Shadow Slave

"Argh! Damn it!"

Effie stumbled back and swiped the Zenith Shard in a wide arc, cutting through the bodies of several Nightmare Creatures. With her other hand, she took hold of the oversized translucent tick that bit deep into her thigh and tore it away, losing a chunk of flesh in the process. Before the repulsive creature had time to sever her fingers with its sharp mandibles, she crushed it in her fist.

Feeling hot blood streaming down her leg, she grimaced and unceremoniously wiped the pulverized remains of the tick on the fabric of the Sunlight Shard, then spun to follow the trajectory of her spear.

Effie was tired. So, so tired. She was utterly exhausted.

…But there was no end to the nightmarish horde.

'Can't you all just die, bastards…'

Catching the shaft of the Zenith Shard with both hands once again, she thrust it back and skewered another abomination with its sauroter, then tore the sharp spike away and dashed to the side. A moment later, a terrifying scythe of a carapace centurion sunk into the spot where she had just been. Effie spun the spear and lashed out with it, piercing the chest of the massive creature and killing it on the spot.

As the heavy body fell to the ground and sent tremors through it, she had a second to draw in a pained, raspy breath. Her wounded leg almost buckled.

'Why is no one covering my back…'

Effie looked around to check on the fellow Sleepers who had been fighting by her side, but failed to see anyone.

All around her, there was nothing but the endless mass of Nightmare Creatures.

Everyone was already dead.

…Except for her.

"Ha. Ha-ha. Ha!"

Effie was left alone in the sea of monsters, separated from the remnants of the Dreamer Army by an impenetrable wall of claws and chitin. She only knew that someone was still alive and fighting back there because of the radiant white light that continued to illuminate the vast expanse of the battlefield… of this tomb that they had built for themselves from iron wires and dead Nightmare Creatures.

Not that the light could reach where she stood. Here, there was nothing but darkness.

She didn't have much hope of reaching it, too.

Effie looked at the ground and smiled bitterly.

Then, she raised her head high and stared at the approaching tide of monsters, her eyes sparkling with dark amusement.

"Come then, beasts. Oh, what a feast this will be…"

***

Sunny barely avoided the blade of the coral sword and deflected it to the side with the Midnight Shard. Then, he tried to counterattack, but was forced to jump back with a muffled curse. A sharp stiletto flew past his face, leaving a shallow cut on his cheek.

'Damned abominations!'

Currently, he was facing against three golems at the same time. The Knight, The Slayer, and the Priestess were trying to surround him. They moved with terrifying speed and possessed enough power to obliterate a Sleeper with laughable ease.

Luckily, Sunny was not just any Sleeper. The shadow was wrapped around his body, making him faster and stronger. With its help, he was barely able to hold on and remain alive.

…For now.

Some distance away from him, Saint was facing off against the Stranger, the Builder, and the Hunter. Those three seemed to be even more ferocious than his own opponents, so the Shadow was having a lot of trouble, too.

'That doesn't make any sense…'

Sunny was not surprised that these constructs were far more powerful than him. But Saint was an awakened demon, and one of the most dangerous Nightmare Creatures of her Rank he had ever seen, no less. And yet, she was barely able to remain in one piece.

Good thing that the Lord had yet to join the fight. The seventh golem stood motionlessly some distance away, as though uninterested in the fight.

Because of how fast his enemies were and their numerical advantage, Sunny had to summon the Moonlight Shard as well. Now, he was holding the tachi in one hand and the stiletto in the other. This wasn't what he was used to and made his offense weaker, but allowed him to bolster his defense.

This was one of the reasons why Sunny was still alive.

Suddenly, a blast of light hammered into his eyes, making him stagger and blinding him for a few short moments. In the next second, the Priestess lunged at him. She wielded no weapons, but her coral hands were deadly enough to serve as a pair of them.

Trusting the Shadow Sense, Sunny dodged and brought the Midnight Shard down, hoping to catch the golem. His second hand moved, blocking a strike of the Slayer. Just as before, the impact almost shattered the bones in his wrist and sent Sunny reeling.

He had successfully resisted the attack and bought himself enough time to regain his vision, only to be faced with the furious threat of another assault, this one coming from the Knight.

Saint wasn't having any more luck. Her shield had been caught by the beak of the Builder's war hammer and pulled down, which gave the Hunter an opportunity to thrust his spear into the breach in her defense. At the same time, the Stranger was preparing to attack her from behind.

'This can't go on much longer… think, think!'

Sunny felt as though he was missing some crucial fact about this arduous, lethal fight. He had to solve it before the last golem joined in…

Twisting his body to deflect the incoming strike, he frowned.

…Why had the Lord not attacked?

There was something about it…

Suddenly, Sunny's eyes narrowed.

'Can it be?'

The golems were created in the image of the ancient heroes, and even wielded the same weapons. He had managed to resist his attackers for so long partially because he was intimately acquainted with their armaments.

After all, he held the Midnight and Moonlight Shard in his hands.

If their weapons were the same as his Shard Memories, just made out of crimson coral… was it the same for the Lard?

Did the Crimson Terror create its own equivalent of the Crown of Dawn, and was it currently feeding the seven golems with power?

The Lord was standing alone, seemingly indifferent to the battle that was happening in front of him.

…Just like Nephis sat away from the battlefield at the start of the siege, the gem of the Dawn Shard burning brightly on her forehead.

If the seventh golem was doing to the other six what Changing Star had been doing for the Dreamer Army… then, Sunny still had a chance.