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, then let go of the shaft, grabbed it again near the head a moment later, and tore the spear

time to observe the Nightwalker, forced

Sunny 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

easily cut through the scythe, breaking it, and then continued forward to sever the flesh

his ear, its voice unaffected by

have slain a

[Your shadow...]

revulsion and used the bleeding remains of the abomination to launch himself sideways. A moment later, a chitinous body barreled through the spot he had

closing in on him

a

this is not

threat — the Terror itself — was currently preoccupied with Bloodwave. The thralls, meanwhile, were numerous and much

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

swirled around and trailed behind the Terror, behaving like the

have been torn to pieces in an instant, but the

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 living shadows to obey him. Of

of the thralls possessed a shadow, which allowed Sunny to sense their movements even if he did not see them. It also allowed Sunny to use Shadow Step, as long as the abomination

dodged the claws of an especially large Nightmare Creature... and dove into

Solace plunged through the thick carapace, instantly

slain a

[Your shadow...]