Shadow Slave novel Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Enthralled

Sunny stumbled and looked at his companions in utter shock.

Nephis and Cassie were each holding a large, round, glistening fruit. The skin of these fruits was smooth and black as onyx, while the succulent insides were red as ruby. Their hands, chins and lips were smeared with red juice, making it look as though they were feasting on blood.

The air was filled with an alluring, sweet aroma.

Sunny recoiled...

But his stomach involuntarily growled, reminding him how hungry he was.

Nephis looked at Sunny and offered him a relaxed smile.

"Hey."

He stared at her, lost for words. Finally, after a few seconds had passed, Sunny collected himself and screamed:

"What do you mean "hey"?! What the hell are you doing?!"

His voice was loud, full of disbelief and anger.

Both Neph and Cassie turned to face him. They were visibly confused.

"Why are you shouting?"

Sunny gaped at them, feeling like he had lost his mind. Why were they so nonchalant about this? What was going on here?!

Trying to find some sense in the situation, he took a cautious step forward and looked at Nephis. Did she… wait… what was he thinking about?

He was so hungry. It was hard to concentrate on anything except for food…

Shaking off the unexpected memory lapse, Sunny remembered what he was about to say and pressed:

"Why did you change your mind?"

Changing Star frowned.

"Changed my mind? About what?"

He clenched his teeth, thinking that she was trying to fool him.

"About the fruits! I thought we had agreed to avoid eating them!"

Nephis blinked, a confused expression appearing on her face.

"Did we? ...Why?"

Sunny opened his mouth to answer, but then froze.

Actually, why did they make that agreement?

'Uh… I can't quite remember.'

He was sure that there was a reason, but his memory was completely blank. There definitely was an agreement… wasn't there?

He was pretty sure that there was, at least up until a few moments ago. Now, however… huh… did he imagine the whole thing? There really was no reason not to eat the alluring fruits. Especially when the three of them were so hungry…

'No, wait… that's not right!'

"Are you alright, Sunny?"

He flinched and glanced at Nephis, who was looking at him with concern. Suddenly, Sunny felt lost and confused. What were they talking about? Something… something about some sort of agreement?

What agreement?

Not knowing how to answer, he just stood there with a frown on his face and pouted.

'Ugh, this is embarrassing. Did I completely space out while she was talking to me?'

Fortunately, Cassie quickly came to his rescue. She always knew how to make the situation less awkward.

"Are you angry because we started eating without you?"

He looked at her and noticed the big, delicious fruit in her hands. His stomach growled.

'So hungry…'

"Uh… I guess?"

Cassie smiled and pointed to the ground, where another fruit was placed on the pile of fallen leaves. Her teeth were smeared with red juice.

"Don't worry! Neph brought three of them, one for each."

'How nice of her…'

Sunny picked up the fruit, looked at it, and took a bite without thinking.

Instantly, his mouth was filled with delightful, cool sweetness. The succulent, juicy fruit was probably the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. It was both nourishing and refreshing, with rich texture and soft, lingering aftertaste. The ruby flesh practically melted on his tongue, making his whole body tingle. It was pure joy in the form of a fruit.

'Wow!'

Despite his delight, Sunny felt disturbed for some reason. Something was very wrong about the whole situation… but what?

Taking another bite, he frowned and tried to understand the source of this anxious feeling. It was hard to think about anything except for how heavenly the fruit of the Soul Tree tasted, but he forced himself to concentrate.

'Huh… Soul Tree? Since when... wait, don't get distracted...'

Sunny was finally able to pinpoint the source of the strangeness. It was his shadow. When he reached out to pick up the fruit, the shadow did not copy his movements, as though reluctant to touch it.