Shadow Slave

The eel tried to catch him, but was a second too late.

"Crap!"

Falling toward the dark waves, Sunny threw the kunai in the direction of the stone giant's hand.

Instead of a weapon, the colossus was holding a tool that resembled a mason's hammer. The kunai curved in the air and wrapped the invisible string around its shaft.

'This is going to hurt!'

Sunny plunged into the darkness. A moment later, the string drew taut, and he found himself swinging through the air at a terrible speed. Flying underneath the colossal stone fist, he almost touched the black water with his feet, but then the inertia pulled him up and away.

After a few seconds of weightlessness, Sunny landed on the hammer's head and let out a shaky breath. Without wasting any time, he dislodged the Prowling Thorn and pulled it into his hand, then wedged the dagger in a narrow crack on the surface of the giant hammer.

Landing on it was one thing. Staying here, though… that was something else entirely.

The colossus was swinging his arms as he walked, so Sunny basically found himself on top of a giant pendulum. Not only was the hammer swaying back and forth, but the angle of the surface he was standing on also constantly changed, making it hard not to fly off or slid into the raging sea.

Almost kneeling, Sunny held onto the kunai and tried to keep himself from falling. Then, his face pale and grim, he looked up and glanced at the eel.

"I'm right here, you slimy worm!"

The abomination lingered for a few moments, considering whether it should continue to climb up or follow the sound made by the prey. Finally, it twisted its long, repulsive body and slid over the shoulder of the giant, crawling down his arm.

Toward Sunny.

'Come on, come on!'

He was hoping that his blood will have the same effect on the giant eel as it had on the Corpse Eater. Both were, presumably, Fallen creatures. If one was poisoned to death by Blood Weave, why couldn't the other?

Sunny had not cut himself with the Prowling Thorn for the fun of it.

…Sadly, his blood seemed to have no effect on the eel whatsoever. The monster continued to pursue its prey without showing any signs of being poisoned.

'So… it's not poisonous, really. It just tore that leech from inside because the stupid thing swallowed a whole lot, and the Weave embued my blood with the odd quality of always being attracted back to the larger mass of it. The Corpse Eater's innards were in the way, so... Damn it!'

His hopes of killing the eel were crushed. Now, Sunny was stuck on the swinging hammer, with his only path of escape blocked by the swiftly approaching abomination.

"Damn it all!"

Letting go of the kunai, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard and slashed at the slender tentacle that approached him. Even enhanced by the shadow, the blade of the tachi failed to cut the flesh of the Fallen creature, and instead simply batted it away.

'Not good, not good…'

The eel had two types of tentacles. Some were thick, powerful, and few in number. These ones were used to push its massive body forward and hold onto the swinging arm of the colossus.

The other tentacles were slender, long, and numerous. These were the ones that Sunny now had to dodge and fight against.

The closer the eel got, the more tentacles assaulted Sunny from all sides. Dodging and deflecting them while maintaining his balance on the chaotically swinging hammer was an almost impossible task.

Luckily, Sunny had practiced the firm battle style of the Stone Saint and incorporated it into his own technique. Its steadiness and indomitability were translated through grounded footwork, which allowed him to plant himself on the stone surface of the hammer and refuse to be thrown off or moved even by an inch.

Between choking breaths, Sunny couldn't help but think that Nephis was right. The best fighters weren't those who were the strongest, but those who were the most adaptable.

The foundational style he had learned from her had served him well on the streets of the Dark City. But if he had continued to follow it narrowly and neglected to add flexibility to his technique by incorporating the Stone Saint's style into it, he would be dead by now.

The Dream Realm was wild, unpredictable, and often defied logic. It threw all kinds of horrors at those unfortunate enough to step foot inside its vast expanse. Take this situation, for example… what kind of a person would imagine that, one day, they would have to fight a translucent eel the size of a train atop a walking stone colossus?

Sunny certainly never expected to find himself in such a situation. Only a complete lunatic would.

That's why adaptability was the most important trait an Awakened fighter could possess.

…But even though Sunny had taken all the right steps, the seconds he had left to live were numbered. The onslaught of the slender tentacles was already too much for him to handle. And they were only growing in number.

'Twenty-eight.'

With an inaudible sigh, Sunny allowed the shadow to slide off his body and rush toward the approaching eel. Instantly weakened, he gritted his teeth and tried to resist the attacking tentacles as best as he could.

One of them hit against the blade of the Midnight Shard with tremendous force, sending it flying from his hand into the darkness of the night.

The other hit him across the chest, causing Sunny to yelp in pain and roll back, almost sliding off the surface of the hammer. Catching himself at the last moment, he pushed away and rolled, barely avoiding being pierced through the chest by the third.

He had nowhere to retreat anymore…

But it was fine.

'Twenty-nine.'

Back at the circular platform, Effie strained her muscles and hurled the thing entrusted to her by Sunny into the air.

It was the Ordinary Rock.

Flying away, the Memory suddenly screamed:

"Thirty steps!"

Its loud scream caused the feelers on the eel's head to ripple. The giant creature suddenly turned its head in the direction of the noise, its terrifying maw opening in hunger.

For a moment, it paid Sunny no attention.

Its weight also shifted, leaning over the abyss of black water.

Right then, a human shadow glided right in front of it, and two crimson eyes ignited in its depths. The Stone Saint stepped out of the shadow, which then instantly wrapped itself around the taciturn monster and filled her with immeasurable power.

The Shadow's sword flashed.

Sunny wasn't trying to kill the eel. Despite all of the Stone Saint's might, she was too weak to slay something that abominable.

He just wanted to sever one of the main tentacles that supported most of the eel's weight.

Augmented with the power of shadows, the stone knight easily cut into the flesh of the eel and sliced one of the thickest tentacles apart. Losing its purchase, the repulsive creature shuddered… and slid helplessly from the swinging arm of the colossus, falling into the turbulent black waves with a splash.

Then, it was gone, pulled away by the strong current.

Sunny fell to his knees and drew in a deep breath.

Then, he said in a cold, raspy voice:

"This ride ain't free, bastard. Next time, buy a ticket."