Shadow Slave

1521 Sharpest Arrow

In the courtyard of the drowning fortress, a harrowing dragon growled and took a step back, its massive body shuddering. His silver eyes had lost their sinister light, turning glossy and unfocused.

A vicious battle must have been taking place in the dragon's corrupted soul.

The maddening whispers thundering in Kai's head finally grew silent. He swayed, then took a labored breath and limped toward Sunny.

His friend was laying on the cold stones, barely alive. His body was a terrible painting of torn flesh, white bones visible through its mangled mess. Eerily, he was still not bleeding at all… usually, Kai would have been reassured by that fact, but right now, it looked like Sunny was already a cold corpse.

But he wasn't a corpse. Sunny was still moving, struggling to stand up. Even after battling a Defiled Saint tooth and nail, he was still unbroken, trying to continue to fight.

As Kai approached, he heard his furious whispers:

"Kill you… I'll kill you… shut up! I'll tear you apart!"

Strangely enough, his hateful gaze was not directed at the archer. Instead, Sunny was glaring past him, seemingly at an empty spot.

Kai felt his heart tighten.

'What is happening to him?'

Sunny had always had a wild personality, and there was that time he had turned a little feral in the Dark City… but he was never truly mad. Now, however, it seemed as though his friend had entirely lost his mind.

'There must be a reason.'

He had warned Kai to stay away before, had he not? That meant that this strange condition Sunny was in had a purpose. To resist the authority of the Dread Lord, most likely… somehow. It had to be a part of some cunning scheme.

He would deal with it later.

For now, Kai had a more serious problem to solve.

The abominable dragon was still alive. And while that man, Mordret, seemed confident in himself, there was no telling who would prevail in their dire fight.

The result would be clear in seconds.

But…

at the dragon

monsters. He still remembered what the scion of the Great Clan Valor had done in the Second Nightmare. The harrowing

he did win, was it really fine to let the dreadful authority of

more, Sunny. I'll come

ground. Soaring into the air, he strained his core muscles to draw the string of his bow, and at the

strength. Its enchantment was rather

tough task. More than that, its tip would shatter against any kind of armor… therefore, it wasn't easy to

the abominable dragon was nearly paralyzed by the battle happening within its soul, Kai had

even end right now, leaving him

himself right to the dragon's maw, and looked into the

Ascended Ability and

addressing the Dread Lord, however. He was addressing

"KILL HIM!"

filled his broken body, and a cold,

an

it to stray off course, and there was

It had been shot from a Transcendent bow of the Fifth Tier by the hand of a Master, and so the havoc it wreaked inside the Dread Lord's head was truly

against Sunny, and his soul had

shuddered and let out a terrible

groan, Kai was thrown back and crashed into the pile of stone

blood shooting

mighty dragon toppled and fell heavily to the ground,

This time, forever.

heard the Spell whisper

have slain a Corrupted Tyrant, Hideous Ruler of the Empty

[You have…]

by pain, he didn't hear the

did, however, hear a terrible

ground in agony. It was Mordret, the scion of Valor… missing a hand and covered in blood. There was something terribly wrong with that

nearby puddle. Reaching it, he thrust his hand into the water… no, into his own reflection… and tore something from within his

like a soul shard… no, a piece

the ground, the mirror shard suddenly rippled and turned into a vague figure. That figure then turned into a

Reflection, created by ripping one of