Shadow Slave

Flying down the slope of the mountain, Sunny left the shadows and did something that would have usually been considered a very stupid move in a battle - he leaped into the air, soaring high above the ravine, and then plummeting down.

Experienced warriors all knew that performing a jump in combat had no benefit, and instead left one open to a potentially lethal attack. Worst of all, the jumper had nothing to use as support, so dodging or changing direction to avoid the strike was all but impossible. It even prevented one from performing a truly powerful attack, since power was born from the ground beneath the soles of one's feet and traveled all the way up through their body, to the tip of their blade.

However, desperate times demanded desperate measures.

Falling, Sunny strained his muscles and drew his bow. Even that was much harder in the air, but he managed somehow.

As wind whistled in his ears and the ground rushed toward him with frightening speed, he opened the floodgates of essence and activated two enchantments.

One was [Death Dealer] of Morgan's Warbow.

The other was [Feather of Truth] of the Mantle of the Underworld.

...Below, Saint was desperately fighting three Corrupted abominations. Her armor was covered by a net of cracks, and fine ruby dust was flowing through several of the breaches.

The enemy was on the verge of overwhelming the stalwart knight.

But then, an arrow that seemed to be forged out of pale gold flashed through the air and struck one of the tall Nightmare Creatures in the shoulder. The force carried by it was so great that his dark armor exploded into shards, and the arrow's sharp broadhead sunk into the flesh beneath.

No, more than that...

The abomination's whole arm was cleanly severed, taking a big chunk of the shoulder with it. Dark blood splattered on the snow as the Corrupted was thrown off balance, staggering back. The sight of it was both gruesome and spectacularly morbid.

a moment later, Sunny landed on another Voiceless like a cannonball. There was no

of Truth] and enlisting the help of gravity, he fell from high

The result was... earth-shattering.

topple like a house of cards, its armor bending and breaking. Both of them hit the ground with a deafening bang, Sunny

If not for the Bone Weave, his neck

'...'

seemingly alive, and even

'...Ouch.'

than a second, two of the three

Sunny's arrival. Luckily, what came next did not require his active participation. It was a good thing, too... since he was not capable of doing anything at the moment. He needed a second or two to come back to his

...Maybe three.

his body. One of them wrapped itself around Saint, while the second one

momentarily stunned, she was not. More than that, she did

react, she descended upon the Voiceless that Sunny had sent crashing into the ground. The Sin of Solace flashed, sliding through the wide crack in the damaged armor and piercing the demon's heart, then emerged from

to stand up, the Spell

a Corrupted

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

have received a

and shrug off the disorientation. The world had stopped spinning. Everything hurt, but... what else

a tenebrous

did not have

black hand was already stretching toward him, its grasp promising nothing but suffering and death. Ghostly blue light was swirling