Shadow Slave

The Ivory Tower… Tower of Hope… had been built by the Demon of Desire, and became her prison later. Of course, a prison capable of containing a daemon could not have been fragile — the great pagoda and the island it stood upon had weathered Hope’s thousand years of imprisonment, the Doom Warn, and countless years of desolation that followed.

So, even Anvil of Valor was not powerful enough to destroy it.

And he didn’t.

Instead, he cut the very concept that held the Ivory Island in the air, temporarily throwing the sorcery that allowed it to fly into disarray.

The island plummeted down, its massive shape tilting as the seven torn chains rattled loudly. The placid lake resting on its surface spilled over the edge, forming a vast waterfall. The bones of the dragon that lay curled around the great pagoda moved, tearing the ground.

Far away, the soldiers were terrified by the sight of the symbol of their hope falling from the sky.

Sunny’s eyes widened.

’Crap!’

The massive island was falling… and the Nameless Temple was situated directly below it.

The shadows stirred, ready to arrest the island’s fall. Sunny had stopped a walking mountain once… for a few moments… and he was much stronger now. And yet, he was not sure that he would be able to stop the falling mass of the flying Citadel.

The Ivory Island did not crash into the Nameless Temple, though. Before it could, an invisible presence rose above the dark edifice and barred its path, causing the entire island to shudder and chase course. It veered to the side, tilting, and hit the bone plain heavily hundreds of meters away.

The battlefield trembled. The world quaked...

The ancient bone crumbled.

Countless tons of shattered bone plummeted into the billowing clouds of snow, and a massive hole formed in the ground where the Ivory Island struck it. The Island itself crashed through the fractured plain, pulling more of the battlefield crumbling down with it,and sank into the cold darkness of the Hollows.

Soon enough, it disappeared from view, leaving a jagged chasm many kilometers across on the surface of the Breastbone Reach. Everything inside was obscured by snow, but a few moments later, another terrifying impact shook the world as the flying island broke the canopy of the abominable jungle and collided with the ground.

The snow was pushed into the dark sky...

And a lone figure was revealed on the edge of the vast chasm, rising unsteadily from the shattered bone.

It was a slender young man with porcelain skin and attractive features, wearing a black mantle and a dazed expression.

He was Master Sunless… the charming enchanter whom Changing Star had brought to Godgrave as a Memory Purveyor of the Fire Keepers.

Her infamous lover.

Anvil looked at him with disdain, then glanced at his adopted daughter.

”...I’ll take this toy from you, as well. To help you rid yourself of unnecessary distractions.”

Before Nephis could even move, one of his seven dreadful swords shot forward with terrifying speed. It moved so swiftly, and with such daunting power, that space itself seemed to rip around its chillingly sharp blade. The sword reached its victim in the blink of an eye, poised to pierce the delicate Master and turn his body into a cloud if crimson haze…

But instead, something that even the King of Sword could not have expected happened, causing both Sovereigns to halt.

The dazed enchanter raised his arm in a seemingly unhurried fashion…

And caught the dreadful blade with his bare hand.

The snow behind him exploded in all directions, torn apart by a devastating shockwave, and the hems of his mantle danced in the air. The young man himself, however, did not even sway, standing there motionlessly like an exquisite statue.

As the hurricane wind settled, he looked at the sword trapped in his seemingly weak hand, and his beautiful face was suddenly illuminated by a faint smile. 𝖗аNꝊ𐌱Ёš

”...Ouch.”

As he tightened his grasp,cracks appeared on the dreadful blade, and then it shattered into a myriad of scarlet sparks.

Taking a calm step forward, the charming enchanter shook his hand in the air under Anvil’s dismayed gaze.

”Seems like her toys are of much better quality than yours, King of Swords… if I do say so myself.”

With that, he grinned shamelessly.

A moment later, something even more astonishing happened.

The terrifying Lord of Shadows — the sinister Saint whose dark and dreadful power was only equal to the chilling mystery of his true identity — suddenly turned into a swift shadow that glided across the surface of the shattered bone and happily wrapped itself around the charming enchanter’s body.

Suddenly, he did not look weak anymore. His pleasant smile disappeared, replaced by a dark and chillingly cold expression.

”That said…”

As he took the next step, a fearsome onyx armor encased his body, and a frightening black mask of a snarling demon hid his beautiful face.

”...I’m a little mad now.”

A dark odachi suddenly appeared in his hand, and he pointed its tip at Anvil.

”How about we settle it with swords, heir of War?”

Anvil lingered for a moment, then dismissed his helmet, smiling with dark satisfaction.

”As you wish, heir of Peace.”

A moment later, he was already upon Sunny.

Almost at the same time, the titanic flesh golem lunged at Nephis.

Now that the Ivory Island had disappeared below ground, the Crushing was not slowing them down anymore.

And neither was it hindering the legion of the dead puppets and the storm of flying swords anymore.

The battlefield, which had grown still for a few short minutes, exploded with motion and violence once again.

But before the Queen’s puppets and the King’s swords could descend upon Sunny and Nephis…

Something moved in the darkness behind the open gates of the Nameless Temple.

A moment later, a litany of harrowing roars suddenly drowned the vast expanse of the fractured battlefield.

The darkness stirred,and the first of the Great abominations that Nightmare had lulled to sleep lunged from it in a maelstrom of terrifying claws and fangs, followed by another, and another…

The swarm of dreadful Nightmare Creatures slammed into the puppets, and a feast of carnage unlike anything Sunny had ever seen suddenly took place on the surface of the shattered plain.