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,

still followed his commands, but it was busy

with its help, he wouldn't be able

it, so there was no sense in

immobilized, Memories couldn't be

only

was going to have to be his only tool

In a flash of lightning, he was able to

Changing Star's sword was still protruding from its body,

'What an ugly bastard.'

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

a

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

rose into the

right into the monster's

hell, you overgrown

scythes shot toward

monster from the side, throwing

anymore, the Echo entwined itself 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 some

Echo lashed out with its pincers, ramming them 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 striking against chitin. The slayer's carapace mostly held, but

than able to repel the sudden attack. With an angry screech,

by Sunny broke off, but

slowly stood up. Another deafening screech resounded

what?' he thought, momentarily lost

something very unexpected

the slayer 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

the handle of the sword that was still sticking from its body,

of volts of electricity coursed through the slayer's

the ground. Whisps of smoke rose from the

strange 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 crimson pattern changed its

all

'It's… glowing?'

was not enough to kill a creature like that. Just a few moments after

it was still alive and full of

it was coming back to its

did, Nephis was suddenly right in

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

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 a rain of

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