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.

fruitless one. It was of no use. Even with the missing cohort buying the infiltrators time with their

was desperate. And wouldn't she

other than Amiran.

an instant. Landing on his feet, Amiran calmly looked up and saw the slender blade falling on his head. His helmet was probably strong enough to withstand the sharp edge, but it was forged out of the best of Valor's steel - should the strike land, there would be a ringing, and

with thin layers of force - he was a fast learner, after all. After that first strike, Morrow would find it hard to turn the sound of

the two Masters collided with each other in a lethal battle, so did their soldiers. The Awakened of Valor descended on the formation of the

them, the Awakened of Song were not so easily

***

'Damn it...'

of her soldiers fall to the ground in a fountain of blood. His armor was shattered, and

the King of Swords fell, too, his

Morrow missed which of her people had avenged their brother. It must have been a ranged attack, since no one was close enough to deliver a melee strike. There, at the edge of

A good shot, then.

smiles bloomed on their faces. The humming was not an expression of some Awakened power or a harbinger of a devastating sonic attack... it was simply

A song of slaughter.

brute has a tough

a fierce fight with Knight Amiran, preventing him from devastating the formation.

skilled, and intelligent. But he was also arrogant and rigid. Morrow had already landed half a dozen blows on his armor... the problem was that the armor was too tough. It had to be a Transcendent Memory created by the

was using his Aspect to wrap himself in a thin layer of protective force, stifling all sounds that could have

a matter of time before he made

Morrow was confident...