Fate’s Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

'So… how does someone get themselves in this situation?'

Sunny and Seele had been planning on heading to the Great Mine in order to find Oleg, the leader of Wildfire — a group that works to keep piece within the Underworld.

From what Sunny had learned in the past couple of days, Wildfire helps out the Underworld in plenty of ways. Upholding justice, fighting for resources, and distributing goods. Fortunately for him, Seele happened to work for them, giving him a one-way ticket to the top dog!

This left him somewhat confused, as Seele was one of Sunny's subordinates in his new secret organization that he didn't have a name for yet, but he simply decided to absorb Wildfire into it when the Stellaron crisis was solved. They were bound to be grateful for his efforts, so it would all work out just fine!

However… Sunny had been monitoring Bronya with his shadow ever since she left the clinic. The Overworlder had somehow found herself in a little trouble.

So he had dragged Seele in the direction of the Supreme Guardian's daughter. He could still use the girl as a hostage if necessary, so he couldn't let her get killed off by some no-names.

And this led to Sunny and Seele blending into a small crowd, watching the strange situation in front of them.

Bronya must have attracted attention to herself by not concealing the fact that she was from the Overworld. Her clothes stood out quite a bit, but people would only have made such an assumption if she had broadcasted it without restraint.

She seemed to have gotten into a confrontation with some vagrants, who were all armed with makeshift rifles. Bronya had a deep frown on her face, agitated by them.

Meanwhile, there was Sampo standing in between them, attempting to diffuse the situation with a nervous grin.

"Now, now… Miss Bronya over here hasn't done anything wrong, has she? Maybe you should calm down before Wildfire catches wind of this…"

Suddenly, Bronya scowled at him.

"Weren't you the one that kidnapped me? If Wildfire is the what enforces the law in the Underworld, wouldn't you get arrested as well?"

Sunny coughed. Actually, he was the one that had kidnapped Bronya. He had made her believe that Sampo was the one who had done it — both because he was bored and wanted to be entertained, and because he was somewhat spiteful when it came to man who disappears to the Dream Realm whenever it was convenient for him.

The sleazy Master sent Bronya an incredulous look.

"Wha— of course I didn't kidnap you! You were brought over here by my good friend… with consent, I hope."

Without any regard for the argument between Bronya and Sampo, the vagrants aimed their guns at the girl.

He saw Seele attempt to rush in out of the corner of his eye, and grabbed her hand before she could get involved. She sent him a look of both confusion and irritation. Sunny silently shook his head. Seele wouldn't be able to reach them without using her Aspect to warp over there, and that would the rule that was enforced on the Underworld to be broken.

He would rather not watch as Seele died from a supernatural heart attack.

Neither Sampo nor Bronya would have been severely injured by a gun wound. Sampo could simply shrug it off, while Bronya would only be bruised at most. However, a stray bullet my fly and hit one of the bystanders, who have no protection against mundane attacks.

It was somewhat strange. If a mundane human were to punch an Awakened, it would hardly do any damage. However, if an Awakened were to replicate the attack while using the same amount of strength, the damage that would be dealt would be drastically higher. It was like an attack from an Awakened carried an unnatural force that allowed them to harm other Awakened, which were protected by this same force.

Mundane attacks didn't carry this force, diminishing the amount of damage it would have done otherwise. Fallen Nightmare Creatures could be thrown into a star and survive, while a Saint with a fire-related Aspect would be able to utterly atomize the Nightmare Creature.

Of course, a Saint with an Aspect that creates fire would be able to create flames much hotter than a mere star, assuming that their Aspect Rank was at least Awakened or Ascended. Otherwise, the synergy of their Aspect Abilities wouldn't help to reach such heat.

Even so, if an Ascended were to create a fireball — even if it wasn't as hot as a star — it would do much more damage to a Fallen Nightmare Creature.

With a simple command, the shadow that was attached to Bronya detached, moving towards the vagrants. Saint rose out of the shadow, separating Sampo and Bronya from them. The statue clenched her fist, winding it back as she stared down the vagrants.

However, instead of caving their faces in with her gauntlets, she crushed their rifles with nothing but her heavy fists. They splintered, breaking apart into countless shards. The blow created a small shockwave, blowing away the vagrants.

The crowd was startled, frightened by the sudden appearance of the stone knight. Saint was dismissed, returning to the dark expanse of his soul sea.

By using Saint, Sunny was able to stop the vagrants without exposing the existence of the four Awakened here. Saint's existence might have been exposed, but she was not an Awakened. Since she was a shadow, she was closer to a Nightmare Creature than an Awakened.

The people in the Underworld were aware of Fragmentum monsters, so they would most likely associate them to Saint instead. Of course, they would be quite confused about where she had come from, along with the fact she hadn't actually attacked anyone, simply disarming the vagrants. Such behavior was unusual for creatures spawned by the Fragmentum.

Speaking of the vagrants, they were all unconscious. Sunny didn't think that the shockwave was strong enough to knock someone out, but what did he know? Normal people were fragile after all…

Exiting the crowd with Seele by his side, Sunny approached Sampo and Bronya. The former breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sunny! My bestest of friends! Ah, and is that Miss Seele as well? It's a good thing, you showed up when you did, with such a strong Echo as well! My heartfelt thanks~"

His face robotically shifted to an expression of exaggerated anger.

"These vagrants have got some nerve looking for trouble in Wildfire terri—"

Seele cut in with an annoyed tone.

"Shut it Sampo, this has 'you' written all over it. Wildfire has countless issues on its plate right now. We don't need a side order of Koski."

Sunny wasn't surprised that the two of them knew each other. Considering that they were two of the only three Awakened in the Underworld, it would have been quite difficult to be unaware of each other.

…However, it seemed like Seele wasn't much of a fan for Sampo's character.

With a serious expression, Seele turned towards Bronya.

"I hear a Silvermane Guard is paying the Underworld a visit... is that you?"

Sunny stared at Seele in confusion. Her demeanor had suddenly changed. It was like she had become much more composed than before. If a few words could easily fluster her earlier, he doubted such a thing would work on her now.

Bronya sent both Sunny and Seele a strange look, mumbling something under her breath.

"…Have I met you two before?"

The two of them blinked, glancing at each other. Sunny was a little offended that Bronya would forget about him considering that she had seen him earlier today.

"You literally saw me an hour ago at the clinic. Am I really that forgettable?"

Seele simply shook her head, obviously confused by the question.

Bronya sighed.

"No, I do remember you from back then. What I meant was..."

She paused for a second, suddenly shaking her head.

"Nevermind, it isn't important. As for you…"

She glared at Sampo, causing the man to flinch.

"You kidnapped me and brought me to the underground. What is the meaning of this?"

The man stuttered at her question, not having any way to answer it. After all, the one who actually kidnapped her was Sunny himself.

Seele scoffed, snarling towards her.

"Hmph, listen to her. 'What is the meaning of this?' ...She still thinks she's an Overworld princess. Do you know what's become of us down here while you live the easy life? Did you even consider the fate of the Underworlders?"

'Whoa… Seele, aren't you being a little confrontational here? Just because she's a little higher up on the social hierarchy doesn't mean you have to flame her like this… did Veliona take over?

Taking a look at her eyes, he saw that they were still purple.

Sunny was quite surprised by this change. It seemed that Seele had a deep seated hate for those on top. He wanted to ask her about it… but it wasn't really any of his business. He didn't go about telling people about why he hates certain things, so he won't bother her with such a question.

Bronya's brow furrowed.

"The Silvermane Guards aren't 'living the easy life.' We are constantly engaged with the enemy — defending Belobog from the scourge of attacking monsters... and protecting all those above and below the surface."

'A logical reversal from Bronya! How will the thorny Seele respond to the stalwart daughter of the Supreme Guardian?'

Of course, Sunny was cheering for Seele. He knew her for much longer than Bronya… even if the difference wasn't much. What type of boss would he be if he couldn't support his subordinate.

Seele rolled her eyes.

"Hah, do you even hear yourself? You? Protect the underground? Redeploying every Guard to the surface, sealing off the only passageway... Protecting the so-called Architects, more like it."

'There it is! A brutal dismantlement from this viscous woman! With no chance for a comeback, the win goes towards Seele!'

Although Sunny was having fun at their expense, he also wasn't completely comfortable with being in the midst of this argument. Making eye contact with Sampo, it seemed like the older man agreed with that sentiment.

Bronya pursed her lips.

"The Madam Guardian has her reasons..."

Sunny pinched Seele's waist, causing her to jump.

"Alright, that's enough messing around. We've dealt with the issue, so let's go see Oleg."

She sent him a scathing glare before turning towards Bronya.

"You're coming with us. Chief Oleg wants to see you, and he's got more than a few questions."

Sunny blinked.

"Wait, why is she coming along with us?"

She sighed.

"He wanted whoever found the Overworld girl to bring her to him. Since we were already going to meet him… two rats with one shovel?"

Sunny squinted his eyes.

"I don't think that's the saying…"