Shadow Slave

The ground shook, and some parts of the crater's slope collapsed. Sunny, who was standing on the edge of its mound, lost his balance and rolled down, dirt and pieces of debris raining on him from above.

'Ouch.'

Coming to a halt much further down the slope than he had been before, he could not see the Dream Gate and the King of Swords anymore. What he could see, however...

Was a towering pillar of white flame rising from the torn depths of the wide crater.

It moved and twisted, as if alive. As though a giant made from pure flame was stretching its shoulders after being trapped underground for a long time. For a moment, Sunny was entranced, thinking that he could make out the shape of a winged being woven from dancing flame, hidden in the depths of the incandescent pillar.

Then, the whirlwind of flame collapsed on itself, and slowly formed into a humanoid figure.

The radiant being looked like a beautiful, pure spirit of immaculate light, her graceful body contrasted against the dark soil of the deep crater. With wide wings spread behind her like a blinding mantle, she slowly glided down. The moment her feet touched the ground, it started to melt.

Slowly, the brilliance of her skin grew dimmer, and was then extinguished. Without the blinding light, Sunny could finally see who had just escaped the ruins.

Of course, he had already guessed who it was.

It was Nephis.

She looked just like the last time he had seen her... but also different.

Not only because the white metal of the Starlight Legion armor was torn and scorched, breached in half a dozen places...

And not only because her presence seemed to illuminate the world, so much stronger and tantalizing than it had been before.

And not even because she had grown even more beautiful after undergoing the rebirth of Transcendence.

No... it was because Nephis had wings.

A pair of white wings extended from her back, looking too majestic and pure to be a part of this mortal world.

Sunny stared, enthralled.

'...Partial transformation?'

several steps to them. From the looks of it, Neph's had at least three — the winged form, the brilliant spirit of light whose radiant body seemed to contain an ocean of furious flame,

that was what Sunny surmised after catching a glimpse of Neph's

to this Transformation, of course. Sunny doubted that a Divine Aspect would be limited to enhancing one's might and granting one the

stared for a few more moments,

can ask her

For now...

do

Namely, explain himself.

leaving his partner to face the last challenge of a

step out

winced, not looking forward to that conversation

up and spent a moment evaluating

said that he wasn't apprehensive about his looks at the moment. Becoming Transcendent had improved his body once again, after all. So... he was certain that he was now reasonably attractive. Even though it was a bit childish, he wanted Nephis to see him in the best possible light the first time they met after escaping

did not really

like right now. Because Sunny was completely covered in dirt, dust, and soot. His face was almost entirely hidden beneath a

'Ah... curses...'

only managed to spread the

'Goddammit.'

late, however, because that movement attracted Neph's

her head and looked at him, her eyes

nervously, then hesitated and took a

more than one

intricacies of his relationship with Nephis and

there was also the reason he had made

was gone, and his

What about Shadow Bond?

walked, considering what he would say, Nephis spoke in

"Stop."

a couple more steps and froze,

promise once

not

'It's... it's...'