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.

***

the advancing monster,

all. The shadow still followed

its help, he wouldn't be able

couldn't do anything about it, so there

immobilized,

only

to have to be his only tool

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

Star's sword was still protruding from its body,

'What an ugly bastard.'

its black carapace painted with crimson patterns and a mighty body specially designed for mayhem and slaughter, the scythe

almost majestic… in a terrifying, murderous kind of

as the monster closed the

the air,

right into the monster's burning

to hell, you

scythes shot toward

something massive and furious rammed into the monster

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

blows. For a moment, the howling of the wind was drowned out by

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 threw the

rear leg that was already wounded by Sunny broke off, but the monster didn't

and fury, it untangled its limbs and slowly stood up. Another deafening

he thought, momentarily lost

then, something very unexpected

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

the lightning was immediately attracted to the handle of the sword that was still sticking from its body, aimed at the sky at a slight

of volts of electricity coursed through the slayer's

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

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

at all this

'It's… glowing?'

second, he 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 moments after

shape, it was still alive and

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

was suddenly right

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

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

was thrown back and rolled on the rocks, losing her grip