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.

though a door opened

What was fragmented and obscured before now became

Complete.

reach him, Sunny evaded it with a slight shift and

an identical strike, forcing

'...Like that?'

Sunny mirrored her movements, and their blades collided in the air, causing a

slightly, growing more graceful. Smooth,

Just like hers.

'No, this is wrong.'

point of Shadow Dance was not to mirror every movement, to become a literal copy. It was to understand the very essence of the

changed his grip on the Midnight Shard slightly, then attacked, manifesting the essence of Changing Star's technique into his own body. Suddenly, he was able to see her intentions with more clarity, understand the

every action she had performed, but also those that she had not used yet. After all, he was not a reflection, but a shadow. He wasn't replicating Changing

very heart of her

able to mirror her every move, throwing the flow of combat into a

moments, then grew even more violent

to be less

was as though she had lost her absolute grasp on the cadence of the battle, and was now

this lack of understanding to persist.

he couldn't predict what was going to

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

to end

to her attacks slightly before she started to move. When possible, he mirrored her strikes to throw

they happened at the

his attacks started to come in advance of Changing

was all

fell to the cracking stone of the

sideways to let the silver longsword miss his chest and rip through his bicep instead. As a blinding wave of pain flooded his

his fist on her elbow,

and made an awkward move, trying to smash him in the head with the flat of her sword. But because it was now only held in one hand, the force and speed of that strike were

the silver longsword, Sunny fell

horizontal cut, its blade tearing through

Nephis made a step forward and came to a sudden stop. As the sword slid from

then fell heavily to the

of her skin was slowly fading

to her, Sunny stared into the darkness. After a few moments, he

'...Over.'

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

on Nephis,

not over yet…

longword away with the tip of his boot, Sunny looked at her from above and said in

can't. It's over,

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

"You're done."

***

He won.

at the shining Gateway, Sunny tasted that