Shadow Slave

A world-shaking roar thundered above the battlefield, and Sunny felt cold terror shackle his limbs like a vice. His movements slowed, and the foundation of his Will seemed to crumble.

Instantly, tendrils of flesh moved faster than lightning and shot past his defenses to pierce his limbs, jerking him in four different directions to pull his body apart.

Gritting his teeth, Sunny steeled his mind and shook off the mental attack that had weakened him... was it even a mental attack, if it affected his very spirit?... and strained his muscles.

instead of being pulled apart, he overpowered the four immortals who were trying to quarter him into the dark embrace of shadows. There, his vast and shapeless form tore their abominable shadows apart, scattering them across the boundless darkness. A moment later, he assumed a physical shape once more, rising from the bloodied rubble with a cold expression on his hidden face.

The breached surface of the Jade Mantle was already repairing itself, and drops of crimson blood were falling from his sword.

“What was that roar?”

Casting his senses into the depths of the Eternal City, he felt a massive shadow barreling toward the plaza. Then, a second roar crashed into the Shadow Legion, and an enormous tiger with glistening silver fur and golden stripes leaped into the mass of fallen immortals, its bestial eyes shining with a beautiful glow.

In the next moment, the flesh on the back of the giant tiger rippled and bulged with repugnant growths, which then exploded into a forest of deadly tendrils. The tendrils shot forward, piercing numerous shades and tearing them apart. Sunny’s gaze turned somber.

’So, the Eternal City was not populated by immortal humans alone...”

it seemed like there had been immortal creatures here, as well, and all of them were now twisted by Corruption.

The abominable beast plunged into the battle formation of the Shadow Legion, shattering it. With every leap, the graceful figure of the silver tiger grew more monstrous and misshapen, slowly transforming it into a nightmarish mass of slithering flesh.

Before the abominations could deal too much damage, however, an enormous hand forged of blackened metal rose from the darkness and grabbed its neck, slicing it open. As a waterfall of blood poured to the ground, Fiend emerged from the shadows, raising the giant tiger into the air — the obliterating tendrils scraped against his mental carapace without being able to pierce it, and as infernal flames ignited in his eyes, wisps of smoke escaped through the tears in the abomination’s fur.

Sunny focused on repairing the battle formation of the Shadow Legion, feeling a little disappointed that he could not deal with the abominable tiger himself. Well... he could, in theory. After all, the damn thing was just as immortal as its human kin — so, all he had to do was command Fiend to retreat.

But that would be a bit too unhinged a decision, even for him.

Raising his shield, Sunny moved forward.

Slowly at first, then faster and faster, the Shadow Legion gained an upper hand over the disorganized mob of fallen immortals. Despite all their great power, the denizens of the Eternal City seemed more like mindless beasts than people — so, they failed to overcome the flawless cohesion and discipline of the silent shades.

Of course, their inferior numbers played the decisive role.

Eventually, Sunny gained complete control of the battlefield. The grotesque creatures were still refusing to die, but at some point, he managed to divide and isolate them from each other. Once that happened, the losses of the Shadow Legion almost ceased.

When the fallen immortals were imprisoned in a ruthless loop of being killed, reviving, and immediately being slain again, he proceeded to the next step.

The actions of the shades changed.

instead of cutting the fallen immortals down, the Shadow Legion attempted to restrain them. At first, Sunny failed to contain many of the abominations, causing more shades to be destroyed — containing a Nightmare Creature was much harder than killing it, after all.

But eventually, he succeeded.

Using the Puppeteer and his legion of shades, Sunny slowly managed to restrain each of the corrupted immortals.

That was how the first battle he fought in the Eternal City ended.

Sunny stood among the rubble, breathing heavily. The plaza around him was completely destroyed, and all the ornate buildings around it had turned to ruins. The Dark Castle towered behind him, casting a deep shadow on the scene of utter devastation.

Soon enough, though, the plaza returned to its spotless beauty, and the ornate buildings assembled themselves from the rubble.

The black waters of the Stormsea rolled far above his head, glistening with reflected ight.

Dismissing his helmet, Sunny inhaled deeply and wiped the sweat off his brow. Jet appeared in a gust of cold wind, making him shiver.

She seemed unscathed, if a little tired.

“Ah, I am worried.”

Fighting an immortal opponent was already bad enough, but it was woefully worse for Jet — after all, she needed a constant influx of soul essence to stay alive. Since they could not really kill these abominations, she could not receive any essence either. All she could do was waste it without getting anything back. Would Jet even survive a prolonged confrontation for the Eternal City?

sunny sighed.

Looking around, at the silent figures of shades who were struggling to hold the abominable immortals down, Jet asked in a grim tone:

“What now?”

Sunny hesitated for a short while, then answered evenly:

”Now, we show these hellspawn creatures a different, far more cruel hell.” With that, his shadows flowed off his body to the ground, and then assumed their corporeal forms. The fifth incarnation stepped out of the shadows, as well, having left the Puppeteer. There was the sound of adamantine hooves ringing on the stone, and Nightmare approached them, blood dripping from its steel fangs.

Sunny inhaled deeply, and then looked at his steed.

”Sing them a lullaby, Nightmare.”

With that, all five of Sunny’s avatars turned into shadows and wrapped themselves around the black stallion.

Nightmare’s crimson eyes ignited with terrifying flames.