Shadow Slave

Sunny and the black steed plummeted down in a cloud of shattered stone. Far below them, the courtyard of the boundary fortress lay, shrouded in darkness. It was growing closer and closer, approaching with terrifying speed.

Neither paid it any attention, however.

The stallion bit down on Sunny's shoulder with all his might, his sharp fangs scraping against the stonelike metal of the Mantle of the Underworld. The fearsome onyx armor was an Ascended Memory of the sixth Tier, a whole Rank above the diabolical Shadow, so the courser was not supposed to be able to damage it.

However, to Sunny's shock and dismay, the metal plates actually groaned and bent, crushing his flesh. He roared with pain and anger, then thrust his four hands forward, ripping the Terror's chest with his claws.

Drops of blood fell down like rain.

Intertwined, the two of them hit the cobblestones of the desolate courtyard. However, instead of being broken by the fall, both simply submerged into the veil of shadows drowning it, as if the ancient stones had turned into a lake of liquid darkness.

For a moment, Sunny found himself floating in the tenebrous embrace of deep, unfathomable shadows. Usually, turning into a ghostly shade would have meant escaping to safety…

But today, his enemy was a similar creature himself.

A vast and terrifying presence lunged at him from the darkness, full of fury and boundless, chilling killing intent. The black steed had pursued him even into the shadows.

However, this time, Sunny was ready.

He had never fought anyone, or anything, as a shadow. But he had been attacked in this form twice, first by the Mirror Beast, and then by its insidious creator… Mordret of Valor, the Prince of Nothing. Both were able to steal his own ability, and use it against him.

What did it mean?

not damage mundane shadows, as Shadow Blade Kurt had been able to, he was capable of destroying other shadow creatures, just like

but that also meant that he could assume any shape and any form. It was just a matter of his

each other's souls apart. Sunny's whole being was instantly drowned by terrible suffering… but he also felt a silent scream of agony escaping from the rippling shadow

Terror were thrown back into the corporeal world, Sunny rolling away on the cold stones, the tenebrous steed sliding on them as his hooves struck sparks

kill you, bastard… just you

outstretching one hand to summon the Cruel Sight, and another to summon the

His lower hands grabbed the horns of the infernal stallion, and the Mantle

slow down the courser one bit,

struck the wall of the dilapidated fortress. Sunny shrieked, feeling his spine come very close to snapping. If not for

the fortress was

and then crumbled, making the ground tremble as a vast cloud of dust rose into the air and blotted out the stars. The damned Terror carried him through the cloud, emerging from the other side of it a split second later, and then threw Sunny to the ground,

demon was dragged across the emerald grass, tearing the soil apart. One of his hands flashed forward, piercing one of the stallion's

at least,

head sideways and bit down on the blade of the Moonlight Shard

'Damnation!'

and landed on his feet, sliding back a dozen meters as the soles of his armored boots tore the ground. A moment later, he grasped the shaft of the Cruel Sight from the air and

somehow

and then Sunny spun, sensing a swift and vast shadow circling

pure light, tearing the darkness apart. The nightmarish courser was forced back into the corporeal form, and instantly came under attack. The tip of