Shadow Slave

The eel tried to catch him, but was a second too late.

"Crap!"

Falling toward the dark waves, Sunny threw the kunai in the direction of the stone giant's hand.

Instead of a weapon, the colossus was holding a tool that resembled a mason's hammer. The kunai curved in the air and wrapped the invisible string around its shaft.

'This is going to hurt!'

Sunny plunged into the darkness. A moment later, the string drew taut, and he found himself swinging through the air at a terrible speed. Flying underneath the colossal stone fist, he almost touched the black water with his feet, but then the inertia pulled him up and away.

After a few seconds of weightlessness, Sunny landed on the hammer's head and let out a shaky breath. Without wasting any time, he dislodged the Prowling Thorn and pulled it into his hand, then wedged the dagger in a narrow crack on the surface of the giant hammer.

Landing on it was one thing. Staying here, though… that was something else entirely.

The colossus was swinging his arms as he walked, so Sunny basically found himself on top of a giant pendulum. Not only was the hammer swaying back and forth, but the angle of the surface he was standing on also constantly changed, making it hard not to fly off or slid into the raging sea.

Almost kneeling, Sunny held onto the kunai and tried to keep himself from falling. Then, his face pale and grim, he looked up and glanced at the eel.

"I'm right here, you slimy worm!"

The abomination lingered for a few moments, considering whether it should continue to climb up or follow the sound made by the prey. Finally, it twisted its long, repulsive body and slid over the shoulder of the giant, crawling down his arm.

Toward Sunny.

'Come on, come on!'

blood will have the same effect on the giant eel as it had on the Corpse Eater. Both were, presumably, Fallen creatures. If one was poisoned to death by

not cut himself with the Prowling

The monster continued

poisonous, really. It just tore that leech from inside because the stupid thing swallowed a whole lot, and the Weave embued my blood with the odd quality of always being

on the swinging hammer, with his only

"Damn it all!"

Shard and slashed at the slender tentacle that approached him. Even enhanced by the shadow, the blade of the tachi failed to

'Not good, not good…'

These ones were used

These were the

got, the more tentacles assaulted Sunny from all sides. Dodging and deflecting them while maintaining his balance on the chaotically swinging hammer

Sunny had practiced the firm battle style of the Stone Saint and incorporated it into his own technique. Its steadiness and indomitability were translated through grounded footwork, which allowed him to plant himself on the stone surface of the hammer and refuse to be

that Nephis was right. The best fighters weren't those

learned from her had served him well on the streets of the Dark City. But if he had continued to follow it narrowly and neglected to add flexibility to his technique by incorporating the

and often defied logic. It threw all kinds of horrors at those unfortunate enough to step foot inside its vast expanse. Take this situation, for example… what kind of a person would imagine

never expected to find himself in such a situation. Only a complete lunatic

adaptability was the most important trait an

he had left to live were numbered. The onslaught of the slender tentacles was already too much for him to handle. And

'Twenty-eight.'

his body and rush toward the approaching eel. Instantly weakened, he gritted

the Midnight Shard with tremendous force, sending it flying from his hand into the darkness of

in pain and roll back, almost sliding off the surface of the hammer. Catching himself at the last moment, he pushed away and rolled,

nowhere to retreat

But it was fine.

'Twenty-nine.'

the circular platform, Effie strained her muscles and hurled the