Shadow Slave

Enhanced by the Blood Blossom, the austere tachi suddenly felt lighter in his hands, full of cold, frightening determination. It was almost as though it had a mind of its own now, a mind focused on one goal: to find the enemy and get a taste of their blood.

'Finally…'

A moment later, Nephis attacked again, her beautiful face cold and indifferent like an alabaster mask. Only the flames in her eyes moved, burning furiously, white as the empty void of the godless heavens above their heads.

Sunny gritted his teeth and moved to meet her. Their blades clashed once again. Just like before, he was shaken by the force of the impact… only now, he had managed to intercept her strike a fraction of a second faster.

It was as though the Midnight Shard was ever so slightly pulling his hand, making it move with a bit more speed, aim a little better, withstand the pressure of the strikes with a subtly less strain.

In the next few seconds, that change had become more apparent.

Before, he had no chance to launch an offense. Changing Star was reveling in her flowing and unpredictable battle style, her every movement oppressive and unpredictable. This unpredictability alone made him wary of committing to an attack.

Of course, Sunny was using the same style. But even though he had mastered it to an admirable degree, his technique was by no means equal to that of Changing Star.

What was worse, she knew it far better than him, so his moves could potentially be predicted with terrifying ease.

The only reason why Sunny was still on his feet was because of the elements of the Saint's grounded style that he had incorporated into his own. Measured and precise, but also capable of explosive counterattacks, it allowed him to both defend against Neph's ruthless assault and restrain her to a certain degree, using the threat of a sudden reversal to keep her from going all out.

More importantly, she was less familiar with that style, which allowed him to diminish the predictability of his movements.

And now, with the help of the Blood Blossom, Sunny was able to resist Nephis more efficiently, even if it was just by a tiny amount.

But the measure of that difference didn't really matter. Because the longer their fight went on and the more she bled, the stronger he would become.

…It wasn't long before he finally managed to land a hit, the tip of his sword scratching against one of her gauntlets.

is just a

his thought was instantly

'What…'

of them, or perhaps she was

some other reason, one that

attack pattern and instead descended on him in a rain of deadly steel, her defense crumbling and leaving her

surprise, Sunny barely had time to shift his

by a violent blow, pressing against his shoulder. The silver longsword slid

the two of them struggled desperately, trying to overpower the enemy. Their bodies were so close that Sunny could feel Neph's breath

'Damn it!'

just stronger…

let go of the hilt of the Midnight Shard with one

had anticipated that. She twisted her torso, allowing the Moonlight Shard to leave a deep but harmless scratch on her breastplate. In doing so, she had to relieve pressure on the

back, Neph finished her attack by delivering a devastating blow

Sunny staggered back. He felt blood streaming into his eyes and lost his vision for a moment. Even Shadow Sense was useless, because he simply couldn't differentiate up

was full of

'Think, think!'

had maybe a fraction of a second left before suffering a

she

finish the fight would be to bring it down, possibly with its flat on his head, or with its edge on his shoulder,

it was Nephis he was thinking about. What would

His body moved on its own, following the memory of countless hours of

judgment was correct. The tachi collided against Changing Star's sword and was thrown aside. But thanks to that, the strike missed

it fell on his clavicle and bit deep into his flesh,

world exploded

letting it overpower him, he leaned forward and caught Neph's hand in a trap, entangling