Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the little girl, trying not to lose his composure.

'...What is wrong with these people?'

He had two horns, a mouth full of sharp fangs, long claws, and four damned arms… and yet, the first thing that both Effie and Kai had reacted to was his height. Was he not allowed to be tall, for once?!

Continuing to pretend to fight the monstrous child in earnest, he pointed to his chest instead of an answer. Effie, too, slowed down her relentless assault a bit — just enough to give him some breathing room without making her changed attitude obvious.

A few moments later, when they were close to each other, she hissed quietly:

"Let me guess, you saw the message I left that said to not come to the Temple of Chalice… and, naturally, decided to do the exact opposite."

Sunny spun, avoiding her fist, and raised two fingers.

The girl frowned.

"Two… someone else is with you? Cassie? Kai? Ah, it's Kai… so, both of you decided to ignore my warning!"

She deflected his dagger to the side, grimaced when it slid over a barely healed laceration on her forearm, and then squeaked in her childish voice:

"Well… good! I, uh… I might have been too full of myself, thinking that I would be able to actually escape this damned place. So... I am really, really glad that you came…"

Sunny thrust his greatsword forward, narrowly missing the girl's head, and then let out a low growl.

Effie gritted her teeth.

"But, Sunny… we have two problems. One is that these lunatics never let their disciples leave the sect alive. The second… the second is that if one of us doesn't kill the other in this duel, my teachers are going to kill us both… so…"

She caught his sword with one hand, then brought her fist on its blade, shattering it and making Sunny stumble.

hope that you have a plan! No,

voice sounded optimistic and cheerful. Knowing that Effie was confident in his ability to get them both out of this

not have a plan. In fact, he didn't

Yet.

he simply shook his head, making Effie pale

chance of escaping the Temple of the Chalice without a bloody battle against the War Maidens, as well as any way for the three of them to come up on top in that

fearsome, but she was not Solvane. She would not have been able to fight her

didn't look

though his physical might was lesser than that of the huntress, overall, he was a

War Maidens, at least. Effie would have to handle the third one… which would leave Kai alone against

been defeated in

stone chalice towering in the center of the hall, full of furious white flame. Unlike in

His face grew dim.

don't like this idea… no, I

the seed of a plan that suddenly appeared in his mind. Not only because it would be extremely dangerous and hard to pull off, but also because going through with it had broader, far-reaching implications he didn't want to think

anything else to do. If

a deep sigh, he concentrated for a few moments, and then gestured

time,

took a small step to the side to shield Kai with her body.

was enveloped by a swarm of scarlet sparks, one in a black fog, and the

demon undergo a strange transmutation. Although just a little, their stances shifted, revealing

yet, reluctant to intrude upon the duel without an undeniable

the odachi she held silently slid into the shadows. Sunny was suddenly clad in intricate onyx

scarlet string and a strange arrow that seemed to be made out of a bolt of lightning appear

Shard], [Morgan's Warbow], [Strike of Thunder]... and [Mantle of the Underworld] augmented

had summoned all these Memories at the same time, knowing that he might

Memory that he had