Shadow Slave

1039 The Fall of Falcon Scott (57)

Bloodwave reached them just a moment later. The mighty Saint looked… spent. Sunny shivered when he noticed that his armor was torn, and there were ugly injuries covering his body. Out of the three Echoes, only the monstrous crab remained… the other two had either been destroyed or dismissed to save them from perishing.

'Even the Transcendent Echo is gone… gods. What could have destroyed one of those and severely injured a Saint? The Heart of Darkness… just what kind of creature was it?'

He felt a bit of dread, and a bit of curiosity. However, now was not the time to ask questions.

Their small party had to hurry and fight their way back through the boundless horde of Nightmare Creatures. Five Awakened, two Masters, one Saint… as well as two powerful Shadows and an Echo. They were an exceedingly formidable group.

Granted, all of them were wounded, tired, and low on essence. Still, cutting through the horde while keeping everyone alive would not pose a problem.

In theory.

Bloodwave studied the rest for a moment, then sent his Echo forward and growled, his voice husky, low, and domineering:

"Move!"

Saint spared the mighty Saint an indifferent glance, then mounted Nightmare and sent the dark destrier into a gallop, the spearhead of the Cruel Sight igniting with the incandescent white glow in her hand, a shield made of pure darkness weighing on the other. They moved ahead of the party, cutting into the horde as a fierce vanguard.

members of Sunny's cohort. Bloodwave and his Echo flanked the Awakened, protecting them

along and preventing the

of abominations. Blood, severed flesh, and fragments of broken bone instantly filled the

damn

was simply too vast. Countless Nightmare Creatures were throwing themselves at the exhausted humans in a rabid frenzy, every moment, from every direction. Slowing down meant being

was to cut through the mass of abominations faster than the abominations could

teeth gritted. The rearguard position was the most awkward, because he had to move backwards at considerable speed while slaughtering the mass of Nightmare Creatures pursuing the party.

battered body was hurting all over. Even though the Marble

that was as hard as stone, after all, not his entire body. A sufficiently powerful strike would send a concussive shock through his insides, potentially causing internal organs to rupture. That hadn't happened yet…

it just

killed a titan and faced a creature that might have been even more wicked.

around him could blow at any moment, plunging the whole place into an inferno of immolating flame, both mundane

Echo was almost destroyed, causing the Saint to dismiss it — Master Jet took its place with a resigned expression, her wounds starting to

he was forced to support himself with Shadow Manifestation from time to time — his already pitiful reserve of essence was diminishing even further with each

yet, they continued to cut through the horde unimpeded,

what felt like a thousand years of slaughter, the party finally reached the melted ruin of the

left of it, at least. A grim expression settled on Sunny's face when he realized that of the initial seven hundred, perhaps only two hundred

the line of Awakened soldiers gave them a moment of respite, and gave the desperate soldiers a much-needed