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.

a plan! No, I know

her soft voice sounded optimistic and cheerful. Knowing that Effie was confident in his ability to get them both out of this dire situation alive,

did not have a plan. In fact, he didn't have the slightest idea about

Yet.

simply shook his head, making Effie pale and

of escaping the Temple of the Chalice without a bloody battle against the War Maidens, as well as any way for the three

able to fight her way out of the sect as that

still didn't look

the powerhouse. Even though his physical might was lesser than that of the huntress, overall, he was a much, much deadlier creature. Added to that were his three Shadows, two of which were Ascended Demons, while the third

at least. Effie would have to handle the third one… which would leave Kai alone against dozens of Awakened warriors gathered in the hall. That wouldn't work. No matter how Sunny moved the elements of the theoretical battle, nothing gave them a

War Maidens had been defeated in the future, after all, so they

the hall, full of furious white flame.

His face grew dim.

don't like this idea… no, I

extremely dangerous and hard to pull

hard Sunny thought, he couldn't come up with anything else to do. If moving the elements did

for a few moments, and then gestured Effie to keep

same time, several

shrouded in a swarm of white sparks. She took a small step to the

ensnared his body. One of his four hands was enveloped by a swarm of scarlet sparks, one in a black fog, and

four-armed demon undergo a strange transmutation. Although just a little, their stances shifted, revealing their readiness to intervene

move yet, reluctant to intrude upon the

later, a kite shield forged out of dull steel appeared on Saint's arm, while the odachi she held silently slid into the

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

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

summoned all these Memories at the same time, knowing that

there was one last Memory