Shadow Slave

By a twist of fate, today, Harus was facing possibly the worst opponent he could have faced on the Forgotten Shore… among the Sleepers, at least.

However, Sunny wasn't surprised.

He had always felt that he and the murderous hunchback were destined to end up fighting each other to the bitter end. Before, he had thought that this was just intuition, but now he knew that his occasional and subtle premonitions were anything but random.

All that time ago, he had already sensed that the two of them were connected by a string of fate.

Was it such a surprise, then, that his Aspect happened to counter that of Harus to large extent?

And it did counter it, although not completely.

If anyone else was in Sunny's place, they would have been already dead. Robbed of their sight, very few people — if anyone at all — could have resisted the furious assault of the terrifyingly strong hunchback. But Sunny wasn't just anyone.

Even while blind, he had Shadow Sense on his side. While it wasn't the same as being able to see Harus, by sensing the movements of his shadow, Sunny was able to predict his attacks with at least some level of precision.

It wasn't perfect, though. At least he had not reached the level where this form of perception could fully replace vision.

So, now, Sunny had a choice to make.

While his shadow was wrapped around his body, it gave him an incredible boost in strength, speed, and endurance. It wasn't able to provide him with a second pair of eyes, however.

So he could either continue to rely solely on Shadow Sense and keep this boost, or let the shadow go and fight Harus with just his own strength while being able to see.

'Decisions, decisions…'

Sensing the hunched shadow of the murderous butcher lunge forward, Sunny dodged left and heard something whistle past his temple with terrible speed. A fraction of a second later, and his skull would have been crushed by the links of the iron chain wrapped around his enemy's fist.

He missed the hunchback's other hand, though.

His wrist was suddenly caught in an iron grip and twisted, forcing Sunny to yelp and let go of the Midnight Shard. Another second, and his bones were going to shatter…

Following the direction of the twist, Sunny performed an aerial cartwheel to save his arm and reluctantly ordered the shadow to slip off his body.

As he landed on the stones, Sunny was finally able to see again.

Harus was holding him by the wrist with one hand, his other raising to deliver a crushing blow. Sunny doubted that there would be anything left of his face if he were to allow that blow to land.

…He still held the Midnight Shard in his free hand.

throat. As a hint of surprise appeared in his enemy's eyes, Harus changed the

razor-sharp blade bit into the links of the heavy chain wrapped tightly around his forearm and

back. Despite the fact that his bruised hand was

head and stared at Sunny with

are you doing

Sunny grinned.

you like

he grimaced and added after a few moments

can still see you thanks to my

Harus grinned.

Good… it is nice

suddenly threw

'What is he doing?'

was too

moment, Sunny realized his mistake. It

flew off the hunchback arm and instantly covered the distance between them. Before Sunny could react, it

it back

floor right in front of the cruel executioner or let go of his sword. He chose

far away and fell on the marble floor with a melodious ringing. There was little hope of retrieving it…

the fearsome hunchback was already lunging at him, the iron hammers of his fists ready to break every bone

'Go die, bastard!'

and dashed forward. Dodging a deadly, strike, he twisted his body and delivered a ferocious blow of his

been lean and not as tall as most men, but he wasn't

each earned in a deadly fight against unimaginable horrors, coursed through his veins.

shatter stones

yet, he wasn't nearly as strong as Harus. While shaken by the blow to the face, the hunchback didn't look seriously hurt. But

power to destroy the enemy. Harus fought with the measured skill of an experienced killer, while Sunny fought

tremendous might and much larger weight and reach, all he had to do to win it was to wrestle Sunny to the ground. Knowing that, Sunny had done everything in his power to avoid being grappled. He twisted

Harus was bleeding from a half-dozen cuts on his angular face. Sunny, however, was in much worse shape. The hunchback's fists, and especially that damned chain of his, had left terrible marks on his body. The skin

that would have blinded a person. But both of his eyes were

'...How ironic.'

time before Sunny made a mistake.

second late, but it was all Harus needed to land one of his wide palms on his shoulder. Then, he gripped it with enough strength to make Sunny's

opened wide, the

to die, little

of cracks streak through its stone surface. Hurt and disoriented, Sunny felt something cold

right in the eyes, Harus squeezed Sunny's neck and