Shadow Slave

Sunny had decisively led Nephis and Saint to the mouth of the tunnel. However, just before they entered it, he stopped and looked back awkwardly.

”That, uh...”

The wall of impenetrable darkness was right in front of him, bringing back unpleasant memories. Although he was ahead of his companions, technically speaking, he was the least suitable leader among the three of them. Nephis could shine a light to dispel the darkness, while Saint could command it... so, if anything, Sunny had to stay back and follow them.

He looked at his shadow, which lowered its head and covered its forehead with a hand, shaking it in embarrassment.

‘What? I just got carried away a little!’

Sunny had brought two incarnations on the expedition to the Underworld. He would have loved to allocate more of himself to this perilous journey, but with Nephis missing and the world actively falling apart, the pressure on his remaining avatars was bound to increase tremendously. Plus, his powers were going to be suppressed in the dark depths below the Hollow Mountains, which limited his usefulness — no matter how many shadows he brought.

So, two were all he could spare.

Now, with a sigh, Sunny allowed his body to revert to its natural form. A moment later, he was gone, with only two shadows left in his place — taking control of the second one as well, he sent one each to Nephis and Saint.

Wrapping himself around them and empowering them with the strength of the shadows, he perceived the world from their two vastly different perspectives.

The world Nephis saw was stark and harsh. It was both her adversary and hers to protect, full of peril and promise in equal measure, ready to be saved or destroyed in the immolating inferno of her cleansing flames. She was like a boundless, churning ocean of annihilating radiance that formed a supergiant star, hidden from view by a thin and deceptive facade of calm and composure.

Her passion was scathing, and her will was sharp and unrelenting, absolute in its resolute momentum.

Saint, on the other hand, saw the world in a million darker shades. Her perception was colorless, but imbued with a subtle depth that Nephis was not that attuned to — a depth born from the weathered, unfathomable weight of time. Saint’s world was more solid and immutable, rooted in the hidden expanse of the ancient past.

The things she saw were only the surface of a dark ocean of history, and since she did not make a distinction between the two, her world seemed far more stable.

The two points of view clashed in Sunny’s mind, subtly mixing with his own. For a moment, he considered whether that was the true boon of being a shadow — the ability to perceive the world from completely different perspectives, unburdened by the confines of a single worldview, and therefore know it on a much deeper level.

But then, they entered the darkness, and his own perception was suddenly crippled. Sunny had long grown used to perceiving the world through shadows. His senses usually spread over innumerable kilometers, following the movements of every person, every branch, every blade of grass in a vast area around him. Even if he did not focus on every single shadow consciously, their expansive world was always in the background of his mind, one thought away from coming into focus.

Shadows were far more expressive than people gave them credit for, as well. There was a lot he could sense through the shadows that would escape his eyes... their depths, their texture, their nature — all of it described the world around him in rich detail.

So, when his shadow sense was suddenly cut off, Sunny felt like he had turned blind. Worse than blind, really — crippled and maimed, the world around him growing small and shallow.

It was an unpleasant feeling, to say the least. If not for Nephis and Saint, who shared their own perceptions with him, he would have been debilitated by the sheer shock of the abrupt change. He had delved into elemental darkness before, naturally, but he had not been Supreme back then. The scope of his senses was far more modest, and losing them was not that big of a blow. Sunny was deeply uncomfortable, but had no way of expressing his discomfort. He grew quiet, happy to be in the company of Nephis and his most loyal Shadow.

It would have been harrowing to have ventured into the Underworld alone... perhaps Mordret was the smarter one between them.

But then again, Mordret had inherited a full Divine Lineage. He had no need to go on a series of increasingly awful adventures to complete it.

Sunny let out a mental sigh.

‘Damn Weaver... couldn’t they have left their Lineage in a safe, easily accessible place?’

The branches of the Soul Devouring Tree, the fiery abyss of the Sky Below, the harrowing heart of the Tomb of Ariel, the lethal depths of the Stormsea, the bizarre world hidden within the Great Mirror, the perilous battlefields of Ariel’s Game...

‘I really haven’t had it easy, have I?’

Sunny had no idea where Broken Sword had found Shadow Weave, but now, it was in the Underworld — the worst possible place for a shadow to be.

‘It is almost... like I am fated to encounter trouble. Ha.’

Sunny sighed bitterly.

Saint, meanwhile, walked into the darkness with steady steps. Nephis waited for a while, then summoned the Blessing and imbued its blade with bright radiance.

Her pure light chased the darkness away, illuminating a small section of the tunnel — about a hundred meters in each direction. Sunny could finally breathe freely. In that small circle of light, the world was full of shadows once more, which made it feel less dead and threatening.

He could still sense the oppressive, endless darkness flowing subtly at the edges of the light, disturbed and wanting to reclaim its undisputed rule over the weathered stones around them.

Its pressure was cold and unnerving.

Sunny sighed.

”I really don’t like this place, Nephis.”

She lingered for a moment and then took a step forward.

”I don’t really like it, either...”