Shadow Slave

Turning away from the distant wall of the Dark City, Sunny closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and let go of his anger.

He had to keep his head cool, for now. Killing a Fallen Devil was not going to be an easy task. It might even turn out to be his undoing.

...But he was determined to see it done. The debt of blood he owed that creature had to be repaid, no matter what.

Walking over to the fire, Sunny sat down and tried to remember the details of their previous stay on this old, weathered marble arch. What a fun couple of days that had been.

Rather pleasing on the eye, too...

His shadow shook its head dejectedly and turned away.

Soon, Nephis handed him his share of the food. Her culinary skills had improved a lot during these months — despite the fact that there had not been a large variety of ingredients at their disposal. Still, being able to turn the most repulsive of monsters into a delicious meal was something that not everyone was capable of.

'This should be a separate course at the Academy.'

Teacher Julius had taught him how to consume various things in the Dream Realm without ending up poisoned to death, but he had neglected to go in-depth on how to actually make them taste good.

Sinking his teeth into a juicy piece of meat, Sunny forgot about his troubles for a bit and simply enjoyed this rare moment of bliss. Disposing of the meat, he smiled in satisfaction and wiped his hands on the soft fabric of the Puppeteer's Shroud. Then, he glanced at Nephis and asked:

"We should be able to reach the city tomorrow, yes?"

She gave him a nod.

"...If nothing happens."

Sunny thought for a bit, then said in a curious tone:

"Do you think Gunlaug knows that we are coming back?"

Nephis thought for a few moments before replying. Her voice was calm and indifferent.

"Definitely."

Sunny sighed. This was his conclusion as well: back when he had first entered the Bright Castle, he had learned from Caster about a certain Artisan that could track the general location of anyone a person had ever met. This was how Caster knew how many Sleepers of their crop had been sent to the Forgotten Shore.

Even if Gunlaug possessed no other method to learn of their approach, all he had to do was ask that woman.

Sunny shifted a little and asked:

"Should we expect a welcoming party?"

Changing Star shook her head.

"I don't think so. There's no need for him to do anything. Gunlaug knows that we will come to him of our own free will… simply because there's nowhere else for us to go."

She fell silent for a while, and then added:

"But most of all, this has never been about killing me or my people. It was always about destroying the ideas I represent. What's the point of crushing me if no one is there to see it? Gunlaug won't do anything without an audience. He had sent Harus to stop us from escaping the stage, but now that we are back on it, there is no need for him to rush the inevitable."

Everyone listened to the conversation with dark expressions. Sunny glanced at them, hesitated for a bit, and asked:

"Are you confident that you can defeat him?"

Nephis stared at the fire. After a while, she simply said:

"Yes."

Hearing that, Sunny smiled sweetly.

"Well, good for you, but I am not. So let's finish our deal before the lot of you get killed by that maniac. Alright?"

A corner of Neph's mouth curled upward.

"You are talking about the Fallen Devil?"

He nodded.

"Yes. The bastard. You promised to help me kill him, remember?"

Meanwhile, Kai was looking at him with a complicated expression. Finally, not able to hold back, he asked:

"Sunny… are you really not going to join us? Don't… don't you see that we only have one chance to escape this place? Not to mention all the lives we can save!"

Sunny shrugged. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure on that point himself. On one hand, he had no desire of helping Nephis achieve her insane goal. On the other hand, things that she had set in motion were going to happen with or without him.

What was he going to do, hide in his cathedral and wait until there was no one else left alive on the Forgotten Shore?

Some fate that would be…

"Maybe I'll join you, and maybe I won't. Who knows what will happen?"

He fell silent and cast a sideways glance at Cassie.

Actually, at least three people here knew what would happen… more or less.

'It's hard to escape fate.'

"That's not the point though, is it? The point is that you should conclude our deal first and do whatever it is you wish to do later..."

Changing Star faced the two of them and calmly ended that conversation:

"Sure. No problem. We'll go to the cathedral first. A deal is a deal, after all."

Sunny smiled with satisfaction.

Nephis glanced at him and added:

"But, Sunny… how exactly are we supposed to kill a Fallen Devil?"

His smile widened.

"Oh! I'm glad that you asked…"

***

Sunny had been making plans on how exactly to kill the Black Knight for more than half a year now. Prior to leaving the Dark City, he had spent two entire months observing the terrifying fiend and trying to learn everything there was to know about him.

Needless to say, the task of slaying a creature that powerful was not going to be trivial. In fact, it was going to be the hardest battle they had fought yet.

It almost seemed impossible.

But was it, really?

The fight against the Spire Messenger, who had turned to be a Fallen Monster, nearly cost several members of the cohort their lives. They had barely been able to hold off against the creature of its class, and a devil was ten times more dreadful.

However, there was a big difference between the Messenger they had faced and the Black Knight.

That difference was, basically, very simple.

It was that Sunny did not hate the Messenger with all his dark, vindictive heart.

And now, that hate was going to tip the scales in their favor.