Grasped in the Shadow's fist was a strange, beautiful, and ominous gem. It was utterly black, as though suffused with impenetrable darkness. The glossy black surface seemed to devour light, turning the vast hall of the ruined cathedral even darker than it had been before.

Deep within that black void, crimson flames burned with a menacing red glow. It was pulsating in a slow and bizarre rhythm, drowning everything around in dim red light. Painted by it, the Stone Saint seemed to be drenched in blood. The gem she held looked like a bloody, still-beating heart that she had torn out of someone's chest.

Gazing at it, Sunny felt a strange sense of foreboding.

'What the hell is this thing?'

The gem looked sort of like a soul shard, but… different. He had never seen a black shard, to begin with, or one radiating such an intense glow. It also didn't seem like a piece of a broken core. On the contrary, it appeared… whole?

'Is that what a soul core of a Nightmare Creature looks like?'

No, not a soul core.

A soul?

Stunned, Sunny counted the crimson flames burning in the depths of the black gem. One, two, three… four.

Four flames for the four cores of Fallen Devil.

The thing that his Shadow held in her hand was the Black Knight's soul… or some sort of his essence, at least. By how had it turned into a material form?

Did the Stone Saint do it? If so, how… no, why?

'What is she doing with it?!'

As Sunny and Nephis looked in stunned silence, the Shadow finally moved. Bringing the black gem close to her face, she lingered for a moment. A hint of a dark, macabre emotion appeared in her eyes.

And then, the Stone Saint… swallowed it.

Sunny blinked.

'...What?'

The Shadow opened her mouth, bit into the eerie crystal, and swallowed it.

Just like that, the soul of the Black Knight was devoured. The red glow it emanated disappeared, returning the world to its natural shade.

And a moment after that, the Stone Saint fell into the shadows and disappeared, too.

'Wait… I didn't dismiss her. What the hell is happening?'

Nephis looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"What just happened? What did she do?"

For once, Sunny didn't have to twist the truth and deceive anyone. Opening his mouth, he honestly said:

"I have no idea."

Walking over to the pile of rusty steel that remained after the devil had been destroyed, Sunny moved it around with his foot for a bit and then mumbled:

"There's no shards left. It's empty."

Changing Star remained silent for a few moments, then frowned.

Finally, she said:

"...You Echo is very peculiar."

***

While everyone was recovering from the fight and tending to their wounds, Sunny walked to a secluded corner and dove into the Soul Sea.

The tranquil expanse of still water met him with familiar silence. Glancing at the rows of motionless shadows standing at the edge of it, Sunny noticed that the Black Knight had joined their ranks.

The steel giant stood among all the other creatures Sunny had slain, just as empty as the rest of them. There was no trace of the menacing and deadly Fallen Devil left. Now, he was just one of the shadows.

Sunny grinned.

"Welcome, you bastard. Make yourself at home. You're not going anywhere else ever, anyway."

A feeling of deep, dark satisfaction grasped his heart. Staring at the motionless form of his sworn enemy, Sunny had to stop himself from kicking the Black Knight with all his strength.

He was just a shadow now, after all. Kicking him would have been like kicking the air. Plus, Sunny wasn't vindictive to that degree. Killing the bastard once was enough for him.

"Who's the one laughing now, huh? I won't deny it, you got me good. But I'm still breathing while you're dead. At the end of the day, that's all that matter."

This world — no, both this world and the real one were full of creatures that were bigger, stronger, and more powerful than Sunny. Many of them had either threatened his existence or felt compelled to treat him like dirt to show their superiority.

But he was still here despite all of them, neither destroyed nor subjugated. He was free, alive, and growing stronger with each day.

One day, they would be the ones cowering in front of him or be destroyed by him. Just like the Black Knight had been.

With a dark expression, Sunny turned away and walked to stand beneath the black sun of his shadow core. Then, he summoned the Stone Saint.

…But nothing happened.

Sunny frowned, then repeated the summon again — to the same effect. Suddenly worried, he willed the runes to appear in the air in front of him.

Luckily, his worst fears did not come true. The Stone Saint was still listed as his Shadow.

'Then what is going on with her?'

Concentrating on the runes describing her name, Sunny made it expand and read:

Shadow: Stone Saint.

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Monster.

Shadow Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark of Divinity].

Shadow Description: [Shadow Saint was created by the treacherous Lost from Light in the cursed darkness of the Forgotten Shore.]

Shadow Fragments: [80/200].

So far, everything was the same. Even the number of shadow fragments he had fed her did not change.

However, there was a new string of runes shimmering beneath that number, where nothing had been before.

When Sunny saw it, his eyes widened.

The runes read:

[...The Stone Saint is evolving.]

He lingered for a few moments, and then looked up at the Shadow Core.

Somewhere inside, his Shadow was resting in the waves of nurturing dark flames, her very being going through a mysterious transformation. It appeared as though consuming the soul of the Black Knight had allowed her to enter a stage of growth that Sunny had not anticipated.

How long would that evolution process take?

And what kind of a transformation the Saint was going through?

Sunny had no idea.

However, he couldn't wait to find out.