Shadow Slave

The Lighthouse was a place unlike any Sunny had ever seen, and it made him feel uncomfortable. The reason for his unease was simple — there were no shadows on the small island surrounding the great tower, and none within. There were clouds of vapor swirling around the Lighthouse, and that vapor was suffused by the brilliant silver light. Every tiny droplet of water was reflecting the radiance, making the light omnidirectional —which meant that there was nowhere on the island where light was absent, and therefore no place for shadows to nestle.

So, Sunny could not use Shadow Step to travel there.

This was a new kind of obstacle for him. In fact, Sunny had not even been aware that his powers could be suppressed this way, so he was quite stumped. Luckily, he still possessed the Shadow Lantern, so returning to the Night Garden was not going to be a problem — but they would still have to brave the dark waters washing the shores of the Eternal City to reach the Lighthouse.

Unlike the Wharf, the Lighthouse was located inside Daeron’s barrier. The Night Garden remained at a distance, drifting at the edge of the outer dome. It was decided that Aether would remain on the bridge of the living ship, controlling it, while the rest of them would proceed to the small island.

”What do you think is in the water?”

Sunny could not help but sound a little apprehensive.

Bloodwave shrugged.

”Whatever it is, we’ll find out soon.”

A few minutes later, they plunged into the cold water. An onyx serpent, an azure serpent, and a monstrous killer whale dove into the dark depths and rushed toward the radiant light, racing to get to the shore as fast as possible. Jet, meanwhile, had turned into a wraith and hid inside Sunny’s maw. Just moments after they plunged into the water, Sunny sensed that something was terribly wrong.

’Curses.’

He could feel the indestructible plates of the Jade Mantle slowly eroding away. Beside him, clouds of blood surrounded the enormous killer whale, and further away, Naeve’s icy scales were becoming covered by a net of cracks.

’I see what is going on...’

There was no single harrowing abomination hiding in the waters of the Eternal City. Instead, there was an incalculable number of tiny fish, each no larger than a fingernail, hiding beneath the tumultuous surface of the dark water. The fish were small, but armed with numerous razor-sharp teeth, swarming hungrily around any living thing that entered their hunting grounds.

Which was far worse. Sunny could handle a terrifying leviathan or two, but a myriad of tiny monsters...

Actually, he could handle that too.

Activating the Curse, he used the [Shadow Flame] and the [Weakening Curse] to affect a wide area around him, then channeled his Death Will while augmenting it with the [Mercy of Shadow]. He was empowering the shadowbound charm with the [Underworld Armament] and using it as a conduit for his Will — as a result, Sunny’s killing intent became a lethal force.

Considering how many tiny abominations he was affecting, each individual one was not weakened that much by the [Weakening Curse]. However, they were all exposed to the same Death Will, and therefore...

They died.

Sunny willed it so, and an unimaginable number of tiny abominations were instantly killed. They sustained no wounds, and neither had they been exposed to an attack they could have resisted — the fragile flames of their lives were simply snuffed out.

They simply ceased.

Of course, it had only been possible because each individual fish was relatively weak. But, still... it was an eerie and indescribable feeling, to be able to decimate a myriad of nightmare creatures with a mere thought.

’I guess this can be called a spirit attack, since it was my Will that killed them...” For a few moments, Sunny and the Saints of Night received reprieve from being gnawed on by the abominable creatures that populated the waters around the Eternal City.

But it was a place foreign to death, after all.

Soon enough, the tiny fiends Sunny had destroyed stirred and came back to life, swarming the two great sea serpents and the giant killer whale again. Blood spilled into the cold water once more - and Sunny willed them to die once more.

’Ah, this is...”

It was quite straining.

Sunny, Naeve, and Bloodwave fought their way through the infested waters while being eaten alive.

Luckily, Sunny could slow down the rate at which they were devoured, and the distance separating them from the small island was not too vast. Soon enough, they were surrounded by brilliant light, and could sense solid ground close by. Sunny climbed onto the cold stones and swayed, blinded by the radiance. His shadow sense was useless here, and the light was unbearably bright. Groaning, he shielded his eyes with a hand and jumped away from the water.

Jet assumed her corporeal form nearby, unperturbed and entirely dry. Naeve and Bloodwave joined them a few seconds later, having already assumed their human forms — the former looked pale, but relatively unscathed, while the latter was riddled with ghastly wounds and bleeding heavily.

Looking down at his shredded armor, Bloodwave grimaced and wiped the blood off his face. His wounds were already closing, and he did not seem bothered by the pain. If anything, the flowing blood seemed to only make him more ferocious.

”No wonder those immortals are reluctant to fall into the water.”

His tone was flat.

Sunny tended to agree. The waters of the Eternal City were teeming with these abominations, and their teeth were chillingly sharp. Usually, falling into infested waters would merely mean a swift and painful death... but things did not die in the Eternal City.

Once someone fell into the water here, they were destined to be devoured eternally, endlessly coming to life only to be pierced by tiny teeth and tom apart again, and again, and again... forever.

If there was a fate even Nightmare Creatures would be wary of, that was it.

He shuddered.

”Stay alert.”

Stripped of shadow sense and surrounded by soft silver radiance, Sunny felt incredibly vulnerable and exposed. His expression darkened.

”We are inside the barrier, so there can be immortals here. In fact... let’s hope that those fiends are the worst thing hiding in this light.”

Despite how beautiful the diffused expanse of soft silver light was, Sunny got an eerie feeling from this place.

Glancing at his companions, he summoned the Shadow Lantern and sighed. ”Let’s go.”