Shadow Slave

[Your shadow is overflowing with power.][Your shadow is taking shape.][Your shadow...]

Sunny did not have to summon the runes to know that he had finally accomplished his goal... after absorbing thousands of shadow fragments, his soul was ready to form a new Shadow Core.His fifth one. He was about to become a Tyrant.

A conflicting mess of emotions rose in his heart. Of course, Sunny felt a sense of joy and triumph - his power was about to take a significant jump, after all. The bleak, dreadful months he had spent in Antarctica, enduring hardships and grisly defeats, made this moment possible. In a sense, this was his reward, and so, the invisible scars he had been left with were not for nothing.

On the other hand, this boon came at a very unfortunate moment. In the past, Sunny had been mostly able to time his advancements in a way that allowed him to go through the process in relatively safe conditions. A battlefield where hundreds of Awakened were fighting against an army of Fallen Nightmare Creatures and a Corrupted Tyrant, however, was in no way safe.

And on top of that... he had already gone through this ordeal three times. He knew how much it was going to hurt.

'Hell yes! And also... damn it!'

Sunny glanced at the Skull Centipede, who was reeling from the dreadful blow dealt to it by Saint's arrow. A huge chunk of flesh was missing from its neck, with bone dust and rivers of fetid blood spilling into the river. Effie was moments away from reaching the wounded abomination, her sculpted steel body glistening in the sunlight, and Kai was preparing to draw his bow.

One of the dead trees had been destroyed, which was supposed to rob the Tyrant of its most terrible powers... however, the outcome of the fight was still far away from being set in stone. A Corrupted Tyrant was still a Corrupted Tyrant. Sunny felt that Effie, Kai, and Saint had a good chance of emerging victorious from that fight, but he couldn't be sure.

Jet and the Awakened soldiers were struggling to hold back the tide of bone fiends.

Sadly, for now, there was nothing much Sunny could do to help them.

The rest of the battle was up to others to win.

As a hint of terrible pain appeared in his soul, Sunny hurriedly jumped backwards, hiding between two mounds of dug-up dirt. Two figures emerged from his shadow - one was a fearsome black stallion, the other a scrawny little imp.

He gritted his teeth and looked at his Shadows.

"Protect me."

and threw a glance at Nightmare. A cold smile

if the little bastard does something stupid... you

the imp stared at him with shocked outrage and

grinned, then turned white as a sheet and swayed. His hand rose, grabbing at

is

was momentarily blinded and deafened, losing all sense of the world around

depths of his soul, tearing at it with sharp edges. The torment of it was nothing short of exquisite. He had

that his soul had become stronger, growing vast and powerful enough to endure the strain. Nevertheless, this was not in its nature. Therefore... the birth of a new core brought with it immeasurable pain, with each successive

thrashing on the ground and wailing like a dying beast. The second time had brought him to his knees, making his screams echo in the desolate halls of the

the Shadowspawn he had

more resilient. He had been through so much, and had experienced so much... the journey through the endless procession

so, this time,

down, remaining on his

lose all track of time, and of

the sensation of

for an

But then, eventually...

The eternity had ended.

because he heard the voice of the

[Your shadow is complete.]

the

He inhaled deeply, trembling.

He felt... stronger.