Shadow Slave

The carnivorous plants and the abominable vermin populating the jungle had hidden away out of fear, terrified by the approach of the masters of the ancient ruin. So, Nephis ran fast, covering a great distance with each second.

The wind was cool, soothing her slender body.

The Lord of Shadows had taken the lead, his strides like that of a beast. His powerful limbs tore the ground, and from time to time, he used the trunks of the towering trees to leap forward, sending splinters flying back.

Soon enough, Nephis sensed the approach of a new enemy.

The same kind of golem broke through the wall of vines, and the ground quaked from the crushing impact of its footsteps. The creature looked just like the one they had slain a minute earlier — tall, overgrown with scarlet moss, its ancient stone carapace ace covered by a net of cracks.

This one was armed with a diamond scepter instead of a mace a split second later, the scepter was already flying at the shadow demon's head.

Its speed was so dire that a fatal blow seemed inevitable. The jungle itself swayed, following the trajectory of the diamond weapon.

Nephis raised her sword to block.

A fraction of a second later, the Lord of Shadows…. simply disappeared from the path of the scepter. There was a thunderous boom, and a devastating shockwave spread in a wide cone from the point where the asura's weapon had been supposed to hit.

A vast swath of the jungle, hundreds of meters across, was instantly devastated.

Sadly enough, Nephis was right in the middle of the cone of destruction. The sword she had raised cut through it, sharp and indomitable, allowing her to continue moving forward without slowing down too much.

She jumped, stepped on the diamond scepter, ran across its length, and delivered a dire downward slash all in a matter of a single moment.

The tough stone carapace of the Great Beast did not split open, but that was not her goal. What Nephis aimed for was to infect it with the decay of the [Testament of Malice].

Before the creature could catch her, she had already jumped back, twisting gracefully midair.

The Lord of Shadows appeared from the darkness behind the creature, his enormous odachi falling down like the blade of a giant guillotine. In that demonic form, encased in fearsome onyx armor, he was no less imposing than the abominable asura. The might of his strike was so terrible that the knees of the Great Beast buckled, its feet sinking deep into the moss.

The ground itself split open.

shards shot into the

«There is another one!»

a chokehold. His other two hands turned the black odachi downward and drove its tip into the crack infected by the decay

Dormant Ability. At that moment, though, she summoned a spark of soul flame and, enduring the agony, uttered the Names

into a raging inferno, incinerating everything in its path. The jungle in front of her turned to

by the shockwave of the directed explosion, and the flame stuck to its carapace, burning

was softened by the terrible heat. The desiccated flesh

the towering Nightmare Creature rose

«There is no time…»

lunge at the abomination being held down by the Lord of Shadows. Knowing how to destroy one, they

could be wrestled to

blazed with brilliant radiance, absorbing the full

blinding light, and the abomination's stone carapace crumbled. The joint attack of light and shadow had overcome its decaying resilience, and the perfect unity of their murderous wills had overcome its will to

slowly fell, the diamond scepter slipping

Nightmare Creature

crack of his visor, the Lord of Shadows growled deeply and strained his mighty body. Nephis ducked as the massive corpse of the

they made short work

while the

Beasts in just as many minutes… even for Nephis, that

was still not

them rushed away. More of these terrible creatures were coming, and the survival of the two Sleepers was hanging by a

they ran, the Lord

we might very

clear, as if he didn't care

answered succinctly, long accustomed to

«That is true.»

lingered for a

to die for a

over a fallen tree, landed nimbly, and

«It is!»