Shadow Slave

When something in Sunny's chest shattered, the hidden enchantment of the Midnight Shard, [Unbroken], came into effect and opened the floodgates of power to support him in the desperate, defiant last stand.

…Of course, the Blood Weave was enhanced by it, too, boosting its restorative powers. The virtuous cycle was complete, simultaneously making him much stronger and bringing him away from death's doorstep.

Changing Star's sword whistled through the air, aiming to pierce his flesh… and was thrown aside by the forceful push of the austere tachi. For the first time since the beginning of their brutal fight, Sunny didn't reel because of the violent shock reverberating through his bones.

Now, he had reached the absolute pinnacle of his power potential. With his core fully saturated, the shadow wrapped around his body, the Blood Blossom filling his Memories with frenzied might, and the Unbroken enchantment of the stalwart blade doing the same for his body, Sunny was as strong as he would ever be before becoming an Awakened.

Now, he was finally able to match Nephis…

Almost.

Astoundingly, incredibly, irrationally, she was still stronger.

'How?! How, damn it?!'

Sunny moved and fought, blood seeping from his terrible wounds. Although the gap in power between him and Changing Star had diminished significantly, it was still there, making him miss his attacks by a fraction of a second, be too late to block and deflect by a hair's breadth.

He was still losing.

As the two of them clashed furiously, sparks of burning metal flying into the air from the point where their swords met, the light of the artificial sun had grown dim and unstable, and the Crimson Spire continued to break apart.

At some point, an enormous piece of granite crashed into the vast balcony, showering them with a rain of sharp splinters. A net of cracks appeared on the stone surface beneath their feet, slowly widening as more debris fell down.

Both of them were thrown to the ground by the shockwave of the collision, but immediately got up, lunging at each other with dark, murderous determination. Sunny dodged the tip of the silver longsword and thrust his tachi forward, leaving a deep cut on Neph's forearm, slicing her muscles apart. At the same time, she made a step forward and slammed the pommel of her sword into his mauled clavicle, making Sunny's mind explode with pain.

He heard someone scream, their voice hoarse and full of indescribable suffering, then realized a moment later that that bestial voice was his own.

Soon, the scream turned into a growl.

He wasn't done yet. He refused to be defeated, he refused to give up…

He still had a chance to win.

…Because through all of this, Sunny had continued to push himself toward mastering the first step of the Shadow Dance.

Just before something shattered in his chest, thus causing the Midnight Shard to open the well of hidden power, he had sensed an approaching epiphany.

It was already there, at the precipice of his mind. But his body was not strong enough, not malleable enough to manifest it into reality.

Or at least it had not been before receiving the boon of the [Unbroken].

Now, everything changed. Sunny felt that he would be able to make a breakthrough with the help of the powerful enchantment. Every strike, every block, every step brought him closer to finally being able to complete the foundation of his elusive battle art, to bring his vision of it to fruition.

Taking a pained breath, he deflected another vicious attack, hesitated for a split second… and looked away from Nephis.

Instead of watching her body and her movements, he instead gazed at her shadow.

The shadow shifted slightly, facing away from the glowing ring of the Gateway. Its shadow hands moved, raising a shadow sword. The shadow sword fell, aiming to cut the shadow's enemy down.

as though a door opened in his

place. Everything connected. What was fragmented and

Complete.

it with a

later, he delivered an

'...Like that?'

precision that seemed inhuman. Sunny mirrored her movements,

style changed slightly, growing more graceful. Smooth, flowing.

Just like hers.

'No, this is wrong.'

Dance was not to mirror every movement, to become a literal copy. It was to understand the very essence of the enemy's style and turn it against

Shard slightly, then attacked, manifesting the essence of Changing Star's technique into

but also those that she had not used yet. After all, he was not a reflection, but a shadow. He wasn't replicating Changing Star's movements; instead, he

very heart of her

mirror her every move, throwing the flow of combat into a violent turmoil. His movements were sharper, faster, filled with more meaningful

slowed down for a few moments,

seemed to

had lost her absolute grasp on the cadence of

advantage he had gained wasn't going to last long. Nephis was too smart and too gifted to allow this lack of understanding to persist. Soon, she was going to see through

couldn't predict what was going to happen

Sunny gritted his teeth and escalated his attacks, sacrificing any semblance of defense in

had to end

she started to move. When possible, he mirrored her strikes to throw the flow of the battle into chaos. His own came with a tiny delay, lagging behind the enemy by

happened at

then, miraculously, his attacks started to come in advance of Changing Star's,

was all

merciless duel, blood fell to the

the silver longsword miss his chest and rip through his bicep instead. As a blinding wave of pain flooded his mind, Sunny caught

it, brought his fist

with the flat of her sword. But because it was now only held

under the blade of the silver

pushed the Midnight Shard forward in a horizontal cut, its blade tearing through Neph's abdomen and exiting in a flood of blood

inertia of her attack, Nephis made a step forward and came to a sudden stop. As the sword slid from her grip and clattered to the cold stones,

then fell heavily to the

of her skin was slowly

to her, Sunny stared into the darkness. After a

'...Over.'

stood up, turned around, and walked toward the broken figure of the young woman, who was still

shadow fell on Nephis, she

yet… I still can…

with the tip of his boot, Sunny looked at her from

can't. It's over,

looked away, at the shining dais of the Gateway. His face was hidden in the

"You're done."

***

He won.

shining Gateway, Sunny tasted