Shadow Slave

Chapter 864: Breaking the Balance

Stuck in the middle of a neverending massacre, barely holding on, and sensing a ruinous hint of exhaustion already seeping into his muscles, Sunny knew that the battle was entering its decisive stage.

For now, it seemed to remain in a fragile equilibrium. The jade beetle and Saint Tyris were clashing somewhere high above, neither of them capable of striking down the adversary yet. On the ground, Master Jet were fighting alone in the tide of Nightmare Creatures, seeking out the most powerful foes. She had already killed many, but her task was far from being accomplished.

The Irregulars held, pushing back against the rabid onslaught of the stone hive. They had managed to avoid being overwhelmed, but could not throw the enemy back and go on the offensive. Even with Winter and her sharpshooters taking out the most deadly Fallen abominations, the situation was extremely precarious.

And finally, Sunny was protecting the rear of the formation. He was containing his share of Nightmare Creatures, as well, but was not anywhere near prevailing against them. For every hive soldier he killed, two immediately took its place.

Neither side could wipe out the other. This balance, however, could be

destroyed at any moment.

Time was working against the Irregulars, for the most part, since their soul essence and endurance were not infinite. The soldiers were not going to be able to keep up with the ruthless tempo of the furious battle for much longer.

Their only hope was that Soul Reaper would finish off the last of the Corrupted abominations and join the fight against the mass of lesser soldiers soon. However, from a few glimpses that Sunny had caught, things weren't going too well for the commander of the First Irregular Company.

Master Jet had quickly dealt with the comparatively weak Corrupted, but now, only the most powerful of them remained. More than that, the stone hive seemed to have understood how much of a threat this single human represented. With each second, it was getting harder and harder for Soul Reaper to move and attack her targets.

She would probably be able to kill them all eventually, but was that going to be fast enough?

Currently, Sunny was not sure.

'I need to do something...'

nothing but its somber silver steel. Mounds of corpses surrounded him, and more

what can

the balance of the battle in favor

gain the upper hand in his own section of the battlefield... and failed. Preventing the soldiers of the stone hive from advancing

Dying Wish...

capable of slaying a Corrupted abomination or several. It would take him some time. Not to mention that to achieve

one component of the battle

away from the advancing enemies and pierced the body of a somewhat startled abomination a dozen meters further down

he briefly looked

other high in the dark skies. Arcs of lightning danced between them, and rivers of caustic black ash were flowing

His face turned grim.

can't kill it. Can't kill

again... did he need

his eyes and tried to forget about the fact that he was surrounded by a swarm of Nightmare Creatures, each of them driven crazy

his belt suddenly surged forward and formed a barrier around him.

Sunny summoned Morgan's

swarm of scarlet sparks appeared in the air, a heavy blow shook the shadow cage he had constructed around himself. Then, another, and another, and another. Soon, countless strikes were raining on it,

it was much more

its surface, and then a sharp chitin blade shot through one of them, scraping against the onyx surface of

However, it was enough.

shadow cage to transform itself. Immediately, it lost solidity and substance... instead, long and sharp spikes shot forward from the

abominations were skewered by them, but most were only stalled

paying them any attention, Sunny looked up

[Soul Arrow].