Shadow Slave

A ravaged underground hall. Split concrete, old machines turned into piles of scrap, broken walls. Deep darkness chased away by the bright light of electric floodlights.

The stench of blood permeating the air.

And bodies, of course, scattered on the cracked floor. Dozens of them, all bearing terrible wounds. Bodies of the Awakened of Valor, the Awakened of Song... and one more, a ghastly hill of grey flesh that had been a Nightmare Creature before.

Morgan studied the scene of slaughter with a neutral expression as she walked among the corpses. She would linger for a few moments near one of the corpses, then indifferently move on to the next. Her vermilion eyes were cold.

Saint Gilead, the Summer Knight, was more expressive. He was kneeling in front of one of the bodies with a mournful expression on his gallant, handsome face. A heavy sigh escaped from his lips.

”Amiran...”

Morgan turned around and looked at the Transcendent.

”Oh. I am sorry, Sir Gilead. I have forgotten that the two of you were once members of the same cohort. Please accept my condolences.”

Her voice did not seem too regretful, though.

Summer Knight looked down.

”Sometimes, I forget...”

She raised an eyebrow.

”What?”

The Saint lingered for a few moments, then offered her a calm gaze.

”How much I loathe you and your family.”

Morgan smiled slightly and looked away.

”Well. What can I say? We are a loathsome bunch.”

With that, she used her armored boot to turn one of the bodies over andasked:

”Does this make sense to you?”

Summer Knight stood up with a sigh and walked over.

”The result is outside expectations, but the sequence of events seems clear. We severely underestimated the opposition. By all accounts, Amiran should have been able to achieve a clean victory... but the presence of a Corrupted Tyrant changed things. Our estimation of Beastmaster’s power needs to be adjusted. Still... he slayed the beast, even if the price was his life.”

Morgan shook her head.

”Seems clear, huh?”

Her gaze was locked on the fatal sword wound that had killed the Awakened in front of her.

Morgan remained motionless for a few moments.

”...What a beautiful cut.”

Seemingly losing interest in the corpse, she turned away and called out to one of the specialists that had been casing the scene. The man walked over and bowed, then delivered a preliminary report. His conclusions were in line with what Saint Gilead had said.

Morgan stared at him bleakly.

”Have the diviners discovered anything?”

The investigator looked away in embarrassment.

”...Nothing, my lady.”

A slight frown appeared on her face.

”So you’re telling me that six cohorts of Valor’s best, armed and armored with forged Memories, lost to four cohorts of Song infiltrators? And that Knight Amiran slayed a Corrupted Tyrant alone?”

The man lowered his head.

”That is what the evidence tells, my lady.” Morgan scoffed.

She remained silent for a while, then turned and addressed a delicate young woman who was standing silently above a severed head:

”What about you, Cassia? Do you see something?”

The young woman shifted slightly and answered in a calm tone:

”...I see nothing.”

Morgan tilted her head.

”Are you telling me that you don’t see anything, or that you seenothing?”

Summer Knight frowned, thinking that the princess was mocking theblind girl. The young woman, meanwhile, simply nodded.

Morgan grinned.

”Ha!”

She turned to the Saint and pierced him with an amused look.

”See, Sir Gilead. At least someone is not useless here.”

Then, her expression darkened.

Morgan looked at the corpse laying at her feet once again and frowned.

After a few moments of silence, she mumbled:

”Was it the House of Night? No, unlikely.

That cut... just who couldhave...”

Sunny took a step back and bent over, breathing heavily. By his side, Cassie swayed, struggling to catch her balance after her rapier was shattered by Morgan’s attack.

...Today, the princess had decided to face the two of them at the same time.

The spar was an especially grueling one. They gave a good fight, cooperating with each other so flawlessly that it almost seemed as if they shared one mind. But, in the end, the princess mercilessly drove them both back. She seemed possessed, attacking with such power and ferocity that

Sunny found it almost unnecessary to downplay his abilities.

He pretended to be utterly exhausted - there was little need to pretend, really - and lowered his sword.

”That... that was a good fight, Lady Morgan.”

She glanced at her own blade, which was nicked all over and utterly ruined, then threw it aside with frustration.

”Yes. You did well, too.”

After catching his breath for a couple of seconds, he slowly straightened and glanced at her with a complicated expression.

”But... are you troubled by something? Your technique seemed a bit distracted today.”

Morgan stared at him for a few moments, her face turning cold.Eventually, she said with a hint of discontent in her voice:

”That is not something for a person like you to concern yourself with. Come to think of it... I won’t need your services in the next few days, Master Sunless. So make yourself scarce.”

Just what he wanted. Sunny put on a suitably alarmed expression andlowered his gaze.

”Ah... as you wish, my lady.”

She lingered for a few moments, then scoffed and left.

Sunny and Cassie were left alone in the training room.

It had been two days since the slaughter in the abandoned factory. Morgan seemed to be suspicious that something irregular had taken place in the underground production hall, but not a drop of that suspicion was directed at Sunny.

He had hidden his traces well, and no one within Valor could ever imagine that someone like him was capable of wiping out ten cohorts of Awakened from the great clans, let alone doing it with such insidious and flawless, almost diabolical precision.

As for Sunny, he was effortlessly playing the role of someone who had no clue about what had happened.

Glancing at Cassie, he shrugged.

”What’s up with her?”

The blind girl turned her head to face him, then remained silent for a while. Eventually, she said:

”You don’t have to worry.” Sunny frowned.

’What was that supposed to mean?’

Did Cassie know something? If anyone would, it was her.

He shook his head, then dragged his tired body across the room to place the training sword back into its stand.

If Cassie knew, she would keep silent.

But, in any case, Morgan’s polite suggestion to disappear for a few days was very timely. No matter how confident he was that he had avoided all suspicion, it was best not to parade in front of emissaries of Valor for a while.

And, to be honest, Sunny was long overdue for a little vacation.

Placing the sword down, he looked at Cassie and asked:

”Hey, about that favor I asked? How about we go to the Dream Realm for a little while? I seem to be free all of a sudden.” The blind girl smiled slightly.

”Sure, no problem.”

She carefully placed her broken rapier on the floor and added:

”I already told Nephis. She’s free, too.” Sunny froze for a moment, then made a face.

’Damn oracles...’