Shadow Slave: Gleaming Stars

[Audun's POV]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

That hurt like an ungrateful bitch...

The impact left me completely rattled; my organs shocked from the rather ungraceful crash.

Thankfully, my starlight shell dispersed most of the force upon shattering, otherwise I probably would've ended up as a red smear on this glorious statue's chest. 

Letting out another pained groan, I peeled myself from the human-sized indent I painfully created.

My own idiocy had done far more damage than any abomination I've encountered thus far, and I was seriously considering whether my transmigration had come with a bonus debuff on top of my flaw, one that could justify my situational stupidity. 

'Maybe the spell had given me brain damage on top of Social anxiety? At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised...'

Though thinking back on it, I've always been a rather eccentric person, I was just strong enough to ignore the consequences of my actions. 

'Well, whatever.'

Shrugging mentally, I changed out of the battered obsidian scale armor, manifesting the familiar and comfortable robe of the [Bones of the Forest] before jumping out of my stone encasing to meet the others. 

Landing gracefully on the statue's intricate stone hand, I met the gazes of Sunny and Nephis, the two sleepers looking at me with a complex mix of emotions, though their relief and bewilderment were obvious. 

Oblivious to their inner turmoil, I gave the two a rather relaxed nod as they stood frozen in place. 

"... huh?"

Sunny's absolute shock had yet to fade, a quiet murmur escaping his mouth.

"How...?"

He locked eyes with Nephis, pointing dumbly in my direction.

"Could you pinch me? I think I might be dreaming..."

Without a word, Nephis launched a straight piss missile at Sunny's shoulder, knocking him straight to the floor.

Sunny let out a pained groan, writhing in pain and shooting Nephis a wronged look.

Meeting his gaze, she rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to me. 

"Are you hurt?"

I shook my head with a small smile, pulling the [Thought Quill] from my soul.

Only a bruise on my arm and a headache. Give me a day and I'll be fine.

She nodded plainly with her signature aloof expression, but I could see the tension in her shoulders loosen considerably.

"Audun? Is that you?"

Cassie pushed her way past the others, feeling her way towards me.

Seeing her bumbling clumsily in my direction, I stepped forward, gently grasping her wrist. 

Recognizing my touch, a relieved sigh broke past her lips.

"What happened?"

I brought my index finger to her open palm.

Nothing important, just a quick fight.

"But Sunny and Neph..."

'Hm?'

Cassie hesitated before Nephis spoke up.

"We thought you died."

I raised an eyebrow.

Huh? Why?

This time, Sunny responded with an angered roar.

"Why? You raised like four death flags before diving into the Sea! Who in their right mind wouldn't think you died, you suicidal bastard!"

Nephis nodded along sagely as Sunny continued yelling at me.

"You're even worse than Neph! At least she plans before doing something stu-"

Sunny flinched, Nephis glaring at him menacingly, as if daring him to finish his sentence. 

"Ahem, Just uh, run things by us next time..."

I let out a chuckle, thoroughly amused by their antics. 

Waving dismissively, I flashed them a reassuring smile.

It's fine, the Dark Sea isn't as dangerous as you think.

Sunny and Nephis sighed, rolling their eyes in near perfect sync. 

With a tired shake of his head, Sunny continued.

"Hah~ how'd you even escape it anyway?"

I tilted my head in confusion.

Escape? Escape what?

Sunny blinked.

"The tentacle creature...? That thing was at least an awakened tyrant, no? How'd you escape from it?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at him incredulously.

With a shrug, I pulled out the seven soul shards I had collected from the Ebon Cobotnice's corpse, presenting them to the bewildered pair. 

I killed it.

-------------------------------------------------

[Two hours later.]

After the duo recovered from their momentary shock, we continued along the final stretch of our journey, arriving beneath the impenetrable walls of our destination.

Unable to find an entrance, we climbed the city's towering granite walls, inserting my vast arsenal of memories into the small gaps between the stone slabs that composed the barrier and created a rather dangerous set of stairs. 

The endeavor had been pretty physically taxing, but in the end, it was well worth it, as we were greeted with the mysterious visage of the ancient city Cassie had seen in her dreams. 

Taking in the rather impressive sight, Sunny absentmindedly commented:

"It really is just like you said, Cas..."

"Really?"

He nodded grimly.

"The vast ruined city built on weathered stone and the hoard of monsters wandering its streets... Yeah... It's exactly as you described it."

Cassie asked a hopeful question:

"What about the castle? Is it there?"

"Mhm — it's uh... It's standing on a hill in the middle of the ruins. It looks like something straight out of a storybook... Walls built from pure white stone, tall towers, majestic spires-"

Cassie cut Sunny off.

"Yep! That's definitely it!"

A wide grin was plastered on her face, the pure childlike joy in her voice obvious to anyone with ears.

Unfortunately, the rest of us weren't privy to the same elation.

For we were cursed with sight.

Sunny's expression darkened at a visible rate as he continued to gaze at the ruins, while Nephis and I were focused on something in the distance: the Crimson Spire overlooking the city like a sacrilegious obelisk.

It had this ominous presence, the material composing the profane pike resembling the odious color of freshly spilled blood. 

Definitely wasn't the window side view I'd been hoping for, but I've unfortunately looked out my bedroom window and seen far worse on the battlefield of stars. 

'Ah, the good ol' days~'

Quietly reminiscing, I failed to notice that Nephis' attention had shifted from the spire to the castle, only being brought out of my nostalgic mood by the serious tone of her voice. 

"Our approach to the ruins shouldn't be that much different from that of the labyrinth. The path ahead is probably extremely dangerous, so we should tread slowly and carefully..."

She trailed off as she noticed the [Thought Quill] moving gracefully in the air. 

Before any of that, we should find a way down.

Theatrically gesturing towards the towering wall we were standing on with a small frown, I managed to elicit a slow nod from the silver-haired girl.

"Right..."

Sunny spoke up:

"Maybe there'll be a set of stairs in that tower?"

He pointed eastward at one of the massive towers built into the wall.

Unable to argue with his logical suggestion, our group began to walk along the wall, occasionally glancing around for signs of danger. 

One paranoid trek later, and we arrived at the majestic cylindrical tower, a wide, broken-down wooden gate presenting us with an uncertain black abyss. 

I had seen enough horror games in my first life to recognize this rather obvious setup.

Testing my theory, I silently enhanced my senses with aura.

And to my unfortunate surprise, I picked up a set of rather ominous sounds subtly echoing from within the darkness.

Ever the observant one, Cassie had also noticed the rather barbaric noises coming from the tower, firmly tugging on my shoulder and forcing me to stop.

The [Midnight Shard] materialized in my hand, the white sparks catching the attention of the other two.

Almost in sync, they followed my example, summoning their own blades while shooting me a wary look.

Shrugging, I diverted their attention to Cassie with a gesture. 

Noticing her expression contort into a scowl, they listened intently as she hissed:

"Stop and listen."

The duo followed her words, falling completely silent as the faint sounds of eating flowed from the darkness.

Faces lit with realization, the three of us exchanged a look before, as usual, Sunny sent his shadow down to assess the potential threat.

We waited with bated breath, staring at Sunny's focused expression with fervent intensity. 

Contrary to the dread and fear I had expected to color his features, his expression morphed into one of honest bewilderment.

"Uh... I think it's a human?"

Nephis raised an eyebrow as I tilted my head in confusion.

Sunny responded with a shrug

"Well, I mean, either they're a very, very hungry demon, or a human with extremely poor table manners."

Nephis stared at him for a moment.

"Are they dangerous?

"I sure hope not."

Falling into contemplative silence, Nephis turned to me and Cassie.

"Standard formation."

I nodded in understanding, positioning myself defensively near Cassie.

Sunny and Nephis cautiously approached the entrance, Cassie and I following closely behind. 

The four of us entered the cool dark of the tower, prepared for practically anything.

'Practically anything'

Assaulted by the appetizing smell of meats, the four of us, after a rather arduous night and a glaring lack of breakfast, were unfortunately quite hungry.

Unprepared for the sudden challenge, our bodies responded without our consent.

Nephis actually hid it quite well; her pupils merely dilating in response.

The rest of us lacked that same self-control.

Cassie gulped audibly, swallowing down a torrent of drool threatening to flood from her mouth.

Rather embarrassingly, my stomach let out a ferocious roar, my only solace being the fact that Sunny had reacted similarly.

With the cacophony of noises coming from our corner, it was no surprise that we were immediately noticed by the stranger Sunny had talked about.

Something flew at us and shattered against the wall, the duo in front of us instantly tensing.

I was, unfortunately, average height in this body, and therefore couldn't see past the black and white blockade in front of me, but I was able to hear everything just fine.

An unfamiliar raspy voice called out in a playful yet savage tone:

"Hiding in the shadows, are we?"

Upon hearing the voice, my sixth sense began to ring with a foreboding premonition.

A shiver snaked its way down my spine as the four of us hesitantly stepped into the faint light of the bonfire decorating a small corner of the room.

More importantly, now standing side by side with the others, I caught sight of the stranger.

Seated was an olive-skinned young woman sporting a white tunic covered by bronze armor that bore a distinctly Greek design.

Despite sitting down, their imposing height couldn't be hidden, considerably taller than even the towering Nephis. 

Looking at us with surprise, her sharp eyebrows shot up.

"Supermodels...? What's with these ridiculous face cards..."

Before long, her mouth spread into a welcoming smile.

"Ah, sorry, where are my manners?"

The young woman began standing up, her muscular frame rippling with each subtle movement.

Wiping her dirty hands on her tunic, she shot a sudden pointed look in Sunny's direction.

"Oh~ Seems there's a pervert here too."

Thwack

"Sorry about him," Nephis said with a blank look.

The young woman threw her back and laughed loudly, clearly quite amused.

"Why don't you guys sit?"

She gestured towards the fire. 

"There's plenty of room, y'know."

The others hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"C'mon, I won't bite..."

As the de facto leader, Nephis stepped forward and sat down first, the rest of us following a beat later. 

With a chuckle, the tall woman sat back down.

"Are you guys new? I don't think I'd forget all of your blinding visuals."

She shot a teasing grin in Sunny's direction.

"Well~ 'most' of your blinding visuals."

Our reliable shadow's expression darkened considerably, but he held himself together surprisingly well.

Ignoring Sunny and the unexpected compliments, Nephis responded rather robotically:

"Yes. We arrived earlier this morning."

A social smile bloomed on the woman's sculpted face.

"Ahhhh, in that case, my condolences, you guys must've had quite a hard time."

Her smile froze, her eyes betraying a hint of surprise.

"Wait, wait, wait, you guys survived two months in the labyrinth?"

Surprisingly, Sunny interjected this time.

"Yep! The three of us arrived during the winter solstice-"

He gestured towards Cassie and Nephis before pointing at me.

"He's been here for a lot longer, though."

The woman whistled, giving us an approving nod.

"Two months in the labyrinth is a tall order! That's a real feat, y'know?"

Scanning the group, her eyes locked onto mine, a wide grin spreading across her face.

"And you've been here longer, huh? I guess Prince Charming's more capable than he looks."

My expression soured imperceptibly, but she still took notice, letting out a small giggle at my reaction.

"Ah, right! I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Effie! Or at least, that's what everyone calls me."

Nephis nodded, pausing for a few seconds before responding.

"I'm Nephis. These are my companions, Cassia, Sunless, and Audun. We are all sleepers who came from the labyrinth."

The line came out a bit mechanically, but it worked just fine.

If we were socially awkward, this young woman, Effie, was awkwardly social.

Effie nodded with a smirk before Sunny cut in impatiently.

"Are you familiar with Castle? Do people actually live there?"

A strange look crossed her face.

"Yeah, Why?"

A bit of excitement bled into Nephis' voice as she asked:

"Could you bring us there?"

Effie shrugged.

"Why not?"

Giving us a quick scan, Effie sighed.

"Quick question? How many shards do you guys have?"

Nephis and Sunny looked at each other, confused, before directing their attention to me.

'Huh?'

'Oh right.'

I pulled out the 7 shards I had looted from the Titan's corpse, along with the three shards I plundered from the Carapace demon's corpse.

Nephis told me to keep them, and I guess they finally came in handy.

Opening my hand, I showed it to Effie, the tall girl silently counting them up.

"Ten, huh? Not too shabby..."

I tried to offer them to her, but she shook her head.

"Nah, don't bother handing them to me, you'll need them later."

Shrugging, I shoved them back into a pocket lining the inside of my robes.

Nephis cut in again:

"Also... We were wondering how long it'll take to access the gateway in the Citadel. We're trying to leave as soon as possible."

Effie suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, shocking us with the unexpected development. 

Eventually, her laughter faded into more of a hollow chuckle, a dim pitying look burning in her eyes.

"I forgot you guys were new around here."

Effie's relaxed posture stiffened slightly, the young woman letting out a low, heavy sigh.

"Hah~ Sorry to disappoint, but there's no Gateway. I can bring you guys to the castle if you want, and I guess you guys can camp out th-"

Having spent far longer here, exploring and discovering months before the others had even arrived, I had already somewhat expected this development, so my reaction was muted at best.

But my companions were a different story, the trio appearing absolutely crestfallen at this unfortunate revelation.

"Wh-What do you mean, no Gateway??" Sunny stammered.

Effie looked at him for a moment, pausing, as if wondering how to phrase her next sentence.

"There's no Gateway... I've been stuck in this shithole for three years already."

The others fell silent.

Effie shook her head and let out another sigh.

"Welcome to the Dark City. I'd recommend getting familiar with everything cuz you're gonna be stuck here for a long, long time."

________________________________________________________________

(A/N: Longer chapter today!

I've decided that we'd be doing a more gradual 4-month time skip instead of the sudden one that G3 did at the start of volume two.

We're finally hopping into the Dark City and all that it entails, so I hope you guys are looking forward to that.

I tried to do as much justice to Effie as I could, and that resulted in my word count skyrocketing past the normal 1.5K limit I set for myself, but I digress.

I took heavy inspiration from the gang's actual first encounter with her in chapter 126.

Honestly, my first draft of this chapter was borderline plagiarism, which is why I spent a while writing dialogue that felt like my own while keeping everyone's personalities relatively the same, and also why this chapter is coming out at like 3 AM where I'm from...

The developments unfold practically the same way, with some slight changes here and there, but nothing too major.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it and thanks for the continued support!

I'll be posting again tomorrow night, and then I'll be taking a break on Sunday as per usual!

Leave a comment and a review if you haven't already, and thank you guys once again for laying your precious eyes on my unworthy writing. 

(～￣▽￣)～ )