Shadow Slave

On the penultimate floor of the Ebony Tower, the Prince of Madness had clashed with Asterion, the Dreamspawn… the Demon of Hunger.

The obsidian walls of the ancient tower groaned and shook from the dire ferocity of their confrontation. The forces unleashed by each blow were fearsome enough to obliterate both Awakened and Masters, and very few Saints would withstand them without being grievously wounded.

A net of cracks was slowly spreading across the floor of the great hall, and across its distant ceiling as well.

Cassie could barely endure the burden of being caught in the violent storm of their battle, her body still in the process of being transformed into that of a Supreme.

‘Unfair…’

The transformation had happened almost instantly for Sunny and Nephis. But those two were unique, each in their own way. Sunny was a shadow who could take the form of a human, while Nephis was a being woven out of pure light and flame. For both of them, mortal flesh was merely a shell that contained their true essence — it was a form they took, not the natural foundation of their existence.

The rest, like Cassie, had to endure the wondrous process of being reforged and reborn as a more perfect being before truly becoming Supreme.

Luckily, the Mad Prince was fully occupying Asterion — for now, at least — so the eldest Supreme had no time to squash the newest one before she was fully reborn.

Despite that, Cassie doubted that the unhinged horror she had manifested into existence was going to defeat the Dreamspawn… in fact, she was confident that he would not. Asterion was Supreme, after all, and could therefore freely express his Will. More than that, all of humanity belonged to his Domain, making the weight of his Will so much more terrifying.

However…

There was a reason why Cassie had summoned the Mad Prince, and it was not only the fact that he was the most terrifying Corrupted creature she could think of.

It was also because of the fact that the Mad Prince flawlessly countered Asterion’s most fearsome powers.

Asterion’s greatest weapon was his ability to manipulate minds by twisting them, but the Mad Prince’s mind was already twisted beyond description. He was completely and utterly deranged, so there was no manipulating him — not predictably, at least, because one needed to know how the victim would react in order to control them. On top of that, his mind contained chilling horrors that even Asterion had to be wary of, making reading his thoughts a difficult and perilous task.

More than that, the Mad Prince was wielding the Sin of Solace — a cursed sword created to poison minds. And since Asterion’s true form was that of an idea, he was uniquely susceptible to being destroyed by the gorgeous jade blade.

So, he could not simply ignore the adversary attacks, knowing that his physical manifestation would be simply rebuilt anew — like he had done in the battle against Mordret. Instead, he had to be wary of being cut by the pristine white blade of the Sin of Solace, and avoid it at all costs. Therefore, Asterion could not express most of his power as a Sovereign in the battle against the Mad Prince. He was denied his Aspect and forced to fight the berserk Corrupted Titan as no more than an immensely strong Supreme Beast.

And the Corrupted Titan in question… was ancient beyond belief, was powerful beyond measure, and wielded his cursed blade with the profane skill of a sword saint.

So, Cassie believed that the Mad Prince would buy her plenty of time, at least.

And using that time…

She was going to destroy the Hunger Domain.

…The white blade of the Sin of Solace sliced the fabric of reality apart, falling down with impossible speed to bite into Asterion’s neck. The Mad Prince was not aiming to behead the Dreamspawn, though — he was cunning enough to know that trying to kill Asterion was meaningless. All he wanted to do was leave a small cut on his adversary. Because for the Sin of Solace, it did not matter how deep the wounds delivered by its gorgeous blade was. A small cut was just as lethal as a fatal wound, because it poisoned the mind of the victim all the same…

And it was far easier to deliver a small cut than to deal a killing blow.

The white blade of the Sin of Solace was stopped by the vibrant scarlet steel of the sword Asterion wielded, though — the sword that was Morgan of Valor, the Princess of War.

Morgan had the Ability to store powerful enchantments within her body, and that held true even now that she had assumed the form of a sword. Asterion had neglected using this aspect of his living weapon before, but now he called upon it. He called upon his Will, as well, making the world itself turn against the Mad Prince. The Sin of Solace was pushed aside, and Asterion’s sword rushed toward the Mad Prince’s heart, leaving him no chance to deflect the blow and no opportunity to evade it.

The Mad Prince didn’t try. Instead, he crumbled into a torrent of shadows, and a moment later…

Seven abominable Titans assaulted Asterion from all sides.

Only one of them wielded the graceful white blade, though.

Asterion evaded most of the blows, deflected a few, and pushed forward toward one of the Mad Prince’s incarnations. His hand shot forward, his fingers piercing the abominable avatar’s neck — in the next moment, he tore out the creature’s throat, sending a torrent of blood raining down.

The Mad Prince laughed.

The loss of an incarnation and the pain of one of his avatars being destroyed did not seem to faze him at all. In fact, his voice was full of demented glee, as if he was enjoying the agony a great deal.

He attacked Asterion again…

A moment later, the Ebony Tower quaked again.

And deep underground, in the basement, Mordret opened his eyes.