Shadow Slave

Sunny remained on the swinging hammer of the colossus for a while, resting and trying to catch his breath. However, very soon, the dark sea rose high enough to make his position perilous.

With a deep sigh, he stood up and dislodged the Prowling Thorn from the stones. Waiting for the colossus to raise his hand, Sunny jumped down. The wind whistled in his ears, and a few moments later, he landed on the wrist of the giant in a roll. As soon as Sunny got back to his feet, the stone surface beneath plummeted down.

Thrusting the kunai in another crack, he gritted his teeth and held on to his dear life. Soon, the ground he was standing on sloped down, and then turned into a vertical wall, with nothing but the dark abyss of the cursed sea visible below. Hanging off that wall, Sunny cursed and waited for the colossus to bring his arm back up.

When it finally happened, Sunny immediately dashed forward. He had several precious seconds before the pendulum swung again, and had to cover as much distance as possible with each swing of the giant’s arm.

Too slow, and the cursed sea would catch up to him.

The closer he got to the elbow of the walking statue, the more inclined his path was. Eventually, Sunny had to climb instead of run. His hands were tired from fighting and supporting his weight, but he stubbornly continued moving forward and up.

Once Sunny reached the elbow and climbed higher, the amplitude of the swinging reduced considerably. Now he just had to scale the vertical wall and reach the shoulder of the giant.

Climbing the slippery stone was not easy, but he had gotten used to such tasks a long time ago. In any case, it was way better than that time Sunny had to race against the rising sea during a furious storm, only to get swept away by the black water and be saved by Nephis at the last moment.

This time, at least, he didn’t need her to save his life.

That would be embarrassing…

Some time later, Sunny climbed over the edge of the circular platform, crawled to its center, and sprawled beside the other members of the cohort, who were waiting for his return with tense expressions on their faces.

“Sunny? Are you alright?”

Kai was back to his senses, looking a little bit disheveled, but still ridiculously gorgeous. Sunny stared at him in dismay, then sighed.

“…I’m alive.”

A short while later, Nephis called out to him:

“What were you fighting?”

Sunny grimaced.

“A big ugly worm. I threw him back into the water.”

With that, he reluctantly sat up and looked at the surface of the dark sea, which was already flowing over the shoulders of the stone giant.

Its surface was black and tranquil. No one was pursuing them, it seemed.

“It’s gone now, so rest up. I’ll keep watch.”

***

He stayed awake until the break of dawn and then woke the members of the cohort. When they rose to their feet, Sunny lay down on the cold stone and tiredly closed his eyes.

Yesterday, he had thought that he would not be able to fall asleep atop the walking stone giant. However, Sunny had underestimated how exhausting this long night would end up being. Even the body of a powerful Sleeper needed rest.

Actually, the swinging of the stone platform was sort of soothing. Soon, he was fast asleep.

…When Sunny woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. Yawning, he sat up, summoned the Endless Spring and greedily drank some water. Someone had left a plate of food near him, so without thinking too much, Sunny picked it up and had himself a late breakfast.

‘Ah, that hits the spot.’

Recognizing the taste of Neph’s cooking, he glanced at their intrepid leader and smiled.

It was nice to laze around while others were working.

While Sunny was sleeping, the stone platform had transformed. Plates of iron stripped of the abominable spiders and stored in Effie’s bag were inserted around its perimeter, with the golden rope strung between them as an improvised railing. More of these plates were shaped into makeshift rods and placed in the center to serve as throwing spears in case the cohort was attacked from the air.

Currently, Kai and Effie were building additional battlements on the left shoulder of the giant while Nephis observed their progress from above.

They were taking no chances. A trip through the Labyrinth, no matter how fantastical, was still full of danger. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Sunny scoffed.

‘So much work. What’s the wors… uh, no. I’m not going to finish that thought. No thanks!’

On the stone beside him, the shadow applauded sarcastically.

Shaking his head, Sunny finished his food in silence and moved to the edge of the platform to look down at the vista of the Forgotten Shore.

Far below, the landscape of the Labyrinth was slowly moving past them. The stone giant was marching south, indifferently crushing mountains of crimson coral under his feet with each step. The view was simultaneously hypnotic and depressing.

In every direction, as far away as Sunny could see, there was nothing but red coral, with rare heights protruding from it into the grey skies here and there. The Forgotten Shore was truly vast.

And every inch of it was full of unspeakable dangers.

Not too far from him, Caster was also busy studying the landscape. However, his interest wasn’t purely idle. Changing Star’s map was on the stones beside him, and the proud Legacy was drawing new marks on it from time to time.

Sunny sighed.

The cohort might have caught a ride on the shoulder of the stone giant to reach their destination at the edges of the Forgotten Shore, but they were going to have to walk all the way back to the Dark City by themselves.

That was months of traveling through this treacherous hellscape, with nothing but their own strength and wit to keep them alive. The information Caster was putting on the map today was going to be priceless to them in the future.

…But that was a problem for tomorrow.

Right now, Sunny deserved a little respite.

Turning away from the handsome young man, he lowered his gaze and peered at the sights below.

…It was not every day that one got an opportunity to enjoy a beautiful view of hell.