Shadow Slave

Sunny glanced down at the young man, then slowly moved toward him. The Awakened shuddered and took another involuntary step back, then gritted his teeth and lowered his stance, raising the sword into a proper defense position.

"Lord, shine thine light upon me! Let my s—soul burn unextinguished, as the sun can never be extinguished…"

'Huh… I've seen suns fade away and disappear before. Never say never, fool…'

Sunny listened to the strange prayer and allowed one of his shadows to slide off his menacing body, flowing to the ground like a dark veil. After that, he hissed from pain and stopped near a mangled human corpse.

He stared at the trembling youth for a few moments, and then bent down, stretching his hands toward the body.

The young man flinched and fell silent, then shouted:

"Get your vile hands away from him, demon!"

Sunny ignored the Awakened and used his claws to rip the white tunic off the corpse. Then, he straightened and glanced at it with displeasure, his black eyes narrowing.

This one was not too dirtied by blood, bud sadly, its previous owner was of a normal size for a human. As such, the tunic was way too small for Sunny's new towering body. He snarled, and then tried to tie the tunic around his waist like a makeshift loincloth.

There was a big problem, though… his tail.

Sunny froze, somewhat confused about what to do. Then, he awkwardly tore a hole in the tunic and made another attempt, this one, thankfully, successful.

With his nakedness finally covered, he instantly felt better and turned his attention back to the trembling youth.

The young man was staring at him with wide eyes, periodically glancing at the unceremoniously disrobed corpse at his feet. Finally, he opened his mouth:

"You… you barbarous beast! Have you no shame?!"

Sunny grinned, revealing two rows of sharp fangs and four long, terrifying canines.

In the next moment, though, his smile dimmed, because there was suddenly a familiar pressure rising in his mind.

So, his Flaw remained, as well…

'Damn it.'

He hesitated, then slowly shook his head. Instantly, the pressure disappeared.

'Figures. I can't escape the damned curse even if when I'm mute… how is this even fare?'

The Awakened blinked.

"No… of course not, why would a demon know shame… it's… wait! You... you can understand me?"

With the Spell gone, its magical ability to translate any language in the Nightmare was gone, too. However, Sunny found himself able to discern what the young man was saying, as well as the only word the spectators seemed to know, even if it demanded some effort.

The language they spoke was not exactly the same as the ones he had learned before, first in the Academy and later during his travels in the Dream Realm, but similar enough to make out some of the words. He was able to deduce the rest.

Sunny stared at the youth from above, then nodded darkly.

The young man blinked.

"Wait… you are not one of the Corrupted, then? What kind of a creature are you?"

Sunny scowled. The word meant something that was tainted, infected, changed, and perverted… a being cursed with some form of corruption. But what exactly was the Awakened asking? Was he referring to the Nightmare Creatures, perhaps?

He hesitated, then shook his head again, and pointed to the coils of the Soul Serpent glistening on his skin.

The youth frowned, confused.

"A snake… a serpent? Can that demon be Shadow's kin? No wonder the Warriors hunted him down, then… their God and Shadow are old enemies…"

'Uh… is he talking to me? Or to himself?'

Sunny lingered for a moment, then took a step forward. The Awakened flinched, torn away from his pondering, and raised his sword higher.

"Stay away, demon, or I will…"

He felt silent when the gaunt, towering monstrosity walked past him with absolute indifference.

Sunny wasn't going to fight the youth… unless the fool chose to attack first, of course. Made into a gladiator or not, he was not going to play the part of an obedient slave. He had no qualms with killing humans, but not to satisfy anyone's thirst for entertainment, especially not of anyone wishing to be his owner.

They would have to come down in person if they wanted to force him…

He studied the dead humans. Men, women, young and old… the only thing in common they had was the color of their white garments. Some had been unarmed, and some had wielded weapons. The weapons were what he was really interested in…

There was a couple laying on the red stones, none of them bearing any enchantments. He picked up a battle axe, glanced at it, and then threw it back to the ground. What was the point of having a mundane weapon? His claws were sharper and far more devastating.

…Luckily, the young man seemed to have decided against using the sword against him, too. He just stood there, staring at the corpses, a dark and inconsolable expression on his face.

The steward of the arena, whoever that was, did not seem to want them to kill each other, as well.

With a sound of scraping metal, another rusty gate rose, opening the path to the third box, this one even closer to the center of the coliseum.

Sunny and the young Awakened glanced at each other warily…

And then walked toward the gate together.

***

Sunny's next cage was larger and more comfortable… well, he at least could stand up straight in it.

Not that he was in any mood to do so.

In the end, he had been forced to fight his way through seven killing boxes, the last circular one at the very heart of the coliseum. In each box, a new Nightmare Creature, or a group of them, awaited — those abominations who had prevailed in their own battles at the outer circles of the arena.

In this way, only the strongest and the most ferocious of the enslaved creatures had a chance to reach the center. The further they went, the louder the cheers of the spectators became.

And on the final stage, their salvation awaited.

Kill the final enemy, and get the chance to live another day… only to be forced to go through this meat grinder again, undoubtedly. Collecting more wounds, more kills…

More glory.

Sunny had received a lot of injuries, as for the glory, he wasn't so sure.

Currently, he was sprawled on the bottom of a hanging cage, his body a map of gashes, lacerations, and bruises. Everything hurt, but at least he wasn't bleeding… that was the benefit of losing his chance to receive Shadow God's lineage.

He was slowly healing.

In the cage next to him, the Awakened with light blue eyes sat, an empty and hollow expression on his smooth, youthful face. The young man had somehow managed to survive, as well, but grew quiet and despondent after they were brought back to the dungeon.

Sunny didn't blame him.

He was a bit desperate, too.

Yes, they had survived today… but just barely.

And who knew how many such days there were going to be, in the future?

Somehow, he had a disturbing feeling that once someone had entered the arena… they never left it alive.

Sunny closed his eyes, exhausted.

So what if his fate was to die as a slave in this cursed coliseum… fate was not something immutable.

It was just very, very hard to change.

Was he or was he not the heir to the Demon of Fate?

If anyone could do it, it was him...