SHADOW SLAVE: CROWN OF HOLLOW SCORN

Valen sat alone in the darkness, his back pressed against the cold rock. His muscles ached, his throat burned with thirst, and his stomach twisted with hunger. A whole day had passed since he arrived in this accursed place, and all he had to show for it was raw meat that barely settled in his gut. It was disgusting—chewy, metallic, and sour—but hunger was a brutal master. He had eaten worse before.

What truly gnawed at him wasn't the lack of food. It was the unsettling silence.

The only sounds were the whispering waves and the occasional crack of distant bones. No voices. No footsteps. No signs of other Sleepers. It was as if he had been thrown into a graveyard swallowed by the sea.

He rubbed his face, trying to keep his mind steady. He wasn't weak. He had survived worse than this. Fear was natural, but letting it take control was a death sentence.

Still, the thought remained

was he alone here?

His fingers twitched.

But tonight was different.

A flicker of orange light, small and distant, glowed somewhere past the waves. It bobbed with the movement of the water, steady but too far to make out any details.

"Sleepers?....Or something worse?"

Valen narrowed his eyes as the light suddenly vanished, swallowed by the night.

He exhaled through his nose. "Could be a trap."

Whatever it was, he'd figure it out later. For now, he lay back against the cold stone and closed his eyes, forcing himself to rest.

But sleep never came.

Instead, he stayed awake until the first hints of sunlight bled into the sky, watching the distant horizon.

***

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

'Just a little further…'

He had planned to reach the distant hill before the tide came back, but his fight with the Scavenger had slowed him down. His only consolation was the loot he had earned from it.

A new memory.

Memory: [Azure Blade].

Memory Rank: Awakened.

Memory Type: Weapon.

Memory Description: [On this forgotten shore, only steel remembers.]

The day was still young. He still had a good chance of making it to the distant hill before the sea came back. However, his left leg was banged up in the fight with the scavenger beast, so walking wasn't as easy as it was before. He gritted his teeth and began limping.

Hours passed. Due to his bruises and increased vigilance, Sunny's progress slowed down considerably. He was sweating and grinding his teeth, feeling pain with each step. What's worse, the further he reached into the labyrinth, the more confusing and entangled the paths became. Even with the shadow's help, he constantly had to backtrack and struggled to move in the right direction.

'Crap, crap, crap…'

If nothing changed, Sunny would not reach his goal. Which meant that he'll be crushed to death by the returning sea.

Not allowing himself to think about dying, Sunny tried to walk faster. However, he couldn't be too hasty: making a wrong turn would have taken precious minutes away from him, so he had to choose the way carefully. Additionally, missing to notice another ambush could end his life directly.

Sunny exhaled and kept moving. His shadow stretched out before him, scouting the paths ahead. Even with its help, the labyrinth was a mess. Twisting paths, dead ends, shifting terrain. Every turn was a gamble, and time was running out.

Then, just as frustration threatened to boil over, his shadow caught something—a figure, moving in the distance.

Sunny froze.

The first thing Sunny saw was fair skin… a lot of skin. The tall, lithe girl was only dressed in a makeshift skirt and a crude brassiere, both made out of seaweed. However, it didn't seem to bother her. With a calm expression, she stopped and looked back. The wind was playing with her short silver hair.

It was Nephis, the Changing Star.

In one hand, she was holding the end of a strange golden rope.

And on the other end of the rope, Cassia, the blind girl, was carefully following behind.

Grey sky above, black mud below, an endless sea of crimson in between. On this dreamlike backdrop, two beautiful girls were walking across the labyrinth.

One was delicate and fragile, with blond hair and cerulean, aimless eyes. She was dressed in a simple tunic, with leather sandals on her feet and a cloak the color of sea waves draped around her shoulders.

The other was tall and lithe. She had silky silver hair and clear, grey eyes. Her revealing clothes were crudely made out of black seaweed, leaving her fair skin and athletic build exposed. She was poised, alert, and barefoot.

A golden rope connected two girls together.

'Wow. What a sight…' Sunny thought.

He suddenly regretted that he was not an artist. The picture just begged to be made into a painting.

'Wait… why am I thinking about that? People! I found people!'

For the first time in weeks, a smile threatened to break onto his face. If Nephis and Cassia were here, then they had to know a safe route through this cursed place. Which meant he had a chance to make it out alive.

But now came the real problem—how the hell was he supposed to approach them?

He wasn't the best at ingratiating himself to other people. In fact, he was the polar opposite — people usually instinctively avoided him. And that was in normal circumstances. This time, however, he had spent a whole of four weeks making sure that everyone in the Academy hated his guts…

'Good job, Sunny!' 

But, before he could figure it out, a sound cut through the silence.

A deep, sickening

crack

Sunny tensed.

His breath hitched as he recognized it. That sound—he had heard it before. More than once. A bone snapping, crushed under something.

It was close.

.***

"Neph? Why did you stop?"

Nephis didn't answer right away. Her sharp gaze was fixed on the shadows, her grip on her sword tightening.

Cassia frowned, adjusting her hold on the golden rope. "Neph?"

Finally, Nephis spoke.

"There's a shadow."

Cassia stiffened. "A Scavenger?"

"No," Nephis said flatly. "A human shadow."

Silence.

Cassia tilted her head. "What… what is it doing?"

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

"…It's waving at us."

After a whole minute of silence, Cassia finally found the words to react.

"…What?"

Sunny groaned. So much for a smooth entrance.

He stepped out of the shadows, raising his hands. "Okay, before you stab me, let's just—"

Nephis was already moving. Her sword flashed, stopping just short of his throat.

Sunny flinched. "—talk! I was going to say talk!"

A moment of silence passed between them. Nephis studied him carefully, her grey eyes unreadable.

Then, from behind her, Cassia gasped softly.

"…I know that voice."

Nephis blinked. "You do?"

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

Sunny smiled. Meanwhile, Nephis glanced at the blind girl.

Do you know him?"

Cassia nodded.

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

Recognition flickered across Nephis's face. She tilted her head. "The pervert?"

The smile disappeared from Sunny's face, replaced by exasperation.

'Oh, come on!'

Cassia hesitated.

Nephis narrowed her eyes. "Well?"

"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.

He exhaled sharply and forced himself to focus. "Look, I don't care what you think of me. Right now, we have bigger problems."

Before she could respond—

Crack.

The same sound. Closer this time.

Sunny's stomach dropped.

"Shit," he breathed. "We need to move. Now."

"What is it?? A carapace Scavenger?"

"No!, I don't know what it is but I kept hearing it, always close by."

Its like it was following him! 

Just as they turned around to run, a scared Cassie suddenly tripped over a crevice in the floor, breaking her ankle. (L)

Nephis caught her, eyes darting to the darkness as they escaped from the unknown horror lurking within this maze.

***

Author here,

I promise you'll receive some answers in next chapt