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.

smile on his lips, however. That was because he had managed to deliver a cut to the wrist of the Demon just

was already near, so Sunny rose without wasting any time

able to just barely stay ahead of the terrifying creature by a split second. Several more shallow wounds appeared on the giant's body, drops

not seem to be affected at all.

slowed down

his body

itself in the head, as if trying to

giant's body, the louder the whispers of

awkward pose, its arms hanging limp and its neck twisted at a

escaped from its maw, making the world

'What the...'

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

moment, then calmly stepped through shadows and appeared twenty

the Demon much. Maybe the broken abomination did

nearest Nightmare Creature, and

the ruptured corpse, it howled and dove into the surrounding swarm, crushing and tearing bodies to shreds. Just in a few seconds, the

'D-damn...'

Sunny couldn't help but shudder.

seem so, or had the whispers of the

them. If he just listened a

***

take long. Verne's Awakened and the Devils fought the swarm of Scavengers at the front, while the frenzied

Sunny did not, however.