Shadow Slave

Effie was having a hard time standing her ground against the giant centipede... in fact, she was barely holding on. Even though a furious barrage of bullets, enchanted arrows, and magical projectiles was raining on the ghastly carapace of skulls, the abomination did not seem slowed down at all. Its massive body moved with dire speed, thousands of scythe-like legs tearing up the ground with each motion.

The difference in size between the Tyrant and the fearless huntress was just too big. Effie's only saving grace was that her body, despite being hundreds of times smaller than that of the ghastly centipede, seemed to contain truly astounding strength.

She was incredibly swift and agile, as well, dashing around with stunning speed to dodge the crushing blows of the monstrous creature. Above everything else, the huntress was all but invulnerable - her innate resilience was reinforced by two Aspect Abilities, and then strengthened by a Transcendent armor on top of that.

She had received several glancing blows from the abomination, which would have turned almost any other Master into a broken corpse. Effie, however, was able to shake them off and continue to fight.

...Of course, there was no such thing as true invulnerability. The huntress was fine for now, but she was still dancing with death.

The round shield she wielded possessed an enchantment called [Indomitable], which functioned similar to Sunny's own [Feather of Truth] and allowed Effie to change its weight at will. Her spear was not able to deal serious wounds to the Tyrant, but its strikes must have stung - Sunny saw the creature recoiling after the huntress managed to land a solid blow.

...All that allowed Raised by Wolves to tie down the Skull Centipede, at least for a short while.

However, it did not mean that she would win.

It took all Effie had to simply match the menace of the Corrupted Tyrant's massive body - all her Abilities, all her skill, and all her powerful Memories - while the abomination had not revealed any of its powers yet.

Once it did, the situation would inevitably change.

And that moment... had already come.

As Sunny watched, Effie managed to push the centipede back once again. The shockwave of the impact threw her back, as well - the huntress slid through the dirt, leaving two grooves in it. Her spear shot down, piercing the ground and bringing her to a sudden stop.

A moment later, she was already lunging forward, ready to deliver another strike... however, the Tyrant seemed to be fed up with their furious clash.

The Skull Centipede raised its appalling head, the branches of the dead trees growing from the carapace of skulls swinging in the wind. Sunny's eyes widened slightly as he felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

It was as though the wind that brushed against the skeletal branches was full of tormented whispers.

A small black dot appeared in the air between the two trees. The dot warped and twisted, collapsing in on itself... and then began to grow, devouring the fabric of reality itself. It seemed as if an abyssal gate was starting to open in the air above the creature's head.

'Crap!'

Sunny instantly knew that nothing good was going to happen if the circle of darkness was allowed to finish forming. He made a move to step forward...

But at that moment, a stream of light tore the sky asunder, falling from somewhere high above with inconceivable speed. It streaked across the battlefield like a flaming comet and crossed paths with the centipede's head, exploding with blinding radiance.

A low boom resounded, followed by the sound of shattering wood.

Kai had arrived.

The plan of the battle the four Masters had come up with assigned each of them an important role. Sunny was responsible for luring the Tyrant to the ambush site and creating an obstacle for the bone fiends crawling out of the river. Jet was meant to lead the defenders and make sure that the trenches were not overrun.

Effie's role was to stall the centipede - and, more importantly, distract it. But it was Kai who was the key to their success... or failure.

The whole plan depended on whether the Tyrant would be able to unleash its harrowing powers. To prevent it from happening and reduce the Skull Centipede to a mere giant beast, the trees growing from its head had to be destroyed. That was what Kai had to accomplish.

He had hidden himself high in the sky and bid his time, waiting for an opportune moment. Then, the archer plunged down, burning his essence and using gravity to reach truly astonishing speed.

And now, he delivered his attack, using that speed to close the trap they had set. The flaming comet was Kai himself, and he held a slender, shining saber in his hand.

All of it happened in the blink of an eye. The streak of light crossed the creature's head, something flashed, and then a loud explosion boomed, washing over the battlefield.

A split second later, Kai fell into the river. His speed was still so tremendous that he slid across the surface of the water without plunging into it - and only slowed down after being pushed a hundred meters away from the shore.

The head of the Skull Centipede, meanwhile, was flung to the side. One of the dead trees crowning it was completely shattered, its trunk exploding into thousands of sharp splinters. The circle of darkness collapsed and disappeared without a trace, never receiving the chance to fully form.

Sunny let out a relieved sigh.

'It worked...'

The Tyrant opened its maw, letting out a blood-chilling screech.

The bone fiends trembled, becoming disorganized and somewhat sluggish.

The soldiers roared with dark glee, invigorated by the sight of the giant creature losing one of its horns.

Effie was already advancing, her spear ready to strike.

Kai had managed to regain his balance and pushed himself off the surface of the water, shooting back into the sky and summoning his bow.

A black arrow suddenly shot out of the cloud of darkness surrounding the Shadow Lantern. Empowered by Saint's Transcended strength and the [Death Dealer] enchantment, the arrow struck the neck of the Tyrant with harrowing force, annihilating layers of skulls and ripping a huge chunk of flesh out of it.

...However, Sunny did not pay any of it much attention.

Because right at that moment, the Spell whispered into his ear:

[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Malignant Root's Sapling.][Your shadow grows stronger.]

Sunny froze, his face turning deathly pale.

'Here we go again...'

The voice of the Spell grew louder.

[...Your shadow is overflowing with power.]