Shadow Slave

A swift figure streaked across the sky, and then, a black steed landed on the deck of a flying ship, its eyes burning with crimson light. The stallion had a coat that was as black as night, two horns of adamantine metal, and fangs that resembled those of a wolf.

On its back rode a graceful knight clad in onyx armor, the scarlet blade of her odachi matching two ruby lights shining behind the visor of her closed helmet. Without pause, the dark rider sent her steed forward, and her sword flashed, beheading the nearest warrior of the Sun Legion in one smooth strike.

The other Awakened froze for a moment, suddenly grasped by a cold feeling of dread.

And as fear crawled into their hearts, the terrifying crimson flames burning in the eyes of the tenebrous stallion ignited even brighter. It moved its head, biting into the neck of another soldier and tearing it wide open. More blood flowed onto the deck...

On another ship, the soldiers suddenly screamed and aimed their bows up as a massive shadow suddenly covered the deck.

But they were too late.

As a gale of wind raised by mighty wings threw some of them off their feet, a repulsive creature crashed into the deck. It resembled a giant lion with the head of a raven, its body gaunt and entirely black. The creature had two powerful hind legs and six limbs protruding from its wide chest, each ending with a set of long talons.

Lean muscles were rolling under its skin like worms, and its terrifying beak was open, revealing rows of sharp, needle-like fangs and a long tongue. Both the fangs and the tongue were of the same black color as the rest of the abominable monstrosity.

Using the momentary shock of the warriors, the Soul Serpent, who had assumed the form of a Spire Messenger, reached out with its six arms and sliced six bodies apart with its talons. Blood sprayed into the air, and a chilling, ghastly wail escaped from its beak.

…And lastly, on the stern of yet another ship, a towering devil wearing black armor simply appeared out of the shadow, silently and without anyone noticing him for a split second.

That one second was enough for a bolt of lightning to fly off his bow and hit a warrior in red armor that had been preparing to pull the lever of a ballista on the bow of the ship. Instantly, arcs of furious radiance chained to a dozen nearest soldiers, killing several, burning a few, and stunning the rest.

and brandished the Cruel Sight, as well as the austere tachi he held in the other two of his four hands. He knew that his time was short… yes, Sunny was powerful, and so were his Shadows. But when the defenders of the Ivory City recovered from the initial shock, they were going to show that

long he would be able

do was to cut off the head of

Midnight Shard for a devastating downward slash. The captain of the ship

Sight shot forward from below, piercing

Warmonger only had time to look at Sunny with eyes clouded by pain… and smile happily. Then, he fell down like a tree that had

'Damned crazies…'

the ship, now fully aware of his presence and clamoring to spill his blood. Sunny

ability to survive a battle against that many, especially now that he had no shadows augmenting

the fourth one lay on the bloodied deck behind him to serve as his eyes. With the enemy possessing such a terrible numeric advantage, he judged that being aware of his surroundings would be more useful than a bit of

Sunny was not going to fight them all

his way with a powerful kick, Sunny dashed forward… and

but from watching

devoured all light nearby, thus hiding him in a cloud of darkness and making it harder for the archers to hit him, Sunny pulled the steering oar

to turn left, going off course and

of the closest Warmongers already running at him, and further back, even more rushing to join their comrades. Those who had been

'Crap…'

aiming to kill the nearest of the approaching

the cloud

every one of them had an Aspect, and each Aspect was unique, making