Shadow Slave

'Now, this... is going to be a problem.’

Standing on the threshold, Sunny studied the long corridor. It stretched in both directions as far as he could see, bending slightly. The stone floor was smooth and even, while the tall ceiling was illuminated by a scattering of softly glowing gemstones. The turquoise gems were embedded into it, dimly drowning the corridor in pale light.

The problem was with the walls.

Both of them were perfectly smooth and seamless, as if the corridor had been formed inside the mountain by some unknown means instead of being constructed. Much worse, their glossy surface was reflective... the walls of the corridor were like two endless mirrors.

Remembering what Cassie had said, Sunny frowned.

The blind seer inhaled deeply behind him.

"Oh, my."

Her voice was somber.

Sunny hesitated for a few moments, then asked neutrally:

"Left or right?"

Cassie answered with a hint of confusion:

"Why are you asking me?"

He scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

"Why not? My luck is pretty much non-existent. So, I'll trust your intuition."

She tilted her head a little.

"Really? Because my intuition tells me to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I should have expected that answer...

Sunny closed his eyes for a second, then cleared his throat.

second thought, why don't we just go

walls. Since the two endless mirrors were positioned directly opposite each other, the reflections stretched into infinity, forming countless mirrored corridors. When Sunny took a step, a legion of his reflections took a step. When Cassie followed, a legion of her

by a myriad of identical copies of

felt very

not to answer if a reflection speaks to

nodded, and a myriad of her reflections nodded at

reflections were pale and somber, Cassie's reflections were beautiful

them at all.

He grimaced.

happens to be

forward, he concentrated on his feet. Nevertheless,

one of the countless reflections

to confirm it. A moment later, there was nothing out of the ordinary in his peripheral vision once

powerful are these Others,

that Cassie would hear him. Indeed, her response came

they reflect. Sometimes, they are strangely brittle... but don't rely on my information too much. It's misleading. Because reports are only left by those who survived. As for those

Sunny frowned.

lingered for a bit,

is not their power, but rather their strangeness. We don't know what they are, where they come from, what motivates them, how they think... or if they think at all. When you fight a human or a Nightmare Creature, you can usually predict what will happen, even if only in broad strokes. Because you know what drives your enemy. It's

He nodded quietly.

most was the unknown. And what was

to life, we should be fine as long as we don't look to

remained silent longer this

[I don't know.]

Sunny grimaced.

around him, a myriad of reflections grimaced

is

no end in sight. The mirror tunnel was empty and silent, the dark, dim light of

the soft rustle of Cassie's clothes. Sunny's steps, meanwhile, were

But then...

the silence, making

unmistakable sound of a glass surface