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

been strange if she had not recognized that fearsome stonelike armor, that cold presence, and those jewel

in despair as the darkness of the Underworld crushed and suffocated

countless flawed vessels that Nether had

was a more perfect version of what Nephis used

what was she doing here? Had some of Nether's children succumbed to Corruption and survived until this day? Had the

her head

creator, as

it have something to do with the Aspect of the Lord

them... had he

it something that a mere Transcendent could do? Her

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 directions, without a hint of

'Odd.'

the bones of slain Nightmare Creatures.

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

been slain by sharp steel, some shattered and broken by brute force, some killed by strange

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

seed of truth in the ominous rumors about the dire

them to their destination. The signs of fierce battles that had transpired under the cover of darkness only

fifty kilometers to reach

vast chasm. If she could pierce the darkness with her gaze, she would have

Right ahead, though...

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