Shadow Slave

Nephis and the Fire Keepers followed the onyx devil across the land of shadows. Their taciturn guide walked without looking back, her beautiful armor gleaming as it reflected the white light of their lanterns. The living statue's steps were neither slow nor hurried, her measured pace full of indifferent confidence.

It was as though she was not afraid of the creatures hiding in the dark at all.

Nephis would have expected the steps of such a heavy creature to resound like thunderclaps in the dead silence, but they were entirely noiseless. She stared at the back of the mysterious stone knight, white flames dancing in her eyes.

The Fire Keepers were tense and quiet, looking into the eerie darkness with wary expressions.

'What is going on?'

Nephis was not troubled, but she did feel somewhat curious. A vast expanse of inexplicable darkness, the fearsome creature that had been sent to meet them... it was all hard to explain, and she rarely encountered things that escaped explanation.

[Cassie?]

There were a few moments of silence, and then the familiar voice resounded in the darkness, answering the question she had not asked:

[It is... strange.]

Nephis glanced at the beautiful stone demon and waited. Cassie continued after a short pause:

[She is a Transcendent Devil. Her soul is an impossible fusion of shadow, darkness, and divine flame. Her powers are those of a sword saint... however, she is not a simple Echo. I... I don't know what she is.]

Nephis nodded calmly.

alright. I

had not recognized that fearsome stonelike armor, that cold presence, and those

darkness of the Underworld crushed and suffocated her. The prideful beings

had inhabited was one of the countless flawed vessels that Nether had

a sense, the onyx devil was a

Nether's children succumbed to Corruption and survived until this day?

her

divinity from their creator, as well. But why did this one possess an affinity to shadows? That

do with the Aspect of the Lord of

them... had he somehow

that a mere Transcendent could do? Her curiosity grew a

how difficult it must have been to chase away the deadly sunlight of Godgrave, Nephis had not expected for this shadowy region to be expansive. But to her surprise, the land of shadows stretched for many kilometers in all

'Odd.'

the more eerie their surroundings became. Because sunlight never reached here, there was nothing to incinerate the bones of slain Nightmare Creatures. Therefore, remains of powerful abominations appeared in sight from time to time, all devoid of

few of them, but the deeper into the land of shadows the Fire Keepers ventured, the more and more skeletal remains

broken by brute force, some

it was as if they were walking across a terrible battlefield. The magnitude of slaughter that had transpired in this ominous place was nothing short of chilling. Even if all these powerful Nightmare Creatures had not been slain at the same time... what kind of person was

there was a seed of truth in the ominous rumors about the dire power of the Lord of

lead them to their destination. The signs of fierce battles that

fifty kilometers to reach

of Nephis, the breastbone plain abruptly ended, turning into a vast chasm. If she could pierce the darkness with her gaze, she would have seen the spine of the titanic skeleton far

Right ahead, though...

the light of their lanterns, a magnificent temple stood at the very edge of the abyss. Its colossal columns and walls were cut from black marble, with exquisite reliefs decorating the stygian pediment and broad frieze. Beautiful and awesome, it looked like the palace of a dark