Shadow Slave

Indeed, it was as Sunny had thought.

Mordret had learned his secrets from the mirror shard left behind by his Beast. He didn't really know of his Aspect… he only knew of its reflection.

And that reflection was incomplete.

That was why the cunning prince had assumed that he would be able to enslave Sunny by using his True Name. Of course, Mordret would have been careful, taking the possibility that Lost from Light already had a master into account… but Sunny was half a step ahead. He had doused that caution by being ready to pretend to be enslaved…

And then attacked.

...The Cruel Sight shot forward, narrowly avoiding the mirror fiend's saber and sinking deep into his flesh. It cut through the enchanted black tunic, pierced Welthe's body, and emerged from her back.

Mordret's face contorted, his eyes full of shock and pain.

Sunny, of course, couldn't see it, since he was still relying on shadow sense to navigate the world. All he felt was a tremble that went through his enemy's body.

A moment later, the Prince of Nothing groaned, a stream of blood escaping from his mouth.

Then, he lashed out with the saber, forcing Sunny to stagger back. The Cruel Sight slid out of the terrible wound, wrecking more damage on its way back. Sunny was slightly disappointed that he had not been able to end the fight right there and then, but it hardly mattered.

The wound he had delivered was not immediately fatal, but deadly nevertheless. Now, all he had to do was wait for the enemy to bleed out… even a Master's body was not resilient enough to stem the flood of blood he had caused…

Mordret, it seemed, realized the same, and dashed forward in a desperate attempt to kill Sunny before the blood loss made him too weak.

…Or so Sunny thought.

'What…'

Instead of attacking with the saber, the Prince of Nothing used it to push the Cruel Sight aside, and continued to move forward, eventually colliding with Sunny and grabbing him by the throat.

'Is he crazy?!'

At such a close distance, Sunny had all the advantages. Mordret couldn't slash with the saber, but he could easily bring his shortsword back for a killing thrust, long before anyone would have been able to strangle him.

This attack made no sense...

However, in the next moment, he felt that something was wrong.

And then, his chest was pierced by a blinding explosion of pain.

the floor. Somehow, against all logic, the

could feel a deep wound in his chest, even though the surface of the Undying

'C—curses…'

Luckily for him, Mordret did not pursue, instead choosing to

'Damned… damned Welthe!'

entirely clear on what had happened and how he had ended up with a hole in his chest, he had an inkling. Welthe's Aspect seemed to be all about devoiding the enemy of

capable of transferring wounds from her body to

so… was he going to die

No… no, he wouldn't.

bleed to death. In fact, he was barely bleeding at all. His body was pierced and heavily damaged, but fortunately, blood loss was one of the two causes of death he was practically

other being

evolved Weaves of his body would not allow such a thing

"Argh!"

terrible. Every breath was torture, and

I've been

willed the Midnight Shard to manifest itself into existence, and tried to assess what was happening

was already upon Cassie, his saber flashing toward her neck. The blind girl met his attack with a skillful block, the Quiet Dancer ringing clearly as it deflected the enemy's blade. The blind

she was pushed back, away from the mirror

flow of soul essence was interrupted, the

Mordret sighed.

Truly,

glanced at the mirror trap, and then brought the saber down on it, turning

Sunny shuddered.

'...Crap.'

the full might of his stolen body, the Prince of Nothing inhaled deeply, an expression of

should I deal

activated, filling him with newfound power. Its effect wasn't as incredible as when he

one hand and the Cruel Sight in another, Sunny willed the mirror blade to ignite

your royal highness. I can

of him and Cassie behind, Mordret

ah, what a pity. I am really going to miss you,

just a step away, the slender

of them clashed, with one attacking and the other desperately trying to defend. The ringing of steel merged into one deafening

passed. The Quiet Dancer had not even had time to reach them from the other end of the hall

he really, really

wounded and under the debilitating effect of Welthe's Aspect, Sunny would have been able to hold his ground against the deadly prince. With three shadows wrapped around his