Shadow Slave

1478 Soul Reaper Jet

Weighed down by an instinctual fear, Sunny used an old ally to overcome it… spite. With its help, some of the invisible chains that were holding him back snapped.

But not all of them.

Working together with Nephis and Saint, Sunny managed to stall Undying Slaughter. The three of them surrounded her, but they were in no position to attack. Instead, they were barely managing to stay alive while protecting each other and concentrating on defense.

The mist wraith was slowly pushing them back.

Sunny's spiteful nature was enough to help him overcome the memory of agony and death, but it was not powerful enough to dispel a deeper, far more painful fear. The fear of watching those he cared about die.

The memory of that helplessness, that sorrow, that guilt… was incomparably more dreadful than the memory of having his own life snuffed out. Death was merciful, after all. The dead felt no pain.

So, to struggle free of the remaining chains, Sunny needed to find a more resilient source of strength within his heart. He could not rid himself of the lingering scars delivered to him by Aletheia's Island with just spite.

As he searched for that source, Undying Slaughter moved like mist, suddenly appearing behind Nephis. Her ghostly blade lashed out silently, almost piercing Neph's chest… if the young woman had not dodged at the last moment, one of her soul cores would have been destroyed.

cores would have been destroyed.

Sunny froze for a moment…

And then exploded with ferocious might.

'Ah. I think I found it.'

Finally, the fear that had been holding him back was vanquished. Sunny had found the strength he needed to free himself of it… and it was an obvious one, at that.

His desire to protect those he cherished was much more powerful than his vindictive desire to avenge himself. It made sense, really… since the fear of losing his companions was stronger than the fear of losing his own life, the resolve that had to do with others would naturally be larger than the resolve that only had to do with himself.

Payback was fine, but protecting the people he loved was a much more powerful source of motivation... incomparably so, really.

Feeling as if a great weight had been removed from his heart, Sunny shook off the lingering trauma of having endured the loop, and threw himself into the battle with boundless determination.

His killing intent soared, not at all inferior to the murderous will of the dreadful wraith.

…And yet, Sunny did not allow that intent to rule him.

Coldly and callously, he reminded himself of what their goal was. It was not to defeat Undying Slaughter in battle… it was to prolong the battle to the point where her Flaw would destroy her without their help, or at least weaken her enough to doom her.

entered the familiar state of combat clarity.

'We can do it.'

But resisting her for a while? That, Sunny and his

and quaked, they continued to fight Undying Slaughter on

long as they could. Eventually, though, even their inexhaustible bodies had grown heavy with fatigue. This was one of the most intense fights Sunny had ever participated in — the perilous battle with Dire Fang seemed mild in comparison to this harrowing clash. Of

Undying Slaughter had absorbed by killing Devouring Beast was already somewhat exhausted in her battle against the Nightmare Creatures. The three of them had forced the mist wraith to waste even more,

manner, the

possessed

…She was alone.

survived in the

to die, he shouted hoarsely and withdrew. Nephis and Saint

The retreat and advance were performed seamlessly, not giving the wraith a chance to give

Jet's frosty glave collided with

is still itching from the last time we met. Prepare to die…

how long this respite would last, or even if the island itself would last much longer. All he knew was that he had to be able to rejoin the battle as soon as

sheathed her sword, looking at the battle happening in front of them with somber intensity. White flames were dancing

was already running extremely low on essence and did not summon her unholy powers

not by a

blow from the ghostly blade. His

three, but he was by no means weak. His furious attacks gave Jet the opportunity

was the tip

pushed back. It was as if she had forgotten what hesitation was… in fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Her lips were twisted into a dark, murderous grin. Her icy

so alike that, sometimes, it was hard to tell which one was the valiant

are such

words, and

time, Saint struck her sword against her breastplate twice and lunged forward. Sunny

"Go!"

Fiend, a Nightmare again. This time, there was a slight delay before the tired fighters retreated and the rested… relatively rested… fighters advanced. However, a bone javelin fell from the sky, forcing the Defiled Saint to slow

the bottom of the bridge and plummeted

"Die!"

blades with

endured.

was their greatest

like he was going to drop dead. They had already advanced and retreated three times, but the mist wraith was still as overbearing

Or maybe not quite.

running dry. Undying Slaughter still maintained an emotionless expression, her chilling blue eyes filling him with a