Shadow Slave

A long time ago... Sunny had made a promise to himself. A promise to come back and destroy the Soul Devouring Tree one day.

Now, many years later, he was here to fulfill that promise.

He had been descending into the colossal crater for a while, but now that its heart was behind him, the ground was slowly starting to slope upward. Sunny rode Nightmare with a cold expression on his face, holding the ghostly torch in his hand.

The light of the eerie flame reflected from the polished surface of his armor and danced wildly in his onyx eyes.

It took some time to traverse the crater, but eventually, Sunny saw it.

The branches of a great tree covering the black sky.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

'It lives.‘

He had a feeling that it would.

Sunny... had changed greatly since leaving the Ashen Barrow.

The Soul Devourer had changed, as well.

The insidious fiend had already been enormous back then, but now, it had grown even taller, reaching into the black sky with its obsidian branches.

This tree towered above the sea of ashen dust like a majestic mountain. Its bark was as black as the lightless sky, while its leaves were as red as blood... of course, Sunny could not really see color in the darkness. But he remembered their crimson splendor vividly. The crimson crown of the magnificent tree had used to cover the Ashen Barrow in its shade, but it was much richer and more expansive now, reaching far into the crater.

'That thing... has evolved.‘

Sunny sighed.

It was understandable. Since the Soul Devourer had managed to survive the rays or the annihilating sun, it would have been left with no competitor on the Forgotten Shore. The Crimson Terror was gone, and so was the Dark Sea. The other powerful abominations, like the Lord of the Dead, had been slain by the Sleepers of the Dark City.

The insidious fiend growing on the Ashen Barrow would have used the vacuum to enhance its power.

Sunny shifted his gaze, looking beneath the obsidian bark.

Then, a sad chuckle escaped from his lips.

'A Fallen Terror...‘

He was more or less sure that the Soul Devourer had been an Awakened Terror before. It seemed to have risen to a higher Rank... or rather, fell to a lower one? Sunny wasn't sure what the correct wording would be for a Nightmare Creature.

He did feel a certain sense of... disappointment, though.

that thing once.

the ground, then walked up the slope of

a small mote of light in the ocean of darkness...

drowned the area in deathly cold. Outside the small circle of light, the absolute darkness seemed

inescapable.

leaves of the magnificent tree rustle in the wind, their murmur

was as though the rustling leaves

away! Don't

Sunny stepped through the shadows and

insidious influence trying to subtly twist his

was beautiful... the tree was generous...

weak and benevolent, and

'Huh...‘

each contained a shadow fragment for Sunny to consume, after all. Best of all, the ancient fiend

collect the fruits and keep the Soul Tree intact. Otherwise, there would never be another

smiled subtly and shook off the mental hex. It was too easy

last time. But now, he was a Transcendent Terror. The Onyx Mantle was augmented by five shadows, and the measure of protection against mental attack it provided him with could not even be compared to that of

the manipulation of the Soul Devourer was

save itself... were a

Sunny shrugged off the hex, the leaves rustled again, this time

new thralls to replace Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie, who in turn

Creatures that had survived the annihilating sun under its branches. Sunny would not have been surprised if these were all of them, really — every single creature that had avoided being consumed by the Crimson Terror,

place because she had no means of protecting

had come from the coral labyrinth, and were therefore merely Awakened. There were a few Fallen creatures among them, but none of

his turn

They grabbed onto the thralls, onyx claws sinking into their flesh. The

walked through the mayhem calmly, not even sparing

trunk of the

were swaying, their

on the obsidian bark and closed his eyes for

Sunny poured his essence into the eerie torch. Opening his eyes, Sunny sighed... and set the

the

back to watch it

The view was breathtaking.

the towering trunk. The obsidian bark cracked, blooming with smoldering embers. Soon, the fire

shrouding the Forgotten Shore was dispelled by the colossal ball of flame burning above

of sounds. The roaring of the fire, the hiss of leaves being turned to ash, the cracking of dying wood- All of them fused into a chilling litany of pain, as if ten

It was... incredibly disturbing.

if he was really hearing

a long,