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.

he had managed to deliver a cut to the wrist of the

near, so Sunny rose without wasting any time and dashed forward to meet

which, nevertheless, felt like an eternity, he danced around the Corrupted abomination. Diving through the shadows and using Shadow Manifestation, Sunny was able to just

first, the Demon did not seem to

movements slowed down a little, becoming slightly

his body grew

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

accumulated on the giant's body, the louder the whispers of the

awkward pose, its arms hanging limp and its neck twisted at a strange angle. It remained motionless for

from its maw, making

'What the...'

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 a mountain of muscle,

stared at that frightening sight for a short moment, then calmly stepped through shadows and appeared twenty or so meters behind

not seem to affect the Demon much. Maybe the broken abomination

Nightmare Creature, and brutally

swarm, crushing and tearing bodies to shreds. Just in a few seconds, the crazed Demon killed more Nightmare Creatures than Sunny had on his way to meet

'D-damn...'

but shudder.

so, or had the whispers of the jade blade grew

understand them. If he just

***

long. Verne's Awakened and the Devils fought the swarm of Scavengers at the front, while the frenzied Demon decimated its center. Many Nightmare Creatures tried to attack the Gate Guardian to save their lives,

Sunny did not, however.