Shadow Slave

Sunny was ready for battle.

Now... he wasn't Sunny anymore.

He was a mighty serpent, clad in an armor of onyx scales, with fangs as sharp as diamonds and enough fury to incinerate the world.

But that was not enough.

Following his wrathful roar, the Shell hiding below his scales turned into the adamantine Mantle. A fearsome obsidian armor encased his flexible body, light as a feather and crafted so intricately as not to restrict his movement in any way.

The water exploded into the air when he dove into the depths... the depths that belonged to him, and him alone.

"OLD SNAKE!"

The call escaped his monstrous maw, turned into a senseless roar.

...What he had done was simple, but also indescribably hard.

He had dove deeper into Shadow Dance than ever before, mirroring both the mind and the physique of a Nightmare Creature. He had not been sure that it would be possible until the last moment, but his meticulous preparation paid off.

It was do or die, nothing less.

He had spent countless hours observing the Azure Serpent and learning everything there was to learn about it. Then, he dissolved into the shadows, and manifested himself back into a tangible form. Finally, he summoned the dead shadow of the Black Turtle, which he had lured into the Lantern, to form a mighty shell around his fragile incarnation.

But, for the first time, the shape of his shell was not that of the shadow fiend. Instead, it was the shape of a monstrous river serpent... the shape of the mad beast whom he feared, admired, and wanted to kill.

Of course, this Shadow Shell could not compare to the real thing. He was only an Ascended, after all, while the Azure Serpent was a Great Beast. It was weaker, less resilient, and smaller - maybe a quarter of the size of the actual abomination.

However, it was suffused with the power of both shadows and soul flame, granting it power well beyond the limits of what an Ascended could possess.

the Mantle, and made to reign the

another challenging his

and he shot forward through the water like a black spear. He could feel it... the scent of blood spilling from the

older? So what if it was

be torn apart by

had

shadow rising from below to meet him. It was brimming with harrowing

he was

know how to

was wrath and

a smaller serpent encased in obsidian armor, wreathed in shadows and blinding white radiance - collided in the water, causing gargantuan waves to rise

he had not twisted his body at the last

had to

he was Lost from

Nightmare Creature. He was not a Beast. He was cunning, resourceful, and skilled. He possessed the honed battle sense of a masterful warrior and

a strange thing, to both believe that he was a serpent with all his heart and know that he was something else. Losing himself in the dance was just too easy... but his True Name

His current form was immensely powerful - no less powerful than a Saint's Transcendent form would have been, perhaps. He could feel the barriers that had been preventing him from

wounds covering the body of the Great Beast, it was still infinitely more powerful than

was why he had to be devious, cunning, and sober if he wanted to kill

be deranged and overcome by fury,

his mad fury and sharpen it into a

sunk his fangs into an open wound on the Azure Serpent's neck. It was only for a moment, though - giving up on tearing

time, because the leviathan's jaws snapped closed just

Azure Serpent was much larger, more powerful, and terrifyingly domineering. The black serpent was smaller and more

even without being caught in the leviathan's jaws, Sunny

and shattered. The shadows below rippled, the internal structure of the shell twisting and breaking apart. The violent currents created by the passing of the Azure Serpent's body were slowing him down, and his dark flesh was

shell was