Shadow Slave

Sunny had suffered to lure the Azure Serpent to the surface, but there was a good reason to guide the mad beast there. Two reasons, even — Saint and Nephis.

Although neither of them was as capable of fighting the abomination in the water as Sunny was, they could still play an important role in the battle. It was just that he had to create an opportunity for them to do so.

And he had.

As Sunny was convulsing from pain, two arrows struck the raging leviathan.

One was entirely black, as if forged out of pure darkness… which it was. Augmented both by her [Mantle of Darkness] and [Blade of Darkness] Abilities, as well as the enhancement of the Stifled Scream, Saint's arrow pierced the Azure Serpent's one remaining eye.

It was the darkest hour of the night, and so her strength was at its peak. More than that, this first shot she sent was empowered by the dreadful destructiveness of the [Death Dealer] enchantment, and so it delivered the most damage.

And yet… the giant eye of the ancient leviathan still wasn't destroyed. It was only damaged, becoming painted red — which made the mad beast look even more menacing.

Sunny had put a lot of hope into this first salvo, but he was left disappointed. It didn't matter, though. During their violent ascent, he had been strategically trying to place himself on the side of the Azure Serpent where it was blind… however, there was no advantage to be gained there. Whatever senses the enemy was using to perceive his movements were perfect and precise, even without vision.

His plan to blind the mad beast had been meaningless from the start.

The second arrow was white.

was not nearly as forceful as that of the first arrow,

simply a preference. As a Legacy, she had been trained in the use of all kinds of weapons, and that certainly included bows. There was a powerful Memory longbow in her soul arsenal, crafted by the forgemasters of Valor,

existing wound, where the azure scales and the tough skin of the leviathan had already been torn open by the Dark

her arrows — instead, it was to deliver the black venom from the overflowing

dose of the black venom was not going to affect the Azure Serpent much, but ten, twenty,

Saint and Nephis to bring the mad beast down. After all, all five shadows and all the soul flame were augmenting him, and him alone — he was the

seemed to be

Azure Serpent, but they had distracted it for a second. That second was enough for Sunny to shake off the terrible pain of having his soul damaged and slightly repair his shell. Letting out a wrathful hiss,

had no taste buds, he could swear that he sensed the salty taste of blood

taste drove him into

am going to devour you… I am going

was only through an incredible effort that he forced himself to maintain control and let go, dashing aside just in time to avoid being trapped and crushed in the coils of the Azure Serpent's

fell into the incinerating inferno of his

'This is dangerous…'

form of a Nightmare Creature, of diving into its mind and heart so deeply, was in and of itself a great danger. Sunny had used Shadow Dance to read abominations before, but he had never tried

to get lost in that state —

was not a panacea. He also had to maintain his sense of self...

was the fourth