Shadow Slave

It took Sunny a moment to realize what he had heard.

‘My Shadow... what?’

The Flesh of Kanakht went on the offensive just then, surging forward in an avalanche of bleeding tendrils, gargantuan limbs, and titanic power. An obliterating explosion bloomed in its path, sending a devastating shockwave spreading outward in all directions — the waters of the lake seethed, and Sunny leaned into the forceful blow, feeling his bones rattle as he withstood it. If there were any intact buildings left in the Eternal City, they would have been toppled by the shockwave. Even the Dark Castle shook, a few cracks appearing on its walls. But the Great Titan was not even slowed. A conflagration of white flames charred its enormous body, turning a vast swath of it into a ghastly blackened mass. Entire slabs of tissue vanished, as if the fire had taken bites out of the gargantuan abomination.

A few moments later, however, the Flesh of Kanakht mended its burned body and continued barreling toward the Palace Island.

Sunny gritted his teeth, manifesting countless chains to hold it back.

The chains snapped.

”Which of my Shadows evolved?!’

That... was a stupid question, really.

There were thousands of subdued immortals sleeping within the Dark Castle, trapped in the labyrinth of nightmares. Those immortals were bizarre beings — their minds and identity were gone, but their bodies and souls were still intact, endlessly revived by the Eternal City. At the same time, there were parasitic pieces of the Flesh of Kanakht inside their bodies, controlling them.

The Flesh of Kanakht was not the only thing infecting the immortals, though.

They were also infected by the Dream Curse.

Or rather... had been.

The immortals had been caught in the maze of dreams by Nightmare. And every being that died within that maze made the tenebrous steed stronger, their souls serving as fuel in the furnace of his Ascension.

Nightmare had been fighting an uphill battle before because his victims could not die. However, once Sunny opened the Gate of Shadow and made them mortal again, things changed.

The immortals perished, and suddenly, thousands of ancient and exceedingly powerful souls became nourishment for his loyal steed.

And that pushed Nightmare across the threshold of evolving to a new Rank. ..Nightmare was a Supreme Terror now. Drowned by the shadow of the Flesh of Kanakht, Sunny smiled wickedly.

‘Just in time’

”Nightmare!”

Answering his call, a vast and dreadful presence revealed itself in the shadows. A chilling wind blew across the devastated island, and the scattered wraiths shivered, suddenly overcome by fear.

Then, two terrifying crimson flames ignited in the darkness, and the shadows slowly formed into the shape of a black, monstrous steed. The radiance of the dying flames reflected from the adamantine surface of Nightmare’s steel horns and fangs, his hooves turning the stone rubble to dust. With his mane dancing in the wind, Nightmare galloped across the fractured ground, bringing terror and dread with him. Reaching Sunny, he stopped and cast a chilling gaze at him, cold fury burning in his ominous crimson eyes.

Sunny could not help but smile.

”Good job, buddy!”

Then, he pointed at the gargantuan form of the Flesh of Kanakht.

”Go put that thing to sleep!”

Nightmare stared at him for a few moments, then turned to look at the Great Titan and neighed. The sound of the appalling stallion’s voice echoed above the boiling lake like a dreadful lullaby, and he rushed forward in a torrent of harrowing darkness. Sunny looked at the colossal abomination, too.

Suddenly, it did not seem so enormous anymore.

Well, naturally it didn’t. The notion of a Great Titan was daunting and calamitous... However, when two Supreme Titans and a Supreme Terror opposed it, it lost some of its dreadful implication.

‘Let’s go.’

Not wishing to let his steed outpace him, Sunny lunged forward.

The Flesh Kanakht was vast. Its body, its soul, its Will were like boundless oceans, seemingly endless and inexhaustible. So, even if Nightmare was Supreme now, it was going to take some time to lull the titanic abomination into slumber.

But not as much time as it would have taken normally.

After all, the Great Titan was weakened by four fully augmented links of the Curse. All its resistances were compromised by a sinister poison, and it was made vulnerable to the insidious infection of the Dream Curse.

The Titan was going to fall asleep much faster than it was supposed to. And even before that, it would slowly grow drowsy, compounding the advantage Sunny and Nephis had.

Somewhere behind them, Slayer and Jet fought side by side, eradicating the frenzied wraiths. Saint and Fiend led the Shadow Legion to do the same. Naeve followed the shadow of Daeron, observing how the ancient Sovereign fought with focused intensity.

The Dark Castle trembled slightly.

‘This little...’

It seemed that the Marvelous Mimic was sneakily devouring the bodies of the perished immortals while its master was looking away.

Sunny was a bit concerned, but he decided to deal with the gluttonous Shadow later. For now, he had a Great Titan to fight. Emerging from the cloud of immolating flames like a bleeding mountain, the Flesh of Kanakht finally stepped onto the soil of the Palace Island. Its red mass instantly seemed to take root in it, numerous tendrils shooting from its feet and shins into the ground.

Then, the flesh began to spread, slowly devouring the island.

The Blessing flashed, severing one of the Great Titan’s knees. Another explosion detonated within the cut, obliterating the entire joint.

It repaired itself, of course... but not before the Flesh of Kanakht lost balance and fell to its knees, supporting its inconceivable weight with both forearms.

Sunny was not celebrating, though.

Because both forearms of the Great Titan took root, too, accelerating the rate with which the red mass of ghastly flesh spread south from the northern shore.

‘Damnation’

Taken aback a little, he watched as the Palace Island was being slowly consumed by an ocean of bleeding flesh. The ghastly mass continued to grow and spread without ever slowing down or showing any sign of stopping.

At the source of it, the Flesh of Kanakht had lost all resemblance to a human, looking more like an abominable four-legged beast. Sunny grimaced, nonplused.

‘Well, that’s... just great...’