Shadow Slave | A Slave Once Again

Chapter 20: Shadows

Third POV:

Strange, beautiful, and an ominous-looking gem lay in the remnants of the Forsaken Knight. It was utterly black, as though suffused with impenetrable darkness. The glossy black surface seemed to devour light, turning the vast hall of the ruined cathedral even darker than it had been before.

Sunny gazed through it and under its surface.

Deep within that black void, crimson flames burned with a menacing red glow. It was pulsating in a slow and bizarre rhythm, drowning everything around in dim red light. Painted by it, the surroundings seemed to be drenched and stained by blood. The gem looked like a bloody, still-beating heart that Sunny had torn out of someone's chest.

Gazing at it, Sunny felt a sense of foreboding.

'What the hell is this thing?'

The gem looked sort of like a soul shard, but... different. He had never seen a black shard, to begin with, or one radiating such an intense glow. It also didn't seem like a piece of a broken core. On the contrary, it appeared whole

'The whole soul sea?'

'Or perhaps the soul itself?'

Sunny didn't know what that thing exactly was.

But Sunny knew that He needed it.

Sunny walked forward as Nephis dismissed her flames, both of them were exhausted, fighting their direct counter wasn't an easy thing to do no matter how strong oneself was.

Sunny knelt down to pick up the gem. As his hands reached for it, his shadows rippled in rejection. Sunny ignored it but the moment his bare fingertips touched the surface of the gem it bounced off with a spark. It sent an electric impulse through his body.

Sunny flinched as he looked at his hand in confusion.

'What the heck?'

It took Sunny a couple of moments to conclude that his Shadowy nature and the elemental darkness of the gem must have clashed creating this peculiar phenomenon.

Sunny confirmed it further when Nephis did the same and was met with the same reaction. Elemental darkness has its own elemental force, one that is both independent and opposed to light. Instead of a simple lack of light like shadows, pure darkness is a rival of light. Since light and shadows always go hand in hand, the elemental darkness was also the enemy of shadows.

Sunny stood by Neph's side, both eyeing the dark gem. Soon Effie and the rest of the cohort walked towards their directions. Noticing the pile of rusted steel Effie asked cautiously.

"Is it finally over?"

Sunny and Nephis silently and simultaneously nodded their heads.

Nephis was still suffering from the excessive use of her aspect, after all, her flaw wasn't the merciful one to begin with. Neph's face was flushed as Trickles of sweat cascaded down her face, her eyes reddened as she silently chewed on the inside of her cheek to suppress the pain. Although her face looked expressionless and normal as always, Sunny knew her well enough to discern the smallest details of her body language.

Sunny was able to read and understand a much more deceptive and intelligent version of Nephis. So the current Nephis looked quite immature and clumsy at hiding her pain.

Sunny cursed inwardly.

Most of the burden of fighting the fallen devil had fallen upon their shoulders, and Saint's absence had become much more pronounced. The cohort—aside from Nephis and Sunny—had retreated mid-fight under Sunny's orders, while Sunny and Nephis dealt with the Forsaken Knight.