Shadow Slave Fanfic: The Song of The Shadow Beast

It took Revel some time to calm down from her initial shock. Who could blame her, really? Sunny did not tell a single lie, and somehow she sensed that he was being sincere with her. Although internally everything screamed at her to stop listening to this outrageous man, she couldn't help but get her curiosity piqued.

"Unbelievable… who in their right mind would try to antagonize you after all that you have done?"

Sunny tilted his head to the side, as if he were trying to understand the meaning behind her words.

"You do realize that you threatened to kill me a couple of hours ago?"

Revel's face stopped any sort of function for a moment. She looked away as if she were embarrassed. Not that she didn't like the idea of escaping this place, but after learning that there was no escape and who the pitiful Master really was, she couldn't help but feel like she had made a grave mistake.

"Well, yes, I did. But that was before I thought about all of this and came to the conclusion that you are the Lord of Shadows."

Sunny let out a quiet chuckle before looking down at his coffee. It had been empty for a while now, and quite frankly, he could not live without it.

'If I think about the first time I drank this stuff, I really came a long way.'

He looked up at Revel and noticed her fidgeting with her fingers. She was clearly nervous. Somehow she had gotten more active after their conversation.

"You want a coffee?"

Revel's eyes shot to his. She nodded slowly before going back to staring at the black suns in the sky.

'There are six of them. So he gets a new body for every core he forms? Crazy bastard. Changing Star must be limping to every battle.'

Revel did not know how far the extent of his full power went, but she was scared to find out.

'I can only hope he doesn't decide to tear our clan down. It's best not to antagonize him. I need to let Silent in on this. She's still under the illusion that she could kill him when his Shadow Knight is not around. What a mess….'

A moment later, Sunny Shadow stepped between their chairs. He handed her a mug of coffee and sat back down. Revel smelled the alluring aroma. She was not the biggest fan of hot beverages. After months of battling in Godgrave, she could not remember the last time she had something cool to drink.

But the smell was inviting, so she took a sip.

"Wow, it's good. Silent said you own a café, right?"

Sunny nodded and sat down in his chair.

"Yes, it has been a dream of mine to own one. It's quite nice. I'm wearing this mantle so people think I'm a Master."

Revel looked at him for a moment. She did not want to admit it out loud, but she liked it. For the first time in months, the harrowing feeling of immediate danger faded away. The depressive feeling of constant battle had been gnawing at her more than the jungle and the heat in Godgrave.

"Do you have siblings?"

Sunny choked for a moment. He had expected anything else, but asking about his family was something he didn't consider. He would have liked to dismiss the question, but his flaw had other plans.

"Yes, I have a sister."

'Dammit.'

Revel's curiosity peaked once more as she apparently had hit a nerve. Sunny looked at her a little weirdly. She was sure her next words would decide her fate, so she tried to calm him down. Otherwise, Sunny might go from charming Master to Lord of Shadows in no time, and she was sure she would not survive that sudden change of demeanor.

She chuckled and leaned back into her chair again.

"Calm down, I would never dare to touch anything you hold dear to your heart. But I'm still interested. How old is she, and where does she live?"

Sunny visibly lost some tension. Not that he was unsure if he could defend Rain no matter what, but when it came to her, he would not go out of his way to slaughter an entire army to ensure her safety.

"She's 21. She lives in the Song Domain. But before you make any conclusions, that is not by design. Her parents moved to Ravenheart years ago during the Chain of Nightmares. I did not have a say in this."

Revel was a little perplexed. Knowing that there was a family member of the Lord of Shadows in the Song Domain was surprising, to say the least. She was confused as to why he was even telling her this.

'Does it have something to do with his flaw, perhaps? He answers every question without fail and truthfully, as far as I can tell.'

To confirm her suspicion, she continued. Either way, she was killing the boredom and giving her mind something to think about.

"Is she awakened? And if yes, what legion does she serve?"

Revel watched with amusement as Sunny continued to lose his composure. For the first time in hours, she felt like she had gained some sort of control.

"Damnation… yes, she is awakened. She serves in the 7th legion in a cohort with a legacy girl named Tamar. I didn't kill the Saint of Sorrow for that exact reason."

'Bingo.'

Revel's smile grew wider as she came to a realization.

"Your flaw has something to do with answering questions truthfully… right?"

Sunny's face visibly paled. His skin was pale before, but now he looked like a ghost. Fighting against his flaw was futile, so he gave up. It wasn't something one could exploit in a fight anyway.

A deep sigh vibrated through his body as he gave up on fighting the irreversible.

"Yes… to be more precise, I can't lie. Every question directed at me has to be answered truthfully. Are you happy now?"

Revel broke out in full-out laughter. Never in a million years would she have guessed that out of the blue, but in the short time they spent together, she could not help but come to the conclusion.

"That is one nasty flaw for someone with so many secrets. I'm happy to have found that out. I can only imagine how many times you got into hot water with that."

Sunny rolled his eyes at her. If he wasn't such a nice guy, he would definitely kill her right about now, just to prevent future damages. But he didn't go out of his way to bring her here just to kill her now.

"You are so lucky I have no wish to kill you. But I warn you, if my sister happens to get even a bruise from one of you after this, I will stick your head on a stick and spill your guts over Ravenheart."

Revel's laughter stopped faster than it had started. Knowing his flaw now, she could not help but shudder at the mental image of this scene. She swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat and calmed down after noticing his slight smile.

'He's not lying, though. It's just that he's confident in his ability to do so and wants me to know that. What an interesting guy. In one moment he's joking and laughing, and the next thing you know, you are promised a cruel death. Somehow I feel sorry for Bin.'

"I'm sure you would. I can understand you, of course. Family is the most important thing in the world. I would sacrifice my life for my sisters."

For a moment, he seemed to have accepted something: the fact that Revel was nothing like he had thought. The ruthless demoness he had learned to hate had turned out to be much better company than he expected.

'It's like with Effie; somehow she is annoying and calming at the same time. A good ally for the future, perhaps.'

Revel seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Although their relationship was still clouded by the shackle around her neck and the place she found herself imprisoned in, she could understand the need for both of those things. She didn't trust herself to not make a stupid decision when the moment allowed it.

'It's not perfect, but under any other circumstances, something like this would never happen. We would be at each other's throats in seconds. And… I would most likely be dead by the time I summoned my weapon.'

She was not oblivious to the fact that he was technically still their enemy; just the fact that he was just a hired blade and apparently only with Valor because of Changing Star made her feel like there was more to it than her senses might catch.

"Say… what is your opinion on the King?"

Glad for the sudden change of subject, Sunny smiled and gave her an answer he was sure she would like.

"That bastard? Nothing much, I guess. He will die one way or another."

"Oh, so you believe that my mother will win the battle?"

He had to choose his next words carefully. But at the same time, he felt like being honest with her couldn't hurt. Sure, he would like to keep a friendly connection with her, but ultimately he knew how this would end. No matter what he said, it would not have any impact on the results either. After all, they would not leave this place until the end had already been set in stone.

So he did not plan to deceive her. After all, it could all come out in a good way. At least that's what he hoped for.

"That is not the point, Revel. The point is that I would say the same about your mother."

Seeing that Revel was visibly confused, he continued.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that since I have met Nephis and Cassie, we three have been planning to take down the sovereign. For me, it's less of a personal issue than it is a matter of fact that their ways are misguided. This entire war is proof of that. Humanity needs powerful awakened in the future, many of them. And yet they have started this war and wasted hundreds of thousands of lives so far, all for the cowardly promise to have one powerful sovereign that cannot even hope to be strong enough to face the horrors the Dream Realm has to offer."

Revel listened, yet her mind was somewhere else entirely. She had heard something like this in the past from one of her sisters. Moonveil seemed to come to the same conclusion, not that she dared to say it directly like Sunless just did in front of her. But he knew that there would not be any consequences, no matter what he told her.

'After all, we will only be released after the war is over. And if I include the possibility of their plan working out… Mother will be dead by then.'

Revel did not know what to think of this. On one hand, she cared for her mother's life—the woman who taught her basically everything she knows. But at the same time, she knew that there was little to no flaw in his thinking.

"So what you're telling me is that you are planning to kill my mother? That is not how I imagined our conversation to go, Sunless."

His face was nothing but serious. He wasn't arrogant, though, as if showing her that he knew perfectly well what he was doing here right now.

"Essentially, that is what it boils down to. The Supremes that currently lead humanity have lost their sense of what they once tried to protect, and now everything they do is to try to salvage whatever is possible from the path of tyranny they can't leave anymore. I wish I could lie to you and tell you that your mother will somehow survive this war, but you know I can't. Either Nephis or I will be the killer of the remaining Sovereign. That… is the cruel truth I can't protect you from."

The heavy words sank into Revel's mind like a weight she was sure would drown her in emotions. Whether those emotions were positive or negative would be for her to decide. She found herself between a rock and a hard place.

"I… I will need to talk with my sisters about this. Unfortunately, not every transcendent one of them is here. Can you… you know?"

Sunny's face drifted off into all kinds of weird formations. It took him a while to calm himself down while Revel just waited for him to do so. At least she had good coffee for the wait.

"I think you are the weird one of the two of us. I tell you about my plan to potentially kill your mother, and you counter by asking me to kidnap the rest of your sisters?"

She just shrugged.

"Well, I can't find any logical defect in your reasoning. My mother has indeed lost a great deal of her human nature. The warmth she once carried is long lost, and she is only a shell of her former self. But I don't make such heavy decisions without my sisters. Our mother might have been the one to bring us together, but we are the glue that holds our bond in place."

Sunny sighed and stood up.

"I need to know where Hel is. Seiashan is near my sister, so I already have an eye on her, but Hel is a whole different story. Also, it would help if you gave me a message to convince them to come with me willingly. I don't want to beat them to a pulp before bringing them here."

He summoned the extraordinary rock and put some essence into it. Soon, Revel had put in her message. When Sunny dismissed the rock again, he sat back down. Revel looked at him, confused, before realizing her mistake.

"Oh… right. Multiple bodies and all that. So you have been lurking around in the camps of the 7th Legion, huh?"

"Yes, although only in my sister's shadow. I'm her teacher and protector, after all."

Revel just nodded along as she half-listened. After all, she had a great deal of things to consider. She had just learned that her mother would most likely die. Even though she knew Sunless was strong, killing a Supreme as a Saint seemed impossible.

"How would you even kill her? A Saint killing a Supreme is impossible."

Sunny raised an eyebrow and said evenly, "I killed my first Supreme as a Master."

Revel spat out the coffee she was drinking before collapsing in her chair. In disbelief, she looked at the dark expanses of the sky and mumbled something under her breath.

"Never mind."