Shadow Slave

After they disembarked at the Castle, Effie bid them farewell and went away, giggling as she walked. Sunny and Nephis stared at her back until she disappeared from view, both not in a hurry to say anything.

‘What do I even say after that?’

Sunny sighed and decided not to say anything. Nephis seemed to be of the same mind.

...His thoughts, however, were on fire in the wake of Effie's antics. So, while Sunny kept quiet, his imagination was running wild against his better judgment. He did not know what Nephis was thinking about, but he was definitely thinking about all kinds of things that he probably should not have been thinking about.

He threw a furtive glance at Neph. Was she really calm?

Was he imagining things, or did her cheeks seem a little pink?

'No, that is definitely my mind playing tricks on me!'

There was no way Nephis would be phased by mere words. It was just his wishful thinking... it was all Effie's fault!

That Effie! She really had not changed at all!

He would have thought that being a married woman with a child would curb her wilder tendencies, but alas. Having a loving family only seemed to embolden the vivacious huntress even more, as if having a safe space to retreat to gave her wicked tongue more power.

It's a miracle that Little Ling is such a sweet boy, despite being raised by that miscreant...!

Sunny inhaled slowly.

Nephis lingered for a few moments, then looked at him with a deadpan expression. After a while, she said in her usual impassive tone:

"Don't mind Effie... Saint Athena. She's always like this."

the improper thoughts out of his

I used to have a close friend who was just like her. In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, I

She smiled faintly.

"I can't quite imagine."

two of them started walking and left the pier. Instead of passing through the crowded gate of the castle, Nephis led him to a hidden postern, where two Knights bowed deeply before letting them in. The pass through the thick outer wall of Bastion was like a long tunnel with walls built

it, Sunny wondered what could have brought this mighty wall down and left it laying in ruins, like it lay in the

that terrible foe had even shattered the moon, so why

with somewhere around a million people living between its walls - almost half of them Awakened. There were hundreds of Masters here,

of

they left the tunnel

amazing,

sounded

Nephis nodded.

Bastion is not called a Great

at the lowest and outermost ring of the great stronghold, the place they found themselves on looked no different from a city street -

all of it - except for people and later additions to the original architecture - seemed a little too grand in scale, as if built for creatures that weren't quite giants, but also not quite

designed to withstand the most terrible slege. There were all kinds of courtyards, keeps, towers, and auxiliary buildings here, placed

Bastion resembled an artificial mountain separated into distinct levels, with concentric circles of inner walls protecting each of them and the main thoroughfare piercing each of the walls as it scaled

meant that their sword hand would be to the next wall, while their shield hand would be away from it, letting the defenders rain arrows on

did not envy the warriors of Clan Song, who might have

felt that the task

Bastion seemed truly Impregnable.

It wasn't. The ruins hidden in the moonlit

The reactions people were giving them

could practically feel the veneration and admiration they felt for her. Wherever Changing Star went, people's faces suddenly looked bright and inspired, as if just seeing her gave them strength. Well... it made sense. Nephis had