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.

is alright. I

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

the Second Nightmare, drowning in despair as the darkness of the Underworld crushed and

was one of the countless flawed vessels that Nether had callously

sense, the onyx devil was a more perfect version of what

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

her head

known to command true darkness, each inheriting a spark of divinity from their creator, as

something to do with the Aspect of

expanse around them... had he somehow conjured it, as

it something that a mere Transcendent could do?

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 directions, without a hint

'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

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

and broken

had transpired in this ominous place was nothing short of chilling. Even if all these powerful Nightmare

was a seed of truth in the ominous rumors about the

a day for the onyx devil to lead them to their destination. The signs of fierce battles that

to reach the heart

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 below. To her left and to her right, in

Right ahead, though...

a magnificent temple stood at the very edge of the abyss. Its colossal columns and walls were cut from black marble,