Shadow Slave: Endless Souls

Under the sun's pale sunlight, three figures were traveling around the crimson labyrinth. Edward with his scarf on in his [Hunter Set] looked menacing and evil while Nephis looked calm as ever behind them Cassie was following connected with them using a golden rope. Against two of them, the monsters were no match especially when Edward pulled out [Volcano] most of the enemies they met almost died instantly.

Edward also learned that those creatures he often encountered resembling crabs are called Carapace Scavengers and as he remembers they were Awakened Beasts. It took him a lot of kicking around the bushes to get their names, and he meant it when a lot of them.

"So which direction was it?"

Nephis asked calmly as she was slicing open one of their prey to pull out its soul shards then slicing them into smaller pieces with her sword. With the arrival of Edward, they got their hand on the [Bag Of Holding] which allowed them to store corpses in the perfect condition as long they managed to fit it in.

"Hm?"

Edward asked confusingly.

"The structure."

Her words reminded Edward who knocked on his mind as he remembers it just now.

"Right, I wanna know that too."

His words suddenly made Nephis stop what she was doing for a moment.

"You don't know?"

'I don't remember that part clearly. I didn't read it with a serious intention in the first place.'

Then again he wasn't really complaining after all if he sent to novels he read seriously before then he might not have survived that long. Especially The Lord Of Mysteries and Warhammer 40k moment he arrived there his journey would have come to an end.

"Were you lying?"

Nephis questioned him which he shook his head and answered with a white lie:

"Nope, it's just I was sleepy when I saw it."

Nephis's eye twitched first time in pure annoyance she felt like every second he spent with him was more torturous than being chased by an assassin. If you get caught by assassins you will be killed quickly because they need to finish their job cleanly but when she spent time with him she just felt a constant headache that even her flames couldn't heal.

"Let's stop."

After putting the last part into the magical bag she unsummons her silver sword and gets up with the bag.

"Hm? Why?"

"Searching without lead will waste time."

"But we don't have any lead in the first place?"

Nephis glared at him making Edward raise his hands in front of him showing that he surrendered to her demands. Nephis who was looking at Edward intensely suddenly snapped her hand sideways. Immediately, a long sword appeared in it, cutting the air as it assumed a defensive position. Edward looked at the direction her sight was set on and noticed a human shadow that was on it is own without any master to cast it.

The shadow froze when being stared at by the duo. It seemed a bit startled.

Cassie comes beside Edward and asks in a whisper so only three of them can hear.

""Neph? Edward? What is it?"

Nephis nor Edward didn't answered immediately, carefully observing the shadow. Then Nephis simply said:

"There's a shadow."

Cassia's doll-like face paled.

"A shadow? Scavengers?"

This time Edward answered with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Nope. It's a human shadow without an owner."

Shadow turned its head towards Edward as if felt insulted by his words. Sadly he didn't have a vocal cord to voice his complaint into a speech.

This was clearly not what Cassia expected to hear. With an expression of surprise, she asked:

"A human shadow? What… what is it doing?"

Nephis hesitated. After a while, she answered in a flat tone:

"...It's waving at us."

***

"Do you think I can harm it?"

Edward asked the duo he remembered that Pugilists were so supernaturally resistant they could touch incorporeal beings momentarily. He wondered if he could touch Sunny's shadow, when he extended his hand towards it the shadow flinched.

"Wait, don't do anything to it. I just sent it ahead to make sure that you guys don't finish me off before realizing that I'm a human."

Immediately, Nephis turned her head, pinpointing the exact location where Sunny was hiding in a blotch of shadows. Her sword slightly shifted, aiming at the new threat.

"If you're human, why are hiding in the shadows like a creep?"

'Why are you glancing at me when saying the last part?'

Edward looks at the girl with a questioning look.

"I mean, you're Changing Star Nephis and someone in a really... unique-looking suit. To be honest, I'm a little afraid."

Sunny swallowed the words with negative meanings like: creepy, weird, etc.

Nephis did not answer. Her face was still in her hard-to-read state, it was almost impossible to determine whether she believed him or not from her expression. However, he included her True Name in his answer for a reason: if he was some monster pretending to be human, he wouldn't have known it.

And besides Edward was beside Nephis and Cassie who was aware of Sunny's inevitable reunion with them.

"Sunny, you don't recognize me? I am almost hurt you know."

Edward's words stunned Sunny, he started searching through his memory to find any instances of the possibility of stumbling into the mysterious masked man. His words also made Cassie remember who Sunny is voice belongs to.

"Are you the boy who sat with me Edward in the cafeteria?"

She then said to Nephis who was about to ask a question about who he exactly was.

"I recognize his voice. His name is Sunless. He was in second-to-last place in the rankings, right above me."

The tall girl frowned as if trying to remember. Then she asked:

"The pervert?"

The smile disappeared from Sunny's face, replaced by exasperation. A snicker escapes from Edward making Sunny glare at him with anger.

"Hey! I'm not really a pervert, you know! I just… uhm… said a few things. To a few girls. It was all a misunderstanding."

Nephis was silent for a few seconds, and then, finally, dismissed her sword.

"Okay. You can come out."

Sunny limped out of the shadows, summoning his own back. It flowed to his feet and reattached itself, visibly shaking. And surprisingly it wasn't caused by laughter or anything mocking but one that's born from fear.

Sunny's wariness towards the man in a rather old-looking suit becomes even greater, perhaps this man is more dangerous than the Changing Star herself.

Stopping a few meters away from Nephis, he raised his hands, showing that he didn't mean the group any harm. Changing Star gave him an inquisitive look.

"What happened to you?"

She was referring to his limp, bruises, and overall banged-up look. Sunny sighed.

"Carapace Scavenger."

Nephis raised an eyebrow:

"You managed to get away alive?"

Sunny subconsciously straightened his back.

"I didn't get away. I killed it."

To prove his point, he gestured at his rucksack, full of delicious monster meat. Nephis looked him over again, reevaluating her opinion of him. Now, there were hints of approval in her eyes.

Carapace Scavengers were only beasts, but they were still awakened. With the addition of their mighty physique and natural armor, defeating one was not an easy feat for any Sleeper, who all had a dormant core. Let alone someone from the very bottom of the ranking list.

Come to think of it, it was even a bit too outstanding.

Sunny lowered his eyes.

"Eh… it was already wounded."

Nephis shrugged.

"A kill is a kill. You did well."

After that, she fell silent, as though not planning to say anything else. Sunny also wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, Cassia came to the rescue.

"Are you seriously injured?"

Edward cuts off Sunny's answer and comes in front of Sunny as his tone is rather cheerful as if truly met his old friend by pure surprise.

"Nothing to worry about Cassie, with a little bit of meat and a day or two worth of rest he should be completely fine. Anyway, it is nice to see you are alive and well Sunny. I was hoping you were sent to somewhere a little better than this place."

"Uh... I am sorry your excellency but who are you again?"

"Aww, you are hurting my heart Sunny we even become sleepers the same day you know."

Sunny's eyes widen as he processes his words and lets out a surprised gasp.

"You are Edward?!"

***

Please support my new book, official novel.