Shadow Slave

In that moment, hovering on the edge of nothingness, Sunny realized that he was about to die.

He had to struggle against the fog that permeated his mind, slowing down his thoughts and dampening all emotions.

All except for fear.

Despite the fact that his body was broken and his mind was paralyzed, some stubborn part of Sunny was still refusing to give up. He wasn't ready to die. At least not without giving his all to survive.

He was revolted at the thought of giving the world the satisfaction of the win.

That would be so infuriating. Hadn't he told Hero that he was going to survive no matter what, to spite them all?

That's right. He might be a shameless liar, but a promise was still a promise.

But… how was he even supposed to survive? No matter how he looked at it, the situation seemed to be hopeless.

As the scythe slayer approached, its eyes shining menacingly with bloodthirsty crimson light, Sunny tried to pierce through the fog that enveloped his mind. However, his attempts were aimless and weak. It was hard to find purchase in the fog.

He needed an anchor.

Suddenly, a simple thought caught his attention. It was something that he had repeated a thousand times, burning it into his mind.

'Repetition, experience, clarity.'

Clarity…

He remembered what Nephis had taught him. The essence of combat was murder. Any action performed during a battle served only one of two purposes: it was either to kill your enemy or prevent the enemy from killing you.

If he could learn that, he would have enough clarity to master the mind.

Back then, he didn't really understand the profound meaning behind the simple word "clarity" that Nephis had used. But now, with his mind in shambles, he was finally able to grasp it.

The two truths behind the essence and purpose of combat were simple and solid, almost tangible. Even in his half-conscious state, he was able to use them as a stable foundation in the fog. Then, he reformed his mind around this foundation, building it along the stark lines of that truth.

Suddenly, he was able to think again.

What's more, his thoughts were clear and incredibly fast, free of all unnecessary distractions.

This was clarity.

***

advancing monster, calmly

still followed his commands, but it was busy doing

he wouldn't be able

anything about it, so there was no sense in wasting time considering it

his body immobilized, Memories

only the

be his only tool

from them in a torrent of transparent mucus. In a flash of lightning, he was able to see and instantly register

Star's sword was still

'What an ugly bastard.'

being hypocritical. Truth be told, with its black carapace painted with crimson patterns and a mighty body specially designed for mayhem and slaughter, the

a terrifying, murderous kind

he had to look helplessly as the monster closed the distance between them and loomed over

into the air, ready to strike

the monster's burning eyes, Sunny

to hell, you overgrown

shot toward his

monster

in a chaotic mess of limbs as they rolled on the ground. Despite the fact that it was smaller and weaker, its crazy assault and complete disregard for its own life were enough to give the

wind was drowned out by the clamor of chitin striking against chitin. The slayer's carapace mostly held, but a

superior to the scavenger in every way. Even with one of its scythes pinned awkwardly under its body, the monster was more than able to repel the sudden attack. With an angry screech, it sliced with the other scythe, cutting one of the scavenger's pincer arms clean off. Then, it strained its legs and

rear leg that was already wounded by Sunny broke

it untangled its limbs and slowly stood up. Another deafening screech resounded

thought, momentarily

something

moved to finish off the Echo, it had to slightly raise and lean its torso back to account for the loss of a rear leg and keep its balance.

attracted to the handle of the sword that was still sticking from its body, aimed at

of millions of volts of electricity

flash of light, it was thrown to the ground. Whisps

arcs of residual electricity danced on the monster's chitin, slowly accumulating on the crimson patterns on it. Under that influence,

at all this

'It's… glowing?'

strike of lightning was not enough

it was still alive and full of

it was

Nephis was suddenly right in front

burned her hands. Then, she twisted the blade, making the slayer's body twitch,

monster tried to slash at her with a scythe, but Changing Star was quicker. Dashing to the side, she simultaneously lashed out with her sword. The glowing, white-hot blade caught the creature's arm right below the joint and cleaved

its legs. Nephis was thrown back and rolled on the rocks, losing her grip on the sword.