Shadow Slave novel Chapter 712

A few days passed.

The Sanctuary stood empty and silent. The beautiful garden was devoid of its usual liveliness, and the winds howled as they passed through the ring of giant menhirs. Here and there, mundane things left behind by the people that had departed in a hurry lay, forlorn and forgotten. No one was ever going to return for them.

Sunny had never seen the Sanctuary this desolate and hollow… not in the future and not now, in the distant past. The sight of it was sad and eerie.

He had spent these days training tirelessly and learning to control his new body. This latest transformation had not been as fundamental as becoming a demon after living his whole life as a human, so his progress was swift. More than that, mastery of Shadow Dance made Sunny especially attuned to his physicality and change.

In truth, he did not need a whole week to achieve the goal. But practicing with Saint reminded him of the simpler times, and so, helped him prepare himself for the battle ahead mentally.

…On one of the last nights he had to spend in peace, Sunny woke up suddenly, thinking that he had heard a distant scream. Had he really, or was it just a vestige of a dream?

He sat up and glanced into the window, a deep scowl appearing on his face.

'What dream, you fool? Awakened don't dream…'

But who could have screamed in the Sanctuary? There were only two people left here. Sunny himself…

And Noctis.

He hesitated for a moment, and then stood up, summoning the Puppeteer's Shroud. After thinking for a bit, he also summoned the Cruel Sight, wrapped his shadows around himself, and walked outside.

The full moon shone in the night sky, drowning the world in ghostly blue light. Guided by it, Sunny walked across the empty garden and approached the residence of the sorcerer, where the immortal had disappeared to days earlier and never came back out.

The door stood open, and the Sailor Dolls guarded it silently, their wooden faces devoid of any sign of worry.

Passing between them, Sunny entered the residence and studied the familiar chamber. It had changed slightly… the stone floor was even more broken and littered with deep cracks, the piles of shards had grown taller.

However, there were no tremors running through it from time to time anymore, as if whatever it was that had hidden beneath had either died, fallen into a slumber, or gone elsewhere.

Noctis was in the middle of the room, sitting on a pile of rubble with a pained look on his face. The sorcerer looked… unwell.

His skin was deathly pale, with dark circles under his eyes. His lustrous hair had grown dull and was disheveled. Even his elegant garments, which had always been flashy and immaculate, were now wrinkled and in disarray.

What's more, Sunny could have sworn that there… that there was something moving beneath the sorcerer's skin. It appeared for a moment, and then was gone, making him unsure if he had seen it or just imagined the whole thing.

Noticing his presence, Noctis slowly turned his head and smiled weakly.

"Ah… Sunless. You are just in time. How do I look?"

Sunny stared at him for a moment, and then said:

"You look like crap."

The sorcerer blinked a couple of times, then threw a hurt look at him.

"No, not me, you idiot! How does he look?"

With that, Noctis gestured at a Sailor Doll that stood motionlessly a few steps away.

Sunny had grown so accustomed to the silent mannequins that he did not pay the doll any attention after registering its presence and position. Now, he took a closer look and raised his eyebrows, confused by what he saw.

The Sailor Doll was about the same height as Noctis, dressed in his best silks, and wearing a gorgeous black wig. It stared senselessly in front of itself and held a glass of wine.

He titled his head, opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"...What the hell?"

The sorcerer shrugged.

"Well, we are going to unexpectedly attack the Ivory City, are we not? Surely, the other Chain Lords would notice if I suddenly disappear from the Sanctuary… so, I prepared this doll to make it seem like I'm still here!"

He smiled proudly and looked at Sunny with a glint in his eyes.

Sunny covered his face with a palm for a moment.

"Do you really think that this… thing… will fool anyone? Have you lost your mind? I mean, lost it even more?"

Noctis glanced at him in confusion, and then laughed.

"Oh, I forgot the last touch…"

With that, he raised his hands and clapped them a couple of times. A moment later…

There were two sorcerers in the chamber, one sitting on the pile of rubble, the other standing a few meters away and staring at Sunny with an obnoxious smile. Even though he knew that the second one was just a Sailor Doll, he couldn't tell the difference.

"How about now?"

Sunny gulped.

"Yeah… it looks fine."

The Sailor Doll remained motionless for a bit, then raised the glass of wine to its lips, pretending to drink. The likeness was uncanny… but more than that, Sunny could feel that the real enchantment went much deeper than just looks. He could actually feel a suffocating presence radiating from the mannequin, similar to what he had felt on the Iron Hand island from Noctis himself.

Looking beneath the surface of the Sailor Doll, he was stunned to see something that looked exactly like a Transcendent soul core burning in its chest. Sunny slowly inhaled.

If Cassie were to look at the mannequin, would she have seen an Aspect Name and a list of Attributes?

"...Better than fine. It is very convincing."