Shadow Slave

A towering bonfire of pristine flames enveloped both Nephis and the vessel of the Gate Guardian, rising high into the sky. It bloomed like a beautiful white flower, suffused with both brilliant radiance and incinerating heat.

The soul flame burned so hot that, for a moment, Sunny actually felt dreadfully cold, as if he had been transported back to the frigid fields of the Antarctic Center.

With a curse, he staggered back, fell, and rolled away.

'Hell!'

Neph's flames could be warm and nurturing, healing and purifying anything they touched. But they could be ruthless and ferocious, destroying everything in their path.

Sunny knew that he would not survive a plunge into the blossoming bonfire - he might have shared a bond with Nephis, but he did not share the lineage of Sun God with her. Even then, Changing Star was not immune to the destructive fury of the fire - she was only capable of being locked in the cyclic agony of having her flesh burned, restored, and then burned again without dying.

He thought that he heard a distorted shriek escape from the flames, but it was swallowed by the dull roar of the immolating blaze. Nephis and the abomination were in the center of the dire conflagration, their figures obscured by its radiance - he did not know what exactly was happening there, just that only one of them would emerge from the flames alive.

The sand around the white bonfire was already melting, soon to turn into black, brittle glass.

'Curse it...'

Sunny could not allow himself to be concerned about Nephis right now. Because while she had dealt with Master Xu - at least temporarily- there was still another vessel of the great abomination coming after them.

Jumping to his feet, he spun around.

Seishan had both her arms wrenched and cruelly broken, while the extent of Morgan's wounds was unknown. Effie had received a blow from the Gate Guardian, as well, but her shield had protected her from harm - at the cost of being destroyed.

Sunny, Effie, and Kai were left

senses the movement of

[Here it comes!]

flashed across the desert, lunging at them from behind. As it did, Effie's spear collided with it

of the Gate Guardian in the chest. The whole

corpse flew several dozens meters forward, the crimson stream stretching behind it as if suspended in the

into a human silhouette, still a split second away from turning back

half-formed corpse and

Gate Guardian was not

were assembled from bloodied fragments, and its bared heart grew whole before starting to beat once

felt a chill

'What... what the hell...'

of him was so terrifying that

his teeth, Sunny

state was terrible. Not only was he utterly exhausted, sapped of all energy by the merciless heat, and low on essence, but he was

enter a serious fight without being augmented by

matter. It's do or

of Solace laughed, amused by his defiant resolve to give

it's

Acting as one, they attacked the creature from different sides. A sword made of darkness and a sword

rose from the sand with a groan. Her sword was destroyed, but she didn't seem to care - her vermilion eyes blazed with murderous fury, and the

taller - taller than Effie, even when hunched. Her limbs elongated, and long claws extended from her fingers. Her smooth grey skin suddenly turned rough like that of a shark. Finally, the monster's jaw unhinged, revealing

and somber, drawing the string of