So ti after leaving behind the remains of the colossal sea monster, the group continued westward, intending to investigate the strange wasteland that stretched between the crimson labyrinth and the distant Ashen Barrow.
At first, none of them truly planned to approach the towering island crowned by the blood-red tree. It was simply a distant landmark on the horizon, ominous enough to avoid instinctively.
But the mont they stepped into the wasteland itself, unease settled over them like a cold hand around the throat.
Grey sand stretched endlessly beneath their feet, replacing the familiar crimson maze they had grown used to traversing. Around them, dead coral walls rose like ancient ruins, brittle and lifeless, as though the labyrinth itself had decayed from within.
The silence felt unnatural.
Not peaceful.
Wrong.
Despite seeing no movent from atop the leviathan's spine earlier, none of them truly believed this empty land was safe. The Forgotten Shore had already taught them countless tis that silence only ant one thing:
Sothing dangerous was hiding.
Sunny extended his shadow as far as possible, but even that felt uncomfortable here. In the endless openness of the wasteland, his greatest advantage suddenly felt exposed, stripped bare beneath the pale sky.
Nephis walked at the front as always, calm and unreadable, her silver hair moving softly with the dry wind. Though Senrix was technically the strongest among them, he had absolutely no desire to lead anyone unless necessary, leaving Nephis to naturally take command.
Cassie carefully followed beside the group atop the scavenger Echo, guided by subtle sounds and the occasional warning from Sunny.
Elysia remained near the rear, humming softly beneath her breath as though the oppressive atmosphere around them barely affected her at all.
Only Senrix seed visibly uneasy.
He walked slightly ahead of the others, crimson eyes constantly sweeping across the horizon. Unlike his usual lazy deanor, there was a sharp vigilance hidden behind his expression now.
Sunny exhaled slowly.
"I really don't like this place," he muttered.
Nephis didn't look back.
"Stay alert."
Senrix clicked his tongue quietly.
"This place feels too clean," he said. "Like everything living here already died."
Elysia tilted her head slightly, her tone light despite her words.
"Or sothing already ate everything."
No one answered.
The group continued in silence, the only sound being the crunch of ash-grey sand beneath their feet.
Ti slowly passed.
Eventually, Nephis raised a hand, causing everyone to stop instantly.
"Shadow?" she asked.
Sunny closed his eyes briefly, focusing through the senses of his scout.
"Nothing alive," he said after a mont. "Just shallow pits and strange terrain… but everything feels off."
Cassie slowly shook her head.
"I don't hear anything either."
Elysia's smile faded slightly.
"Stillness like this is usually worse than noise."
Senrix narrowed his eyes toward the distant Ashen Barrow.
"Quiet battlefields are the ones filled with corpses."
A faint frown appeared on Nephis's face before she spoke again.
"Continue."
They adjusted their direction slightly toward a low mound of grey sand ahead.
By noon, the oppressive heat had intensified.
The pale sun hung high above them, flattening the world beneath its rciless light. Shadows beca thin and weak, barely clinging to the ground.
Even Sunny's shadow seed reluctant to move farther away from him.
Nephis approached the mound first, sword already in hand.
It looked ordinary at first glance, rely a smooth rise in the wasteland.
Too smooth.
Too still.
Cassie halted several steps behind her. Elysia rested a hand lightly on her bow while scanning the horizon. Senrix subtly shifted his stance, his posture lowering ever so slightly like a predator sensing danger.
Sunny frowned.
"That thing doesn't belong here."
Nephis slowly reached out—
Then Sunny's shadow twitched violently.
Movent.
Far behind them, near the broken edge of the labyrinth.
Sunny reacted instantly.
"Hide!" he hissed.
Everyone moved at once.
Sunny dismissed Cassie's mount in a burst of shadows and caught her before she could fall, pulling her behind the mound.
Nephis dropped into a combat stance imdiately, blade angled toward the horizon.
Elysia crouched low, already drawing her bowstring in one smooth motion.
Senrix moved last.
But sohow fastest.
One mont he was standing openly beside them, and the next he was already hidden behind cover, one hand resting near the gauntlet of the Crimson Engine as faint crimson heat flickered across his fingers.
Silence returned.
But now it felt suffocating.
Then, in the distance, part of the labyrinth collapsed.
Sothing enormous stepped through the dust.
Eight massive legs.
Two colossal bone scythes.
A crimson-black carapace resembling dried blood hardened into armor.
A Carapace Centurion.
Sunny's expression darkened.
"We fought one before," he whispered. "Twice. But never directly."
Nephis watched the creature carefully.
"It is not searching for prey."
Cassie's quiet voice broke the silence.
"Where is it going?"
Sunny focused through his shadow.
"…Toward the Ashen Barrow."
Elysia's gaze sharpened slightly.
"So it's traveling sowhere."
"That honestly sounds worse," Sunny muttered.
Senrix's eyes narrowed.
"It ans sothing there matters more than hunting."
The group pressed lower against the mound as the centurion slowly approached.
Each step made the ground tremble faintly.
Then Sunny noticed sothing held carefully between the creature's scythes.
A crystal.
It glowed softly from within like trapped starlight.
"A soul shard…" Sunny whispered.
The creature carried it carefully.
Almost reverently.
As the centurion neared the Ashen Barrow, it slowed.
Then it stopped entirely.
Very gently, the towering Nightmare Creature lowered the shard onto the sand.
Sunny froze.
"…What?"
The centurion backed away several steps.
Then—
It knelt.
All eight legs folded beneath its body in perfect submission. Its deadly scythes lowered toward the ground as its head bowed deeply.
Like a worshipper before a god.
Elysia blinked slowly.
"That is definitely not normal."
Nephis frowned faintly.
"It is behaving with intent."
Senrix's voice lowered.
"No. Not intent."
His crimson eyes darkened.
"Obedience."
Sunny didn't respond.
Because at that exact mont—
A brilliant glimr rose from the Ashen Barrow.
The light was far brighter than before, gleaming beneath the crimson canopy of the giant tree.
Slowly, sothing descended the hill.
And when Sunny finally saw it clearly, his entire body stiffened.
The creature was enormous.
Far larger than the centurion.
Its eight segnted legs resembled towering steel pillars capable of crushing houses beneath them. Its overall shape resembled the scavengers and centurions they had fought before, but only vaguely.
Unlike their rough chitin armor, this monster's body looked as though it had been subrged within molten tal and reborn from steel itself.
Sunlight reflected brilliantly across its polished tallic shell, creating the glimr they had seen from afar.
It resembled a knight.
A monstrous knight forged for slaughter.
Jagged spikes covered its armored body. Its humanoid upper torso possessed four massive arms—two ending in crushing pincers and two in terrifying scythes sharp enough to cleave apart flesh and bone effortlessly.
Several long horns curved upward from its almost human-like face, giving it a grotesque appearance that was both regal and horrifying.
Sunny felt cold sweat run down his back.
"That thing…" he whispered. "That thing is terrifying."
Even Senrix's expression beca grave.
"That's not a centurion," he muttered quietly. "That thing commands them."
The massive creature descended from the Ashen Barrow and stopped before the kneeling centurion.
Imdiately, the smaller Nightmare Creature lowered itself even further beneath the steel monster's gaze.
The demon casually picked up the transcendent soul shard.
Then turned around without even acknowledging the centurion further.
Cassie swallowed nervously.
"What's happening?"
Sunny kept his eyes fixed on the monster.
"There's another creature," he whispered. "Much stronger."
anwhile, Elysia narrowed her eyes.
"…It's behaving strangely."
Unable to resist his curiosity, Sunny sent his shadow after the creature.
The shadow slipped soundlessly beneath the crimson canopy and reached the center of the Ashen Barrow, where the enormous obsidian tree towered into the heavens.
There, beneath the giant branches, the Carapace Demon suddenly stopped moving.
Then it looked upward.
Following its gaze, Sunny noticed several crimson fruits hanging from the branches above.
One looked especially ripe.
Then, unbelievably, the massive demon carefully lowered the soul shard onto the ground.
And reached upward.
The creature gently plucked one of the crimson fruits from the branch.
Then—
It ate it.
Sunny blinked.
"…What?"
The terrifying steel monster slowly consud the fruit with almost reverent care.
Not greedily.
Not violently.
Carefully.
Like it was sothing precious.
Sunny genuinely didn't know how to process what he was seeing anymore.
The horrifying demon that radiated enough pressure to make even the centurion kneel… was calmly eating fruit beneath a giant tree.
Not daring to stay longer, Sunny imdiately pulled his shadow away and tracked the centurion until it safely disappeared back toward the labyrinth.
Only then did he finally exhale.
"It's safe now."
The group slowly erged from behind the mound.
Nephis looked at him imdiately.
"What did you see?"
Sunny glanced toward the distant Ashen Barrow and shivered slightly.
"A monster stronger than the centurions," he said quietly. "And sothing is very wrong with that tree."
Senrix remained silent, staring toward the wasteland with grim eyes.
anwhile, Sunny approached the mound they had hidden behind and brushed so of the ash-grey sand away absentmindedly.
Then froze.
Beneath the sand was smooth black wood.
Everyone stared.
The mound wasn't stone.
It was a root.
One of the giant tree's roots.
And suddenly, Sunny finally understood why the entire wasteland was dead.
__________________________
A/N: so Spanish guy kept annoying my ass saying Elysia is a bad choice and Otto or blade is better, here's chatgpt answering and pointing out my reason.
Chatgpt: Elysia works better as support for your main OC because she changes the emotional texture of the story instead of only adding capability.
Otto and Blade both feel like characters who strengthen:
plot,
strategy,
combat,
tension,
or ideology.
But Elysia changes:
atmosphere,
interactions,
emotional pacing,
and the psychological state of the cast.
That's much harder to replace.
Your version of Shadow Slave already leans heavily into:
emotional symbolism,
trust,
warmth inside darkness,
healing,
solace,
and quiet humanity.
Elysia naturally reinforces those thes.
anwhile:
• Blade
Blade sounds useful as:
a rival,
combat companion,
intimidating ally,
or action-heavy secondary lead.
But Blade mainly strengthens the external side of the story:
fights,
danger,
cool monts,
presence.
The problem is that Shadow Slave already has many strong "dangerous cool character" archetypes.
So unless Blade has very unique emotional depth, he risks blending into the setting more easily.
• Otto
Otto is probably the strongest alternative intellectually.
He sounds like the kind of character who could:
deepen philosophy,
create psychological tension,
challenge ideals,
and add narrative complexity.
But Otto's energy seems heavy.
And your story is already emotionally dense.
Adding another emotionally restrained, psychologically layered figure could accidentally make the atmosphere:
too cold,
too introspective,
or too exhausting.
Especially because your Sunny is already becoming more emotionally reflective.
Why Elysia specifically works
Elysia acts as:
emotional release,
warmth,
humanization,
and balance.
You even admitted yourself that you instinctively use her for humor during serious scenes.
That's actually very important.
Because your writing naturally trends toward:
tragic symbolism,
heavy thes,
solemn dialogue,
emotional pressure.
(A/N: it does?)
Without soone like Elysia, your story could beco emotionally suffocating.
She prevents the cast from feeling like:
"a group of constantly depressed mythological figures."
She creates:
softness,
awkwardness,
comfort,
emotional spontaneity,
and relational warmth.
That makes readers care more when darker monts happen.
Most important reason
Your Sunny is no longer canon Sunny emotionally.
You're turning him into:
soone capable of giving solace.
A character like that needs soone who can:
draw warmth out of him,
normalize emotional openness,
and justify his gradual emotional growth.
Elysia supports that transformation naturally.
Blade mainly reinforces strength.
Otto mainly reinforces thought.
Elysia reinforces humanity.
And for the specific story you're trying to tell, that's probably the most valuable role.
User Comments
0 comments from readers