Shadow Slave

Sunny ran to the statue with every bit of speed he could manage. Which was quite a considerable amount, by human standards... no, even by those of other Sleepers.

As the wind whistles in his ears, the shadow flew off the blade of the Midnight Shard and turned around, observing the wounded abomination. Despite the fact that its wings were mangled, the Messenger did not seem perturbed. On the contrary, it opened its terrible beak and let out a blood-curdling shriek, then lunged at the tiny humans with even more bestial fury.

'...I think it's not happy!'

Despite the mortal peril his companions found themselves in, Sunny did not stop to help them. Nephis had said that the creature guarding the cave had to be killed by a person who had touched the ancient statue — until someone did, this battle was nothing but a futile and stupidly dangerous game.

The essence of combat was murder, after all. If no one truly aimed to kill the damn thing, how could they ever hope to survive?

So Sunny was helping them after all, in a way.

Behind him, things weren't going well for the cohort. The Messenger was too big, too strong, too swift for a group of Sleepers, no matter how talented. It was already a miracle that none of them had been torn to pieces already.

But how long would that last?

As the shadow watched, the terrifying beak came down again… and once again, bounced off Effie's stalwart shield.

However, this time, a wide crack appeared on the surface of the round shield.

Before the huntress could even react, several powerful limbs shot at the cracked shield, each striking it with the force of a cannonball. Finally, the Memory gave in and shattered — along with Effie's arm. Sunny saw fragments of bone piercing her olive skin as it twisted at an unnatural angle.

'Damn! Faster!'

Nephis managed to penetrate the barrier created

aimed at his back, Sunny commanded the shadow to turn around and return to his side. His view of the battle immediately disappeared, and soon, the

Sunny's speed doubled.

of a ferocious battle, he neared the unfinished

a human figure suddenly appeared in front of him in a blur and

was torn by the claws of the terrible beast, leaving four deep wounds on his muscular chest. Blood was streaming from them, leaving

wasn't just that. Caster seemed a bit off, somehow… Sunny just couldn't tell what was wrong with him exactly. He did notice, however, a crystal amulet in the form of an hourglass hanging on a silver

charm Memory? I didn't know that Caster had

bloodied hand on the

wearing one back on

Caster glanced at Sunny with a dark expression and turned into a blur once again, rushing back to rejoin

the stone pillar, unceremoniously using it to stop his momentum. Bouncing off the hard surface, he rolled on the ground and

'Agh! Dammit! That hurt!'

counted as touching

Had to.

flesh of the Spire Messenger and shattering a moment later.

at its eyes. The elegant rapier was an Echo, and as such did not enjoy the gift of the Dawn Shard, so it was more of a nuisance than a

exactly what Sunny needed —

the Midnight Shard behind him and

see which one of us is can kill it first, Caster. Wouldn't it be funny if an outskirt rat like me got a third Ascended Memory, while a lofty Legacy

from his prey, Sunny commanded the Stone Saint to