Shadow Slave

As soon as the Carapace Demon froze, distracted by the feigned threat to the great tree, Nephis lunged forward. There was no hesitation, no doubt, not even the slightest pause between the moment her enemy had lowered his defenses and her reckless attack.

Just like Sunny had been utterly focused on observing the monster's movements before, she had been watching and waiting for this exact moment since the beginning of the battle. Changing Star knew that, when the opportunity presents itself, it will only last for a second.

Even that single second almost cost Sunny his life. Nephis wasn't going to waste it.

Her graceful figure flew through the air like an arrow released from a powerful bow, almost leaving afterimages behind. The silver blade of her longsword glimmered, reflecting the light of dawn. The black and white armor seemed to turn into a blur.

She was going all in, rushing at the enemy without leaving herself even the slightest chance to retreat.

'Wh…'

Things were happening too fast for Sunny to form a coherent thought. He could only watch, time slowing down to a crawl, a storm of emotions raging in his mind.

The demon reacted almost immediately, recognizing the threat. But "almost" didn't count on a battlefield. A moment of distraction was all it took to lose everything. That one mistake, no matter how small, had been enough to seal his fate.

…If Nephis was really capable of breaking through the creature's indestructible carapace, that is. Otherwise, it was all for nothing, and they would be the ones dying, instead.

The fearsome giant moved his scythe, trying to slice her apart. The pincer flashed from the other side, threatening to crush her body into pulp. But he was a fraction of a second too late.

Changing Star was just a tiny bit faster.

As she ran, something changed about the cadence of her steps. Sunny couldn't see her face behind the visor of her helmet, but if he could, he would see a grimace of agony contorting Neph's pale face.

In the next moment, a soft white radiance ignited beneath the skin of her hands. However, this time, it didn't stay there. Instead, the white flame flowed outward, into the hilt of the silver sword, and then into its blade.

The sword suddenly turned into a sharp radiant edge, burning with incandescent white light. It shined so brightly that Sunny felt the desire to close his eyes.

capable of reducing anything it touched to ash

was even sharp enough to

then, he had suspected that this phrase of hers implied that there was more to it. He even marveled at how

as though he was right. Changing Star's miraculous flame was capable of both healing and destroying. It possessed an enhancing effect similar to his own Shadow Control, at least

An incredible Ability indeed.

herself in vain. All the times she pretended to meditate while enduring the excruciating agony of her Flaw in secret were meant to make this moment possible. To give her enough fortitude

succeeded. The question was…

After all, no matter how incredible the Ability, it was still powered by a weak Dormant soul

were about to find

Her sword flashed forward in a vicious thrust, so fast that, for a

the giant's lustrous armor… right at

'Of course!'

vision. In that vision, she saw the Carapace Demon being attacked by a terrible creature of the deep dark sea. In the aftermath of the battle, the demon was severely wounded

wound was on his chest, where the armor was torn apart

Except for this one.

of the demon seemed to have recovered, in truth, it was never fully restored. In this one spot, the armor was secretly weakened. And

sword was really capable of breaking through the impregnable armor of the Awakened creature,

metal of the demon's carapace and

as though the giant was suddenly illuminated from within, with beams of light shining through

Star's sword had reached the Carapace Demon's heart and sliced it apart, incinerating everything around it and making the azure

legs buckled, and he gracelessly

'Wh—wha… We did it?'

to pull Nephis into a final embrace. But then, as his body twitched, they fell to

sand and jumped back,

was