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.

much weaker back then. Neph also had not used her Aspect

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

against Caster. He

moves instead of reacting to them, and due to that, his speed advantage had been made less severe. This was what Sunny

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

mind had entered into the state of flow, making his perception stark and all-encompassing, his thoughts quicker. His intuition

gave him a chance to

Caster attacked again, and Sunny jerked the Midnight Shard sideways, blocking the ghostly green jian at the

'Up…'

blades collided. A split second later, the Legacy brought down his sword in a downward slash, aiming at Sunny's head. However, it was

'Thrust at the neck…'

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

jian back 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

'Damn it!'

counterattack, but was forced to concentrate on 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

countless hours spent gaining insight into the inner workings of swordsmanship... Caster had done all of that, too, and

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

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

moment, however, a

Sunny barely managed to save his arm from being severed

a contemptuous

was there

lashed out with the austere tachi,

guess it

of his sword. Caster

a second, he

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