Shadow Slave | A Slave Once Again

Chapter 19: Dark Knight

Third POV:

Three months later, a group of six battered humans appeared from the sea of crimson coral and approached a magnificent white arch. Moving with the precision of experienced predators, they swiftly slaughtered a few transient creatures that hid in the deep shadow cast by the ancient structure, stripped them down for meat, and swiftly climbed up.

Against all odds, the cohort had survived the journey back to the Dark City.

...If only barely.

One thing that Sunny was most satisfied about was how his relationship with his cohort had grown closer compared to the previous round. The initial plan was to keep the things as they were in the previous round, but Sunny just couldn't help himself.

His friendship with Kai and Effie had significantly progressed, as for Caster, he simply kept his distance for obvious reasons. Nephis was her aloof self, although not by much, she seemed to open up to them more.

As For Cassie....she also kept her distance. No matter how many times Sunny tried to struck a conversion with her, she would flinch and back away slowly as if Sunny's existence was alien to her.

Sunny had caught her multiple times trying to say something to him but then she would eventually hesitate and keep her mouth shut.

She looked troubled and confused.

'I will make sure to have a conversation with her when the time comes.'

Looking north from the top of the marble arch, Sunny saw the distant grey wall. His gaze lingered on it, full of exhaustion, triumph, and dark apprehension.

Finally, they had returned.

The past three months had been an endless bloody nightmare for his cohort, with countless horrors and battles leaving their marks on them. And yet, they had also been an anvil against which they were tested, tempered, and made stronger as the result.

He could tell just by looking at other members of the cohort.

Neph's white armor was now covered by numerous scratches and tears that even the restorative effect of the Soul Sea couldn't heal. Her silver hair was longer, reaching to the middle of her back. The ivory face of their leader had grown thin, with dark circles visible under her striking, burning grey eyes.

Caster changed even more. His Flaw was merciless. The neat and dignified young scion was nowhere to be seen: instead, a man with disheveled hair and a short scruffy beard stood in his place, his face dark and grim. Sometimes, Sunny thought that he could even see a grey hair or two in his luscious mane.

Kai was still beautiful and elegant, but most of his charm was hidden under layers and layers of dirt, dust, and dried blood. The stylish armor he had worn was now long gone, destroyed in one of the vicious battles they had fought, and replaced by a rather unflattering garment that seemed to be woven out of bluish seaweed.

The archer also wielded a new bow, this one long a powerful, fashioned out of two curved horns that had belonged to a creature that Sunny would rather not think about. Suffice it to say, this Memory was of the fifth tier and truly deadly.

Effie was much the same, except for the fact that she had become even leaner, her robust musculature not covered even by a gram of fat. The huntress wielded two Shard Memories, both responsible for sending dozens upon dozens of Nightmare Creatures to their deaths. Her archaic bronze armor was dented all over, but somehow still held together

Cassie was the youngest of them, so the changes that had happened to her were perhaps the most pronounced. By now, she had lost most of her childish softness —that he had nearly got used to— and had turned into a beautiful young woman who looked to be on the cusp of adulthood. She had three Echoes tied to her core now, one given to her by Nephis, the other one by Kai.