Shadow Slave novel Chapter 678

The three of them entered the Sanctuary, crossed the beautiful garden, and entered the sorcerer's residence through a familiar wooden door, Effie still sitting on Sunny's shoulders with a curious expression on her childish face.

The rooms within, however, had changed since the last time Sunny had seen them.

The luxurious furniture was gone, as well as beautiful decorations covering the walls. Instead, all that met them was barren stone, with a few broken Sailor Dolls laying on it, their limbs disassembled and laid out around the bodies like macabre pieces of art.

The floor of the whole central chamber was covered by a circle made out of a myriad of runes, powerful currents of soul essence flowing through it and dissipating into the ancient stones. Noctis was sitting in the center of the circle, his eyes closed. Without the familiar carefree smile, his beautiful face seemed ominous and strangely terrifying.

Hearing their footsteps, the sorcerer slowly exhaled. The crushing flood of essence slowly thinned, and then dissipated, retreating back into his body. He turned his head slightly and opened his eyes, which shone in the darkness for a moment, as though full of pale moonlight.

Then, they slowly turned human again, and Noctis smiled, returning to his usual laidback persona so suddenly that it seemed almost disturbing.

"Ah, Sunless, my friend! You are back! Sit down, have a drink… welcome!"

He stood up and outstretched a hand, as if trying to gesture at a set of comfortable seats. Then, a surprised expression appeared on the Transcendent's face, and he looked around the empty hall with a bit of confusion.

"Oh, right… I've been remodelling…"

Noctis sighed, then clapped his hands together.

"Well, no matter. Dolls! Bring my guests something to drink! They must be parched after their journey!"

His voice echoed around the residence… however, nothing happened.

He hesitated, then glanced at the broken mannequins lying on the floor and awkwardly shifted his feet.

"Ah. How unfortunate."

The sorcerer shook his head, then shrugged and looked at the three of them with a smile:

"Anyway... welcome!"

He tilted his head and stared at Effie, then blinked a couple of times.

"Ah, you have brought a ch—child with you. How curious. It doesn't bite, does it?"

Suny frowned, but before he could speak, Effie blurted with feigned outrage:

"I am not a child! I am twelve! Uh, almost."

Noctis stared at her with doubt.

"...It speaks. How bizarre."

Sunny slowly inhaled, then said evenly:

"This child is called Effie. She is the friend I have told you about."

The sorcerer's polite smile remained glued to his face. He stared at Effie some more, then furtively glanced at Kai.

"So, uh… one of your friends is a cripple you randomly stumbled upon in my Sanctuary, and the other one is a small child?"

Sunny nodded grimly.

Noctis rubbed his chin, and then cautiously said:

"Sunless, uh… are you utterly sure that you did not just invent having friends? To make me value our own beautiful friendship more, perhaps? If so, let me assure you! I value it a great deal already! There's no need for you to feel insecure just because you are not as beautiful, wealthy, wise, generous, and delightful to be around as me!"

Sunny gritted his teeth and then hissed furiously:

"I am! Wait… I mean I am sure... that I did not invent them! Are you sure that you really want to know the truth about me and my friends?"

Noctis raised his eyebrows with a sincere look on his face.

"Well, of course…"

Sunny stared at him for a few moments, and then said:

"In that case. My friends and I are not actually a demon, a cripple, and a small child. We are humans from a distant future whose souls were sent here by a nearly all-mighty entity known as the Nightmare Spell, after the gods had died and this whole world had been destroyed. Oh, and this place? It is not real! You are not real, too. All of it is just a complicated illusion created by the Spell to test us three… no, us five, actually. That's the honest truth." _{freewёbn૦νeɭ.com}

The sorcerer looked at him with wide eyes. Then, he sighed, shook his head, and uttered in a hurt tone:

"Sunless… there's no need to weave such stupid lies to mock me. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

He pursed his lips and turned away.

"...So childish! I take it all went well, then? Since you are in the company of a new friend, you must have successfully infiltrated the Temple of the Chalice, found her, retrieved the Glass Knife, and fled before the War Maidens noticed?"

Sunny flinched, then cleared his throat and remained silent for a couple of seconds. Finally, he said in an even tone: