Shadow Slave

There were wooden fences built throughout the arena, partitioning it into many small enclosures, each connected to a next one by a rusty iron gate. Currently, Sunny was at the very edge of the colosseum, with one of its stone walls behind him. Three sturdy fences formed the rest of the killing box, sharp spikes mounted on them to prevent the combatants from trying to escape.

…And that was unmistakably where he found himself — a colosseum. A theater of death where slaves fought each other for the entertainment of the crowd, unless they wanted to be slaughtered by the other gladiators or their own masters.

Granted, this one was rather strange. For one thing, the slaves were predominantly wild beasts and monsters of all kinds, as opposed to captured humans. The crowd was behaving weirdly, too. After his experience in the Dreamscape, Sunny expected to see the spectators overwhelmed by bloodthirst and dark, cruel fascination.

Instead, these people seemed to be joyful and proud, almost solemn. It was as though they were genuinely happy for the gladiators, even a little bit… jealous? The crowd was undulating and shifting, singing one word over and over again:

"Glory! Glory! Glory!"

Their voices merged into an echoing, thunderous roar.

'What the hell is wrong with these bastards…'

Sadly, Sunny didn't have a lot of time to think about the weirdness of the audience. He had bigger problems on his plate.

Right in front of him, another creature was let go of the chain, its powerful body covered in dirty brown fur. Four mighty paws, a long muzzle with terrifying fangs, and six eyes burning with madness… it was very similar to the Dread Wolves he had thought at the island covered by strange, twisted trees.

And it wasn't alone.

Two more beasts appeared from behind the first one, falling low to the ground as guttural growls escaped from their maws.

'Damnation!'

Sunny shifted his gaze, trying to discern the Rank and Class of the murderous beasts. They seemed a lot smaller than the Fallen Monster he had killed before, at least — simply the size of a bull instead of a full cargo vehicle. His newfound ability to peer into the souls of living things and see their soul cores was going to come in handy...

However, what he saw beneath their tough hides left him confused. Instead of spheres of radiant light, the creatures had hideous masses of swirling darkness at the center of their beings, veins of it spreading throughout their souls like cancerous growths. In the depths of that darkness, something unclear seemed to be moving, as if trying to break free.

The sight of it was both frightening and repulsive.

somewhat, of the harrowing rot he had witnessed in the Ebony Towe, growing from the severed arm of

soul cores of

the Rank of such cores, since he only knew to measure the usual ones by their size and luminosity. The growths of darkness in the dread wolves seemed to have two swirling nods each, which at least told him that they were mere

that it helped

while barely being able to stand upright in this

'Curse it!'

at all happy with the fact that this gaunt and powerful body was standing more than two meters tall, devoid of any fat... and stark naked,

Or bite off!

there were a lot

full of menacing resentment. His lips parted, revealing sharp fangs that were in no way

look how big and scary I am! You wouldn't want to fight a scary demon like me, would you? One would have

this was exactly what Nightmare

forward, madness burning in their bloodshot eyes. Their maws opened,

'Damn it all!'

to wrap themselves around his body, which suddenly turned black and lusterless, as though cut from obsidian. Thankfully, at least that part of his

the shadow of one of the wolves, his four hands shooting forward to grab the beast, sharp claws sinking into the soft flesh. Sunny was still struggling to control his body, and for that reason, his movements

embraced by the three shadows, he simply used brute

monster above his head, he hissed and pulled with all his might. Lean muscles moved like steel cables under his onyx skin, and in the next moment, a river

growing loud and triumphant — at least of those spectators who were close to his enclosed

are you screaming for,

little startled by the violent strength of his new body. It was much more powerful than his human

lost his balance, and toppled over as soon as the dread wolf's

bloodied stones, instinctively raising two of his four hands to cover his throat. Almost instantly, one of the remaining

instead of tearing his throat open, the wolf only managed to bite into them, sharp fangs burrowing through tough skin,

pain and the sudden fall, Sunny momentarily forgot how to control his limbs and operate the shadow

'Argh!'

not good! He was pinned to the ground, defenseless, seconds away from being disemboweled and having his head torn off. And

and roared. His bestial scream washed over

body, Sunny threw the monster digging into his