Shadow Slave

1515 Formless Shadow

High in the sky above Twilight, Sunny was being mauled by the Dread Lord. The monstrous butterfly shell he had hastily created was battered and torn, bleeding shadows into the air. The shadows dissipated into the beautiful radiance of dawn, disappearing.

He had spent months on Aletheia's Island, fighting against and being killed by all kinds of harrowing creatures. Of course, he had learned a lot about his killers during that time. The Hollow Butterfly was harder to fathom because it lacked a soul, though, and so its shell was rough and unstable.

Sunny did not care. All he cared about was hurting the hateful dragon.

His wings had long been broken, failing to regrow, so he clutched onto the body of the Dread Lord with his six sharp legs. His giant eyes were faceted, consisting of thousands of smaller ones, and so, thousands of harrowing dragons reflected in their dark surface, filling him with boundless rage.

His long beak had just pierced the Dread Lord's flesh in the spot where a few scales had cracked, mangling it.

'Ah…'

Sunny felt murderous joy.

Bleeding and hurt by that last attack, the dragon spread its wings. His maw opened, and another melodious call escaped from it, battering the monstrous butterfly like a devastating ram. Reeling from the shockwave of the following sonic boom, Sunny felt his shell falling apart and growled, mending it.

The Dread Lord was a step ahead, though. Before the damaged butterfly coalesced back into a stable form, he tore two of its legs with his fangs, then broke another with his terrifying claws.

Sunny felt his grip on the odious dragon loosen.

'No… no! Come back here, you hideous worm!'

Blinded by pain and driven mad by the scent of blood, he laughed.

The massive body of the tenebrous butterfly rippled and then flowed, changing shape. Long tentacles shot from its carapace, wrapping themselves around the Dread Lord's wings and pressing them into his body. Soon, a revolting octopus-like abomination was clinging to him, tearing at his scales with a sharp beak.

than they were supposed to, considering that Kai — and, by extension, the Dread Lord — could fly

sending cracks running through the carapace of the inconceivable carcass Twilight stood upon, Sunny

his shell already shifting. By the time the Dread Lord rose, a giant leopard of decaying flesh was already

Their frenzied battle continued.

land predator. When the Dread Lord tried to rise into the sky, he assumed the form of a flying monstrosity. When the dragon threw him underwater, he turned into the onyx serpent, relentlessly attacking his loathsome enemy in

Even robbed of his most insidious weapon, the Dread Lord was still a harrowing foe. His mighty body, his

more soul damage despite being hidden inside an armored shell.

all Sunny

'Bleed for me, worm…'

one arrow after another at the Dread Lord. That fly wanted to steal his vengeance from him, and so, Sunny swiped at it

a little… I'll kill you

was going to kill

the dragon would

if Sunny had to rip his own soul apart to murder the loathsome worm, he would see him

'Die! Die! Die!'

[King's Resentment] fueling him, Sunny was struggling to deal severe damage to the Dread Lord. He vaguely remembered that there was someone else he had to kill… a vile amalgamation of countless

could even change his shape, the harrowing dragon bit into his shell, tearing it, and dragged him

hateful voice boomed in his head, making

HAVE RETURNED TO THE SOURCE. I

crumbling shell with his maw, the

Laughed at him.

Sunny roared in fury.

YES… I'LL DEVOUR

He was

embrace of his shell, Sunny went

the shell of the onyx serpent to dissolve into a torrent