Shadow Slave

"The Lord of Shadows?"

The porters shivered.

Night had fallen, and only the light of the bonfire illuminated the desolate plain. Flakes of ash danced in the air. Far away, the white phalanxes of the dead delty towered above the plain like mountains, and three pale moons were drowning in the darkness of the cold sky.

It was a perfect environment to tell a scary story.

Awakened Ray smiled faintly.

"Yes. The Lord of Shadows..."

Rain shifted a little to hear him better. She was haunted by an insufferable shadow, so of course, anything that had to do with shadows was of interest to her.

The young man took a deep breath, cradled a cup of fragrant tea in his hands, and continued:

"Out there in Godgrave, the sky is usually covered by clouds. When the veil of clouds is torn, blinding light pours from an incandescent white abyss, incinerating anything that moves. But... there is a place where light can never reach. A land that is forever shrouded in darkness, Out there in the darkness stands an ancient temple build of black stone, That is where the Lord of Shadows lives."

Rain stared at Awakened Ray incredulously.

‘...Is he an Idiot?'

The young man had good control of his voice, drawing the listeners into the scene he was describing. But... no, what was he doing? Were they in a theater? Why couldn't he just speak normally?

Awakened Fleur turned away, blushing from embarrassment. Tamar of Sorrow closed her eyes with a stoic expression.

The porters, though, seemed delighted and leaned forward a little, enjoying the story. Rain blinked a couple of times, then did the same, not wishing to stand out.

Awakened Ray continued:

"The Lord of Shadows... is believed to be a reclusive Saint, but nobody knows for sure where he comes from. Nobody even knows if he is a human, really. He always wears a suit of black armor, and wears a fearsome black mask. His voice is cold and insidious, and his powers are great beyond belief. He lives alone in the dark temple, surrounded only by the devils who serve him."

The young man took a deep breath and then said quietly, allowing his voice to tremble a little.

"It's true, I've been to the temple, and saw those devils myself. One is a living statue of a beautiful female knight. One is a towering hellspawn forged from black metal, One is an enormous serpent whose body envelops the entire temple, its scales like polished onyx, However, none of them are as frightening as the Lord of Shadows himself. His mask is carved from black wood in the image of an ancient fiend, and looking into its eyes... is like looking into the abyss itself."

He shivered and shook his head.

"I thought that I'd die right there and then, looking at him. However, the Lord of Shadow just stared at me for a while, unmoving, and then said in a voice that lacked all human emotion... 'I've decided not to kill you, Dreamer Ray' As if he needed a reason to allow someone to live, instead of a reason to take someone's life."

Rain secretly threw a glance at her own shadow.

temple and had a bunch of powerful minions serving him, while her

a bum

'Unfair...'

porters asked

you end up

Fleur

to hide and send Ray to scout a path of escape, maybe find someone to rescue us... he stumbled into

Tamar nodded.

That is where most of what is known about him comes from - from what those Sleepers sald after being sent to the Song Domain. Well, we were actually lucky. I don't know if he would have gone out of his way to find me and Fleur, but there was someone else at the temple when Ray

resentment, indignant that they had spoiled his theatrical retelling of their first venture

Luckily, at the time, Changing Star and a cohort of Fire Keepers were taking shelter in the temple. They were on a mission in Godgrave, but took time to risk themselves and rescue Fleur and Tamar. Lady

Tamar sighed.

Even now that we have Awakened, we would not survive a day in Godgrave, But Changing Star and the Lord of Shadows, they willingly went into the depths

glanced at Fleur, hesitated for a moment, and

kilometers in a few seconds. Then, he threw us to the Fire Keepers and went back. We could only feel the ground

Everyone seemed shocked.

m-many Great abominations? And

spared a joyless smile

of a lower Class. Several of them, though... it's like a death sentence. Only Changing Star and a few others are capable. The Lord of Shadows... even though I don't know who he is, his powers are at least equal to those

looked into

a Saint. People say that he is eccentric, and I can understand why - who would want to live in a Death Zone? Maybe he just hates people, or maybe it has something to do with his Flaw. In any case, the three of us owe

in thought about the mysterious Saint... but the porters

they leaned forward with

"So... uh... Lady Tamar..."

Old Carel smiled excitedly.

say that you met Changing Star

porters were

she like in real life?

Cassia there,

on the Chain

Rain rolled her eyes.

her mouth and said in a tone

not know, but she taught me swordsmanship once. Oh... Nightingale gave me a few archery lessons, by the way. And I used to scold Saint Athena because she leaves dirty plates around

hell

was she spouting nonsense? That was not like

it was also

teacher