Shadow Slave

Something was very, very wrong with this duel. He had noticed it almost instantly, but couldn't do anything to prevent the whole fight from going sideways. In fact, although it seemed as though he was holding his own and even advancing on the regal Queen, Sunny was actually scrambling to save his life every second.

This woman was just too weird!

There was something wrong with her shadow… not the harrowing, unnatural kind of wrong that he had felt before in the Dream Realm, but a very mundane kind of wrong which, nevertheless, threw him for a lop.

It was as though there was a slight disconnect between how the shadow moved and how the woman casting it moved. More than that, although Sunny watched Queen Bee's movements and footwork carefully to predict her next attacks and react to them, each time, he was ending up being slightly mistaken.

Even if he misplaced his sword by a centimeter, it was already enough to mess up the whole cadence of the fight and allow his enemy to bypass his defenses.

'How is she doing this?!'

He had to find the answer very soon, because every second that passed could potentially lead to his loss.

Sunny tried to deflect an incoming thrust, but missed by a few millimeters once again. As the result, the swift estoc slid past the blade of the Soul Serpent and stung him in the chest, sending a tremor running through his entire body. The Mantle of the Underworld protected him, but Sunny wasn't deceived.

Queen Bee was just measuring him, learning his patterns just like he was learning hers. When she achieved a sufficient level of understanding, the next attack would pierce his neck instead of ricocheting off his armor.

'Like hell…'

Gritting his teeth, he suddenly changed his style, summoning the domineering technique of Dar of the Maharana clan and applying it to the odachi. He was already losing to the slender estoc in speed, so turning the Soul Serpent into a heavy great mace was not the best choice. So, Sunny just made adjustments to the battle style on the fly.

But just as he shifted to another style… Queen Bee did the same, suddenly transforming her technique into a completely new one!

'Damn!'

They continued to fight, moving swiftly across the arena as their swords clashed against each other. Sunny was still at a disadvantage, which was only growing larger and larger as the seconds passed. Both fighters were proficient in various styles and could switch from one to another almost instantly, which made the duel especially thrilling.

was

too, but for

'Think, think…'

Shadow Dance. But to do that, he first had to understand what exactly Queen Bee was

was her shadow behaving so strangely? Why was he always mistaken when judging the precise placement of her

Sunny almost slid on the damn rose petals that littered the arena and only barely managed to keep his balance, dodging the tip

Damned things! Whose bright idea was it to fill

a miracle that neither of the

wait... a

he shifted from balanced technique

finish, she had not been bothered

he paid attention

His eyes widened.

'...Am I seeing things?'

No, he wasn't.

only did his graceful opponent avoid losing her footing on the slippery petals, but… none of them were also

was almost as if she was always hovering a few millimeters

almost… that was exactly what was

how Queen Bee's shadow hit the ground was

very minuscule amount, but in a battle as precise and calculated as theirs,

'Hell…'

Was he right?

one way

to fight for a few seconds, thinking carefully. He didn't correct his mistake, knowing that giving away his new understanding of Queen Bee's Aspect Ability… if it was an Ability…

he had to construct a trap and end the fight with