Shadow Slave

Sunny glided through the dark sky above the luminous expanse of softly shining water. The wind was caressing his skin, and tranquil silence ruled the world. If not for the need to pierce himself with the sharp needle over and over again, he would have found the situation relaxing.

Of course, there was also the monstrous sea serpent that patiently pursued him, staring at the perfectly black canvas of the night sky with cloudy eyes.

He also had to constantly remain on high alert - there was no telling what else could attack him from above.

After a while, Sunny let out a sigh.

'How tiresome.'

He was starting to miss the days of plummeting into the Sky Below. At least he had the dead mimic to sit on back then. Now, there was nowhere for him to rest - Sunny continued to fly forward, surrounded by nothing except empty air.

He had the Sin of Solace with him instead of Mordret, too. It was really hard to tell which one of them was worse company.

"What? Have you lost... I strongly protest against this comparison!"

The apparition glanced at him with contempt, then looked away.

Sunny sighed again.

"Yeah, yeah... you are way more handsome than that guy. Sorry. I went too far."

The Sin of Solace scoffed, and they continued forward in silence.

After a long while, the faint radiance of the flowing water grew a little dimmer. The eastern horizon brightened, and then, the first of the suns appeared from below in a crown of lilac hues.

A new day was starting.

The soft light suffusing the Great River slowly dissipated, and the seven suns appeared from below the water one after another. Soon, the western horizon was once again wreathed in the crimson flames of dusk.

Everywhere else, it was bright day.

Sunny stared at the Great Beast below him with resentment. He was tempted to summon Morgan's Warbow and start turning the ancient serpent into a pincushion. Even if the might of his arrows was not enough to pierce the azure scales of the creature, he was sure that they would at least irritate it.

Why should Sunny be the only one feeling endless frustration?

However, doing so was only going to consume his essence. He wasn't willing to waste it needlessly in a situation where it was impossible to tell what would happen next.

Gritting his teeth, Sunny steeled his will and continued flying above the water.

An hour went by. Then, one more.

Actually, Sunny had no idea if those were really hours - the seven suns shining above the Great River were too bizarre and unreliable to use them for measuring the time. He just guessed how much of it had passed based on intuition, but he could have easily been wrong.

In any case... more time flowed past him. Or was it Sunny who was flowing through time? Questions like this were driving him mad.

'I am really starting to...'

Sunny suddenly froze and looked at a certain spot on the Great River.

There, a great distance away... a black dot had finally appeared atop the sparkling water. His heart skipped a beat.

'Land?'

He lingered for a moment, then glanced at the long shadow hiding beneath the surface of the water right below him. Then, he changed the direction of his flight slightly and sped up, hoping to reach the black dot as soon as possible.

There was no guarantee that finding a place to land would save him from the great abomination. But maybe he would be able to rest, at least.

The wind whistled in Sunny's ears as he glided along the current of the Great River, moving - perhaps - further into the past.

Slowly, the dot grew larger, and he was able to see a few details of what it was.

In front of him, still some distance away, was a dark island. The island was not very large - no more than a kilometer across - and consisted entirely of black, weathered rock. It had steep slopes, with deep grooves and twisting fissures running through them.

There were vast patches of green moss scattered across the surface of the island, as well as towering outcroppings of something that resembled tarnished silver. The glistening edges were sharp and jagged.

Sunny felt a bit of hope.

The island was not large, but it was large enough to pose an obstacle for the sea monster. If the abomination wanted to follow Sunny to the surface, it would have to leave the water entirely - and fighting on land would be very advantageous to Sunny.

Maybe the ancient serpent would not climb out of the river at all.

But even if it did, it would be out of its element. With Sunny, Saint, Nightmare, Imp, and the five shadows... maybe they stood a chance of driving the creature away, or even killing it.

The Sin of Solace must have grown much stronger, as well. After all, the [Hideous Truth] enchantment of the jade blade promised immense power to those who succumbed to its madness... and, judging by how real the sword wraith seemed, Sunny had met quite a lot of the requirements.

Plus... Sunny could find clues about the nature of the Nightmare on the island. Right now, he was suffering the most from the lack of information. Knowledge was the origin of power, so he couldn't miss a chance to acquire some.

'Let's hope that the old snake is not going to follow me to land...'

Sunny removed the Heavenly Burden from his arm and started slowly descending in the direction of the dark island. The closer he got to it, the more details he could make out. The steep slopes of the island were craggy, with their lower parts encased in silver. There were numerous barnacles growing on the tarnished metal, with waves of water foaming as they splashed against them from time to time.

There were also massive chains rising from the water and disappearing in the fissures higher up the slopes.

Sunny frowned.

The island was very strange... that was a given. However, there was something about that strangeness that made him feel uneasy.

The monstrous serpent, too, seemed to have grown wary as they drew closer to the weathered hill of dark rock.

Sunny's eyes suddenly narrowed.

'Could it be...'

He hesitated for a few moments, and then tried to peer through the surface of the island.

A split second later, Sunny cursed and hurriedly drove the Heavenly Needle back into his skin.

In the next moment, the island quaked and moved as a titanic head slowly rose from beneath the waves to stare at the ancient sea serpent with a giant, unmoving eye.

...What Sunny saw beneath the weathered black rock was an ocean of vile darkness, and two nodes from where the Corruption had spread throughout the whole enormous creature.

The entire island... was simply the carapace of a colossal Great Monster.