Shadow Slave

”This is a first.”

Standing on the ruins of the Palace Island, Nephis gazed at the huge, motionless figure of the Flesh of Kanakht. She had released her Transcended form, becoming human again — her eyes were dim and tired, the white flames that had burned in them long extinguished. However, the fire dancing on the rubble still reflected in their beautiful grey depths, so there was little difference from how they had shone before. The Great Titan... was asleep.

It lay on the bed of ash and molten lava, lulled into deep slumber. Sunny and Nephis stood some distance away, surrounded by their companions. They had poured everything they had into destroying the titanic Nightmare Creature, but it was all for naught.

Finally, after utterly exhausting themselves, they stopped.

Nephis turned and glanced at Sunny.

”I have never met an Nightmare Creature whom I could defeat, but not kill”

Sunny stared at the slumbering Titan with a peculiar expression.

”Yeah... indeed.”

His mind was still reeling in the aftermath of the calamitous confrontation. The siege of the Eternal City, the mad rush to the Palace Island, the stand against the Dutchman and its wraith armada, and finally the battle against the Flesh of Kanakht... all of it had happened so recently and so rapidly, in quick succession.

So, he was failing to fully acknowledge both what had happened and that it was all but over.

”I don’t think I’ve ever been in this situation, either.”

It was preposterous, really. Usually, a battle ended when the enemy was dead — killing the enemy was synonymous with achieving victory. One could win a bloodless victory, of course, but defeating a Abomination and still failing to kill it was a bizarre novelty.

Sunny regarded the Flesh of Kanakht silently.

The thing was still alive.

It had been captured by the Dream Curse, but even now that Nightmare was a Supreme Terror, the maze of harrowing dreams was not going to hold a Great Titan indefinitely... or even for long.

The ghastly Nightmare Creature was going to shake off its slumber eventually.

”So what do we do with it now?”

Nephis hesitated for a few seconds, then glanced into the distance.

The distance... was not that far anymore. The barrier surrounding the Eternal City was failing. In fact, the rate of its destruction had been increasing exponentially — by now, a dozen hexagons composing the invisible dome blinked out of existence every moment, unleashing roaring waterfalls of dark water.

The outer ring of the ruin had already been swallowed by water, so now, it seemed as if a black wall was closing in on the Palace Island from all sides, erasing the world as it drew closer and closer. The inner ring was half-gone, too, and there were even several hexagonal pillars falling into the turbulent lake.

Nephis let out a quiet sigh.

”Do we need to do anything?”

She remained silent for a moment.

”The terrible weight of the Stormsea will soon descend upon the sleeping Titan. Even if the Abomination survives the pressure, it will most likely be immobilized. And even if it retains the ability to move despite carrying the entire Stormsea on its shoulders, it might not ever find human Citadels scattered in the waters far east of here. If it does, decades would have passed — the sea is vast, after all. Decades later, we will either be strong enough to vanquish it once and for all... or dead.”

Sunny glanced at her incredulously.

”So are you suggesting we just... leave it?”

He glanced at the monstrous, towering mass of the Flesh of Kanakht. Nephis, Jet, and Naeve glanced at it too — which meant that Cassie was watching, as well.

Nobody said anything for a while. Eventually, it was Nightmare who broke the silence, letting out a quiet snort and glaring at the mountain of bleeding flesh with smoldering hatred.

Nephis and Sunny did not react, and Jet remained her usual self, too. However, Naeve and Fiend could not help but shiver at the sound of the harrowing destrier’s voice... considering that Fiend was dozens of meters tall, that was quite the sight. Sunny shook his head.

”I guess that is...”

His voice was drowned out by the ferocious roar of rushing water.

High above them, several vast swaths of the dome vanished at the same time, and innumerable tons of foaming water plummeted down from great height. The world shook when the water reached the ruins, devastating the islands closest to the lake and erasing the southern end of the Palace Island from existence.

This time, the damage was not limited to those islands alone. The very foundation of the Eternal City seemed to have reached its limit, fracturing with a deafening noise. Several of the remaining islands crumbled and collapsed into the seething canals, revealing where the enormous fractures were hidden. Those fractures spread outward from the point of failure... and most of them converged on the Palace Island.

The Palace Island crumbled, as well.

‘Crap!’

Suddenly, Sunny realized that the Flesh of Kanakht was not the real problem. The Great Titan... had been defeated, so even if they failed to slay it, that was all in the past. The current peril facing them was the Eternal City itself — having broken it, they now had to survive its destruction.

The decision on how to deal with the Flesh of Kanakht had been made for them.

”It’s time to escape!”

As the ground opened beneath their feet, Nephis summoned her wings again. Sunny grabbed Jet and Naeve, pulling them through the shadows.

A moment later, they appeared on the walls of the Dark Castle. It was leaning heavily to the side, perched precariously on the edge of a deep chasm. Far below, the dark expanse of the deep fracture was quickly filling up with foaming water — ignoring it, Sunny pushed his companions toward the graceful silhouette of the Chain Breaker. He forced out a smile, then grinned earnestly.

“My fellow treasure hunters... I hereby announce the completion of the Eternal City expedition! It was a resounding success. Thank you for joining me on this fun and mildly amusing adventure. You both performed admirably! Now, we just need to escape this sunken hell alive...”

Naeve gave him a startled look.

”Wha...”

Before he could finish, Sunny pointed at Cassie, who was already landing on the deck of the Chain Breaker.

”Follow her! I’ll join you as soon as I can... if I can... in any case, go!”

Sparing one glance back and making sure that Nephis was already ascending to the Ivory Island, Sunny pushed them one more time and stepped into the shadows again. As soon as he left them, his gaze landed on his charred incarnation, which was still stitching the wayward shadow of Nightwalker back to its master amid the devastation.

”You fool! What’s taking you so long?!”

His figure separated into four identical avatars, each glaring at the fifth with the same indignation.

”Why are you so slow, bastard?!”

”We have defeated an entire wraith armada and a Great Titan while you were dawdling around! What the hell?!”

”Do you see all this water? We hate water!” As more of the dome collapsed, unleashing an apocalyptic deluge, Sunny gritted his teeth and glanced at his other incarnations with seething fury.

”Shut the hell up, wretches!”

He paused for a moment, and then growled: ”Since you’re already here, pick up a needle and help out!”