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.

that Sunny's mental state was cleansed, he entered the familiar state of combat clarity. His movements turned sharper and more precise. His wildly beating

'We can do it.'

perhaps, out of their reach. But resisting her for a while? That, Sunny and

Aletheia's Island shuddered and quaked, they continued to fight Undying

of the most intense fights Sunny 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, draining her reserves. She had already abandoned her ghostly form, facing them as a creature of flesh and

in that manner,

Slaughter possessed one

…She was alone.

in the Dream

were about to die, he shouted hoarsely and

took their place, followed by Nightmare, who rose from the shadows. The retreat and advance were performed seamlessly, not giving

collided with Undying

itching from the last time we met. Prepare to

heavily. He did not know 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

battle happening in front of them with somber intensity. White flames

mostly because she was already running extremely low on essence and did not summon her unholy

by a

sent flying back by a devastating blow from the ghostly blade. His impenetrable steel carapace held, this time, but the infernal

the three, but he was by no means weak.

Reaper was the tip of their attack

forgotten what hesitation was… in fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Her lips were twisted into a dark, murderous grin. Her icy blue eyes were like two lakes

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

you are such a…

words, and

sword against her breastplate twice and

"Go!"

Nightmare again. This time, there was a slight delay before the tired fighters retreated and the rested… relatively rested… fighters

Large chunks of stone fell from the

"Die!"

with Undying Slaughter once

fought. They endured. They

greatest weapon, after

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

Or maybe not quite.

maintained an emotionless expression, her chilling blue eyes filling him with a sense of dread… but her