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.

of powerful minions serving him, while her teacher did not even have a

a bum among

'Unfair...'

of the porters asked in

Ray, sir... how did you end up

opened his mouth to answer, but it was Fleur who spoke

to scout a path of escape, maybe find someone to rescue us... he stumbled into the territory of the Lord of Shadows of accident, and

Tamar nodded.

well. 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

at his two companions with resentment, indignant that they had spoiled his theatrical retelling of their first venture into the Dream Realm. Then,

to avoid inconvenience. He's a bit... sinister, to say the least. 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 Nephis even persuaded the

Tamar sighed.

and the

for a moment, and added in

of Shadows took us and used some kind of movement ability to cross more than a hundred kilometers in a few seconds. Then, he threw us to the Fire Keepers and went back.

Everyone seemed shocked.

fought m-many Great

a joyless

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

into

and I can understand why - who would want to live in a Death Zone? Maybe he just hates people, or maybe it

Saint... but the

leaned forward

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

Old Carel smiled excitedly.

you met Changing Star and

other porters were similarly

is she like in real life?

Cassia

on the

Rain rolled her eyes.

mouth and said

you want to know about Changing Star, just ask me. You might not know, but she taught me swordsmanship once. Oh... Nightingale gave me a few archery lessons,

the hell

That was not like her at

unexpectedly, it was

no... teacher has