Sunny raised his eyebrows.

"Don't move!"

"No, chief. I think we should just kill him. Put the poor fool out of his misery, you know."

Sunny looked grimly at the corpse of the Blood Fiend, then in the direction of the approaching footsteps.

"Whatever. Ah, it seems we have guests. What to do, what to do? The place is a mess!"

"Do you really think that I would fall for…"

"These guys are really very rude, don't you think?"

Sending the shadow away, Sunny kneeled and began to cut the tough flesh of the dead creature. Without the enhancing effect of the shadow, slicing the Blood Fiend apart was not as easy. However, he still managed to find the first soul shard rather quickly. One more to go…

The leader of the hunting party took a step forward and said in a low, growling voice:

"From what I heard, his Aspect allows the boy to hide in the shadows really well. I guess he crawls around like a rat and picks up the leftovers after the monsters are done eating. I don't really know, but someone was talking about him back in the castle. I thought they were just telling tales."

The man was older than Sunny by a few years. He was tall and muscular, with a patchy beard covering the lower part of his face and a mean look in his watery blue eyes. From his demeanor and Memories, it was easy to tell that the leader of the group had spent no less than three years on the Forgotten Shore. He had experience and time to grow stronger than most Sleepers here.

The Sleeper that had collaborated Sunny's story before, meanwhile, was frowning again.

"Who are you?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

However, the leader interrupted him with a contemptuous scoff.

"Hey, I was talking to my buddy. Can you please not interrupt?"

"What? You think I should kill them all? I mean… isn't it a little bit over the top? I should give them a chance to apologize, at least."

"Behind you!"

But the circle of blue light was approaching too fast…

"I think he came into town with that bitch, Changing Star."

The leader of the hunting party — if that what it was — narrowed his eyes.

Sunny sighed.

Looking around, Sunny sighed, glanced at the corpse of the monster once again, and summoned the kunai. The smart thing to do was to run away. Who knew what exactly was producing those footsteps? Maybe it was a group of people, maybe it was a Nightmare Creature with a lot of feet. It was better not to find out.

A wide, dangerous smile appeared on the tall man's face. With a sigh, Sunny turned to him and said:

But it was too late. They had already seen him.

With his ghostly pale skin and dirty hair, his ragged armor covered in layers of dried and fresh blood, Sunny was indeed easy to mistake for a Nightmare Creature. He wasn't really paying much attention to personal hygiene and appearances these days.

"How is that possible?"

Hopefully, speaking in a human language would prove his identity. Raising his hands to show that he wasn't armed, Sunny took another step back.

Finally able to comprehend the situation, one of the castle inhabitants hissed a threatening command. Sunny obediently froze, careful not to make any sudden movements.

Sunny blinked.

Meanwhile, the helpful Sleeper thought for a bit and added:

The leader of the hunting party frowned, not taking his eyes away from Sunny's face. Despite his crude exterior, he was paranoid and careful. Years of experience had taught him to never lower his guard.

The six Sleepers were really surprised to see another human this far away from the walls of the castle, especially at night. Using their momentary confusion, he cautiously moved even further away.

"What… live here? Do you take me a fool, boy?! No one can survive in the city!"

"Alright, if you insist. You guys have offended my dearest friend, Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan. She and I are very, very close. So I'll give you one chance to apologize for calling her a… well, you know. If you don't, say goodbye to your lives."

However, it was also apparent that he wasn't really high up in the ranks of Gunlaug's army. Otherwise, his equipment would have been much more impressive.

"What?"

As Sunny was backing away, several weapons were aimed in his direction. Feeling that things were about to get out of control, he cleared his throat and said in a trembling voice:

Of course, his whisper was easily heard by everyone around. The Sleepers stared at him in confusion.

Still, the heavy battle-axe that was resting on the man's shoulder looked really sharp. It would take him only a second to bring that thing down on Sunny's head…

"What are you mumbling about, rat?"

The taller man scowled.

The tall man grinned, still looking Sunny in the eyes.

The other five Sleepers were not sharing his enthusiasm. One of them smiled darkly and said:

The older man stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly raised his head and laughed.

Lowering one hand, he summoned the Parrot Rock. It immediately appeared on his palm, looking as boring and ordinary as always.

If an Awakened died, their Memories disappeared with them. The only way to get the Memories was to make the owner transfer them of their own free will. However, whether or not that will was affected by coercion or torture didn't really matter. At least not to people like these.

Gunlaug was the owner of the castle and the self-proclaimed king of this odious place. Every Sleeper on the Forgotten Shore was forced to either serve him or pay him tribute. Even still, the latter usually didn't live long.

The unexpected guests proceeded to come closer, glancing at the corpse of the Blood Fiend as they walked past it. One of them was taller and better equipped than the rest. Piercing Sunny with a menacing gaze, he approached him and stopped one or two steps away.

Sunny blinked a couple of times, then gulped and answered carefully:

A moment later, the rock spoke:

"Be careful! There's a monster!"

"I think not."

However, before he was done talking, the blade of the kunai hit him from behind, penetrating the back of the man's skull and killing him on the spot.

"Go take a look."

Be he wasn't done with the hunt yet. He still had to get his trophies…

That was the most basic of tricks…

A dark shadow flowed from the tip of the Midnight Shard's blade. Coalescing on the ground, it stared at him with sarcasm.

The shadow shook its head and didn't answer, forcing him to turn away with a confused shrug.

Then, he turned to Sunny and grinned.

"Uh… I'm Sunless. I live here."

"Oh, that's a good one! Have you heard, guys? This tiny weasel will give us a chance. How generous! Should we be generous too, huh? What do you say? The boy is sick in the head, after all."

"Wait, guys… he's one of Changing Star's people, remember? The original group, I mean. They had survived two entire months in the Labyrinth on their own. We shouldn't underestimate th…"

Sunny looked at him with scorn and dissatisfaction.

"Oh, oh! Please don't hurt me! I'm a human!"

"So you're not going to apologize?"

Sunny stared back.

Who was crazy enough to remain in this cursed city during the night? Only a complete lunatic would do something that stupid. All the sane people were long gone from the streets, not to mention that very few were willing to enter the ruins to begin with.

"Wait, chief. He might be telling truth. I heard that there's a crazy kid who lives in the ruins alone."

Meanwhile, the shadow had discovered the uninvited visitors. Six humans were cautiously walking along the narrow path in the stone ruins, lighting their way with a ghostly blue lantern.

"I heard that Saint Nephis carried two useless sacks of shit on her back all the way to the castle. The bitch is fond of taking care of weaklings, right? That delicious little friend of hers is blind, for god's sake! I'm sure that this one is no better."

Finally catching a glimpse of the glowing crystal, Sunny grabbed it and hurriedly hid it in his armor. Then he dropped the kunai on the ground and took several steps back.

Dismissing the Midnight Shard and the Parrot Rock, Sunny concentrated on searching for the second soul shard. He wanted to be gone from the street before these gentlemen arrived.

"Oh well. So you want my Memories, eh? I have a few. Let me think… uh… how about this one?"

The tall man grinned.

Sunny tilted his head a little and opened his eyes wide, as if shocked by something.

"I tell you what, rat. Give us all your Memories, and we'll be generous enough to let you live. "

The other Sleepers were of the same opinion — except for one, who looked at Sunny with doubt. Frowning, he took a step forward and said in an uncertain tone:

Sunny frowned. Crazy, boy, rat… why did everyone feel compelled to call him names?

His subordinate glanced at Sunny and shrugged.

They were all rugged men, wearing mismatched suits of armor and armed to the teeth. Their eyes were cold and hard.

Sunny's frown turned into a scowl. Looking down, he whispered to his shadow:

"My, oh my. They really are people. What is a bunch of Gunlaug's thugs doing outside the castle walls in the middle of the night?"

Chapter 98 Uninvited Guests

Saying this, he mentally looked himself over.