Shadow Slave

'Well… one mystery is solved, at least.'

Sunny became painfully aware of how the devil of the Reckoning was able to slaughter so many Awakened, and why no Nightmare Creature could survive on its island.

If the bastard was able to turn into a copy of any enemy while remaining as powerful as a Fallen Devil, then very few things could ever hope to escape from it alive.

And those Awakened who had escaped despite everything mistakenly believed that their companions fell to a creature that could mess with people's sight… what else would they think after watching a human being killed by what looked like their exact copy?

Well… why had no one thought that it was an actual copy and not a trick on the eye, damn it?!

If there was one thing that landed Sunny in this dire situation, it was that people in the Sanctuary severely lacked imagination!

…All these thoughts flashed through his mind as he used Shadow Step to disappear and fall awkwardly to the ground a dozen meters behind the devil, completely out of the way of the flying arrow.

'Great… but now what?'

Just a few moments before, Sunny had been contemplating abandoning the fight and simply running away. Unlike some humans he had met in the past, he wasn't burdened by useless things like pride or vanity. If the situation called for a cowardly escape, he was ready and willing to do just that.

But now that the bastard had turned into Saint and was holding a bow, the idea of trying to run was not very enticing. The last thing he wanted was to be hit in the back of his head by an arrow.

'Think, think…'

There was no time to think, though.

The reflection of Saint swiftly spun and lunged toward him. As Sunny teleported further away, the creature suddenly pivoted and crashed into the trunk of a tall, ancient tree.

and saw, with horror, a giant

through his essence, he filled his body with as much strength as possible and raised his hands, trying to catch the falling tree. As a groan

that a second arrow flashed toward his

with another one in the air and

real Saint dismissed the bow,

'Eat that, bastard!'

tremendously powerful push. When he used

bastard going

into the shadows and appeared on the other side of the flying trunk. Then, it met attacking Saint

and she was thrown back, causing another tree to explode

Sunny paled.

'S—shadow Step. Not good…'

apparition turned to him and mockingly tilted

with that thing. It seemed maleficent and utterly mad, but at the same time… incomplete, somehow. Behind the evil will and terrifying killing intent that

had felt the same deep and indescribable emotion one time

darkness of the misty stone labyrinth between to otherworldly rivers, he had sensed the same feeling of loss, anguish, and confusion in the shadows left behind the by companions of the

even is

into a pale young

a cold shiver running down his spine, Sunny realized that he would not win this fight. Nor was he capable of escaping from

time, he was truly

on this beautiful, peaceful island… and the last thing he was going to see before falling into the embrace of death

Unless…

attack with a block, feeling his body shudder from the

it was not. It only appeared as a shadow because Sunny himself had been in the form of a shadow when they first clashed. And once he had turned into a human, the devil, too, became

high thrust with the tachi. Sunny, however, knew his one fighting style too well to be caught by that trap. Knowing that the thrust was just a feint, he threw his own blade