Shadow Slave

As the Cruel Edge started to manifest itself from swirling dark mist and the helmet of the Undying Chain was being summoned into existence, Sunny had a moment to evaluate their chances.

The result… wasn't too good. He didn't know how powerful exactly Mordret was, but the chances that he was considerably stronger than their enemies seemed to be slim enough to be considered non-existent. Otherwise, the banished prince would not have had to rely on his cunning so much.

From how they were positioned and the little details of everyone's gazes, Sunny knew that Welthe was aiming for Mordret, and vice versa. That meant that he was going to have to face Pierce, while Saint and the Serpent would be tasked with holding back the Echoes.

He wasn't too worried for Saint, who was an Ascended and excelled in defense and durability. The Serpent, however, would have to be really careful…

Sunny was most worried about himself, though. He was not going to underestimate Pierce… the man was not only a Master, but also an elite, a knight of the great clan Valor. He was as formidable as he was deadly.

His Aspect made Pierce resistant to all sorts of attacks, as well.

With this in mind, Sunny commanded two shadows to wrap themselves around his body, and reluctantly sent one to Saint. Ascended or not, fighting against eight Echoes was going to test the limits of her ability.

That was all the time he had to prepare.

Long before the Cruel Edge finished weaving itself from mist, the blood-soaked hall of the somber cathedral exploded with violence and motion.

Welthe's eyes suddenly shone with a hypnotic scarlet light, and Mordret staggered as he was dashing forward. A pained groan escaped from his lips, and his movements slowed down considerably. In the next moment, the body of the female sentinel shimmered and disappeared.

Moving with terrifying speed, Welthe lunged forward, then spun, her slender saber colliding against something midair. The clashing of blades echoed amid the black stones, and two fissures appeared on the layer of blood covering the floor, as if someone was sliding back, pushed away by the force of the impact.

At the same time, the eight Echoes attacked. The creatures moved with the frightening precision of soulless machines, coordinating their assault with enough cohesion to make them a fearsome threat. Although their intelligence couldn't compare to actual humans, the morbid effigies retained enough of the skill of their originals to fight almost as human warriors would.

Each of them possessed an Aspect, too.

Saint collided with their formation like a demon born out of darkness, her kite shield receiving a rain of blows as the Midnight Shard shot forward. The Soul Serpent submerged into the shadows and flowed through them, appearing behind the six advancing Echoes to lunge at the two whose Aspect Abilities allowed them to perform ranged attacks.

And lastly, there was Sunny.

Pierce descended upon him like a siege ram, bringing down his longsword with enough force to make the whole hall tremble. Even augmented by two shadows, Sunny was still unable to compete with the Master in terms of physical ability… but the gap between them wasn't large enough for him to be instantly overwhelmed.

Sidestepping, he received the edge of the enemy's sword on the vambrace of the Undying Chain, angling it in a way that allowed for most of the force to be deflected instead of absorbed, and threw his other hand forward, the ghostly blade of the Moonlight Shard glinting dimly as it appeared out of nowhere, aimed at Pierce's throat.

The Master simply lowered his head, allowing the tip of the stiletto to slide off the cheek guard of his helmet, and pushed the hilt of his sword forward, trying to deliver a crushing blow to Sunny's chest.

Sunny jumped back, not at all disappointed by the failure of his treacherous blow. It had not been meant to do any damage, anyway. It just had to buy the Cruel Edge to finally manifest itself into a material form.

And now, it had.

Sunny thrust the somber spear forward, forcing the enemy to dodge out of the way and give him a moment to breathe.

'...Strong… the bastard is just too strong…'

Through the insight of Shadow Dance, Sunny could see and understand some of the Ascended knight's battle techniques. Pierce possessed explosive strength and enough agility to channel it into almost inescapable attacks. His understanding of combat was tremendously deep, sharpened by years upon years of relentless training and countless battles.

A warrior of such skill was not going to be led into an easy trap.

His control of soul essence was also on a completely different level. From what Sunny could perceive, the Master was using it with terrifying efficiency, achieving results that he himself couldn't even dream of, especially without the help of Soul Serpent.

That was the core difference between them, and his main disadvantage.

The only advantage he had, really, was the Undying Chain. The transcendent armor was durable enough to withstand a few blows from Pierce, and his high divine affinity only made it stronger. He just had to make sure that he doesn't receive the brutal blows directly.

His body beneath the bleak steel was not as resilient.

Neither he nor Pierce possessed Aspect Abilities capable of dealing direct damage, so this fight was going to be decided by skill, cunning… and the hidden aces they were saving for the right moment.

Problem was, Sunny didn't really have any aces left. At least none that would work on the fearsome Master. He was already going all out…

Sunny had a split second to check on how the others were doing before resuming the deadly dance of death with Pierce. He quickly glanced to the side, and saw the Soul Serpent entangled with the two Echoes, dodging destructive attacks as it slithered around them.

Saint was forced into a defensive stance, being barraged by constant strikes as she somehow managed to deflect all of them with the Patient Avenger and the Midnight Shard.

Mordret and Welthe seemed to be at a temporary stalemate, too… or at least that was how it seemed. The second Master was moving too fast, and their battle was too bizarre to really tell.

Sunny gritted his teeth.

'Curses!'

He couldn't divide his attention anymore. If he wanted to win against Pierce, he had to focus all of it on him.

And make sure that the bastard had no time to pay attention to anyone else, as well…