Shadow Slave

"Glory! Glory! Glory!"

Sunny growled, falling to the ground, the heavy body of a stone gargoyle pressing him down, its claws buried in his chest. A dark radiance rose from his skin, the scales of a coiling serpent becoming more visible, and then, one of the forearms of the abomination shattered, pulled apart by his hands.

The creature roared, its tail shooting forward like a spear. He had no time to dodge or deflect the blow, so instead, Sunny simply endured the blinding pain of the stone spike piercing his shoulder, and pushed with his feet, straining to jump up.

As the result, his horns struck the gargoyle in the chin, impaling it through the skull.

Something cold streamed down his face, and, momentarily blinded, Sunny struck the abomination in the chest with all his might, sending the stone goliath flying back.

The gargoyle exploded into a rain of stone shards when its body struck the floor of the arena.

Sunny breathed heavily, his torso a mess of torn flesh, and then tiredly searched for the remaining enemy, which was supposed to be fighting the Awakened youth… if he was still alive.

His second day in the coliseum had been both easier and more harrowing than the first.

It was easier because Sunny was slowly growing accustomed to his new inhuman body. For someone else, this process might have taken longer, but he had always put adaptability and control of his physicality first.

Both the flowing battle style Nephis had taught him and Shadow Dance were meant to make the practitioner as flexible and versatile as possible, the latter especially being the pinnacle of malleability.

So, he had plenty of practice to prepare himself for waking up in the body of an actual demon, ironically. Who would have thought?

…But this day's battles were also much more lethal. At first, Sunny had thought that his luck was just this bad, but after he and the young Awakened had barely survived the first two boxes, the youth shared a bit of knowledge that put everything into perspective.

Apparently, by surviving the previous day's slaughter and making their way to the center of the arena, the two of them earned the privilege of being added to the main herd of gladiators. In other words, everyone — and every thing — they faced today had won seven consecutive fights in the past, as well.

This was the creme of the crop of the enslaved combatants, more or less.

And the final stage was also going to be different…

'Damnation…'

two swift shadows some distance away, then finally saw them. His eyesight wasn't the best in daylight, so Sunny

shield that he had picked up in their second fight. He was dancing around the gargoyle, showing a good grasp of combat

incredibly talented. His battle prowess was perhaps on par with what Sunny himself had

knowing how to wield

can't hold

it in a deadly embrace. The steel cables of his muscles moved under the obsidian skin, and

this how

the burden of a monster of similar proportions, made entirely out of stone,

Almost…

and smashed

their joy and admiration of his

the abomination, then took a step back on fell

you shut up

even more than he

gargoyle with a dark expression. Then, he glanced

you… you don't look

at him with his black eyes, no recognizable human expression on his strange,

way, you noticed? Damn,

The most disturbing thing about it was the fact that his mangled flesh was awash with crimson blood, but none

he would in the battle against the gargoyles, in large part because the monsters had

suspected that he would have to reveal at least one of his two hidden cards — the Soul Serpent or

stepped forward and put

by

demon… I'm trying to help

'What the hell…'

light, and his curly blond hair moved, as if brushed

Slowly, the pain receded, and at the same time, the torn fibers of his flesh started to repair themselves, growing back

man, however, paled considerably and stepped back, his breathing

'Well, I'll be damned…'