The Giant Shadow
The giant shadow approached us slowly yet surely. It remained formless, blurred and shimmering like an ink painting. The air grew heavy, suffocating. The guildmaster's subordinates drew their swords, assuming a defensive stance. I held the Infinite Book, attempting to discern the shadow's true nature.
As the shadow drew nearer, its outline gradually sharpened. It bore a human-like form, yet was clearly abnormal. Its skin resembled rotting flesh, with bones exposed in places. It had no eyes; instead, hollows gaped like a mouth, from which an eerie sound emanated. The sound was like the wail of a soul.
“...This... isn't... a ghost...” the Guildmaster murmurs. His voice betrays his agitation. It radiates an unearthly aura, unlike that of a normal human ghost.
The shadow finally revealed itself before us. It resembled a gigantic skeleton, with decaying flesh hanging from it. However, its skeletal structure differed from that of a human, unnaturally large and distorted. It looked as if multiple bones had been forcibly joined together, creating a grotesque form.
“...Atlantis...'s... failed experiment...” A raspy voice came from the shadow. It sounded like stones scraping against each other, an unpleasant noise.
“A failed experiment...?” The guildmaster raised his voice sharply. “What the hell are you?!”
The shadow slowly formed its words. “...We are... Atlantis'... forbidden technology's... product... An experiment... to manipulate... time... A failure...”
Those words struck me like lightning. Atlantis' forbidden technology... A failed experiment born during the development of the time transfer device... If that was true, it undoubtedly had some connection to the time transfer device.
“Did you come to stop the activation of the time transfer device?” I asked the shadow.
The shadow let out a raspy voice. “...No... We... exist... beyond... time... We are... a distortion... of... time...”
Before I could comprehend those words, the shadow moved. Rotten flesh fragments flew, and sharp bones lunged at us. The guildmaster's subordinates desperately tried to block it, but the shadow's movements were swift and unpredictable. Relying on the ancient magical knowledge written in the Infinite Book, I cast defensive spells. Yet the shadow's attacks seemed to slip through the magic, striking us relentlessly.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
