Shadow Slave

'Fast… too fast…'

Caster was moving with astonishing speed, his figure turning into a blur. His Flaw was a cruel one, but the power of the Aspect Ability he possessed was also incredible.

In fact, Sunny had never met anyone with an Ability as powerful as this, with the exception of himself and Nephis. Even the greatest warriors on the Forgotten Shore would have had no chance against it. Gemma, Effie, Seishan… all of them would have been easily killed by the deadly scion of the Han Li clan.

Perhaps only Harus could have fought him to a draw.

But even then, Sunny wasn't sure. Not only did Caster possess a terrifying Ability, but he was also one of the most skilled swordsmen of their generation. He also had a whole arsenal of Memories hidden away inside his soul. Surely, he had a way to fight while blinded.

…That's why Sunny did not waste any time trying to destroy the Memory lantern illuminating their surroundings. Instead, he just trusted his sword, and met Caster's attack with his own.

Two swords collided in the air, and in the next moment, Caster flew past Sunny and slowed down, eventually coming to a stop. A drop of blood fell off the tip of his jian.

Sunny staggered.

'Curse you…'

The sleeve of the Puppeteer's Shroud was torn, and there was a shallow cut on his shoulder. He had managed to deflect the strike aimed at his heart, but wasn't fast enough to avoid being wounded after all.

On Caster's face, there was a dark expression. Looking at Sunny, who was still alive, he grimaced and spat:

"Not bad. This is going to be entertaining, at least."

Hidden behind the mask, Sunny grinned.

"Oh, yeah. I'm having a lot of fun myself, thanks."

Of course, that was a lie.

in the Academy, Caster had been the only person to defeat Nephis. Granted, all of them had been much weaker back then. Neph also had not used her Aspect Ability, while Sunny was using his to

in speed between the two of them was not completely lethal. And yet, he was incomparably slower. In terms of pure physical ability, Sunny had no hope of surviving

the secret of how one had to fight against Caster. He had learned it from Changing Star herself, during

had anticipated Caster's moves instead of reacting to them,

a feat, one had to possess an intricate understanding of the underlying laws of combat and a true mastery of both

and spent every waking hour sharpening his skill and instincts. His mind had entered into the state of flow, making his perception stark and all-encompassing, his thoughts quicker. His intuition

a chance to

and Sunny jerked the Midnight Shard sideways, blocking the ghostly green jian at the last possible

'Up…'

to chain the next move even before the two blades collided. A split second later, the Legacy brought down his sword in a downward

'Thrust at the neck…'

of the tachi and biting Sunny in the shoulder. This time, the

Midnight Shard awkwardly pushed the gleaming blade away, but not fast enough — another shallow cut appeared on Sunny's

'Damn it!'

couple of seconds, filling the echoing expanse of the Crimson Spire with the clangor of steel. More and more cuts appeared on his body — none of them were too deep or dangerous, but

battles, countless hours spent gaining insight into the inner workings of swordsmanship... Caster had done all of that, too, and then some. And he was so much

was still alive. Not only was he alive, he wasn't

feinted a block and dodged the blade of Caster's sword instead, then whipped his empty head forward,

the last moment, however, a ghostly stiletto

to be thrown aside by a powerful hit of the jian. Sunny barely managed to save his arm

a contemptuous

was there when Changing

the austere

guess it

Moonlight Shard at the Legacy, then followed it with a fearsome thrust of his sword. Caster easily dodged the stiletto, deflected the tachi, and kicked him

a fraction of a

as he lunged forward. The gleaming jian flashed through the air, and at the same time, Sunny suddenly spun