Shadow Slave

The Flesh of Kanakht was like a force of nature, unstoppable and seemingly inevitable. Its ghastly body was like a mountain... a furious mountain that was full of frenzied malevolence and hunger, overcome by an insatiable greed to assimilate all living beings into its grotesque expanse.

At the same time, it mended and restored itself no matter what grievous wounds were dealt to it, indifferently shrugging off attacks that would have destroyed entire cities, if not continents.

The gigantic vessel of the Great Titan was only half a problem, too. There was also the undulating, revolting mass of red flesh that expanded outward from where it stood on the fractured shore, slowly consuming the Palace Island as it grew.

Sunny hated to admit it, but he was honestly at a loss.

How were they supposed to stop that boundless horror?

He sifted through his Memory, trying to remember if he had ever battled a similar Nightmare Creature. There had been some that were immense, and there had been some that were like elemental forces. There had even been some that boasted inexhaustible vitality... but Sunny had never faced an adversary quite like this one.

The closest match he could think of was a Nightmare Creature he knew of, but had not witnessed himself — Aletheia of the Nine, the First Seeker.

That fiend had even corrupted everything it touched, just like the Flesh of Kanakht infected and assimilated everyone that touched it.

[Nephis, how exactly did you defeat the First Seeker?]

Having failed to keep the Great Titan away from the island, Nephis streaked across the sky and landed gracefully nearby, sliding back on wet stone before coming to a halt just a few meters away from Sunny.

Her voice sounded a little concerned when she spoke:

”That thing? Well, I... blew up the city.”

She raised the Blessing, preparing to resume her relentless assault on the distressing Titan.

”That didn’t kill her, though. So I blew up the city some more. And after that, I burned all that remained.”

She had already unleashed the wrath of her flames upon the Flesh of Kanakht, and it did not help — even though the power she wielded now was incomparably greater than it had been in the Tomb of Ariel.

Still, the answer was typical.

’No, really...’

How did a woman whose go-to strategy was “if you can attack something up, why bother coming up with anything else?” become the ruler of humanity?

Oh right. It was because Sunny, Cassie, and Nephis had schemed and plotted for years to put her on the throne. And also because blowing things up was an effective strategy in a surprising number of situations.

But, sadly, not this situation.

Sunny gritted his teeth.

”That doesn’t seem to be working, though.”

Nephis glanced at the towering figure of the Flesh of Kanakht calmly, then nodded.

”And that is not our only problem, either.”

She looked past the Great Titan.

Out there, the Eternal City was slowly coming undone. The invisible dome that had protected it for thousands of years was unraveling, and the black depths of the Stormsea were rushing into the breaches, eager to reclaim their prize. The edges of the vast ruin had already been crushed and consumed by water, which stood like a dark wall in the distance.

Closer to the Palace Island, hexagonal pillars stood here and there, with new ones appearing every few seconds. Some of the islands were completely destroyed, some had been fractured or pierced.

The Wharf had been obliterated. The Lighthouse... still stood, somehow, even if it had been submerged in water. Just then, another pillar descended from the broken dome, devastating the Clocktower — this time, forever.

The final devastation was slowly converging on the heart of the Eternal City, which meant that they did not have a lot of time left — even if the Flesh of Kanakht did not swallow them soon.

Nephis spared Sunny a brief look.

“How much longer do you need?”

Her tone was even, but he could tell that she was eager to reclaim Nightwalker for the benefit of humanity, too. After all, the fate of humanity was not only her direct, but also personal responsibility.

Sunny grimaced.

”A bit longer.”

Nepis lingered for a split second, then nodded.

”Then we hold that thing back for as long as we must.”

With that, she ignited her soul, burning through it to unleash a blinding white inferno.

The Names escaped from her lips, shaping the world according to her Will.

This time, it was Sunny who manifested a pair of black wings and soared into the air. The sky was crumbling upon the ruins of the Eternal City, and in its heart, a grotesque red infection was spreading like a vast tumor. It felt like the world was coming to an end. ‘Let’s make it a happy end, then:

A towering wall of white flames rose across the northern reaches of the Palace Island, cutting off the advance of the spreading mass of flesh. The avalanche of bleeding tissue fell into the fire and burned, turning to ash — then grew again and burned again, disappearing into the immolating crucible. The fractured ground turned incandescent and then melted, becoming a sea of lava. It flowed into the lake, producing billowing clouds of searing steam.

High above, Sunny opened the Gate of Shadow once again and summoned the ancient darkness of the Realm of Death into his hand. He manifested it into a long javelin, making it as heavy as he could... heavy enough that even his Supreme strength was barely enough to hold it. Then, he raised his hand and threw the javelin down with all his might.

No tricks, no clever enchantments.

Just inconceivable weight and pure kinetic force.

The black javelin fell like a dark meteor and pierced the shoulder of the Great Titan, impacting it with so much force that the huge Nightmare Creature staggered and was pushed to the ground. Its shoulder joint exploded, erased from existence, and one of its limbs was separated from the great mass of slithering flesh.

The entire island quaked, a vast swath of it sliding into the boiling lake.

Countless tendrils of flesh shot from the torn limb, reconnecting it to the main body. But before it was fully attached, Sunny had already summoned another javelin.

’I just need to buy us time’

The battle raged as more and more of the Eternal City disappeared under the water.