Shadow Slave

"Something is following us."

Sunny's frown deepened. Not wasting any time, he moved forward and caught up to Nephis, Caster, and Effie. The huntress glanced at him and slightly tensed.

"Did your shadow notice an enemy?"

The shadow was currently a few hundred meters ahead of the cohort, scouting for any signs of danger.

He shook his head.

"Cassie felt that we are being followed. I'm going to withdraw the shadow and sent it back to take a look. Stay vigilant."

Effie gave him a nod. Of course, as the pathfinder of the party, she was always vigilant. He was just warning her so that she could adjust her approach.

The two of them were well accustomed to working together, so there was no need to waste words.

Sunny commanded the shadow to return and fell back to the rear of the party. Once there, he concentrated on the shadows that surrounded them, trying to feel if there was something there that could not be seen.

But there was nothing.

Ahead of him, the rest of the cohort was silently preparing for the worst. Not wishing to let the unknown pursuer know that they were ready to act, no one summoned their weapons yet. No one had even turned their head. However, Sunny could see from the tension in their muscles that this peacefulness could explode into a storm of movement at any moment.

Changing Star and her hunting party did not earn their fearsome reputation by mistake.

Finally, the shadow was back. Not letting it rest even for a second, Sunny immediately sent it to observe the streets that they had just left. His perception was split between its vision and his own.

The feeling of vulnerability he experienced when the shadow was away heightened. Sunny sighed with grim resignation. The fact that he was at the back of the cohort and, as such, would be attacked first if anything happened did not help one bit.

'Calm down. You don't even know what is tracking the cohort.'

A few moments later, the shadow was safely hidden in the darkness of a ruined building, observing the crossroad that one would have to pass to follow them. Sunny continued walking, pretending to not know anything.

A few seconds passed in tense silence, then a few more.

'Where are you? What are you?'

Depending on the nature of the mysterious pursuer, their response would be different. If it was a Nightmare Creature, they would either have to fight it or try to throw it off their scent. However, if the creature turned out to be one of the truly horrifying existences that stalked the ancient ruins… then things would get really tricky.

There was also another possibility. And that was that they were not being pursued by a monster, but by humans instead. A team of Hunters might have been sent by Gunlaug to ambush Changing Star and her people.

If that was the case… honestly, Sunny didn't know what would happen. However, he was sure of their ability to withstand an attack from the Host, even if the enemy held a numerical advantage.

The others seemed to share the same thought.

After a few minutes passed, the shadow finally noticed movement. Someone was slowly walking in the middle of the street, not even trying to hide their presence. At first, Sunny thought that it was one of the revenants that populated the Dark City. The figure, while human in appearance, was strangely crooked, with a dark unadorned cloak hiding its limbs and features. But then…

Sunny suddenly felt cold fear grip his heart.

He recognized those glassy, lifeless eyes. The hideous pale face that terrified so many people.

…Harus. It was Harus. The murderous butcher who had torn Jubei apart with his bare hands, Gunalug's cruel executioner and hidden blade.

Walking through the cursed ruins with the same bored expression that he had in the grand hall of the Bright Castle on the day of Jubei's execution, Harus was following in their footsteps.

Gunlaug did not send dozens of Hunters to ambush Changing Star. Instead, he sent just one man.

Sunny shivered.

'Damn it. Why… why am I so afraid of that guy?'

But he knew why. It was because, deep down, he felt that they were alike. Harus was the personification of everything that Sunny was afraid to become.

Trying to shake off his fear, Sunny walked forward and glanced at Nephis. Then, he said in a raspy voice:

"It's that… that damn hunchback. He's following us."

A sudden tension permeated the air. Without having to look, Sunny knew that everyone's faces grew dark.

Harus was a mystery. No one knew what his Aspect Ability was, let alone his Flaw. All that was known about this terrifying man was that he was very powerful, and that not a single victim of his had survived.

Neph frowned.

"Is he alone?"

Sunny nodded.

"Yeah."

To his right, Caster quietly scoffed.

"What is Gunlaug thinking, sending one man against us six?"

However, Neph did not share his disdain. Turning to her left, she glanced at Effie. There was a grim expression on her face.

"What do you think?"

The huntress hesitated for a few moments. Then, looking down from her considerable height, she simply said:

"I think we need to run."

Caster scowled.

"Run? Why? Surely, no matter how strong Harus is, we can take him down. None of us are weak, either. Even if we can't defeat him one on one…"

Effie shook her head.

"You don't get it, do you? We can't fight Harus. No one can. Many people have tried, and they're all dead now."

She gritted her teeth.

"He is a monster in human flesh, Caster. He is insanely powerful. But that's not even the problem. The problem is that no one knows his Aspect. All we know is that once Harus comes for you, you die."

She sighed.

"I've seen many people try to resist once they caught wind that Gunlaug is going to send Harus to get rid of them. Strong people, weak people. Some tried to fight him alone, others recruited fearsome allies. Come the next morning, all of them were dead. No matter how powerful they were or how many of them gathered to give him a fight, no one ever survived. All that was left was blood and corpses..."