Shadow Slave

Most of the Shadow Clan members were Awakened, with only a few Masters mixed in. Sunny planned to slowly nurture the talented people he had recruited, and then send those who were ready to conquer Nightmares — that way, he would eventually come to rule a small army of elite Ascended specialists.

Some of his agents were already planning to challenge the Second Nightmare. Tamar of Sorrow, for example, was preparing to take Ray, Fleur, Corsair... and Telle of White Feather, all of a sudden... into a Seed. However, there were things that even Ascended could not do. Carrying people across the realm boundary, for one — that was in the purview of Saints. As a Supreme Titan, Serpent could theoretically place the Mark of Shadows on Transcendent beings, as well, and Sunny’s life would have become much easier if he had recruited one or two. However, there were reasons why he had never tried to initiate a Saint into the Shadow Clan. Firstly, he did not really need to — it was not like he controlled Citadels that had to be bestowed upon loyal Saints to empower his Domain. Sunny had seven incarnations, after all, but only two Citadels. So, unless he suddenly came into possession of six more, he had no need of a vassal. More importantly, though, he could not allow himself to become a master of too many powerful living beings. It was fine if his legion of shadows kept growing... but if enough humans who had climbed high on the Path of Ascension began to follow him, the Forgotten God would come closer to awakening.

Still, things constantly changed, and at this point, Sunny needed the assistance of a Saint. He needed someone who was competent, would fit into the Shadow Legion, and whose absence would not weaken the Longing Domain too much. That last requirement was especially stringent. It made it so he could not poach Effie, Kai, or Jet from Nephis. Even someone like Nightwalker was out of the question — for better or worse.

However, Sunny did have a perfect candidate in mind.

‘Ah, I really don’t like this place.’

Escorted by Saint through a dark corridor, Sunny barely held back a shiver. It was terribly cold down here, and on top of that, his shadow sense was suppressed. Those daemons all must have been wary of Shadow God and his servants — many of the strongholds they had left behind had a way of making his perception nearly useless, as if he were an ordinary being.

The Jade Palace was no different.

One of Sunny’s incarnations was hidden in Ravenheart, so visiting the Great Citadel was quite simple. He often did, either to help Kai... or to annoy him out of boredom. Today, however, Sunny had left the opulence of the upper levels of the Jade Palace behind and delved into the network of tunnels beneath it.

His goal, of course, was to find the reclusive Saint who dwelled there.

These were the Ice Halls, where Ki Song had kept her legion of pilgrims once.

...A questionable choice of residence, as far as Sunny was concerned, but then again, he lived inside a gluttonous Devil.

Soon enough, the tunnel Sunny and Saint were following opened into a vast open chamber, and he suddenly lost his ability to see. That was because the chamber was drowned in true darkness, the element that the person who lived here freely controlled. Strangely enough, the cold receded as soon as he entered the chamber, and a warm wind caressed his face.

Sunny cleared his throat.

”I am sorry to come in without knocking. But, you know... there’s no door. So, I let myself in.”

A few moments passed in eerie silence, and then, a voice resounded from the dark, sounding somber and cold:

”The Lord of Shadows. To what do I owe the displeasure?”

Still blind, Sunny smiled.

”Oh, you know. I need help kidnapping a thousand or so people. You were the first person I thought I’d ask.”

There was a long stretch of silence, and then Revel responded in a tone that lacked amusement:

”Get out.”

Sunny sighed, then turned in the direction where Saint stood silently.

“Saint. If you will?”

In the next moment, the darkness around him seemed to ripple. Then, it retreated, revealing the vast underground chamber to him in all its...

”Huh?”

Sunny had not really put much thought into imagining how the Lightslayer’s lair looked, but he sort of imagined a grim hall devoid of all comfort. A cold and dark crypt where Revel sat on the stone floor, endlessly meditating, or maybe a rough and stark training field where she honed her battle art.

The underground chamber he saw after the true darkness retreated, though, was a bit... Cozy?

And more than a little untidy.

There was plenty of expensive furniture, including a bed with a tall mattress and a fluffy blanket, takeout boxes and junk food wrappers strewn around the place, a battery of empty soda cans, and tall piles of books standing here and there — every item clearly dragged here from the waking world.

Some of the book piles had even toppled, spreading them across the floor. One of the books was laying right near his foot. Leaning down, Sunny picked it up and looked at the cover with a confused frown. ”I Didn’t Mean... to Seduce the Northern Duke?”

He blinked a couple of times, failing to comprehend what he had just read.

“Give that back!”

Someone snatched the book out of his hand, and he finally saw Revel, who was staring angrily at him.

Dark Dancer Revel looked like she always did — her skin was pure alabaster, her eyes seemed to be cut from precious obsidian, and her hair was like a waterfall of beautiful black silk.

It was just that her silken hair was gathered in a messy bun, and she was wearing a pair of stretched-out sweatpants and a raggedy, threadbare sweatshirt.

The former princess of Song hid the book behind her back and turned the scathing gaze of her black eyes toward Saint.

”Since when is that thing Supreme?!”

Saint had been able to vanquish the true darkness because she was of a higher Rank than Revel, and therefore could exert greater authority over the element they were both attuned to.

Sunny was still staring at Revel with a dumbfounded expression.

”Since... winter.”

It was Revel the Lightslayer, alright.

Revel was... a slob?!

And an aficionado of questionable novels, as well.

Sunny was suddenly full of doubts.

‘Come to think of it... do I really need a lieutenant?’