Shadow Slave

1016 The Fall of Falcon Scott (34)

The monstrous killer whale snapped its jaws, savaging several massive Nightmare Creatures at once. Clouds of blood and pulverized flesh escaped from his maw like a red tide.

Powerful currents of crimson water swirled around his massive body, ripping even more abominations apart. A dozen thralls were destroyed when the great predator rammed through them at dreadful speed.

Armored fins moved, slicing bodies like giant blades.

A split second later, Bloodwave shot past the barrier of flesh, leaving devastation in his wake. He continued forward, heading for the eerie flower of white cloth that was the Terror.

Naeve and Sunny were left behind, though. Their task was to deal with the thralls and prevent them from attacking the Saint from behind.

'How the hell... do I do this?'

Fighting underwater was not at all like fighting on land. At this depth, Sunny felt as though he was constantly being pressed down by an immeasurable weight, both from without and from within. His Ascended physique and augmented strength were enough to deal with it, but he still felt a strain considerable enough to demand adjustment.

It was a lot like fighting while under the effect of the Crushing.

More importantly, though, there was nothing to support him here. Usually, a fighter's might came from being grounded — without the ground under Sunny's feet, his blows would lack power. They would also push him away with the same force that had been exerted on the enemy, making battle flow and positioning a nightmare.

So, he saw two ways to fight effectively — one was to grapple the enemy and use their own body as support, bringing combat to an extremely close range. He would be greatly disadvantaged in such a scenario due to the length of his blade. The other was to use acceleration and maneuvering to turn each of his attacks into a deadly charge.

Sunny had a sinking suspicion that he would have to utilize both approaches today.

one of the thralls — his harpoon shot forward, piercing the creature's head. The Nightwalker pushed it through all the way,

to observe the

apart. He was somewhat certain that his skin would withstand the edge, but there was no point in taking the risk. The Sin of Solace moved to intercept the strike, much slower than he was used to, but still viciously

and then continued forward to sever the flesh mannequin from shoulder to

Spell whispered into his ear, its voice unaffected by

slain a Fallen

[Your shadow...]

to listen to it, Sunny suppressed his revulsion and used the bleeding remains of the abomination to launch himself

in on him

took a

this is

dire, but not as hopeless as he had expected. The greatest threat — the Terror itself — was currently preoccupied with Bloodwave. The thralls, meanwhile, were numerous

were no more native to the dark abyss of the ocean than he

bit awkward. Their initial assault was dreadful, but mostly because many had been launched forward by the long pieces of white cloth that swirled around and trailed behind

too, thanks to the Nimble Catch. An Awakened would have been torn to pieces in an instant, but the

Sunny realized that his Aspect was not as useless underwater as he had thought. There were no shadows around him to manifest... but that was only because he could not compel

not see them. It also allowed

an especially large Nightmare Creature... and dove into its shadow, appearing on top of the chitinous monstrosity that had missed him

the thick carapace, instantly killing the

have slain a Fallen

[Your shadow...]