Shadow Slave

They could not escape, but they also could not fight the Cursed Tyrant.

In that situation, the only way out Nephis saw was to create a momentary lapse in the Tyrant's concentration.

It was the abomination's profane will that was preventing them from reaching the jungle. If that will was weakened, even for a few moments, a path to freedom would be theirs to take.

Nephis had no hope of killing the evil deity, and no confidence to face it in a prolonged battle. However… she was pretty sure that she could at least hurt it.

She knew pain better than most. She knew how hard it was to keep calm and steady when your body and soul were being blackened by flame. How it felt to burn alive.

Anyone's will would be shaken by that agony.

But her adversary this time was a Cursed Tyrant. Not any flame would be able to hurt it, and her usual attacks were woefully insufficient.

So, she had to give it her all.

…Which required time.

The Lord of Shadows had to buy her that time.

As the pursuing asuras closed in on them, he glanced at her briefly.

Then, he sighed and let go of his black odachi.

The tenebrous sword fell to the ground, but rippled like liquid in the air. She thought that she saw a glimmer of serpentine scales.

A moment later, the odachi turned into a torrent of shadows, and then coalesced into a human form… that of a woman, both her clothes and skin perfectly black, her hair like a waterfall of silken darkness. She was standing with her back to Nephis, so her face was hidden from view. And yet, it felt like the mysterious woman was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

More than that… her presence was that of a Transcendent.

A moment ago, there were two Saints facing the Great Beasts.

Now, there were three.

Pulling another sword out of the darkness, the Lord of Shadows lunged at the ghastly asuras without wasting any time. The black woman followed, moving with dire speed and indescribable grace.

They clashed with the abominations a split second later.

Sadly, Nephis could not observe their battle.

She was reaching into her soul.

The blinding light emanated by her radiant figure grew even more intense, its heat more unbearable, The vines and moss covering the ruins around her turned to ash, revealing ancient stone structures, The weathered stone started to melt.

«It's going to hurt…»

Her goal was to cause the Cursed being pain, but to achieve it, she had to withstand her own share of agony.

As something too harrowing to witness and too appaling to see slowly revealed itself from beneath the collapsing soil, Nephis steeled her will… and ignited her soul.

a derivative skill of her Aspect, something she had always been capable of, but only

burning soul essence, she was burning

had done so in Twilight, Nephis was doing it in a much more refined

moment, her soul cores grew weaker, and her counter of soul fragments plummeted

terrifying power contained within it

wild thing.., it spread in all directions, annihilating everything in Its path.

strong as a Cursed Tyrant, however, such a dispersed tool of

agony, Nephis endured the feeling of her soul being burned to ash,

of her, the Lord of Shadows and the mysterious Saint

verse put a terrible strain on her mind, her burning soul, and even her

Name of the Fire to

the wind to fan

These two were easier.

The other two…

trembled as she

the Name

enhance the destructive force of

the

the most important

She smiled darkly.

«…Condemnation!»

which had been so

bind the devastating flame to the ancient fiend, and bind the

a powerful

and destruction upon the Tyrant, using her

ray of concentrated flame shot off her palm, connecting it to the terrible shape of the rising

flame, it seemed like a

slicing it apart like a sharp blade. Terrible burns

as Nephis was drowning in terrible

Tyrant convulsed, its mind

indescribable, deafening, harrowing sound shook the world. It was a sound that would drive a

Condemnation was screaming.

«R-run!»

turned into a

I should summon the rest of

momentarily dazed, paying the price for burning away a part of her

the Lord of Shadows to run, but found herself unable to follow

grabbed her. Raising her unceremoniously, he dashed away without saying a word. The onyx

am I…

She was stunned.

had something like that ever happened

a hold of yourself,

situation, his voice sounded as cold and arrogant as always. Maybe even

eyes for a moment, then

itself from sparks of light, the Lord of Shadows