Shadow Slave

Luckily, Sunny managed to slide down the hill and escape into the mist before Devouring Beast noticed him. Still, he didn't dare to leave the embrace of shadows for a while.

'Effie...'

Effie's Aspect had always been uniquely powerful - which was no surprise, considering its Transcendent Rank. Even on the Forgotten Shore, there had been few people more capable than her. Some, like Caster of Han Li Clan, had been superior to the solitary huntress in certain facets of physical combat, but none had been as well-rounded. That was one of the reasons why Effie had survived years of hunting the Dark City abominations alone.

Her Aspect was all about battle and physical prowess... so, Sunny was not sure that Devouring Beast even had means of destroying his intangible form. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

...His heart was cold and heavy.

'How do I fight something like that?'

Effie's Dormant Ability granted her a powerful and, more importantly, comprehensive physical augmentation. She was inconceivably strong, fast, enduring, resilient... now that Sunny was a Tyrant, the gap between them was not vast, but she was still superior to him in certain aspects.

The same went for her Awakened Ability. It basically made her skin as tough as steel... Sunny, on the other hand, had his Marble Shell. The two could be compared, but although the Shell was more versatile, it was not as stalwart in terms of pure defensive potential.

Of course, he had Shadow Step instead, making him much more mobile and elusive on and outside the battlefield. He had Shadow Manifestation, as well, while Effie's Ascended Ability was meant to empower her allies.

So, there was no question about who would win in a duel. No matter how much Sunny admired his boisterous friend, he knew that she stood no chance in a fight against him. With Shadow Dance, it would not even be close... much more so if his Shadows were involved.

But that was Effie. Devouring Beast, on the other hand...

Was a Defiled Saint. Her Transformation was to become a towering giant, and that giant inherited the benefits of her other Aspect Abilities, as well - all of them elevated to a higher Rank. The strength of a dozen men, the skin of steel. Her gargantuan figure would also be much more visible on a battlefield, making it so that entire armies would be able to see her and benefit from her Ascended Ability.

'What a monster...'

Sunny was already terrified at the thought of having to face the mist wraith in a battle. The bestial giant... was, in a sense, even more harrowing.

'Damn it! Damn it! Since when do I have to fight Saints on a constant basis?! And how did the Plagues all Transcend, anyway?!'

to be an

the tower to return to his human form. Diving out of the shadows, Sunny leaned on the trunk of a pine tree, breathed in deeply,

of his essence, probably because he had brought the sacred staff with him. Usually, Sunny was able to pull a certain weight of inanimate objects into Shadow Step... but perhaps because of the

Guiding Light was still pointing forward, not back to the tower. For a few moments there, Sunny had been concerned that it would lead

thought about the bestial giant. The radiance of the soul crystal

remembered how Cassie had described getting the sacred staff

'Come on... really...'

concentrated and

can you guide me to

did

back to where the Chain Breaker was. When he thought

'Strange.'

to emerge from the shadows, climbed into the saddle, and continued traveling

out to be extremely dangerous, but not as dangerous as Sunny had imagined it to be. There were many harrowing abominations trapped in

were three reasons for

one was pretty obvious, by now. Cassie had suggested that all Nightmare Creatures that had been caught by the vortex and managed to reach the island over the centuries were still here, reliving the same period of time over and over again inside the loop. She was both right and

Sunny shuddered at the thought of having to fight them all... no matter how powerful, cunning, and lucky the members of the cohort were, they would inevitably die under the onslaught of these ancient horrors - over and over again, until

creatures were still... whole. Many were motionless and empty, just like the Dark Butterfly

that remained, many were already

areas where the trees had been broken, and bloodied remains of devoured Nightmare

on the ground, dead, not a single wound visible on their bodies. That was where Undying

Flower, making the island safer for the members of the cohort in an ironic twist of fate. Without their bloodthirst, Sunny would have never made it that far in a single

creatures, using Nightmare's speed to escape them.

failed to find Effie,

not wanting to prolong the journey by riding around it, Sunny reluctantly dismounted and climbed down. His hope was to reach the bottom of

waiting for him in the moist darkness. Much worse,

by the tide of worm-like creatures, but he was forced to move deeper into the chasm to escape

suns were setting because the enchantment of the Crown of Twilight suddenly activated, replenishing his spent