunny grimaced, swayed a little... and took a step forward.

Then, another.

'Go on, judge me. I... have nothing to hide...'

of his wish to

pointing at. He maneuvered around the motionless corpses of the Great Nightmare Creatures, who had all lost their lives in this eerie place, and

step at

followed him for

feeling of something vast and ancient watching him suddenly disappeared, leaving him shaken

with incredible relief, and

seemed that he

that

the heart of the Estuary,

the guardian let

forward with

you are almost

from being looked upon by the invisible, inconceivable guardian of the inner lake, Sunny forced his tired body to continue

walked, eventually leaving all the

him except for the still expanse of dark water and the vague shape rising

one

few dozen steps in front of him, a familiar figure was standing on the water, looking

Sin of Solace, who had disappeared

in Sunny's

guess it's

took another step forward. As he

the

Memory has been

did not have to look at his runes to know which of his

appeared in his soul without an explanation, and was now gone without an

of

it

that much was

because whatever door the Mad Prince had wanted to unlock with

a dark kind of amusement, Sunny slowly walked to the Sin of Solace

at all delighted despite being free

also looked much more sinister than