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.

***

up at the advancing monster, calmly

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

its help, he wouldn't be able to

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

his body immobilized, Memories

left only

carapace scavenger was going to have to be his only tool

them in a torrent of transparent mucus. In a flash of

Changing Star's sword was still protruding

'What an ugly bastard.'

a

was almost majestic… in a terrifying, murderous kind

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

rose into the air, ready to strike

monster's burning eyes,

hell,

shot

rammed into the monster from the

limbs as they rolled on the ground. Despite the fact that it was smaller and weaker,

against the 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

able to repel the sudden attack. With an angry screech, it sliced with the other scythe, cutting one of

already wounded by Sunny

limbs and slowly stood up. Another deafening screech resounded in the howling darkness of the storm,

he thought, momentarily lost

something

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. At that moment, a bolt of lightning landed right in the

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

of electricity coursed through

was thrown to the

on the crimson patterns on it. Under that influence, the crimson pattern

all this

'It's… glowing?'

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

rather bad shape, it was still alive and

monster gathered its limbs and tried to stand up. Slowly but surely, it was coming back to its senses. The bone scythes scraped

Nephis was

as the heat burned her hands. Then, she twisted the blade, making the slayer's body twitch, and pulled it out, breaking apart a

out with her sword. The glowing, white-hot blade caught

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