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.

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,

speed between the two of them was not completely lethal. And yet, he was incomparably slower. In

of how one had to fight against Caster. He had learned it from Changing Star herself, during that short and

a similar situation, and yet almost defeated her swift enemy. She had anticipated Caster's moves instead of reacting to them, and due to that, his speed advantage had been made less severe.

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

He had obtained clarity a long time ago, 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 was enhanced by the knowledge of

him a

again, and Sunny jerked the Midnight Shard sideways, blocking the ghostly

'Up…'

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…'

the tachi and biting Sunny in the shoulder. This time, the leather pauldron

then immediately thrust it forward, aiming to cut the enemy's throat. The Midnight Shard awkwardly pushed the gleaming blade away, but not fast enough — another shallow cut appeared on Sunny's neck,

'Damn it!'

strikes rained on him in a span of a 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

Sunny's movements were, he couldn't make up for his lack of speed completely. Months of training, hundreds of 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

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

sword instead, then whipped his empty head forward, as though trying to punch the Legacy

moment, however, a ghostly stiletto appeared

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

a contemptuous glance, Caster

there

gritted his teeth and lashed out with the austere tachi, buying

guess it

suddenly hurled the Moonlight Shard at the Legacy, then followed it with a fearsome thrust of his sword. Caster easily dodged the stiletto, deflected

of a second, he was

forward. The gleaming jian