Shadow Slave

Sunny fell down in a rain of broken stone, the floor beneath his feet suddenly crumbling like shattered glass.

The Crimson Spire shuddered and moaned, like a giant creature convulsing in the throes of death. The light of the artificial sun grew dim and weak, causing another tremor to run through the ancient tower, wide cracks appearing on its granite walls.

Sunny had banished the darkness that devoured the Forgotten Shore every night, and Nephis had killed the vessel of the sun that rose above it every day. Together, they had brought destruction to this cursed land. Today was the end of days for the Forgotten Shore, one that the two of them had ushered in.

And one of them was going to have to endure the fallout of this cataclysmic change.

Surrounded by a rain of falling shards of stone, Changing Star twisted and somehow managed to aim her sword in Sunny's direction. Even more miraculously, he managed to intercept it with his own. Both were thrown away from each other, the transparent wings weaving themselves behind their backs.

For a couple of second, Sunny felt his body plunging down into the darkness. Then, finally, the Dark Wing fully manifested and turned into a blur, supporting his weight.

Dodging a massive slab of granite that threatened to crush him, Sunny used it as a step and propelled himself through the air. The Midnight Shard flashed, aiming at Changing Star's wings, but was blocked by the blade of the silver longsword.

As the debris fell down, two human figures collided against each other and spun in the air. With nothing to serve as a support, the only chance they had to exert any force was to use the body of the enemy as one. Their bodies entangled, almost as if they were lovers.

But in reality, of course, the purpose of this intimate closeness was not love; it was violence.

Grabbing Nephis with one hand and using his legs to trap hers, Sunny twisted his torso and delivered a devastating blow with his forehead, feeling the brittle bones of her nose shatter under his strike.

…But at the same time, her armored fist crashed into his side, aimed cruelly at the half-closed wound left behind by Caster.

Sunny screamed.

fist slammed into his face. Augmented by the weight of the silver sword, that blow caused Sunny to

stream down his face and from

of them flew into opposite directions, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the enormous piece of

of their enchanted cloaks, Sunny and Nephis circled around each other, moving down in a wide spiral. Both were too

Crimson Spire was quaking and convulsing, more and more cracks appearing on its walls, whole layers of stone separating from them and plunging down. It felt as though the ancient structure would not be able to

the dying sun was growing

down below, the runes surrounding the perfect circle of the

hesitated for a

dismissed the Dark Wing and plunged down, abandoning the

chose to

ears, Sunny plummeted through the darkness, approaching the vast balcony with terrible

…Deadly speed.

had to

was close enough to discern separate runes shining in a circle around it, he summoned the

it was already close enough to see the shapes of the dead coral golems in the darkness. A second more, and a bestial

into existence. Immediately, Sunny activated the enchantment and tried to turn his vertical fall into a horizontal

in the air and hit the stone surface of the balcony, turning the violent impact into a roll. Then, without losing even a moment, he jumped to his feet and ran

runes and entered the ring. Almost immediately, a strange feeling overtook

like… like that strange and indescribable feeling you get a few seconds before realizing that the reality surrounding you is just

grew stronger. Simultaneously, Sunny's own body began to

bright, though, a