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.

***

at the advancing

his limbs at all. The shadow still followed his commands, but it was

help, he wouldn't be able to last

anything about it, so

immobilized,

left only the

scavenger was going to have to be his only tool to either kill the enemy or prevent the

was quickly approaching Sunny. Its mandibles moved, viscous saliva flowing down from them in a torrent of transparent mucus. In a flash of lightning, he was able to see and instantly

sword was still protruding

'What an ugly bastard.'

a mighty body specially designed for mayhem and slaughter, the scythe slayer looked striking

majestic… in a terrifying, murderous kind of

the monster closed the distance between them and loomed over

the air, ready to strike

into the monster's

hell,

scythes shot

massive and furious rammed into the monster from

anymore, the Echo entwined itself with the enemy in a chaotic mess of limbs as they rolled on the ground. Despite the fact that

creature's carapace in a crazy whirlwind of blows. For a moment, the howling of the wind was drowned out by the clamor of chitin striking against chitin. The slayer's carapace mostly held, but a couple of cracks did appear on its

its scythes pinned awkwardly under its body, the monster was more than able to repel the sudden

wounded by Sunny broke off, but the monster didn't

Another deafening

he thought,

something

account for the loss of a rear leg and keep its balance. At that moment, a bolt of lightning landed right in the middle

of the sword that was still sticking from its

of electricity coursed through the

light, it was thrown to the ground. Whisps of smoke rose from the cracks in

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

stared at all

'It's… glowing?'

a single strike of lightning was not enough to kill a creature like that.

was in a rather bad shape, it was still alive and

up. Slowly but surely, it was coming back to its senses. The bone scythes scraped

was suddenly

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

the side, she simultaneously lashed out with her sword. The glowing, white-hot

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