Shadow Slave

At the last moment, the coral golem moved, disappearing from Sunny's view. A fraction of a second later, it materialized a few steps away, just outside of the Midnight Shard's reach.

'...Bastard!'

It was too late to change the direction of his attack. Pulled forward and down by the inertia, Sunny was forced to finish his downward slash and stumbled, falling to one knee. He found himself in a dangerous position, wide open for an attack and with little ability to maneuver.

The perverse simulacrum of the Lord towered above him, his powerful frame radiating a sense of harrowing strength. On the forehead of the artificial creature, a polished piece of coral shined with intense crimson light.

That light seemed to sap the life from everything it fell upon.

Feeling a sudden weakness permeate his body, Sunny gritted his teeth and dashed to the side. A split second later, the fist of the Lord pierced the air with a cracking sound and shattered the ground, sending a rain of debris flying in every direction.

Twisting his body, Sunny spun and delivered a backhanded blow before his feet even touched the ground. The blade of the tachi scraped against the vambrace of the golem's armor, leaving a dip gash in it.

However, it didn't do a lot of damage.

Landing and sliding back on the coral, Sunny thrust his hand forward and send the Moonlight Shard flying at the golem's face. The creature easily swatted it away with its hand.

By the time it did, however, Sunny was already near, delivering a high thrust with the Midnight Shard. As soon as the Lord moved to deflect the austere blade, he changed the direction of his attack and turned it into a vicious horizontal cut.

Using every last bit of his finesse and prowess, Sunny brought down a rain of strikes on the golem. He was moving with astonishing speed and agility, his attacks and steps seamlessly flowing from one into another. It was as though the whole onslaught was just one fluid, continuous motion.

But no matter how swift and skilled he was, it all turned out to be useless.

The Lord was much faster, stronger, and more powerful. Even though he was temporarily forced to concentrate on nothing but defense, every second that passed spelled doom for Sunny.

Because somewhere behind him, Saint was being slowly destroyed by the six other golems. And as soon as she fell, he was going to die.

"Curse you!"

Pausing for a mere moment, Sunny gave the coral abomination a chance to attack. Its fist shot toward his chest with terrifying speed.

Turning his torso, Sunny avoided the blow and caught the hand of the golem between his body and his arm. This position didn't give him any advantage, because the creature was much stronger than him.

to let go of the hilt of

it gave

his second fist, ready to crush

***

above the battlefield, Kai was just moments away from death. He had wounded

now upon

terror, he stared at the swiftly approaching beak of the harrowing creature.

had one more second! A fraction of

of his flight. Despite it all, he

But it was hopeless.

Until…

the black beak of the Messenger, throwing it slightly off course. That gave Kai the fraction of

it, crashed into the

black locust in half. With its pommel facing Kai and its tip aimed at anyone who would dare to attack him, the Quiet Dancer glided through the air, forming a

nature, the flying rapier somehow managed to convey the feeling of mean,

at the elegant Echo, Kai

'Thank you, Cassie…'

***

every horrifying creature in it lusting to taste the flesh of the

though there was

Hope was something that Effie had

She didn't need it.

and the thrill

misguided pride

not like this, not

monsters. It was a furious growl, full of rage, defiance, and a desperate will to survive.

exploded, bodies of Nightmare Creatures flying

point where it felt like they were about to explode, and then past that, Effie pushed the incredible weight away

her bleeding hands. With a ruthless motion, she tore them apart and

Shard somewhere, but it didn't matter anymore. With a bestial

was not going to surrender. She was not going to back