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.

all of them had been much weaker back then. Neph also had not used her Aspect Ability, while Sunny was using his to augment

not completely lethal. And yet, he was incomparably slower. In

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

had been in 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. This was what Sunny had to

had to possess an intricate understanding of the underlying laws of combat

mind had entered into the state of flow, making his perception stark and

him a chance

Sunny jerked the Midnight Shard

'Up…'

had begun to chain the next move even before the two blades collided. A split second later, the Legacy brought

'Thrust at the neck…'

and biting Sunny in the shoulder. This time, the leather pauldron of his armor

and 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

'Damn it!'

nothing but defense. Dozens of 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

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

Sunny was still alive. Not only was he alive, he wasn't even seriously

and dodged the blade of Caster's sword instead, then whipped his empty

a ghostly stiletto appeared

jian. Sunny barely managed to save his

a contemptuous glance,

there when

lashed out with the austere tachi, buying

it

a fearsome thrust of his sword. Caster easily dodged the stiletto, deflected the tachi, and kicked him in

a fraction of a second, he was wide

did not miss that opportunity, turning into a blur as he lunged forward. The gleaming jian