Shadow Slave

'Seven.'

Sunny stepped through the shadows and appeared outside of the cage, his towering figure finally free and unconstrained by the suffocating iron bars. He staggered as excruciating pain spread through his mutilated flesh, a myriad of badly healed wounds reminding him of their festering existence, and hissed.

Elyas suddenly moved, confused by the direction from which the familiar hiss came. Then, he grabbed the bars and stared at Sunny with wide eyes.

"How…"

All of a sudden, he could see his partner clearly in the darkness, because the obsidian body of the shadow creature had become enveloped by a storm of swirling sparks of light. Sunny had begun to summon his Memories — the Undying Chain, the Cruel Sight, the Midnight Shard, the Prowling Thorn…

'Six.'

The stygian serpent drawn on his skin suddenly moved, slithering forth to turn into a fearsome black odachi. Its sharp tip appeared in the air above one of Sunny's hands, and grew, swiftly forming into the length of the great blade.

At the same time, two ruby eyes ignited in the depths of his shadow with a furious light.

Elys flinched, staring at the gaunt demon in front of him in stunned awe.

'Five.'

Saint stepped out of the darkness, her graceful figure as black as the onyx, her posture straight and indomitable. Her hands were empty, devoid for now of any weapon.

Sunny stared at his Shadow with grim joy, and then bared his fangs, greeting her. He wasn't sure, but he thought that he noticed a slight change to the set of the taciturn knight's shoulders. Had she... missed him too?

'Four.'

The hilt of the Soul Serpent fell into his hand, the length of the odachi considerably increased to account for his towering height. Sunny didn't hesitate and threw the great blade to Saint, who caught it calmly and weighed the weapon in her hand, the hue of her ruby eyes suddenly growing a little brighter. It almost seemed like the Shadow was… excited?

glanced into the depths of the dungeon, where dozens of mighty Nightmare Creatures still remained locked in cages, waiting for their turn to be

he turned

'Three.'

...And said:

Kill

a short look, and then wordlessly disappeared into the darkness, the black blade

'Two.'

something whistled through the air, and a bestial scream thundered in the silence of the nightmarish dungeon. Sunny wasn't paying attention, though… the

voice whispered into

[You have slain…]

he longed to hear it

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

a somber shortsword appeared, weaved

'One'.

manifested itself. Sunny gripped the hilt of the Midnight Shard with both of his upper

finished appearing from a whirlwind of white sparks, covering his body with a caparace of bleak steel. Its shape changed to accommodate Sunny's monstrous body, new plates of perfectly fitted armor encompassing his digitigrade legs, his four arms, and even his long tail, a sharp metal spike protruding from the tip

two holes at the top

body, a fearsome steel goliath now stood amid the empty cages, jagged horns

'One.'

Shadow Step was restrained again, and his connection to the Spell was cut. The sparks that had almost coalesced into the Prowling Thord disappeared, and the unfinished form of the

didn't matter. He had already achieved everything he needed to

that would have left him with no essence in the middle of Solvane's territory,

was easy to leave the Red Colosseum, but it was much harder to escape it. As long as Sunny was collared, he was going to remain tied to the enchantments of

there was a thing he wasn't

second Nightmare Creature and turned to Elyas, who was staring at him with wide