Shadow Slave

A towering golem made from crumbling stone, its cracked body overgrown with red moss, raised a hand. There was a corpse.entombed within it. The soldier of an annihilated civilization had perished.thousands of years ago, but their sorcerous armor still lived, infected by an abhorrent.corruption.

The creature, an Asura of Condemnation, was holding a diamond cleaver in its hand. When the cleaver rose, the world seemed to tremble in fear. When the cleaver fell, reality itself seemed to split apart.

A giant tree, its adamantine bark hard enough to resist the end of days, was cut down in one slash and toppled slowly. The wind raised by its fall fanned the flames that had been spreading through the jungle, and bitter smoke permeated the air.

The tree had been dead for countless years, and its heart had long rotted away. There was a cave-like hollow between its roots, which was now revealed.

Two terrified Sleepers had been hiding in that hollow, and were now hugging each other as they looked at the sinister abominations in horror..

The diamond cleaver rose again, spelling their doom.

…Before it could fall down to reap their lives, however, an equally menacing fiend appeared from the darkness, crashing into the great golem with a ferocious growl. It had sharp claws, twisting horns, and a long tale, its bestial body encased in a fearsome onyx carapace. The darkness itself moved, shrouding it like a mantle.

And a moment later…

The eyes of the two Sleepers widened.

A beautiful young woman wearing a fluttering white tunic fell from above, surrounded by pure light. Her skin was fair and flawless, like polished alabaster, and her silver hair shone brilliantly in the dim twilight of the jungle. Her figure was slender and graceful, and her beauty… was breathtaking.

She held an incandescent sword in her hands.

Landing on the shoulder of the ghastly golem, she delivered a terrible blow and severed its damaged neck.

The headless abomination continued to.resist furiously even after being decapitated, but the strange pair — the fearsome demon of darkness and the beautiful spirit of light — cooperated seamlessly, swiftly bringing it down.

The diamond cleaver shattered and fell apart. The stone carapace crumbled. The mummified corpse that had been entombed within it turned to ash.

The creature was dead before the falling tree collapsed to the ground, making the ancient ruin quake.

Nephis jumped off its corpse and inhaled slowly.

The Lord of Shadows had been wounded in that last clash, but his towering body was already repairing itself. She was unscathed… for now.

it to the two Sleepers in

of the giant tree and looked into the hollow space between its roots, where two ashen- faced teenagers were staring up at her with wide

to maintain a shred of composure, holding the other tightly. The other girl… didn't look too good,

first Sleeper opened her mouth

«You're… y-you're… Changing Star?»

in an effort to calm the girl. That calming smile was not natural to her, but she had practiced her communication skills diligently. After all, she was both a leader and a public figure now… knowing how to make the right impression was

am Saint Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan. This is Saint Shadow… of no clan. We are here to bring you

a few moments, looking at her

expression was not what Nephis

she… wary of

tone that was meant to be steady, but betrayed a

of the

«Ah…»

for a

Song. So… this

indeed a

curious to see what she

down into the shallow pit, put her sword down, and looked at the second teenager. Then,

is wrong with

glanced at her black sword, then gripped the other Sleeper

scraped her

her eyes

did Ray find you,

and kneeled near the unconscious

is safe and sound. You don't

in Godgrave. Before that, they had probably spent a lot of time together at the Academy.

for that, of course. She did not know which of the fellow Sleepers had been sent to kill her, at the time… Cassie had had her circumstances, too. Still, these girls reminded

been no third member to their small cohort on the Forgotten Shore… there had

moment later, Nephis shook her head lightly, having lost her train

gaunt body, and frowned. The girl's skin was as hot as a furnace, and her pulse

over. Fear not, for we are here.

and nodded. Then, she suddenly slumped, as if finally allowing her exhausted body to collapse. Her eyes glistened with