Shadow Slave

Enhanced by the Blood Blossom, the austere tachi suddenly felt lighter in his hands, full of cold, frightening determination. It was almost as though it had a mind of its own now, a mind focused on one goal: to find the enemy and get a taste of their blood.

'Finally…'

A moment later, Nephis attacked again, her beautiful face cold and indifferent like an alabaster mask. Only the flames in her eyes moved, burning furiously, white as the empty void of the godless heavens above their heads.

Sunny gritted his teeth and moved to meet her. Their blades clashed once again. Just like before, he was shaken by the force of the impact… only now, he had managed to intercept her strike a fraction of a second faster.

It was as though the Midnight Shard was ever so slightly pulling his hand, making it move with a bit more speed, aim a little better, withstand the pressure of the strikes with a subtly less strain.

In the next few seconds, that change had become more apparent.

Before, he had no chance to launch an offense. Changing Star was reveling in her flowing and unpredictable battle style, her every movement oppressive and unpredictable. This unpredictability alone made him wary of committing to an attack.

Of course, Sunny was using the same style. But even though he had mastered it to an admirable degree, his technique was by no means equal to that of Changing Star.

What was worse, she knew it far better than him, so his moves could potentially be predicted with terrifying ease.

The only reason why Sunny was still on his feet was because of the elements of the Saint's grounded style that he had incorporated into his own. Measured and precise, but also capable of explosive counterattacks, it allowed him to both defend against Neph's ruthless assault and restrain her to a certain degree, using the threat of a sudden reversal to keep her from going all out.

More importantly, she was less familiar with that style, which allowed him to diminish the predictability of his movements.

And now, with the help of the Blood Blossom, Sunny was able to resist Nephis more efficiently, even if it was just by a tiny amount.

But the measure of that difference didn't really matter. Because the longer their fight went on and the more she bled, the stronger he would become.

…It wasn't long before he finally managed to land a hit, the tip of his sword scratching against one of her gauntlets.

'This is just a begin…'

However, his thought was instantly interrupted.

'What…'

Nephis suddenly changed her behavior. Perhaps she had sensed the shift in the dynamic between the two of them, or perhaps she was just desperate to end this fight before her powers ran dry and her terrible wounds finally caught up with her.

Or maybe there was some other reason, one that Sunny failed to account for.

But regardless of it, Neph suddenly abandoned her previous calculated attack pattern and instead descended on him in a rain of deadly steel, her defense crumbling and leaving her open to retaliation.

Caught by surprise, Sunny barely had time to shift his stance and block.

The Midnight Shard was thrown down by a violent blow, pressing against his shoulder. The silver longsword slid across its length and scratched against the guard of the tachi, mere centimeters away from Sunny's throat.

For a few heartbeats, the two of them struggled desperately, trying to overpower the enemy. Their bodies were so close that Sunny could feel Neph's breath on his cheek, as well as the heat radiating from her skin.

'Damn it!'

She was just stronger… so much stronger…

Little by little, her sword angled forward, and then bit into his skin, blood flowing on its silver blade. With an angry growl, Sunny let go of the hilt of the Midnight Shard with one hand. His fist shot toward Changing Star's body, the ghostly stiletto appearing in it at the last moment.

But, of course, Nephis had anticipated that. She twisted her torso, allowing the Moonlight Shard to leave a deep but harmless scratch on her breastplate. In doing so, she had to relieve pressure on the tachi, allowing Sunny to push her sword away from his neck.

But before he could jump back, Neph finished her attack by delivering a devastating blow to his head with the pommel of her sword.

Disoriented, Sunny staggered back. He felt blood streaming into his eyes and lost his vision for a moment. Even Shadow Sense was useless, because he simply couldn't differentiate up from down right now.

Suddenly, his heart was full of dread.

'Think, think!'

He had maybe a fraction of a second left before suffering a complete defeat.

'What is she going to do…'

The silver longsword was currently… currently… raised slightly above him after the upward strike. The fastest way to finish the fight would be to bring it down, possibly with its flat on his head, or with its edge on his shoulder, thus severing one of his arms… yes, the second option was the easiest to execute and the most advantageous…

But it was Nephis he was thinking about. What would she do?

Faced with the choice of protecting his head or his shoulder, Sunny instinctively threw the Midnight Shard up to block a vertical blow aimed at his skull. His body moved on its own, following the memory of countless hours of training. Thanks to that, he was able to perform the block even in this stunned state.

His judgment was correct. The tachi collided against Changing Star's sword and was thrown aside. But thanks to that, the strike missed his head completely.

Instead, it fell on his clavicle and bit deep into his flesh, scraping against bone.

Sunny's world exploded with pain.

…But instead of letting it overpower him, he leaned forward and caught Neph's hand in a trap, entangling it with his own.

Then, he drove the Midnight Shard forward and felt it pierce soft flesh.

Nephis shrieked, her voice full of agony and shock. Then, she pushed him away.

Sunny fell to the ground.

'Damn… damn, this hurts…'

Regaining some semblance of control over his mind, he raised a hand and wiped the blood away from his eyes. Then, he rose to his knees and looked in the direction where Nephis had been.

She was standings a few meters away, leaning on her sword for support. There was a deep gash in her abdomen, just below the lower edge of the fractured breastplate of the Starlight Legion Armor, and a grimace of pain on her face.

Blood was flowing from the wound he had caused her like a crimson stream.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Sunny lowered his gaze, at the austere tachi that lay on the floor between them.

In all the mayhem, he had lost his sword.

Both of them froze for a second.

Then, ignoring the terrible pain pulsating in his wounded shoulder, Sunny lunged forward and grabbed the hilt of the Midnight Shard.

At the same time, Changing Star rushed forward, raising her sword.

…However, neither of them got a chance to deliver a strike.

Because right at that moment, the Crimson Spire shuddered once again, this time much more terribly than before.

And in a deafening thunder of breaking stone, the floor beneath their feet suddenly shattered and collapsed into the darkness, pulling them down with it.