Shadow Slave

”You’ve finally arrived.”

Three groups of people stared at Mordret with different expressions.

First were the emissaries of Valor. Morgan and Madoc kept their emotions in check, while Sky Tide and Summer Knight seemed grim. Nephis was her usual indifferent self, but there was a hint of curiosity hidden in the depths of her calm grey eyes.

The emissaries of Song were less reserved. Beastmaster was looking at Mordret with barely contained anger, as were Dire Fang and Silent Stalker - the first was just as he had been, somber and savage-looking, while the latter was an unassuming and elegant woman in black leather armor. Her beautiful face was inexpressive, but there was deep contempt in her strange feline eyes. Seishan was the calmest of them. She wasn’t even looking at Mordret, instead studying the faces of the champions of Valor. Jet was standing behind her quietly.

Lastly, there were the representatives of the government.

Sunny shifted uncomfortably.

’What? What the hell are they doing here?’

Saint Cor was, of course, leading the small delegation, but there were two familiar figures behind him. Kai and Effie had somehow ended up as the escorts of the government Transcendent, and were now looking at the Prince of Nothing darkly. They had never met Mordret, but the echoes of his actions had impacted them, both before the Second Nightmare and within it.

There were a couple more government Masters with Wake of Ruins, as well, but Sunny did not know them.

’Why did he have to bring those two here...’

Sunny frowned, then silently separated from the Valor emissaries and went to stand behind Saint Cor, shoulder to shoulder with Kai. Jet did the same, taking a place beside Effie.

In the silence that followed, Mordret’s words hung in the cold air. The Prince of Nothing lingered for a few moments, and then looked at Morgan with those strange, mirror-like eyes.

”...Sister.”

Sunny had long noticed that Morgan never used the word ”brother” when speaking about Mordret. In fact, when the Reflection addressed her as ”sister”, she seemed to have been enraged.

He expected a similar reaction this time, too, but instead, Morgan smiled coldly.

”I have to say, I am impressed. I never imagined that you would dare to face me with your actual body. I’ve always regretted that I wasn’t there to cut it, the last time.”

Mordret looked down at himself, then raised his head and stared at his younger sister.

”Oh... this thing? Yes, it is a bit reckless of me to use it, isn’t it? But then again, it’s not every day that I get to meet my family. I thought that if I was going to kill you, I should do it with my own two hands.”

Sunny tilted his head a little, suddenly distracted.

Come to think of it, how did Mordret’s own body end up here? His original one had been destroyed by Clan Valor, but the Spell had to have created a new one for him after the Second Nightmare. Nevertheless, it would have been incredibly hard for the Prince of Nothing to arrive in Antarctica unnoticed while wearing his own face. Taking the body of someone like Ascended Bast would have been both easier and smarter.

’Unless...’

Assuming that Mordret’s body could survive while his soul was wandering someplace else, he could have just stored it somewhere and then retrieved it at the right moment. He could have even carried it with him using a special Memory... or maybe an unknown facet of his power...

Suddenly, Sunny felt a cold chill running down his spine.

...Did Mordret have a collection of human bodies he carried around in some strange mirror dimension, like a macabre wardrobe of flesh?

That sounded exactly like something the madman would do...

As he was thinking, Beastmaster suddenly spoke, her voice so friendly that it actually sounded terrifying:

”I am very sorry to interrupt this touching family reunion, but... ah... at the risk of sounding petty, could I maybe receive some explanations? Prince Mordret, if I may... why couldn’t you just follow the damned plan? Don’t tell me that you’ve been secretly working for your father this whole time. That would be... such a disappointment.”

Mordret remained silent for a moment, then glanced at the alluring Saint with a somber expression.

”...It is nothing like that. Please accept my sincere apologies. During the battle to conquer Black Skull, the warriors of Valor became suspicious of my identity. So, I had no choice but to act.”

Beastmaster studied his face with doubt. It seemed that she was not convinced by that rather logical explanation. However, it was not like anyone could disprove Mordret’s words - and, in fact, he had no reasonable motive to lie or sabotage their plans.

Doing so would have been madness.

Mordret sighed.

”I understand why you might be angry and distrustful, my lady. But please believe me - my intention is and always has been to help your mother achieve victory over Clan Valor. My family has to pay for what they’ve done to me. There’s no one - no one! - who wants to see them fall more than me. I would have followed the plan if there was the smallest chance of success, but now... well... all I could do is offer you my blade.”

He turned to face Morgan and snarled:

”...And use it to cut the down!”

Mordret’s voice sounded flawlessly impassioned and sincere. It was so compelling, actually, that Sunny almost believed him.

Of course, he knew better than to trust a single word coming out of the lying bastard’s mouth.

Morgan scoffed.

”You blade? What can you even do with a blade?”

She unsheathed her own sword and leaned on it, smiling.

”Come on... show me...”

There was something... very strange about that sword. Sunny had never seen it before, and he suddenly felt chills when looking at the austere double-edged blade.

Mordret stared at the sword, as well, his expression growing bleak. After a few moments, he said quietly:

”I guess he is watching, then.”

Then, his lips suddenly twisted into a dark grin.

”Well, in that case... let’s give him a good show.”

With that, the air around him suddenly rippled, and six mirror shards became visible, hovering above the ground.

Sunny’s eyes narrowed.

’Reflections... Transcendent, all of them?’

Then, the mirror shards suddenly glinted, transforming into human figures.

Nephis finally showed a reaction, white flames ignited in her eyes.

There, surrounding Mordret, now stood six people.

...As he smiled, the Reflections of Whispering Blade, Summer Knight, Sky Tide, Beastmaster, Silent Stalker, and Dire Fang smiled with him.