Shadow Slave

A cold ocean washed the shore of a desolate land, its waves frozen and unmoving. The empty sky seemed dim and uncaring, the sun hidden behind a somber veil. The land itself was silent and forlorn, its lifeless expanse buried in snow.

Not far from the shore, the layer of ice shackling of the ocean suddenly fractured and exploded, revealing the restless surface of the dark water. A pale hand rose above the edge and dug into the ice with crushing force. A moment later, a gaunt young man climbed from the cold water, stepping on the frozen waves with a chilling expression on his sunken, alabaster face.

His appearance was both tantalizing and frightening. The young man only wore the tattered remains of a military bodysuit, which was mostly gone. His fair skin was as white as snow, marred by countless gruesome, but eerily bloodless wounds. His eyes, on the contrary, were as dark as the depths of a lightless abyss. The black silk of his wet hair moved slightly in the frigid wind.

He looked like the wretched corpse of a drowned deity that had crawled out of a frozen hell.

His slender torso was mostly bare, revealing an intricate tattoo of a coiling serpent that covered most of his arms, chest, and back. The dark serpent was so lifelike that it almost seemed like its onyx scales were moving under the young man's skin.

Sunny remained motionless for a while, looking at the desolate landscape in front of him. Then, he took a step forward.

Finally, after so much time had passed, he was back at the Antarctic Center.

He had returned to Falcon Scott.

When he took the second step, his gruesomely torn skin was already healing. When he took the third, the intricate plates of a battered onyx armor covered his mangled body, shielding it from the cold and wind.

«It looks the same.»

taking care of unfinished business — not that there was a lot for him to do after being erased from the world. Meeting Rain

been easy. Turning into the Onyx Serpent, Sunny dove into the lightless depths, where the darkness nurtured his soul and was rich in spirit essence. Sadly, even empowered by

was no shortage of unimaginable horrors populating

dwellers to replenish his essence through its [Soul Reaver] Ability, which allowed Serpent to absorb and transfer a portion

a True Name, but the Onyx Serpent form was one of the few that he could assume without the risk of losing himself — perhaps it was because he knew it so well, or perhaps it was because he shared a kinship

dreadful nightmare. Out there in the dark depths of the ocean, he had faced horrors so hideous and dire that no words were enough

ocean alone had seemed preposterous before, but now that Sunny was a

was much more terrible than the ocean, anyway, Now that Sunny had left everything behind… his mental state was

place for Sunny anymore, and nothing left for

pay his

to settle was with the Winter

Antarctic Center and looked around without expression. His eyes were like two pools of darkness, full of cold, ruthless killing intent

away, the port fortress of Falcon Scott lay in ruins, half-buried in snow. The city itself was frozen above it, standing silently on the tall cliffs. The buildings were encased in ice, and so were the remains of the millions of people that had been killed by the Winter Beast just before the end

time, then turned his gaze away. He wasn't quite ready

the shore aimlessly, as if looking for something. The frigid cold was absolutely lethal, but Sunny paid it no attention. His shadow sense spread far and wide, enveloping a vast