Shadow Slave

Amiran lunged forward, calling upon his Aspect and bringing down an avalanche of destructive force upon the formation of the Song infiltrators. Two waves of crushing power rolled forward from his weapons... only to shatter against the invisible bulwark of a sonic boom.

The concrete floor was shattered as the whole factory trembled.

A moment later, a swift silhouette shot toward him from the cloud of dust - Morrow, her calm eyes full of cold murderous intent. Her shabby civilian clothes were torn, revealing glimpses of a slender enchanted armor hidden beneath.

In her hand, there was a narrow blade that seemed too fragile to be used in actual combat.

Amiran raised his sword, batting the blade away. At the same time, his hammer flew forward, the spike protruding from its top aimed precisely at the enemy's unprotected throat.

However, as soon as his sword met the steel of Morrow's weapon, there was a melodious ring. That ring suddenly magnified, crashing into him like a stone wall. Grimacing from pain piercing his ears, the Knight of Valor was thrown back.

He rolled over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of his warriors. They were advancing, ready to clash with the Awakened of Clan Song... even though Amiran only saw them for a tiny sliver of a second, he noticed two things.

First, the blood spilling from the breach in the roof of the main production hall. Second, the fact that only four of the six cohorts seemed to have made it down.

Wrath ignited in his heart.

'Treacherous worms...'

One of Morrow's cohorts was missing, and now, two of his own had failed to descend. It was not hard to understand what had most likely happened - the damned witch must have sent some of her people to ambush the warriors of Valor on the upper levels of the factory. To sacrifice their lives so that the rest could escape.

was of no use. Even with the missing cohort buying the infiltrators time with their blood, the

desperate. And

executioner she faced was none other than Amiran. The

his head. His helmet was probably strong enough to withstand the sharp

also wrapped both his weapons with thin layers of force - he was a fast learner, after all. After

did their soldiers. The Awakened of Valor descended

Awakened of Song were not

***

'Damn it...'

the ground in a fountain of blood. His armor was shattered, and the wretched warrior of Valor who had killed him was

servant of the King of Swords fell, too, his

must have been a ranged attack, since no one was close enough to deliver a melee strike. There, at the edge of the formation, there was only emptiness

A good shot, then.

bloomed on their faces. The humming was not an expression of some Awakened power or a

A song of slaughter.

has

from devastating the formation. Of course, the dog was also preventing her from massacring the attacking Awakened...

already landed half a dozen blows on his armor... the problem was that the armor was too tough. It had

the Knight was using his Aspect to wrap himself in a thin layer of protective force, stifling

of time before he made a

Morrow was confident...