Shadow Slave

A triumphant sound of trumpets resounded above the ancient forest.

"Only three challengers remain!"

"These brave heroes are: Mongrel, one hundred and eleven kills; Fireshing, eighty-seven kills; Kim Saitoh, fifty-nine kills!"

"Dream of Glory awaits, heroes!"

Sunny dragged his tired body out of the forest, feeling the ground under his feet shift and tremble. At this point, the titan was almost fully awake, and no part of the arena was safe…

With the exception of the narrow strip of sand between the dark woods and the lake that he had just reached, of course.

Sunny walked into the shallow water and stopped, using the Soul Serpent to support himself. His breath was ragged and hoarse, and there were several dents on the onyx surface of the Mantle of the Underworld.

Almost at the same time, two more figures emerged from the darkness of the hungry forest.

One was an attractive young woman with broad shoulders and an athletic build, her long auburn hair gathered in a ponytail. She was wearing a modest red tunic, her torso protected by a leather cuirass, and wielded a light spear. Her blue eyes were tired, but clear, full of intensity and focus.

The other was a man in heavy armor, carrying a greatsword with its blade inscribed by a complicated weave of runes. His face was hidden behind the visor of a helmet, with only calm, cold eyes visible in the narrow slit. His steps were confident, but a little unsteady, betraying a dire level of exhaustion.

'This must be Fireshing and Saitoh.'

The mighty archer had not made it. Sunny could only guess what had happened to him, but the most likely scenario was pretty obvious. The powerful Legacy must have run into an ambush similar to those Sunny himself had encountered, only with a much less happy result.

Well, that was life. Dar of the Maharana clan had paid the price for daring to stand out too much without having enough power to answer for such audacity. On one hand, it was not very fair, as far as tournaments went. On the other hand, when was anything ever fair?

Sunny much preferred to stay in the shadows, even if this damned persona of his had somewhat failed to help him in that regard.

Coincidentally, none of those who had conspired to form a group had made it this far, as well. And with a good reason — the type of person who would resort to such methods did not have what it took to win this battle, to begin with.

So Sunny was not going to underestimate his last two opponents. They had already proven how formidable they were.

of the tranquil lake splashed against their shins. The magnificent castle loomed in the distance, its ancient walls bathed in the bright sunlight. The vista was beautiful and peaceful, but

while, the man in a suit of heavy plate armor turned to the fiery young woman and

with that demon together. We can decide who wins

Sunny rolled his eyes.

'Wow. How unexpected.'

gripped the hilt of the Soul Serpent, preparing himself for

young woman shook her head a said simply, a clear expression of disdain appearing on her

"No."

He raised his eyebrows.

what an

man called Saitoh laughed,

offer. Let's take care of the girl first, and then have a proper duel, you and I. Or is

had no choice but to

"It is."

'Argh, curse it!'

Saitoh shook his head.

these days… so naive. Have

the

"...It taught me everything."

his weight

time for words

understood that, and in the next moment, the

***

'What the!'

the air by the devastating shockwave. Landing in a roll, he hurriedly slotted the Memory of Fire into the Mantle and rose just in time to see a massive fireball dissipate into

than it had been a moment

armor was mangled and torn, patches of burned skin visible through the tears. Just as

wasn't aiming at

'...Bad!'