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.

hunchbacks' throat. As a hint of surprise

the heavy chain wrapped tightly around his

wrist free and jump back. Despite the fact that his bruised hand was shaking, he put it back

titled his head and stared

are

Sunny grinned.

you like

he grimaced and added after a few moments of

see you

Harus grinned.

is nice of you to

that, he suddenly threw his hand

'What is he doing?'

too large to land a

in the next moment, Sunny realized his

and instantly covered the distance between them. Before Sunny

pulled it back with

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

ringing. There was little hope of retrieving it… and Sunny doubted that Harus was going to give him enough time to dismiss and summon the

the fearsome hunchback was already lunging at him, the iron hammers of his fists ready

'Go die, bastard!'

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

not as tall as most men,

of nine hundred shadow fragments, each earned in a deadly fight against unimaginable horrors,

stones with

yet, he wasn't nearly as strong as Harus. While shaken by the blow to the face, the

Using their fists, legs, and even teeth, they did anything in their power to destroy the enemy. Harus fought with the measured skill of an experienced killer, while Sunny fought with the desperate, feral cunning that his cruel

his 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 and moved, dodging the hunchback's large hands and delivering strike

on his angular face. Sunny, however, was in much worse shape. The hunchback's fists, and especially that damned chain of his,

would have blinded a person. But both of his

'...How ironic.'

a matter of time before

fraction of a 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

opened wide,

die, little

through its stone surface. Hurt and disoriented, Sunny felt something

right in the eyes, Harus squeezed Sunny's neck