Shadow Slave

Sunny fell through the hurricane of ethereal sparks and hit the sand with enough force to send a cloud of it into the air. The resounding thump of his landing was quite jarring, but he was not in the state to pay it any attention.

“…Ouch.”

He rolled onto his back with a groan.

Above him, the blinding storm of essence sparks was obscuring the world. The sparks flowed in powerful torrents, twisting as they plummeted down — toward him.

Into him.

The colossal whirlwind of essence was entering his soul, and all he could do was stare at it in a daze.

He had actually succeeded.

‘I can’t believe that it actually worked.’

Sunny drew a shaky, hoarse breath.

Then, he exhaled slowly.

‘But it did.’

It really had.

Back there in the heat of the moment, Sunny had been desperate and daring enough to believe that it would, and because he needed it to, he unleashed his Will to make sure that it did. It seemed that his insane idea had already been in accordance with the laws of existence, or at least close enough to how they were supposed to work for his Supreme Will to make up for the difference.

And now, he had a Deathless Spirit as a Memory, safely stored in his Soul Sea.

Well… the “safely” part still remained to be seen.

Sunny could not do anything with that Memory, but the mere fact that the Archon had been… memorized… meant that he wasn’t here anymore, and that was already a life-saving boon.

Not only did it mean that Sunny did not have to have his soul cores shattered, but the Will of the Deathless Spirit was not affecting this corner of the Hell of Ariel anymore, which meant that Nephis and the Shadow Legion would have an easier time battling the undead horde.

And speaking of the undead horde…

The vast storm of essence sparks was finally beginning to thin out, most of it having already rushed into Sunny’s chest. He could finally see what was happening around him, and what he saw made him let out a stifled curse.

The battle was not over with the disappearance of the Archon — it was merely returning to being simply terrifying again, as opposed to completely unreasonable. The Wolf had been vanquished back to his soul, so Sunny was alone, surrounded by countless Deathless. They had stayed away during his battle against the Archon, but now, the undead warriors of Ariel’s Hell were starting to pay him attention again.

His other six incarnations had crumbled. Sunny had been so out of his mind due to the pain and the sheer lunacy of what he was attempting to do that he failed to maintain his avatars, so they reverted to being simple shadows once more.

Now, these shadows gathered around him, looking at his battered figure with concern. They did not look that well, either… each had been born from and innately connected to one of his cores, after all, so they had come very close to becoming homeless, and most likely to being destroyed.

Sunny forced out a weak smile.

“What are you looking at, fools?”

The shadows glanced at each other.

The happy shadow was just happy to be alive. The creepy shadow seemed fascinated by the idea of collecting malevolent undead as trophies. The haughty shadow could not believe that Sunny was so pathetic as to get them in that state, while the naughty shadow did not even care, staring in the direction where Nephis and the Shadow Legion had gone instead.

The crazy shadow… was mad. The lazy shadow could not be bothered to show a reaction, seemingly bored.

As for the original invaluable helper, the gloomy shadow, it did not get a say because Sunny was currently using it to manifest himself.

He could just imagine the exasperated eyeroll, though.

Maybe a slow, mocking round of applause. He sighed and slowly got to his feet.

“Come, help me up…”

The shadows wrapped themselves around him, and he instantly felt better… stronger.

Sunny had little time before the Deathless descended upon him like an avalanche, so he briefly assessed his state.

It was… in one word, terrible.

His soul sustained so much damage that it would have long collapsed if not for Soul Weave. His cores were covered in cracks. His Soul Sea was turbulent and restless, and there, high above, an enormous sphere of light was orbiting the seven battered black suns — that was the Archon, or at least a disassembled version of him.

When Sunny stared at the radiant sphere, he felt a chill run down his spine. He did not sense any kind of consciousness or Will in the Memory, but it did have a presence. And that presence was full of malice.

As he watched, a small spark of light separated itself from the sphere and drifted upward, dissipating after a few moments. Sunny shuddered.

The Memory of Archon wanted to be summoned, it seemed…

Of course, Sunny had no intention of doing that. If he had a choice in the matter, the damn thing would never see the light of day again… but, at the same time, it felt like there was now a ticking time bomb in his soul.

Who knew when that bomb was going to go off?

‘I’ll probably have to travel to Shadow Realm, summon the bastard there, and run away as fast as I can…’

But for now, he needed to run away as fast as he could from other Deathless, not the Sacred horror he had imprisoned in his soul.

Sunny grimaced from the appalling pain that permeated his entire being and glanced at the undead warriors, who were already rushing at him like a tide.

Then, he took a step back and turned into a shadow, fleeing across the dunes from the Deathless horde.

He was a decent enough fighter and a proficient sorcerer…

But if there was one thing Sunny was really good at, it was running away.

***

He caught up with Nephis and Azarax just before dawn. As the sun rose above Ariel’s Hell, the Deathless stopped their relentless onslaught and retreated, burrowing into sand.

The undead following Azarax did, as well. The battered soldiers of the Shadow Legion were motionless, standing among the dunes in eerie silence.

Sunny rose from the shadows and walked the rest of the distance in the pale radiance of early dawn. He looked around, searching for his Shadows.

Saint’s armor was dented and broken, her jade skin visible through the breaches. Slayer was nursing a few wounds of her own, even if her countenance was as cold and menacing as ever. Serpent had coiled itself and hid its head, towering above the desert like a mountain of onyx scales. Sunny saw Azarax, as well. The ancient tyrant was sitting on the ground with his head lowered. As rays of sunlight fell on his mighty form, he moved slightly and burrowed his hand into the sand, staring at it absentmindedly in subdued silence. Finally, Sunny’s gaze fell on Nephis.

She had regained her human form and was now sitting on the sand, watching the sun rise. Her face was calm and devoid of all emotions, her humanity having been burned away by the ferocious white flames.

This was the first time Nephis had fully unleashed her Aspect after losing the connection to most of the Longing Domain, so Sunny was a little concerned about her. Groaning and grimacing, he limped toward Nephis and sat down nearby.

“Are you alright?”

She turned her head and studied him silently, then gave him an indifferent nod. Raising her hands, Nephis pulled Sunny to lie on her lap and placed them on his chest. Her skin ignited with a soft radiance, and he felt her flames seep into his soul, mending it and washing away the pain.

Sunny let out a relieved sigh.

“Aaah…”

He was dead tired, and the soothing warmth made him feel sleepy.

As he lay there, his head resting comfortably on Neph’s lap, an annoying shadow fell on him. Opening his eyes, Sunny saw Azarax staring down at him with a grin… well, that grin of his was eternal, and he could not get rid of it even if he wanted to.

So, Sunny could not blame him for it.

The ancient tyrant scoffed:

“Well, well. You really did survive a battle with the Archon, Shadow. Good job distracting him… and managing to escape him, as well.”

Sunny blinked slowly.

“Huh? Who said that I escaped from the Archon?”

Azarax tilted his skull.

“Would you be alive now otherwise?”

Tired and embraced by a blissful warmth, Sunny smiled lazily.

“No, I mean… I did not have to escape, because I wiped that thing out. There’s no trace of it left in this desert anymore — not even a single bone. The Archon only exists as a memory now, so… I suggest you forget about him.”

Azarax stared at him darkly.

“That can’t be true.”

Sunny chuckled.

“Why? I didn’t even need a weapon to deal with that guy — I did him in with a needle. In fact, I just told him something like… you’re dismissed. And poof! He exploded.”

Azarax scoffed.

“You’re lying!”

Sunny simply shrugged.

Nephis, meanwhile, brushed the hair away from his face and smiled faintly.

“He never lies.”

Her voice was calm and even.

Azarax stared at them for a while, then shook his skull and walked away with angry steps.

The sun was rising above Ariel’s Hell… a new day was beginning.

The Tomb of Ariel looked closer than it had ever before.

But also insurmountably distant.