Shadow Slave

The right wing of the Shadow Legion, composed of slain millipedes, was more countless than the left wing by now. However, while the millipede shades possessed great numbers and a startling amount of raw power, they had fewer exalted champions among their ranks. So, the situation at the opposite flanks of the battlefield was about even.

Saint and Slayer seemed to be competing to see which one of them could slay more foes, though. As far as Sunny could tell, the results were far from conclusive.

But both of them were terrors to behold. ’They are both doing well, too.’

Saint had assumed her true size, towering at ten meters of height and wielding a similarly great blade. She was surrounded by a flowing whirlpool of true darkness, so Sunny could only occasionally catch glimpses of her.

The shades under her command seemed to be fighting with a greater cohesion than the millipede shades under the Ember Queen’s control, and she kept the frontline stable by dashing here and there atop Nightmare, steadily pushing against the profane flood of monstrous abominations.

Nightmare had changed in size to fit her new height, as well, becoming just as daunting to behold. In truth, that was no surprise — the tenebrous steed had been doing just that while carrying Saint all along, albeit on a more modest scale. He was a Shadow Creature, after all, and shadows were inherently shapeless...

So, Sunny had a feeling that Nightmare took the form of a horse by choice, not because it was inherently his form. Because of that, his size was merely a formality. ’Come to think of it...’

Observing the battle, Sunny allowed a minuscule fraction of his vast mind to get distracted for a moment.

He knew that Slayer was a Shadow Creature born from the shadow of a mortal woman who had cast it once, a long time ago.

What kind of creature had cast Nightmare, then?

Sunny did not know, but in all his life, he had never met another creature wielding power over dreams. So, the original source of Nightmare must have been a singular existence — it had to be, to have cast such a shadow.

’Focus.’

Sunny told himself to focus... but really, he was not sure that there was a need. He was capable of concentrating on countless things now, and there was no lack of attention he was paying to the raging battle.

In fact, he was utterly devoted to experiencing and perceiving it in as much detail as he could.

This was no ordinary battle, after all — this was the first major battle he fought after acquiring Mind Weave. Therefore, Sunny was experimenting and testing himself, trying to see how far he could stretch the limits of his mind.

At the moment, he was commanding thousands of shades at the same time. There was a certain gap between the speed with which he issued commands and the time it took the shades to comprehend and execute them, so he was slowly moving toward finding a flawless cadence... but generally, the combat effectiveness of the Shadow Legion had increased tremendously.

It was not a disorganized mob of individual shades anymore. Instead, his silent soldiers fought like an actual army... a new and inexperienced army, perhaps, but a cohesive military force nonetheless.

It was especially true because Sunny had two intermediaries helping him control the shades. Saint and the Ember Queen both served as conduits of his will and the generals of the Shadow Legion, lightening his burden and making his army respond better to his attempts to command it. There was still room for improvement, though.

’Saint is not quite there, yet.’

The taciturn Shadow was a truly fearsome presence on the battlefield, both because of her Supreme Rank and the Evening Star, which was being strengthened by her own Underworld Armament. The black millipedes seemed to melt under her blade, and several of their champions had already been slain by the graceful jade knight... ꞦᴀꞐÒꞖƐŚ

But although she possessed the [War Master] Attribute now, she lacked the means of effectively communicating her authority to her soldiers — that would probably follow when she became a Tyrant. The Ember Queen, meanwhile, could only command members of her appalling tribe... which, needless to say, was a severe limitation.

’I think I have an idea of how to solve that problem.’

That would have to wait until the next time, though.

For now, the Shadow Legion was performing well enough — it was even better than Sunny had expected. In the past, the millipede shades would be obliterated in a matter of minutes, and the rest of the legion would soon follow... but this time, his silent soldiers were holding ground, giving the adversary as much hell as they were receiving.

Even with the Rat King being slowly overwhelmed, the outcome of the battle seemed to be hanging in fragile balance — which was a far cry from the innumerable defeats Sunny had suffered

’The difference is impossible to miss.’

Now, he only needed to give the Shadow Legion a little push to break the balance in its favor.

Stepping through the shadows, Sunny appeared in the very middle of carnage, next to Nightmare and Saint. He wrapped himself around the taciturn Shadow, took a mental breath...

And activated the Curse.

The [Absence of Light] activated first, albeit it did not grant him much power due to the true darkness unleashed by Saint — but that was alright. Sunny did not need personal strength at the moment.

The [Shadow Flame] activated next, allowing him to transfer a measure of his augmentation to any number of beings. Then came the [Weakening Curse], branding the shadows of surrounding millipedes and draining off their strength.

A moment later, the [Mercy of Shadow] poisoned their spirits with his Death Will. And finally, the [Underworld Armament] of the Jade Shell empowered the Curse, making each of its effects more pronounced. A vast swathe of the Black Millipede swarm reeled. Countless abominations suddenly seemed slower, weaker, and less tireless than before — many of those who had already been severely wounded simply fell to the ground, lifeless, the profane flames of their souls snuffed out by his killing intent. Of course, there were simply too many millipedes crawling across the charred surface of the great tangle for the Curse to put a dent into their astonishing collective power...

But it was just enough to break the stalemate and tip the scales of battle into the Shadow Legion’s favor.

And once Sunny gained that foothold, he could not be stopped.