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.

***

looked up at the advancing monster, calmly

He couldn't move his limbs at all. The shadow still followed his commands, but

help, he wouldn't be able to last

a useless thought. He couldn't do anything about it, so there was no

immobilized,

only the

scavenger was going to have to be his only tool to

viscous saliva flowing down from them in a torrent of transparent mucus. In a flash of lightning, he was able to see and instantly register every spike,

handle of Changing Star's sword was still

'What an ugly bastard.'

with crimson patterns and a mighty body specially

was almost majestic… in a

the monster closed the distance between them and loomed over Sunny's broken, bleeding

rose into the air, ready to

into the monster's burning

to hell,

scythes shot toward

massive and furious rammed into the monster from the side, throwing

with the enemy 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 bigger monster

howling of the wind was drowned out by the clamor of

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

process, the rear leg that was already wounded by Sunny broke off, but the monster

Another deafening screech resounded in the howling darkness of the storm,

what?' he thought, momentarily lost for

something very

Echo, it had to slightly raise and lean its torso back to account for the loss

sword that was still sticking from its body, aimed at the sky at a slight angle. At that moment, Changing

of volts of

to the ground. Whisps

on the monster's chitin, slowly accumulating on the crimson patterns on it. Under that influence, the crimson pattern changed its color, becoming white

all

'It's… glowing?'

hoped that the monster was dead. But no, a single strike of lightning was not enough to kill a creature like that. Just a few

in a rather bad shape, it was still

its limbs and tried to stand up. Slowly but surely, it was coming back to its senses. The bone scythes scraped against the rocks, helping

before it did, Nephis was suddenly right in front of

blade, making the slayer's body twitch,

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 through it, sending the terrifying bone scythe flying through the air in

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