Shadow Slave

'Damn... that hurt...'

Sunny stumbled back, feeling his hand tremble. He was too slow and failed to avoid an attack... or rather, he was fast enough, but the attack still passed his defense, somehow. Knowing that it could deal serious damage, he had no choice but to block it with his forearm.

His fingers momentarily lost strength, and the hilt of the Sin of Solace slid from them. Luckily, he was holding the great jian with both hands, so it did not fall into the water. Still, losing the leverage prevented Sunny from delivering a truly powerful blow - the jade blade sliced through the Drowned Warrior, but the damage was not fatal.

The entire hall suddenly quaked, and pieces of debris fell from the ceiling. The water flooding the dark expanse surged, and a tall wave spread from where the depth dweller struck down, trying to crush Nephis with its entire weight.

Stepping on the wave, Sunny allowed it to move him out of the path of a jagged harpoon and lunged into another attack.

He had killed plenty of abominations already... but he had also taken a beating. Right now, the flooded hall was engulfed by violence. Sunny, Saint, Fiend, Nightmare, and the two Echoes were resisting the dreadful advance of the Drowned guardians while Nephis was fighting the gargantuan monstrosity.

Cassie... Cassie was still at the entrance to the hall, motionless. Her eyes were obscured by the silver mask, but it seemed as though she was looking directly at the Defiled sybil, ignoring the furious havoc of the battle separating them.

He gritted his teeth, worried.

Had Nephis made the right choice?

Sunny knew that she had. Out of the three of them, he was best suited to face a large group of enemies due his Aspect and his Shadows. Cassie had no combat Ability to help her fight the horror of the depths, which meant that Neph had to.

that could potentially counter the insidious power of the Defiled sybil. Unlike the depth dweller who possessed overwhelming physical might, the true ruler of the flooded temple mostly relied on mystical authority

not exactly right, it was the best one in this dire situation. She assigned each of them

of the same caliber as the Remnant of the Jade Queen - a dreadful beetle Saint Tyris had fought a bloody battle with in Antarctica. More than that, the sybil could potentially counter Cassie's Aspect instead of the Aspect countering her unholy

be able to survive

Sunny was worried, worried...

is she not

just at that moment, Cassie

possess a combat Ability, she was still an Ascended with a fully saturated soul core. She was by no means weak

hair dancing in the wind, Cassie leaped across the dark water and landed on the remains of a crumbled column. A Drowned Warrior immediately lunged at her, delivering a devastating thrust

spearhead aside with her dagger. It only deviated from its path by a few centimeters,

lashed out with the Quiet Dancer, the tip of the slender rapier piercing the creature's eye with surgical precision.

the Drowned even had time to topple, the blind girl was already moving forward. She danced between the attacking abominations, elusive like a ghost. Her movements were swift, but not hurried...

and calculated. Every blow she dealt was fatal. Every

It was flawless.

did not seek out the Drowned to kill - instead, she avoided

the abominations were distracted by Sunny, his Shadows, and the

and seemingly

mass of them. Pushing herself off a pile of rubble, Cassie soared