Shadow Slave

'I... am going to die...'The thought that flashed through Sunny's mind had nothing to do with the fact that each strike of the possessed corpse was devastating enough to obliterate his body, but more so with the strain that fighting the abominations was putting on it.

Yes, it was true - Sunny was facing a Great Nightmare Creature, but he felt as if exhaustion was going to kill him even if the creature did not.

Time moves slowly in a battle like the one they were fighting. He wasn't sure how many seconds had passed since the second vessel of the Gate Guardian had shown up - a dozen? Two dozen?

Maybe it was just five or six instead.

The six Masters and one Shadow were somehow holding up against the harrowing abomination, for now. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that the constant barrage of attacks did restrain the corpse a little - if there was one vulnerability they could exploit, after all, it was that the vessels of the Guardian were not as resilient as the body of a true Great creature would have been.

Perhaps it was because each of them was at the pinnacle of what a human Ascended could be, and knew that there would be no retreat. They fought without holding anything back, knowing that death was looming, almost inevitable.

Sunny was relatively unharmed, for now, and so was Saint. Kai had been circling above the abomination, sending one enchanted arrow flying after another.

The rest of them... were in dire straits.

Jet was, perhaps, mangled the most, but her unique constitution allowed her to persist in her attempts to shatter the creature's soul despite that. By now, Soul Reaper looked no less of a corpse than their opponent, and maybe even more so.

Both Morgan and her were fighting with their bare fists - although, in the case of Morgan, her entire body was the weapon, not just her hands. She had also suffered much more damage than any of them, often taking the initiative to shield the others with her body. That was because the Princess of War was physically the sturdiest, except maybe Effie.

The difference between the two was that Morgan seemed to have absorbed a powerful healing enchantment into her Aspect Ability, which allowed her to recover from the wounds that would have permanently taken the huntress out of the fight.

Seishan had gone even further than Jet and Morgan - with her arms broken, she had to resort to using her monstrous teeth to damage the abomination. Her jaws did not seem any less lethal than a powerful Memory would have been, but the need to be in close, almost intimate proximity to the enemy put her in grave danger. The hideous, ferocious creature she had transformed into was covered in blood, both her own and that of the Guardian.

Effie was in a much better position due to the long reach of her Transcendent spear.

Together, they fought the great abomination, desperately trying to destroy it, slow it down... or at least prevent it from approaching the beautiful bonfire of white flames that still burned behind them.

'Die, die... why won't you die!'

scratched its skin, but

was shredded and turned into an appalling mess - the wound was large enough for most Ascended to be at the risk of bleeding out, but he was

cracked his

damn it, damn

like a drunk, he rose to his feet. Sweat was rolling down his skin, adding to the pain

going

of running out of essence - before, all her wounds would swiftly heal, but now, she was forced to concentrate on only a few of the most dire ones,

true nightmare for her. Facing one overwhelming opponent was the least favorable situation for her Aspect, since it prevented her from absorbing the essence of slain enemies

Seishan suffered a terrible blow, falling into the sand

was momentarily left alone against the harrowing creature. The corpse moved with tremendous speed, grabbing the shaft of her spear and pulling the huntress off her feet. A split second before its other hand delivered a lethal blow, Kai suddenly fell from the sky, ramming into

on Kai's spine, and

'Curse it all!'

lunged forward, and at the same time,

was pulsing

He was tired.

he had to

was

seemed indestructible and unstoppable, it was weakening. It was not very noticeable, yet - but it was true. The corpse had become a tiny bit slower, its

creature had

just had to push it

He wasn't sure that he could summon them - his shadows, which served as the gates of his soul, were with Nephis, inside the incinerating mass of white flames. Even if he

had to buy

his will - into the attack. At the same time, Saint thrust her sword forward, covering

it was not

stepped forward. Its fist struck Sunny like a mountain, and the

was staring at the vibrant azure

was...

unbearable pain. His arm seemed to be broken...