Shadow Slave

The breastplate of Neph's armor cracked from the force of Gunlaug's blow and there was blood streaming from beneath her helmet, but that didn't slow Changing Star one bit.

Jumping forward to meet the Bright Lord's assault, she dodged the blade of the battle axe, twisted, and tried to deliver a strike of her own. A furious clangor of metal exploded in the silence of the great hall, both fighters moving with incredible speed, precision, and skill.

In a span of several seconds, they exchanged numerous blows, but each was either deflected, dodged, or blocked. This terrifying clash was not at all like Sunny had imagined. There was nothing elegant, graceful, or elevated about it — all there was was barbarous violence and cruel brutality, each of the fighters doing everything in their power to break, cripple and kill their opponent.

Their voices sounded like that of wild beasts, partially from the incredible strain of the duel, but also to let out the suffocating bloodlust and murderous intent that were drowning their minds.

That was not to say that any one of them had lost control of their thoughts and actions. Both were cold-blooded killers and knew how to remain calm in the throes of the most terrible rage.

A few seconds later, Gunlaug and Nephis disengaged and staggered away from each other, letting the spectators draw in shaky breaths.

The Bright Lord's golden armor was pristine and unscathed. Nephis, however, had several bloody cuts on her body, the black material encompassing it torn and ripped. Another crack appeared on one of her pauldrons. She glanced at it briefly and then indifferently turned back to watch her enemy.

Everyone in the throne room, in one way or another, was thinking about the same thing, a cold and sickening feeling slowly spreading through their chests. How would they fare in such a fight themselves? The answer was simple — they would have been long dead, eviscerated in mere seconds by one of these awesome fighters.

Everyone felt death breathing down their necks.

Among all the people watching their fight, however, there were two who observed Changing Star's every move with a special kind of attention. They were Sunny and Caster.

studying how Nephis fought were entirely different, but

a second of rest, and the two fighters lunged at each

clash was just a test to gauge what the enemy was capable of. Now, they were not holding anything

least that was

one hand from the hilt, she grasped the incandescent blade with her armored gauntlet at the middle to better control its tip and raised it to shoulder level.

armor. Then, two straight blades grew

this time with even more fury. The people pressing themselves

more agile and unpredictable. Gunlaug's daggers were a true menace to resist, however. They flew at her

she wasn't

Star seemed willing to receive many shallow wounds to get a chance to land a strike on her opponent. More bloody lacerations appeared on her body,

her goal, in

daggers between the blade of her sword and her body, she forcefully twisted the sword sideways and caused him to turn his torso. Then, Nephis sidestepped and suddenly appeared behind the

sword finished its arc high above her head, and, changing back to the

through the

then, it slid fruitlessly off its bright surface, not leaving even a scratch

'Damn it all!'

the sword to the side with one arm and delivered a terrifying blow with the other, his dagger aimed at Neph's face. She managed to turn her head at the last moment, avoiding instant death, but was

strong that Changing Star was thrown backward several meters. The helmet had shattered completely, revealing a pale, bloodied face, with bits of metal piercing the skin. She rolled several times and came to

of the Dawn Shard shone gently right

moment later, she dismissed what little remained of the helmet and stared at Gunlaug with resentment, blood