Shadow Slave

With the spotlights gone, Mordret had been able to scale the wall and attack the mercenaries hired by Madoc on the battlements. That, in turn, allowed Sunny, Effie, and Saint to advance up the slope and get close to the towering wooden gates of the Castle.

Sunny believed that Saint was the most powerful being in Mirage City at the moment. However, that did not make her immortal — according to his observations, she was currently at the level of power that Awakened possessed... and Awakened were still vulnerable to conventional weapons like guns.

It was harder to kill them with bullets than mundane people, but not impossible.

So, he could not in good conscience command Saint to storm the gates from the pier. Now, however...

All that separated them from the gates was a few dozen metres of open ground. A deadly expanse for him and Effie, but not for Saint. Hearing his words, she took a deep breath and then nodded slowly.

The bullets were hitting the construction machine they were hiding behind with loud metallic ringing. Making sure not to expose himself to a lucky shot, Sunny moved slightly, letting Saint get to the edge of the massive tracks. Effie glanced at her nervously, but did not say anything.

Saint crouched low, supporting herself with one hand, and then looked in the direction of the gates.

Sunny was suddenly nervous, too.

Forcing out a smile, he asked in a tense tone:

“Any last words?”

Of course, Saint did not answer. Instead, she pushed herself off the ground, leaving the cover and shooting toward the gates of the castle with stunning speed. The bullets trailed behind her, sending small fountains of water shooting into the air from the puddles on the ground. The henchmen scurried, trying to hit the swift target...

But their reaction was not swift enough. Saint breached the distance between the construction machine and the gates in a split second. Sunny expected her to scale the wall in a few swift leaps and descend upon the mercenaries in a cold, silent fury... But his wayward Shadow had her own plans.

Instead of trying to climb onto the battlefields... she simply lowered her shoulder and crashed into the great gates of the ancient castle like a siege ram.

The ground shook, and the walls of the castle shuddered. A cloud of splinters shot in all directions like shrapnel, and the enormous wooden gate collapsed, shattered by the force of the impact.

Saint disappeared into the haze, and Sunny just stared at the devastation caused by his quiet, elegant psychiatrist in shock.

“Well... that’s one way to do it.”

A moment later, there was a thunderous roar of countless guns firing coming from the courtyard of the castle. The mercenaries had no time to worry about the stone steps anymore.

“Morgan! It’s clear!”

Morgan and the Other Mordret appeared from the curtain of rain just a few seconds later. Letting go of the sleeve of his tattered cloak, she evaluated the situation for a moment, then looked down and calmly pulled off her gloves.

”Are we going in?”

Sunny checked to see how many bullets he had left, and nodded.

“Of course.”

The Other Mordret looked between them for a moment, then coughed.

”Lam sorry, Detective Sunless... but is it wise? There seems to be a lot of guns firing inside.”

Sunny glanced at him, then shrugged.

“Well... no one has ever accused me of being wise.”

With that, he grinned.

”Plus, we can’t miss all the fun, can we?”

Standing by his side, Effie nodded.

“You might be out of the loop, Mr. Mordret, but we three are not just some random people out there, in the real world. Shadow Boy, Morgan, and me... that’s like half of the scariest people in the world. And two stunning beauties.” ȒἈΝọᛒËꞨ

Sunny gave her a sideways glance.

“Do I not count as a stunning radiance?”

Effie scoffed.

He remained silent for a moment, preparing himself for the dash into the courtyard, and smiled.

“Strange. I distinctly remember you describing Master Sunless as, what was it...”

”Let’s go!”

Diving from behind the construction machine, Effie lunged forward. Sunny suppressed a laugh and followed, feeling the rain pelting him in the face and hearing the guns thundering ahead.

They reached the gateway in a few seconds and hid in its shadow, studying what was happening inside.

If Sunny had to describe it in one word... it would be carnage.

Just then, another lightning bolt struck, illuminating the world. In that stark light, he saw Saint advancing in an unpredictable pattern across the vast courtyard, moving with such speed that her figure seemed like a blur. She was pursuing the retreating mercenaries, cutting them down one after another with her swirling black blade.

The battlements to their right were a chaotic mess of screams and gunshots. Sunny could not see what was happening there, only the streams of blood flowing down the wall.

The battlements to their left, however, were a source of danger. The henchmen manning them were alive and well, unleashing a storm of bullets in Saint’s direction.

It was hard to imagine that they could track her movements so precisely despite her speed and the heavy rain... if not for one crucial detail.

As Saint moved, killing one mercenary after another, whisps of white fog followed her like a ghostly mantle. By now, a furious whirlwind of mist was surrounding her, and missing it was all but impossible.

Saint... seemed to be growing faster, stronger, and more steadfast with each second.

But just as Sunny evaluated the situation, a stray bullet hit her in the chest, throwing her petite body back. The bulletproof vest did its job, but her rhythm was broken, and she became exposed for a few crucial seconds.

“Left wall!”

Raising his revolver, Sunny opened fire. Effie did the same, while Morgan chillingly discharged her weapon into the back of a straggler mercenary who had gotten too close to them, and then turned around to run.

”Move.”

Covering Saint, they rushed left, toward the stairs leading to the battlements, and scaled them.

Morgan held the Other Mordret back at the top of the stairs while Effie and Sunny prepared to dive onto the wall and clash with the mercenaries defending it.

Looking at Effie, Sunny grinned.

”Hey.”

She gripped her revolver tighter.

”What?”

Sunny inhaled deeply, and then said in an even tone:

”Don’t get shot.”

They moved in unison, throwing open the door of the guard tower and gaining a clear shot of the battlements.

The mercenaries were caught by surprise, so Sunny and Effie brought half a dozen down before the rest could react. The muzzle flashes and the thunderclaps of their shots were both blinding and deafening, making the sight of people being shot dead a little less gruesome.

Their advantage did not last long, though. And when it disappeared...

‘Ah... me and my goddamn tongue...”

Sunny immediately got shot.