Shadow Slave

Once the cohort was surrounded from every side, Sunny, Cassie and Kai had to join the battle in earnest.

Sunny wasn't too worried for the blind girl and the archer because they were protected by both the Stone Saint and the Quiet Dancer.

His Shadow was possibly the worst enemy the bloodthirsty skeletons could face. Moving with the cold precision of an emotionless battle machine, she used both her sword and shield to deflect and destroy any enemy that dared to approach them from the sides. The graceful and devastating dance she was performing was a true sight to behold.

The Quiet Dancer zipped through the air, supporting the Shadow and covering any lapse left in the barrier of steel created by her. If something got past the two of them, Kai was there, using the curved blade of his falcata to crush the undead monsters, almost as if felling them with an axe.

He was holding hands with Cassie, guiding the blind girl through the dark maze of the catacombs. However, it seemed as though her ability to orient herself in space had seen a considerable improvement in the past three months, perhaps due to the connection she shared with the flying rapier. She was now able to move quickly without using her wooden staff for support, at least.

Looking at the two of them, Sunny grew somewhat sullen. Both Kai and Cassie were incredibly beautiful people. Holding hands and surrounded by nothing but darkness and monsters, with the charming young man gripping an elegant sword, they looked like an image from a book cover. They looked perfect together.

Sunny, on the other hand…

Well, at least he had his shadow to keep him company. And the Ordinary Rock…

However, he didn't have a lot of time to wallow in self-pity. Because his was the second most important role in this furious moving battle: holding the rear of the cohort all by himself.

'Let me show you what I'm capable of…'

As more and more skeletons rose from the ground and attacked the party from behind, Sunny had to really exert himself.

At first, he only had to fight one undead monster at a time. Despite their tremendous speed and strength, the skeletal creatures were not that hard to defeat. They seemed almost mindless, always attacking in the most straightforward way possible. Of course, a less prepared person would have been torn apart by these fierce creatures a long time ago…

But Sunny was not the same weak and inexperienced kid he had been seven months ago. The harrowing trials of the Forgotten Shore, as well as his tenacious will and grim resolve, had turned him into a fearsome creature, too.

In fact, in terms of pure viciousness, the skeletons had nothing on him at all.

Wrapping the Midnight Shard into the shadow to slice through the tough bones of the undead monsters easier, Sunny employed every bit of battle prowess he had learned from his practice with the Stone Saint to destroy his enemies.

Seamlessly weaving the firm and unassailable movements that he had learned from the taciturn stone creature into the flowing style taught to him by Nephis, he made short work of one skeleton after another. His blade sliced, slashed, and pierced through monster after monster, sending broken bones flying and cluttering to the ground.

Of course, maintaining this state without falling behind the cohort was not easy. Sunny had never practiced fighting while on the run, especially not while moving backward. However, remembering Effie's words, he knew that being separated from the group and surrounded meant death, and thus made sure to never get too far away from his companions.

At first, the situation was if not easy, then at least within the scope of his capability. Sunny even thought that this was an excellent opportunity to put everything that he had learned in the past week to practice. Despite the fact that this battle was completely different from the way he had hunted monsters before, he was doing fine.

Back on the streets of the Dark City, he hunted at night, always attacking the enemy from the shadows and aiming to finish the fight with one strike. The initiative was on his side, and so he was the one dictating the flow of the combat.

However, right now, things were completely reversed. Sunny was the one being attacked, with enemies suddenly appearing from the darkness and instantly lunging at him. Put on the defensive, he had to react to the enemy attacks as opposed to being the one attacking.

And yet, he was managing. He had anticipated that a situation like that would inevitably happen and put enough flexibility into his technique to withstand any type of peril. He was indeed putting his lessons to practice, cementing them in his muscles and bones. After all, just like Nephis had said, a thousand hours of training was not as impactful as one real fight.

…But then, slowly, things began to change.

After he had ruthlessly cut down a handful of undead abominations, suddenly, two attacked him at the same time. Sunny cursed and ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding having his head crushed by one of the skeletons. His sword blocked the vicious strike from the other one, and, being pushed back a couple of steps by the force of the impact, he struggled to keep his balance.

Not letting the monsters continue their assault unobstructed, Sunny dashed forward and twisted his body. Kicking one creature in the chest, he used it to propel himself toward the other one and put all that weight into a devastating downward slash.

The skeleton crumbled into a pile of broken bones, and the edge of the Midnight Shard scraped against the stones, causing sparks to fly into the air. Knowing that his momentum was too strong to stop now, Sunny instead went with it, rolled over his shoulder, and got back to his feet just in time to meet the attack of the remaining monster face to face.

His sword cut a sharp arc, severing both arms of the skeleton. Sunny instantly sidestepped the undead creature and delivered a low horizontal slash, breaking its legs.

Making sure that the monster wouldn't be standing up any time soon by piercing its skull with the tip of the Midnight Shard, he hurried to catch up with the cohort.

Briefly glancing at the rest of his companions, he made sure that they were not dead yet and swiftly turned around, ready to face the next monster.

Then, his heart skipped a beat.

'Curses!'

Three skeletons were rushing at him, menacing grins frozen on their skinless faces.