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nFor a few minutes, Sunny simply lay on the ground, letting the rain hit his face. From time to time, a bolt of lightning arced through the skies, drowning everything in blinding light. Other than that, it was almost completely dark. If not for his Attribute, he would have had trouble discerning the shapes of Nephis and Cassie, who were resting nearby.

nAfter some time, however, a feeling of uneasiness entered his mind. Something was off. Sunny scowled, trying to understand where that feeling was coming from. Finally, he realized that it was his shadow. It was trying to draw his attention to something.

n‘Please, let me rest. I just want to rest.’

nHe was too tired to do anything. Both his body and mind were exhausted. However, the shadow was very persistent. It remained adamant.

nIn the end, Sunny moaned and rolled over on his stomach, then slowly stood up. Nephis turned her head and looked at him.

n“What is it?”

nHe grimaced.

n“I don’t know yet. Something feels wrong.”

nCassie shivered and got closer to Neph. Following his shadow’s warning, Sunny looked around, trying to find any sign of danger in their surroundings.

nEven with his vision, he couldn’t see anything out of place. The upper part of the cliffs was well above the stormy sea, forming a small island. Its surface was rugged and uneven, with several protruding ridges breaking the line of sight. There was a large space between their group and the nearest ridge. That space was littered, seemingly at random, with piles of dirt and tall boulders.

nNephis got up and summoned her sword.

n“Do you see anything?”

nSunny frowned.

n“Not really…”

nAt that moment, another lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the small island. His eyes widened.

nThe tall boulders surrounding them were massive and irregularly shaped. They were black in color and motionless… that’s why Sunny had not recognized them for what they were at first glance.

nAll around them, scavengers were silently lying on the ground.

nSunny froze, suddenly consumed by terror. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled and stood up on ends. One, two, three… he lost count because of panic and gritted his teeth. Seven… no, eight of them.

nIt seemed the three humans were not the only ones who thought of taking shelter from the dark sea on these cliffs. He trembled.

nThese cliffs were a death trap…

nNoticing something on his face, Nephis tensed:

n“Sunny?”

nHe slowly turned his head to her and whispered:

n“Don’t speak. Don’t move. Just… stay where you are.”

nShe followed his instructions without asking for the reason. However, a silent question appeared on her face.

nCassie did the same.

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nThe scavengers did not attack yet. Maybe they were asleep or patiently waiting out the storm, trying not to move in fear of attracting more terrifying monsters. Maybe they simply did not notice the humans. After all, it was unknown how well these creatures could see. Were they able to see in the dark? Probably not, or at least not as well as he could.

nThere was still hope.

nSunny opened his eyes and looked at the small island again. But this time, his perspective was different. He saw the deep darkness, the clamor of the storm that drowned out most of the sounds, the large distance between the scavenger.

nThis was his territory. It was perfectly suited for a murderous shadow. Didn’t he dream of becoming a silent assassin? Well, here was his chance. He just had to execute each step perfectly… crawl through the darkness, strike without alerting the enemy, kill each of them with one precise blow.

nRinse and repeat. He already knew their strengths and weaknesses — all that was left was to put that knowledge to practice. And even if he makes a mistake, there were other means to fall back onto. Echo and Nephis could do their part if he were to land himself in danger.

nYes, that could work. It had to.

nSunny looked at Changing Star and Cassie.

n“I’ll take care of this.”

nBefore they could react, he seemed to dissolve into the shadows.

nUnder the cover of darkness, Sunny sneaked forward. His steps were soft and measured, his breathing controlled. He quickly determined the optimal order of attack to minimize the chance of being discovered and proceeded to the first target — a hulking scavenger that was the furthest away from the pack.

nHidden in the shadows, Sunny suddenly felt calm and focused. He felt as though he was finally in his natural element.

nAs the looming silhouette of the scavenger approached, he slowed down and circled around his target. The monster did not move, oblivious to the lurking threat that was drawing closer with each second. Sunny held his breath and prepared to attack.

nHe only had one chance.

n‘Do it right!’

nWith that thought, he silently lunged forward.

nOne step, two. Sunny jumped and easily landed on the monster’s carapace. The Azure Blade was already in his hand, its steel dark. A moment later, it plunged into the weak point on the scavenger’s back, piercing the chitin and destroying its brain. The quiet crack of the breaking carapace was quickly washed away by the rain.

nIt was done.

nSunny felt a sense of triumph appear in his heart and quickly suppressed it. This wasn’t the right time to celebrate — seven targets were still waiting for him in the darkness.

nHe retrieved his sword and jumped down from the scavenger’s corpse.

nThen, Sunny frowned.

nWhy was the Spell silent?

nIt didn’t announce his kill, nor the absorption of the shadow fragments.

nFeeling his skin crawl, Sunny turned around and looked at the scavenger. At first, he was afraid that the beast was still alive… but that wasn’t the case.

nIt was as dead as could be.

nHowever, on closer inspection, Sunny noticed something that he had missed before.

nAnd when he did, his face paled.

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