Shadow Slave

The silent ranks of the Shadow Legion stirred under the walls of the Dark Castle. The cadence of the battle changed as the black flood moved forward, flowing across the shattered ground. The titanic figures of Goliath and the Defiled Seeker lumbered above the black tide of dead soldiers, making the plaza shake with each step; the myriad threads of ethereal black silk trembled, forming a vast spiderweb.

The fallen immortals were still engaged in a battle against the Ember Queen and her millipede swarm. Individually, each of them was more powerful than an average shade under Sunny’s command... however, in this battle at least, the numerical advantage was on his side.

So, the rulers of the Eternal City rapidly found themselves flanked. Bestial shades of Godgrave had flanked them from the left, while the Shadow Wolves and the Obsidian Wasps had flanked them from the right. At the same time, the shadow of Daeron led the shades of human Saints into a frontal assault to support the Ember Queen.

Clad in the armor forged by the shadow of the King of Swords, the shadow of the King of Twilight descended upon the immortals of the Eternal City like a storm. His polearm carved a bloody path through the mass of slivering flesh, causing the thunderous roars of destructive impacts to roll across the battlefield.

It was somewhat ironic, but in this battle between Great and Supreme beings — those who were only a step away from becoming deities — the mundane laws of strategy were just as important as mystical matters. The inhabitants of the Eternal City might have been immortals, but they still could not overcome the dire disadvantage of being attacked from the flank. Attacked from several directions at the same time, they began to falter.

A few seconds later, a blinding explosion bloomed among the fallen immortals, turning hundreds of them to dust — that was Slayer’s arrow finding its mark.

Fiend emerged from the shadows of the battlefield, towering above it like a steel colossus forged in the depths of hell. A plume of red flame escaped from his maw, turning a vast area in front of him into a blazing inferno, and his razor-sharp claws severed countless bodies in half.

Saint rose from a vast torrent of darkness. Despite towering more than ten meters above ground, she moved with her usual grace — the weight of her firm steps, however, was crushing enough to send cracks running through the stone plates covering the plaza.

Serpent plunged into the grotesque mass of fallen immortals, rampaging among them like a formless, ever-changing spirit of death. It took whatever shape was most suitable for destroying the adversary, and remained in its own serpentine form when there was no better choice Nightmare tore their monstrous flesh with his horns, hooves, and fangs...

Jet observed the awesome spectacle of the distressing battle with a calm gaze. She sighed quietly and then jumped onto the parapet of the Dark Castle’s rampart. The wind sent her raven-black hair dancing, and wisps of chilling mist surrounded her lithe figure.

”Have you come up with a way to actually contain these fiends yet?”

Sunny gave her a neutral look.

”...I’m working on it.”

She grinned and raised a fist into the air.

“Work hard!”

With that, she turned into mist and disappeared from view, as if dispelled by the wind.

Soon enough, a frightening wraith of icy mist appeared among the fallen immortals, severing their repulsive bodies with a ghostly scythe.

Sunny let out a satisfied sigh.

“Well then, it’s time for me to go, too.”

He took a few steps back, lowered his body, and then dashed forward. Racing the parapet of the battlements, he jumped and soared into the sky.

Half a dozen moments later, Sunny plummeted to the ground like a dark comet, falling into the very middle of the immortal swarm.

His impact made the entire island quake, and a violent explosion tore everything around him to shreds. A devastating shockwave rolled outward, breaking the bodies of undying abominations and sending them to the ground. Those who were near the explosion were simply reduced to ash.

When the dust settled, there was a vast crater in the spot where Sunny had landed, surrounded by a wide, empty area. Standing in the middle of that chaos and watching calmly as the swirling flakes of ash slowly coalesced into human bodies, he smiled.

”See?! I am working on it hard!”

The helmet of the Jade Mantle hid his face, and a black shield wove itself out of shadows on his arm.

”Serpent!”

The colossal Shadow slithered his way and rippled, then turned into a black sword that fell into his hand.

Having suffered from how rapid and lethal the flesh tendrils of a fallen immortal were, Sunny had abandoned his usual odachi in favor of a one-handed sword and a shield. He was proficient in this form of combat as well, naturally, he just did not use it often. Now that he did, however...

Sunny felt a strong and unexplainable impulse to strike the rim of his shield twice.

‘I think I am starting to understand why Saint does it...”

He was surrounded by the immortal fiends by then.

Before, one of them had been enough to make Sunny sweat. Now, there were dozens of them around him — and behind them, hundreds more.

But Sunny was not the same as he had been then.

At the moment, he was enhanced by three of his shadows and wielded four links of the Curse on top of that. The Jade Mantle and its [Underworld Armament] enchantment strengthened the shadowbound charm, as the [Absence of Light] enchantment of the charm empowered Sunny.

The sword he wielded, meanwhile, was the manifestation of a Supreme Titan — Serpent, his slaying blade.

So, his strength had become more unfathomably ferocious, making it feel like the world was straining to contain him. Sunny smiled.

“Come. Today, I will make you regret being immortal...”

Brandishing his sword, he lunged forward.