Shadow Slave

There was one advantage to the fact that Cassie had been cut off from all but one of her marks, even if it left her blind, deaf, ignorant, and deprived of all senses in their absence.

It was the fact that her mind was unburdened for the first time in many years.

With no need to carry the weight of countless perspectives, be aware of myriad events happening simultaneously across the two worlds, and parse through an unceasing avalanche of conflicting sensations, Cassie felt a refreshing sense of clarity.

Her potent mind was completely free and focused, and all its tremendous capacity could be dedicated to a single task.

In this case, Cassie focused it on controlling the Crushing.

The Crushing was a vast and fierce force capable of influencing entire regions of the Dream Realm. However, that did not mean that it couldn’t be used in a more refined manner — Cassie had just never attempted it before, since that was not something that a Saint was supposed to be capable of, and there had not been a real need to anyway. Now, though, the Crushing was the only weapon she could rely on to survive a battle against Nightwalker.

And that was her goal — not to defeat the legendary Saint, but to survive long enough for Rain to open the portal. Cassie did not believe that she could defeat Nightwalker… not as she was now, at least. Her Aspect was matched against his too badly, and there were five other Saints who could arrive to assist him if the battle took too long on top of that.

So, she simply needed to stall for time. That was why Cassie reached inside of herself, sensing the tether that anchored her to the Dream Realm — and to the Ivory Tower, as well. It was that connection that made her the master of the Great Citadel and allowed her to control its Components. Now, she used her claim to the Tower of Hope to shape the Crushing into a devastating pillar and aim it at Nightwalker. The island shook, and a shallow crater formed where Nightwalker had been standing, a cloud of dust rising into the air. Cassie did not expect to kill or even seriously wound him with that first attack, but she did hope to slow him down. However, her hope had been shattered a second later.

She felt a powerful blow crushing her ribcage and turning her internal organs into bloody pulp, then dashed back and avoided the blow from landing on her chest.

Sliding across the emerald grass, Cassie heard the Nightwalker clicking his tongue.

‘That potent…’

She knew that his Awakened Ability made it so that his body could survive in any environment, isolating it from all outside influences — as if it were a mystical EVA suit. However, she had not expected that Ability to be powerful enough to shrug off the devastating force of the Crushing.

At most, withstanding the Crushing had cost Nightwalker an ocean of essence. Cassie frowned and aimed her dagger at the spot where his voice had come from, preparing to activate her charms and launch into an attack.

Before she could, however, Nightwalker spoke.

“Is it my turn, then?”

In the next moment, Cassie shuddered and let out a loud scream.

That was because in the future she sensed, her sword arm was suddenly and violently torn off at the shoulder, flying away in a rain of blood. In the next moment, the same happened to her shield arm, and before she could cope with the terrifying pain, her neck twisted and snapped like a straw. Nightwalker did not use any weapon, or even his bare hands, to visit such a brutal death upon her.

Instead, he simply used his Aspect.

He manipulated space, expanding the precise point where Cassie’s arm was to span dozens of meters. Naturally, neither her flesh nor her bones were meant to be stretched like putty — so, her skin and muscles tore, while her bones shattered, veins and ligaments snapping like strings. Worst of all, Nighwalker commanded space, which meant that Cassie could not evade the gruesome attack even if she had sensed it coming in advance.

So, she didn’t.

Instead, she used the Crushing — the force of attraction — to exert a pull on space that was equal to Nightwalker’s manipulation, but opposite in direction. She pulled the stretching space back to its original state and commanded her flesh and bone to be bonded together with the same force that was being exerted to pull them apart.

The world seemed to ripple as two opposite distortions twisted it in different directions.

Cassie’s countermeasure succeeded… somewhat.

In that short instant between when she foresaw the attack and when the attack happened, she managed to perform a staggering amount of calculations and apply them to the world that she could only sense, not see. However, she was still merely a Saint — the finesse with which she could shape the Crushing was impressive, but not flawless.

In the end, her arm was not mangled and torn off. However, her bones did snap, and her skin tore, a torrent of blood flowing down to her hand.

Cassie caught the dagger, which had slid from her bloodied fingers, with her other hand.

Nightwalker was not going to stop at manipulating space just once, of course — in fact, the world around her was already twisting, threatening to pulverize every bone in her body and violently tear it apart. Standing perfectly still across from him, Cassie activated her Supreme charm. In the past, she had usually used it to enhance the lethality of her weapons or the durability of her armor — but that was because, in the past, her enemies had usually been Nightmare Creatures of a higher Rank than her.

Today, she was fighting a far more dreadful foe…

A fellow Saint.

So, instead, Cassie applied the enchantment of the powerful Supreme Memory to her own body.

Its material properties were instantly augmented, making her flesh more enduring, elastic, and resilient, while at the same time making her bones more robust, adamantine, and unbreakable.

A low groan escaped from her lips a moment later, still, as she sensed her body being mutilated beyond recognition a few heartbeats in the future.

So, Cassie reshaped the Crushing to keep herself alive once more.

This time, it was her shoulder that got crushed, turning into a sunken and deformed mess of torn skin, bone fragments, and freely flowing blood.

“See…”

Nightwalker’s voice was full of regret.

“That was why I told you to surrender quietly…”

Cassie staggered, but kept both her balance and her grip on the hilt of the enchanted dagger.

At the same time, a soft white radiance enveloped her broken arm and her crushed shoulder, swiftly mending them to their initial state.

The world rippled once more as the insidious power of Nightwalker collided with the Crushing.

The Ivory Island quaked and groaned around them, cracks splitting its soil as the very fabric of existence was slowly coming undone…