Shadow Slave

No matter how fast Sunny was, how intricate his control of the shadow essence was — he had spent a whole month doing nothing but practicing it, after all — no matter how strong his body could become as the result, he still couldn't be in several places at the same time.

Yes, he had two cores brimming with power, and his armor and his weapon were augmented by a combination of an Aspect Ability and enchantments. Killing one of the infernal hounds without receiving a hit was not that big of a problem… several, even.

But a dozen? That was too much, even for him.

So Sunny didn't even try.

At this point, Mantle of the Underworld was as close to the pinnacle of the Ascended Rank as a Memory could be, so these Dormant beasts had no chance of piercing it with their fangs. He could allow himself to be bitten a few times.

He just had to be strategic about it.

He had to protect his neck and the back of his head, as well as pay attention to balance and mass. Yes, the abominations couldn't get to his flesh just yet, but an impact was still an impact. If he wasn't careful, the bastards were going to topple him, and once he was on the ground, the game would be over.

Luckily, he had [Feather of Truth] at his disposal and could manipulate the weight of the onyx armor, turning it from incredibly light to as heavy as a mountain. In conjunction with the cautious use of Saint's grounded style, which excelled at solid footwork and indomitability, he could stay upright no matter how many beasts attacked him.

Ignoring the creatures that were lunging at him from the ground, Sunny dashed to the side to avoid being landed on by one of the jumping hounds, and received another on the tip of the odachi, allowing the momentum to impale it on the sword.

Before the heavy carcass could weigh the Shadow Serpent down, Sunny used the long hilt as a lever and slammed the dead creature into the mass of its attacking kin.

By that time, one jaw was already closing on his thigh, and another was centimeters away from his forearm.

The bloodred fangs scraped against the stonelike metal of the onyx armor, not leaving even a scratch on it.

of the odachi with one hand, then hooked its blade under the throat of one of the attacking abominations

of the second beast. Unseen to anyone, the Moonlight Shard appeared in it at the last moment, its ghostly blade easily piercing the creature's

both corpses aside, caught the hilt of the odachi with his second hand, made a small thrust to pierce a lunging hound's head right through one of its eyes, and then

of them were, his great sword flying through them with graceful and fluid logic, sending more and more blood spraying into the air. Somehow, he managed to avoid most of their attacks, and those he did not ended up sliding fruitlessly from his

almost made

course, it

these beasts, even though they were only Dormant, could massacre countless mundane humans, or kill a less skillful Awakened in one fell lunge. It was just that today,

A true Awakened fighter.

a monstrous one,

leaving many of them maimed, but alive. They could only bleed as long as they weren't dead, after all. And he needed them to bleed a lot to bring the Blood

many of them around him… too many, really. But that, too, could be used to his advantage. He used the corpses of the beasts he had slain, the ones he had left alive, and those who were yet to meet his blade as a barrier to slow

managing without too much strain. His main problem right now

to slip by were quickly finished by the six Awakened staying behind, observing the massacre with grim, tense,

the fact that this successful

an appetizer, after all. Simply a

to considerable strength, and throw as many corpses at the stretch of cracked asphalt directly in front of the Gate as possible, to make it harder for the stronger abominations to enter into the real at full

felt the dreaded change

eerie, long whistle that suddenly made

And then…

the darkness of the rift, almost hitting him in the eye. The arrowhead,

'What the…'

dashed forward and skewered several beasts on the blade of the