Shadow Slave

The roof of the great tower was flat, with a low parapet running around its perimeter. The stones were slick and wet, covered in water — the sky above was dark with storm clouds, and torrential rain pelted everything with a primal fury. The winds here were strong, as well, howling as they strained to push anyone foolish enough to ascend the tower down, into a fatal fall.

It really seemed like the heavens had burst open, unleashing a world-ending flood.

The flying vehicle — a helicopter — stood in the middle of the roof, and Madoc was standing in front of it.

Sunny was not sure what a helicopter was supposed to look like, really, but he was pretty sure that it was not supposed to be on fire, tilted to one side, and spouting billowing pillars of acrid black smoke. ‘Huh?’

Just as Sunny leaped over the last few steps of the long staircase, feeling his leg muscles burning, there was a bright flash. A second later, a blinding bolt of lightning struck the burning machine, sending a swarm of sparks flying in all directions.

Madoc staggered back, covering his face with an arm.

Sunny froze for a split second.

‘Well, well, well

He remembered the previous bolts of lightning that had landed somewhere above them during the battle for the courtyard. Back then, he did not waste any time thinking where they had hit… but really, it made sense. This was the highest point of the Castle, and there was nothing around them but the vast expanse of the lake. Naturally, lightning would be attracted to a huge machine made of metal standing on an elevated point.

It seemed that whoever the Other Mordret had paid to design this helipad was terrible at their job. Sunny was not going to complain, though — it was high time for him to get a little lucky. Now, at least, the enemy was not going to escape at the last moment.

Raising his revolver, Sunny aimed it at the Chairman of the Valor Group.

”Freeze!”

Madoc spun around, piercing him with an infuriated gaze.

“You vermin

Anger, indignation, humiliation — there were a lot of hues to his voice, but remorse was not one of them. Even now that he had nowhere else to run, he was not sorry for what he had done… he was only sorry about getting caught. Outraged by it, really. Hearing his companions catching up, Sunny smiled darkly and said in a cold, even tone: ”Mr. Madoc… you are under arrest.”

The wind howled louder as he said those words.

‘Ah… it feels good’

Sunny was not the Devil Detective. Still, he had walked a mile in the troubled detective’s shoes, and had experienced his obsessive determination to bring the Nihilist to justice — even if it meant going against the omnipotent Valor Group.

The Nihilist did not really exist, but his victims had not become less real because of that. Seven people had been brutally murdered, and now, the man responsible for their deaths was standing in front of him. Even if both the victims and the killer were not real people, and the details of the case had simply been concocted by the Castellan, it still felt good to solve it. Looking at Madoc, Sunny felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

Madoc, meanwhile, snarled.

”Unde arrest? Me?!”

He laughed.

”Sure, go ahead. Arrest me! Let us see if there is an attorney in this city who dares to prosecute me, or a judge who dares to convict me.”

Sunny’s smile turned darker still.

“You know, Mr. Madoc… it’s not very wise to boast about something like that to a man aiming a gun at you.”

At that moment, Effie and the rest finally arrived. Saint appeared on the roof last, looking even more haggard than she had in the throne room.

Madoc’s eyes widened a little when he saw Morgan. Then, he froze and scowled when two versions of Mordret came into view. ”What is this…”

Taking a step back, Madoc rubbed his eyes and stared at the two identical men once more. For a moment, he glanced unsure of himself, but then his expression returned to normal. He seemed to have come up with some kind of explanation to resolve the maddening contradiction of the world. ʀÀɴỗ𐌱Еs̈

”A stand-in? Ha! I should have known…”

The Other Mordret sighed.

“Uncle

His expression was troubled.

Just as Sunny was satisfied with finally catching the true culprit behind the Nihilist killings, the Other Mordret must have felt the opposite. The Castellan had changed the background of Mirage City to cater to its new guests, but by doing so, the truth familiar to its sole permanent inhabitant had also been changed.

Perhaps the Other Mordret wanted to tell his uncle that it was not his fault. After all, Madoc had not been a murderous conspirator just a few days ago — he had been made into the mastermind of the Nihilist murders by the Castellan.

But what was the point?

Saying something like that meant admitting that Madoc was not a real person. And if he was not a real person, telling him anything had no point.

The Other Mordret seemed to be caught in this bitter contradiction, not knowing what to say.

His counterpart, however, had no such problem.

As Madoc backed away, Mordret took a step forward and smiled.

”Ah. As much as it pains me to admit, I am starting to see the allure of living in this sweet illusion. I was denied the pleasure of killing Whispering Blade with my own two hands, but now, the Great Mirror is offering me another chance. Of course, it is not exactly the real deal… but beggars can’t be choosers. Can we?”

Madoc’s back met the parapet, and he looked back with a wary expression.

“Well played, nephew, well played. You drove me into a corner. I hope you don’t think that I am out of cards, though… police, really? Do you really think that you can bring me down with just that?”

Mordret’s smile just widened slightly.

Effie stared at his back for a moment, then turned to Sunny with a confused expression.

“Alright… we got him. But what do we do with him now? How are we going to lure out the Castellan?”

Sunny frowned.

That was a good question, indeed.

“I think

But before he could answer, Mordret finally reached the reflection of his uncle.

Without saying anything else or changing his expression, he calmly raised a hand and pushed Madoc over the parapet.

Everything happened so swift that none of them managed to react in time. By the time the Other Mordret flinched and Morgan took an involuntary step forward, Madoc was already gone from view.

A panicked scream resounded from the darkness, muffled by the howling of the wind and the roaring thunder.

Half a dozen seconds later, the scream was cut abruptly somewhere far below.

Mordret dusted off his hands and turned to them with a pleasant smile.

”Well, that’s taken care of.”

For some reason, Sunny did not like the look of his smile.

‘Am I… missing something?’

He scowled, trying to understand why he was suddenly feeling uneasy. Surely, it was not because of Madoc’s death — the only surprising thing about it was that it had come abruptly and without warning. He had not really expected Madoc to survive, to begin with.

However…

Before Sunny could finish the thought, he was interrupted once again.

This time, it was because of a low, rumbling sound that suddenly washed over them, shaking the very foundations of the world.