Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

As the masked Saint twisted his body midair, the jagged spear of ice tore past where his head had been a fraction of a second before. The force behind the thrust warped the air itself, leaving a trail of frost that crystallized into jagged shards before shattering into glittering dust. Without wasting a moment, he planted his foot against Cocolia’s chest and kicked off, sending her spiraling backward through the sky like a broken marionette.

The impact did not slow her for long.

Her elongated limbs twisted unnaturally as she righted herself mid-flight, golden eyes burning with a hollow, corrupted fury. Frost bloomed outward from her body, turning the surrounding air into a storm of razor-sharp ice particles. The temperature plummeted so suddenly that even the distant buildings began to crack, thin layers of frost creeping across their surfaces.

Below, perched atop Svarog’s shoulder, Clara turned her head.

Her gaze found Sunny immediately.

For a brief moment, her expression remained calm, analytical, taking in the scene on the balcony — the unconscious Seele, Saint standing guard, and Sunny himself, tense and calculating. Then, without hesitation, she shifted her stance slightly and placed a hand against Svarog’s head to steady herself.

”Throw me over to Sunny, Mister Svarog.”

The automaton did not question her.

”Yes, Clara.”

One massive hand reached up, grasping her gently but firmly around the waist. At the same time, his other arm adjusted, calculating angles with mechanical precision. His glowing eye flickered as streams of data processed in real time.

”Distance: optimal. Wind resistance: negligible. Structural integrity of destination: acceptable.”

He wound his arm back.

Then he threw her.

Clara’s body shot through the air like a projectile, propelled with the force of a Transcendent Tyrant. The sheer velocity tore through the wind, creating a shockwave in her wake as she crossed the distance between the battlefield and Qlipoth Fort in an instant.

She collided with the outer wall.

The impact cracked the stone, fractures spiderwebbing outward from the point of contact, but the structure held. The force dispersed just enough to prevent total collapse, and Clara pushed off the surface almost immediately, landing lightly on the balcony outside Bronya’s room as if she had simply stepped down from a ledge.

She straightened, brushing off her coat, and walked forward.

Sunny coughed awkwardly as she approached, still holding Seele.

”Uh... well, this isn’t...”

Clara smiled faintly, the expression carrying a hint of amusement despite the chaos unfolding around them.

”I get it. Though, it is pretty foolish to get rid of her when we need all the help we can get. You should take her somewhere else, but we need your help.”

Sunny grimaced, but nodded.

”Yeah. Figures.”

Clara’s expression sharpened slightly as she shifted into a more serious tone.

”My robots are being sent out to evacuate the citizens, but it will take time for them to reach the Overworld from the Underworld. Mister Aventurine has already ordered the soldiers to contain the Nightmare Gate in its early stages. Then there is the Corrupted Saint...”

She paused briefly.

”According to Svarog, she was the previous Supreme Guardian.”

Sunny didn’t hesitate.

”She is.”

Clara nodded once.

”That makes her even more dangerous. Even as a Corrupted Beast, she still retains access to her Aspect Abilities. The air around her is freezing at an unnatural level. Prolonged exposure causes damage not just to the body, but to the soul and mind. Mister Svarog and I have difficulty approaching her directly.”

Her gaze flicked upward toward the battle.

”The IPC’s Saint has an advantage due to his armor. It is blessed by the Preservation, so he is not as affected. However, he has his own priorities. He is retrieving a representative who was trapped in the Underworld when this began.”

She looked back at Sunny.

”So I need you to do two things. It’s nothing much, really.”

Sunny’s face twisted slightly.

”No, forget that. Did you just say IPC?! Why did nobody say anything?!”

Clara gave him a flat look.

”Out of curiosity, did you check your phone at any point during your little date with Seele?”

Sunny blinked.

”No... shit. Wait, how did you know we were on a date?”

Clara crossed her arms.

”Everyone knows. As in, everyone.”

Sunny stared at her for a second, processing that, before shrugging.

”Huh. Well, what did you need me to do?”

There were fifty seconds left.

Everything that had just happened — the conversation, Clara’s arrival, the exchange of information — had taken only twenty-seven seconds. To anyone else, it would have been incomprehensibly fast. To them, it was simply normal.

Clara raised a hand and pointed toward the sky, where Cocolia was already stabilizing herself after being kicked away into a building.

”First, I need you to hold her off. Can you do that?”

Sunny paused.

Then he answered honestly.

”No. I don’t think so.”

He glanced at Saint.

She stared back at him for a moment before raising her shield and slamming it with her armored fist, the metallic impact ringing out like a declaration.

Sunny grinned.

”But we have a Saint.”

Clara tilted her head slightly.

”We do...?”

Sunny coughed.

”I mean, a Shadow Saint. Or Marble Saint. Saint! Transform!”

The command echoed with unnecessary dramatics.

Saint vanished, her form collapsing into his shadow like liquid darkness. Then, drawing deeply on his reserves, Sunny poured Shadow Essence outward, summoning her again.

What emerged was something entirely different.

She rose from the ground like a monolith, towering above even two Svarogs stacked atop one another. Her armor had deepened into something beyond black, jagged and oppressive, as if it absorbed the light around it. Her ruby eyes burned brighter, more intense, and from her back flowed a cape of living darkness that shifted like smoke.

Her shield remained unchanged.

Sunny noted that briefly. It made sense. Like her destroyed sword, it wasn’t truly part of her being. It was something external, something that couldn’t be enhanced through Shadow Amplification.

So he fixed that.

From a tattoo etched into his skin, Serpent flowed outward, coiling and reshaping into a massive greatsword suited for her size. Sunny tossed it casually.

Saint caught it without effort.

Then his shadows moved.

All four slid across the ground and climbed her form, merging into her armor and deepening its darkness even further. The air around her seemed to grow heavier, as if reality itself was being pressed down by her presence.

Sunny exhaled, then summoned something else.

A Memory.

It formed in his hand as condensed Shadow Essence solidified into shape — a delicate snowflake charm made from a shard of ice left behind by the Architect of Lost Preservation.

The moment it appeared, pain struck.

His soul felt like it was being scraped apart from the inside. Clara stiffened slightly, her expression tightening as she felt it too. Even Seele stirred weakly in his arms, groaning as the effect reached her.

Sunny gritted his teeth.

Good.

That meant it was working.

Drawing inspiration from Everwinter Night and Broken Oath, he layered two enchantments onto the Memory. One fed on cold, strengthening its wearer in freezing environments. The other lashed outward, releasing indiscriminate soul attacks in a small radius.

Saint would be unaffected.

Her [Stalwart] Attribute rendered her immune to such things.

He held the charm up, ignoring the pain, and pressed it into her hand.

”This... is Saint’s Useful Charm That Would Totally Eviscerate All Her Enemies.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tingyun complained.

Saint did not.

Sunny grinned despite the pain.

”Go.”

Saint nodded once.

Then she moved.

The balcony shattered beneath her leap as she launched herself toward the battlefield, her massive form cutting through the air like a falling star of darkness.

The moment she left, the oppressive soul attack faded.

Sunny exhaled, rolling his shoulders.

”And the second request?”

Clara watched Saint for a moment, a faint trace of disbelief crossing her face before she shook her head.

”Nether’s children turning into a Shadow Creature... who would have thought?”

She refocused.

”While Mister Aventurine secures Miss Topaz, I need you to deal with the Nightmare Gate. We can only hope it doesn’t reach Category 4.”

Sunny frowned slightly.

”You don’t think they’ll just run?”

Clara shook her head.

”The debt Belobog owes the IPC is too large. It is not something we can repay easily, especially not without considering their alternative offer. Unless he is faced with certain death, he won’t retreat. That’s how gamblers are when the payout is high enough.”

Sunny tilted his head.

A debt. So that was it. That was why the IPC was here.

He glanced down at Seele.

”...I need to get her somewhere safe first.”

Clara nodded.

”Be quick.”

Sunny didn’t waste another second.

He turned, kicked open the balcony door, and sprinted through Bronya’s room, his speed blurring his surroundings into streaks of color. He moved through the halls of Qlipoth Fort without slowing, ignoring the elevator entirely as he burst into the stairwell.

Without hesitation, he jumped.

Seele was slung over his shoulder as he dropped through the open center of the staircase, falling past floor after floor in rapid succession. The wind roared past his ears, but his perception remained sharp.

For a brief moment, time seemed to stretch.

His eyes met Bronya’s.

She was running up the stairs.

They both froze for the smallest fraction of a second, expressions mirroring each other in confusion.

Then time snapped back.

Sunny hit the ground.

The impact cracked the floor beneath him, but he didn’t stop. He punched through a wall, revealing the elevator shaft beyond, and stepped into it before dropping one more level.

He landed before two massive stone gates.

Without hesitation, he summoned the Lance of Preservation.

Amber light flared.

The gates responded, slowly grinding open.

Sunny stepped forward and tossed Seele inside.

Then he stepped back.

The gates closed.

Now unburdened, Sunny vanished.

He stepped through the shadows, reappearing beside Bronya as if he had never left. His hand extended toward her.

”Where to?”

She stared at him, clearly shaken.

”What did you do with—”

She stopped herself.

”...Never mind. Wherever everything is happening.”

Sunny nodded.

He grabbed her hand, pulled her in, and wrapped an arm around her waist. Without warning, he lifted her and launched himself upward, bounding from stair to stair with explosive speed.

It still wasn’t fast enough.

So he changed tactics.

With a sharp turn, he slammed into the wall.

Stone shattered.

They broke through into open space and dropped directly into the Overworld.

Sunny landed first, absorbing the impact before setting Bronya down.

She looked up.

And froze.

Hundreds of Dormant Nightmare Creatures poured into the city.

They crawled out from the opened Gate like a tide of darkness, their twisted forms spreading through the streets. Awakened soldiers of the Silvermane Guards and IPC forces clashed with them, cutting them down as fast as they appeared.

At the forefront stood Gepard.

His massive shield held firm as he braced against the onslaught, each impact echoing like thunder. The creatures were weak individually. Even a normal human could kill one with a decent weapon.

But there were too many. Far too many.

The line was barely holding from the sheer numbers.

That was about to change.

The Supreme Guardian stepped forward, and the shadows followed.