Shadow Slave

With the Carapace Demon using his deadly scythe to support the weight of his body, Sunny was temporarily safe from its sharp blade. Of course, the monster had other means of attack. Each one of his towering legs was like a siege ram, dangerous and capable of devastating destruction.

But at the moment, his position was too precarious to lash out with them. Sunny had at least a second to do whatever he wished to, with no risk involved.

The only thing he had to avoid was going directly under the behemoth, thus putting himself in danger of being crushed to death by the demon's giant body.

Coincidentally, that was exactly what he had to do.

'Crap, crap, crap!'

Glancing up at the massive armored creature, Sunny cursed and dashed forward. A moment later, he dove underneath the Carapace Demon, feeling the thick shadows swallow him whole.

Instantly, Sunny was covered in cold sweat. There was nothing but polished metal and murderous intent above him now. All the monster had to do to turn the tiny human into a puddle of blood was to rest his body on the sand.

Under the crushing weight, Sunny's organs would burst and his bones would turn to dust. There wouldn't be anything solid left of him at all, only a thin layer of bloody goo smeared across the ground.

Not the best situation to find yourself in.

With his nerves on the verge of melting, Sunny brandished his sword and rushed forward. His eyes were glued to the joints of Carapace Demon's legs. He was utterly focused, looking for the slightest movement. Waiting for it.

With no room for error, Sunny pushed every unnecessary thought and emotion into the farthest corner of his mind, not allowing dread, doubt and his tendency to overthink things to slow him down even by a fraction of a second.

Time moved excruciatingly slowly. It felt as though hours had passed, but in reality, it was only a couple of moments. Sunny was only at the second pair of the giant monster's legs.

It was then that he finally noticed the almost imperceptible change in the demon's posture. The tension in his joint changed slightly, indicating that the behemoth was about to move.

This was the sign that Sunny was both hoping for and terrified of. Now, his survival was wholly dependent on whether or not he was fast enough.

As soon as his eyes had registered the change in the creature's posture, Sunny pivoted on one leg and dashed to the side, trying to get away from underneath the armored giant. A small cloud of sand was sent flying by his sudden turn.

But the demon was incredibly fast. He threw his body down, determined to squash the odious invader like a bug. With inertia and the limits of his human body slowing Sunny down, he felt the metal surface of the carapace begin to fall down on his head long before reaching the safe zone.

Death was approaching with abhorrent speed.

he going to make it in

fell to the ground with a thunderous crash, sending large clouds of sand into the air. The impact was so strong that the whole island

a few centimeters. He flew from underneath the demon's body at the last possible moment by performing

jumped back to his feet, slightly disoriented by the shockwave

I actually managed

was

had been deliberate and calculated. He was not in the habit of putting his life at risk without being sure that there would be at least a moderate chance of making

actions were also always purposeful and pursued

was to bring the Carapace Demon

forcing the giant creature down to the ground, in reach of their blades, could they hope to

was now lying on his abdomen, his carapace and humanoid torso,

just had to create an opening for her to deal the fatal blow… although he still had no idea about how she was planning to bypass the impenetrable barrier of the

severely reduced, the distance

experience that hardship

no idea how Nephis was doing on the other side of the creature's

demon that followed his every move was not helping the situation

as high as he could and pulled his legs up to his chest, performing a very awkward

the shadow, the height of his jump was nothing short of impressive, by human standards. The scythe's blade whistled beneath Sunny, so close that he could feel the

that the scythe would come back, but he had a second or two to change

with him, and him

What a lovely task!

was running out, Sunny spun around and

bringing the scythe down at him again, this time in a ruthless horizontal thrust. The sharp tip

As the result, there

mistake was the difference between life and death on the Forgotten

carapace centurion flashed in Sunny's mind. The situation was eerily similar to this one, with the inescapable doom approaching

of

that fateful battle, he had spent every day training, gaining experience and gathering power. He had fought his way through

wasn't that easy to kill

he even managed to angle the sword in a way that would deflect most of the impact

on the hilt, the other gripped the tip of the blade with enough strength to prevent

send him flying back… but it was not enough to break the bones in his hands. Not with