Shadow Slave

Jet, Naeve, and Bloodwave were spread out across the deck of the Night Garden, ready to defend it if the detestable dwellers of the Eternal City broke through the shield of severing starlight that surrounded the living ship, as well as the fierce barrage of the obsidian cannons.

Nightwalker was steering the ship, while Aether was sitting on the floor of the runic hall with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, seemingly meditating. His skin glowed with a pale silver radiance, and his white hair moved faintly in the wind. He was controlling the radiance of Storm God’s Lighthouse to slash and sever any Nightmare Creature that attempted to leap onto the deck of the Night Garden.

His Aspect had always been powerful — granted, it was most effective at night — but here in the Eternal City, which was illuminated by the Lighthouse and the silver spires reflecting its light, it became especially lethal... lethal enough to keep most of the abominations at bay, at least.

The reason why a mere Transcendent could defend the Night Garden from numerous Great Ones was the star trapped at the top of the Lighthouse. Not only was he far closer to the source of his power than usual, but the star itself was also special, containing a trace of Storm God — it was the divinity of the Goddess of the Black Skies that made its light so deadly to Nightmare Creatures, and why the Night Garden could be protected by a shield of sacral starlight... for as long as Aether still had essence, at least.

Asa result, the living ship seemed to have become a radiant comet, bathing the streets of the Eternal City in light as it moved through the canals.

”How pretty...”

Sunny himself was leaning on a pillar that formed one of the arched portals of the runic halls, one step away from plummeting from the great height of the Mainmast Pagoda to the deck far below. He had two tasks at the moment — one was to protect Aether, the other to operate the enchanted cannons.

Before, he had manifested countless hands out of shadows to load and fire them... but now, that did not seem sufficient. So, he manifested crude human figures instead, controlling them like golems to maintain a ceaseless barrage.

At the moment, the twelve port cannons were firing at the mass of detestable flesh pursuing the Night Garden along the edge of the nameless island to the north. The starboard cannons, meanwhile, were being moved: six of them would join the port cannons, while the remaining six would face forward, since they were needed to accomplish a different task.

Soon enough, the devastating hail of charged cannonballs grew even more intense, causing bloody carnage among the dreadful immortals. The thunderous roaring of the cannonade fused into an echoing, deafening howl, traveling along the canal in both directions.

The nightmare creatures torn apart by the bombardment rapidly mended their pulverized bodies, naturally — but they remained dead enough to slow the tide of monstrous flesh down. More importantly, they could not leap toward the Night Garden, since the cannons created an iron curtain around it.

Well... it was more of a shadow curtain, really, since the cannonballs Sunny used to load the cannons were made out of manifested shadows.

Surrounded by starlight and devastation, the Night Garden sailed through the canal. Soon enough, the bridge connecting the Park Island to the nameless one came into view — the six cannons moved to the bow of the living ship opened fire then, decimating the immortals trying to cross it.

But that first salvo was merely to help Sunny adjust aim.

By the time he reloaded the cannons, he could see the Shadow Legion assembled at the edge of the Park Island, as well.

The vast sea of grotesque shades stood in neat rows, with huge figures of dead titans among them, the Dark Castle towering above it all, and the gigantic moth perched atop it...

Nightwalker looked at the eerie sight with a stunned expression.

”W—what... what the hell is this?”

Leaning on the pillar with an aloof expression, Sunny smiled faintly.

”This is the rest of me.”

He turned his head and looked at Nightwalker.

”It’s time to stop.’

The Night Garden slowed down. It continued moving forward due to inertia for a while, but eventually came to a halt near the formation of the Shadow Legion. The precision with which Nightwalker managed to park the titanic ship was nothing short of stunning, actually.

He stared at Sunny for a moment, then looked away and mumbled under his nose:

”The rest of me... what is that even supposed to mean...”

Sunny looked away and gazed at the great mass of his silent shades.

He sighed.

”Death swallows all”

With that, bridges made of shadows extended from the island, connecting it to the deck of the Night Garden.

And the silent shades marched forward, crossing them to board the living ship.

The Shadows Wolves, the Obsidian Wasps, the Asuras of Condemnation, the Black Millipedes and their Queen... the spawns of the Chain of Nightmares, the shadows of the human Saints... Daeron, Goliath, Winter Beast, Defiled Seeker... and countless more. The flooded the surface decks of the Night Garden like a dark tide, spreading along the great length of the living ship to defend it. Saint, Slayer, Fiend, and Serpent were there, as well — a few seconds later, the absent incarnations of Sunny joined them, having returned from pillaging the conquered islands.

Finally, the gigantic moth sitting atop the Dark Castle shifted subtly and then spread its vast wings. The Puppeteer raised a hurricane when it flapped them and leaped off the tall tower, soaring through the air, and finding a new perch atop the main mast of the Night Garden. It was as if a piece of the night sky itself had moved.

All that was left was the Dark Castle. It crossed the gap between the edge of the island and the living ship last, settling in an open space near the bow of the Night Garden. The ancient vessel swayed lightly as it accommodated Mimic’s weight. Nightwalker observed all that with a peculiar expression.

”I guess... you really are a being of the same caliber as the Serpent King.”

Sunny suppressed a smile.

He remained silent for a moment, and then said:

”Oh, I am. Actually, I killed the Serpent King once. He’s here somewhere, by the way, among my shadows...”