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.

of combat clarity. His movements turned

'We can do it.'

wraith was, perhaps, out of their reach. But resisting her for a while? That,

quaked, they continued to

bodies had grown heavy with fatigue. This was one of the most intense fights Sunny had ever participated in — the

the Nightmare Creatures. The three of them had forced the mist wraith to waste even more, draining her reserves. She had already abandoned her ghostly form,

manner, the Defiled Saint

Slaughter possessed one fatal

…She was alone.

no one survived in the

that they were about to die, he shouted hoarsely and withdrew. Nephis and Saint dashed

followed by Nightmare, who rose from the shadows. The retreat and advance were performed seamlessly, not giving the wraith a chance to give

moment later, Jet's frosty glave collided with Undying Slaughter's ghostly

last time we met. Prepare

Cruel Sight, breathing heavily. He did not know how long this respite would last, or even if the island

Nephis sheathed her sword, looking at the battle happening in front of them with somber intensity.

Undying Slaughter… mostly because she was already running extremely low on essence and did not summon her unholy powers much. Her speed

by

His impenetrable steel carapace held, this time, but

the most vulnerable of the three, but he was by

tip of their attack

wake. She met Undying Slaughter blow for blow, refusing to be 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

two of them were so alike that, sometimes, it was hard to tell which one was the

are

growled those words, and then staggered

the same time, Saint struck her sword against her breastplate twice and lunged

"Go!"

rested… relatively rested… fighters advanced. However, a bone javelin fell from the sky, forcing the Defiled Saint to

Island was convulsing all around them. Large chunks of stone fell from the bottom of the bridge and plummeted

"Die!"

crossed blades with Undying Slaughter once

They endured. They bought

their greatest weapon,

dead. They had already advanced and retreated three times, but the mist wraith was still as overbearing and

Or maybe not quite.

an emotionless expression, her chilling blue eyes filling him