No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

In the morning , Levi was the first one to get up. Well.. not really get up because he was not even asleep. He looked at Nephis who was the last one who took watch during the night.

"Good Morning.." He greeted her.

"Morning." She said with a polite smile..

Levi was baffled.. What the hell is that smile..?

'Is that Nephis..?'

She had been acting strange for the past few days , she was learning how to communicate like a normal person. The first time she had gave Sunny a smile , Sunny had almost panicked and summoned Azure Blade..

Soon the others woke up too..

After they had breakfast , Sunny and Nephis had gone off to scout the area. The others had stayed behind.

While Levi was sitting on the ground , leaning his back on the wall , Shashi approached him.

"Can I have some blood..?"

Levi looked at her , this woman had a huge appetite for blood it seems.. 

"Sure.."

Extending his arm to her , she gently took it and sank her teeth into his vein and drank greedily , sucking his blood away from his body. Levi also saw that her pale skin was getting a bit more healthier as some time passed. He was glad that he was a bit of a help to the woman.

After drinking his blood , she took a seat next to him , keeping a reasonable distance. She was looking at him curiously. Levi looked back at her and raised a brow.

"What?"

"I have seen the way you fight."

He didn't know where she was getting at. But he didn't have very good feelings about this conversation.

"What about the way I fight?"

"You always seem to ignore some attacks of the enemy even if you can defend them , you sacrifice the health of your body to get devastating strikes in."

That was true , Levi always ignored some attacks that he was certain would cause him minor damage , and immediately come up with a counterattack to either kill the enemy or deliver a fatal blow. So he was considering the fact that he was immortal , and combining it into his fighting style. Making him seem like a reckless and a dangerous person to face off against. She was perspective.. and so was the others.. they most likely also noticed that Levi's fighting style was reckless , but only Shashi bold enough to ask him about it.

Meanwhile , Shashi continued:

"Don't you have any self-preservation instincts? Looking at your fighting style , anyone would assume that you don't value your life."

Levi tilted his head slightly, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Self-preservation? Of course, I have it," he said casually, stretching his fingers as if discussing something trivial.

"But sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. If I can end a fight faster by taking a hit that won't slow me down, why waste energy dodging?"

His eyes met Shashi's, steady and unwavering:

"Besides, pain isn't as much of a deterrent for me as it is for most people. It's just a temporary inconvenience. I weigh the risks—if taking a hit means I can finish the fight quicker, I'll take it. Simple as that."

Levi shrugged, letting his words hang in the air. He wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the full truth either. If Shashi was perceptive enough to notice his recklessness, she'd either accept the answer or keep digging. Either way, he wasn't about to hand over his biggest secret that easily.

Shashi seemed to be thinking about his answer , after a short silence an amused smile crept up to her lips.

"So your saying you are a suicidal maniac?"

Levi stared at her with surprised eyes , did he really come off like that..? He was about to retort , but she wasn't done talking.

"Well don't worry , your not dying on my watch..."

Levi was about to smile but...

"After all what am I going to do without my blood stock?"

Levi immediately narrowed his eyes at her. Shashi chuckled at his reaction , and he heard Cassie laugh , who was sitting across from them. He let out a sigh and chuckled quietly..

***

Some time later, after Sunny and Nephis came back , they abandoned the remains of the giant sea monster and moved west, planning to check the situation inside the wasteland that lay between them and the Ashen Barrow.

Initially, they weren't planning to approach the strange island. However, things turned out to be rather unusual once they entered the wasteland.

With grey sand under their feet and dead coral walls surrounding them, the group was fully prepared to face unknown danger. Despite the fact that they had not seen any monster moving through this area from the top of the leviathan's spine, none of them truly believed that no one was going to attack them in this strange region of the labyrinth.

There were too many ways for the Nightmare Creatures to hide themselves, and if there was one thing the Sleepers had learned during their time on the Forgotten Shore, it was that everything here was either deadly or concealing something capable of killing them. In that regard, their first encounter with the carnivorous worms was especially traumatic.

However, their common sense turned out to be wrong this time around. The wasteland was quiet and empty, completely void of any signs of life. The absence of monsters was, in theory, supposed to make them feel better, but they felt even more nervous than usual instead.

This whole situation reeked of danger. It was strange and unnatural.

If even the monsters were afraid to approach this place, what were they doing walking deeper and deeper into the wasteland of their own free will?

Were they fools not to turn around and run away immediately?

Soon, they reached the point where the walls of the labyrinth had crumbled into dust. Now, there was nothing but a vast expanse of grey sand between them and the hill crowned by the giant tree.

Nothing could hide on that ashen flat.

However, they would also be unable to conceal themselves from anyone's gaze.

Everyone glanced at Nephis , then Sunny spoke.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Changing Star scowled and lowered her chin. Then, looking forward, she scowled and said:

"Let's go."

***

Nephis was walking in the front of the group, with Sunny and Shashi right behind her. The Echo was in the rear, moving at a slow pace and Levi was walking in front of it. Sunny looked around and, after a bit of hesitation, said in a low voice:

"I don't like this."

Nephis glanced at him with her usual indifferent expression. Turning away, she simply said:

"Stay alert."

They continued forward in silence, sand squeaking under their feet. A dozen or so minutes later, Changing Star raised her hand, gesturing them to stop. Turning to Sunny, she asked:

"Has your shadow noticed anything?"

He shook his head.

"No. There are some irregularities here and there, like small knolls or shallow pits, but nothing is moving. Mostly, it just seems flat and lifeless."

Levi turned to Cassie and asked:

"Do you hear anything?"

In some cases, her keen hearing was more effective than Sunny's shadow sense. When they were caught by the strom, Cassie had been able to sense that something was wrong long before her seeing companions noticed anything.

However, this time it was of no use. She simply shook her head, indicating that there were no unusual sounds around them.

Nephis sighed and lowered her head, thinking. Then she cast a gaze at the distant Ashen Barrow.

"Let's continue."

By the time they approached it, it was already noon. The sun was right above their heads, making their shadows small and shapeless.

Nephis summoned her sword and slowly approached the knoll, trying to determine its nature. There was nothing remarkable about it except for the fact that everything around was flat, and it was not. The knoll was about as tall as Sunny, somewhat oblong and covered in the same grey sand as the rest of the wasteland.

It didn't seem dangerous, but there was no harm in checking ... well, most likely. Maybe it could provide them with some useful information.

Just as Changing Star was about to stretch her hand and touch the surface of the knoll, Sunny immediately hissed at them. 

"Hide!"

When he dismissed his echo , Cassie was falling but Levi caught her in a princess carry , Levi darted towards the knoll , placing Cassie in between the group. Everyone had crouched , pressing closely against each other. To his left was Shashi , and she was a bit too close for comfort , but currently they were in a dangerous situation so that though didn't linger on his mind.

Changing Star put one hand on Cassie's shoulder and looked at him with a silent question in her eyes.

"Danger?"

Sunny raised one hand with his palm open, telling her to wait. His shadow was already peeking from behind the knoll, carefully observing the source of the movement.

Turning to them, Sunny whispered:

"A carapace centurion had just walked out of the labyrinth."

She scowled. Cassie, meanwhile, lightly touched Sunny's hand and asked:

"Where is it heading?"

Sunny blinked, then concentrated on the shadow's vision. Soon, he exhaled with some relief.

"Looks like it's heading for the Ashen Barrow. If we stay hidden behind this knoll and it doesn't change course, there's a high chance that it won't notice us."

Changing Star thought for a second and then nodded.

"Keep an eye on it and tell me as soon as something changes."

The monster came level with the knoll, then proceeded forward without blinking an eye.

He exhaled.

"It's walking toward the Barrow."

Nephis did not relax, still ready for things to go south at any moment.

"Follow it."

Sunny had to rub his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things.

Noticing Sunny's strange behavior, Nephis raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

Sunny hesitated.

"Wait."

After that.. Sunny's face went pale..