Shadow Slave

The fundamental problem facing Sunny was simple — he was weaker than the Vile Thieving Bird.

That was nothing new to him, since he had spent most of his life fighting abominations that were far more powerful than he was. However, this battle was different because no amount of cunning or clever tricks could help him defeat a being who could literally bend the laws of existence to its will.

One needed strength to impose an outcome on a creature like the Vile Thieving Bird, and Sunny was not strong enough.

To be more precise, the loathsome Terror’s determination to live was stronger than his desire to kill it. Sunny called himself the Sovereign of Death, and death was indeed the most natural expression of his Will — its innate element. However, his Death Will was not potent enough to slay the Thieving Bird. It was not potent enough to slay the Thieving Bird before Sunny was destroyed by its talons, at least.

So, that was the problem. It had a simple solution, as well… which was not to say an easy one. If Sunny wanted to kill the Vile Thieving Bird, he simply had to make his Will stronger.

Something like that would have been impossible for almost any other Supreme, but Sunny was more versatile than all of them. Formlessness and adaptability were in his nature, and he was a master of Shadow Dance on top of that.

He had avoided using Shadow Dance as much as he could, afraid to lose himself and forget his own identity. However, that did not matter anymore… because Sunny was already using the [Chain], and it had been created specifically to prevent that loss from happening.

‘Let’s try it, then..’

Shadow Dance, his Aspect Legacy, had allowed him to assume the physical form of other beings after mastering the Fourth Step. The Fifth Step allowed him to replicate not only the outward shape of those beings, but also to embody some of their Attributes — not all of them, but enough to make a difference. That was how he had defeated the Puppeteer in Ariel’s Game.

Sunny had no way of confirming it, but he believed that the Sixth Step of Shadow Dance would allow him to shadow Aspect Abilities and mystical powers of other beings, as well. After all, the line between Attributes and Abilities was at times quite blurry, and it was not always easy to distinguish one from the other. So, there was no reason why Sunny would be able to replicate only one.

That was what he believed, at least… and since no other authority on Shadow Dance existed, what Sunny believed was as good as true.

So, as the wounded Thieving Bird plummeted through the maze of fractured time, tearing him apart and being torn to shreds in turn, Sunny attempted to use Shadow Dance in order to use a different being’s Aspect Ability.

There were two Abilities that could allow him to solve the deadly problem of killing the loathsome Terror quickly enough to survive.

His first choice was the Supreme Ability of Slayer. That power allowed her to clearly sense and understand the Will of others, as well as express her own more effectively. Needless to say, that was exactly what Sunny needed at the moment — more than that, he knew Slayer well.

The difficulty of shadowing someone decreased proportionally to how well Sunny knew them, and having shared their senses, Sunny knew his Shadows the best.

If he could truly perceive the currents of the Vile Thieving Bird’s Will, he would be able to counter it with greater precision. And if he could channel his own Death Will more effectively, it would quite possibly grow potent enough to snuff out the profane flame of the Vile Thieving Bird’s life.

So, even as his soul and body were being shredded and torn, a dreadful agony suffusing his mind, Sunny summoned the memory of what it meant to be Slayer and attempted to manifest her Aspect within himself.

He was a ferocious shadow that prowled the Realm of Death, hunting down others like it to sustain its existence. There were indescribable horrors dwelling in the cold darkness of the vast obsidian desert. There were devastating essence storms that destroyed everything in their path, and dark creatures that came from the boundless Abyss far above.

He was smaller and weaker than most beings in the obsidian desert, but he was also the most deadly. He crafted arrowheads from shards of obsidian and the bones of ancient Soul Serpents, set up traps, and moved stealthily through the darkness, observing his prey so as not to become prey himself.

Then, he drew his bow and slew them — silent, relentless, ruthless, malevolent… utterly deadly.

And in those moments when his prey fell… He could almost remember it — the being he had been once, a long time ago.

The slayer of Demons.

He could almost remember his name.

…Sadly, even by channeling the essence of Slayer, Sunny failed to achieve his goal. He could sense that he had managed to shadow her Aspect — but only partially. It felt like her Dormant and Awakened Abilities were at the tip of his fingers, while her Transcendent Ability was only manifested partially.

However, Sunny could not quite grasp her Ascended and Supreme Abilities — he could not find a way to shadow them at all.

‘There’s no foundation.’

Sunny realized that he could not shape himself into a being who could use these Abilities because both of them were based on Slayer’s unique Attribute, [Pure Soul]. And even though Sunny was somewhat capable of shadowing the Attributes of living beings, he was not able to shadow this particular one.

No… it felt like something was missing. A crucial element that tied all of Slayer together, making her who she was. Sunny did not even know what that element was, so naturally, he could not shape himself in its image.

‘Fine.’

If that did not work, there was a second option, too.

Sunny decided to channel an Ability he knew all too well… knew better than any other, perhaps.

It was the [Slaying Blade] Ability of Serpent. The Slaying Blade was the very Ability Sunny had used in his attempt to finish off the Vile Thieving Bird in one unexpected strike. It made Serpent a living embodiment of the concept of Death, allowing Sunny to overcome the Will of powerful beings and slay them more easily than he had any right to.

Sadly, that first strike had failed to kill the Thieving Bird… and the ten thousand strikes after that had failed to bring the loathsome Terror down, as well.

But what if Sunny himself became the Slaying Blade instead of merely wielding it? He was going to find out.