Shadow Slave

Using the short window of opportunity, Sunny jumped back to his feet, dashed forward, and thrust his jade sword into a small crack between two plates of armor that covered the giant's knee joint. The thin blade of the Sin of Solace easily slid into it and bit into the Demon's flesh, drawing a few drops of putrid black blood.

That was all he had time to do before leaping back.

The shallow wound Sunny had delivered was by no means mortal, or even seriously debilitating.

But it didn't need to be.

The plague of the [Sinister Whisper] had already been passed to the Gate Guardian by the swift jade blade.

'Let's see how strong your mind is, bastard.'

Even diminished by the potent mental barrier of the Undying Chain, the eerie whispers of the Sin of Solace were constantly assaulting his own sanity. Of course, it was strange to think of any Nightmare Creature as sane... they were all mad to begin with, after all.

But Sunny had high hopes. A demon was a demon - no matter how wicked, it was still a sentient being. That sentience, which made these creatures so dangerous, could also be destroyed.

The Gate Guardian finally unleashed another attack, this one so fast that Sunny barely had time to react. With no other choice, he gritted his teeth and blocked it with the blade of the

Sin of Solace. Another shockwave exploded outward, and he was thrown back like a cannonball.

'Crap...'

Sunny flew back, smashing into several Nightmare Creatures on his way. Several devastating impacts rattled his entire body, and bits of broken flesh flew into the air. Landing dozens of meters away from the Gate Guardian, he collided against the ground, bounced, and then rolled for a bit, leaving a deep groove in the snow.

vicious smile on his lips, however. That was because he had

Sunny rose without wasting any

the shadows and using Shadow Manifestation, Sunny was able to just barely stay ahead of the terrifying creature by a

first, the Demon did not seem to be affected

slowed down

his body grew

creature twitched and suddenly struck itself in the head, as if trying to shake off

the giant's body, the louder the whispers of the sinister

the Demon froze in an awkward pose, its arms hanging limp and its

from its

'What the...'

the Gate Guardians sanity... insanity... or whatever it was that guided its perverse sentience collapsed, an endless sea of bloodlust and frenzy seemed to overwhelm the abomination. Letting out a bestial growl, it moved again and lunged at Sunny like

sight for a short moment, then calmly stepped through

affect the Demon much. Maybe the broken abomination did not even notice

forward, grabbed the nearest Nightmare Creature,

the ghastly sight of the ruptured corpse, it howled and dove into the surrounding swarm, crushing and tearing bodies to

'D-damn...'

but shudder. Sin of Solace was truly a

only seem so, or had the whispers

just listened a little bit closer... a little

***

while the frenzied Demon

Sunny did not, however.