Shadow Slave

Sunny held his odachi lightly as he watched Nephis take unhurried steps in his direction. The familiar white flames were dancing in her eyes…

But what was this?

As he walked, the same sparks ignited in the eyes of the seven Fire Keepers. A moment later, their bodies shone with a soft white radiance, and the bruises and contusions left on them by his restrained blows disappeared without a trace. Expressions of gratitude and relief appeared on their faces, and at the same time, Neph's own face grew colder.

'Since when can she heal others from a distance?'

Before he could consider the implications of that unexpected turn of events, her sword left the enchanted scabbard with a quiet murmur. Its mirror-like blade was as black as the night sky, the light of the magical lanterns reflecting in it like distant stars.

He knew that sword well… or rather, he had known it once.

The silver blade was a Transcendent Memory of the Seventh Tier Nephis had received after slaying Soul Stealer. It was a mighty weapon, and had been made mightier still by Sunny himself. He had transplanted a Supreme soul shard as one of its nodes, augmenting the fundamental enchantment of the silver blade..

But now, it was different.

Sunny frowned behind the mask when he noticed a familiar symbol branded into the mystical steel just above the crossguard. An anvil pierced through by a sword…

Had one of the forgemasters of the Clan Valor deemed themselves competent enough to improve on his own work? No, they wouldn't have been able to.

That left only one person, then.

The King of Swords himself.

That bastard. Who gave him the right to taint the gift I gave her with his dirty hands?

Suddenly, Sunny felt displeased.

And since he did, the shadows drowning the great hall of the Nameless Temple moved, overcome by the same displeasure.

had been retreating to give the two Saints space to fight, suddenly

sensed the change in

the matter, Lord Shadow? Do you not

'Sunny smiled darkly.'

am a peaceful

at Neph's throat. His sudden attack was violent and ruthless, aimed at slicing open her arteries and severing her

taking a sidestep in the opposite direction at the same time.

not be perceived by the

the silver sword missed his chest by

exchange, Sunny and Nephis circled

The, she suddenly spoke:

those trained by Valor are

head a little, Sunny

only seemed polite to greet them by using

of Neph's

style would you have used if

his odachi and took a

"Something like this."

later, they were upon each other once more, their swords weaving a complicated web of attacks and deflections in the air. Both were moving with astonishing speed, exchanging dozens of blows in a second. The clangor of steel fused

the spot where the Lord of Shadows and the radiant Star of Ruin clashed, sending a cloud of dust rushing outward like an opaque sphere. The Fire Keepers reeled

it…

his Transcendent body to its limit, Sunny was momentarily overcome by the exhilaration of combat. He had missed having someone to spar with, and dueling the Fire

the clash between him and Nephis was much more furious and destructive than the previous fight. After all… he was a Trasncendent Terror, and she was

remained standing from the dawn of the Age of Gods to this day otherwise…

worried that it would be seriously damaged… not unless either Nephis or him

I lose without having Nephis realize that I threw the

There were two problems.

Nephis was too good of a swordsman, so weaving any kind of pretense in front of her was not