Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2960

‘Kill, kill...'

Chanting the word over and over again in his head, Sunny struggled to stay alive as the Vile Thieving Bird assaulted him with a hurricane of devastating attacks. He was using that word to stay sane — or rather, to drive himself into the right kind of madness.

The battle madness that took over the minds of those who gave themselves completely to the stark world of combat, stepping into a state that went beyond the usual trance of clarity.

A state of mind so clear that it eradicated all things and concepts that did not have something to do with the singular purpose of killing the adversary.

The ghastly agony he was enduring was actually of help in that regard. It washed away most of what would have gotten in the way of combat, leaving behind only the primal, bestial determination to destroy its own source.

The Vile Thieving Bird.

Sunny could not help but let out a thunderous bellow when its talons tore open his side. He gritted his teeth when its beak destroyed a part of his shoulder. He groaned when its wing struck him in the chest, the black feathers cutting him like razor blades.

The Jade Mantle was being shredded like paper...

His soul was being shredded, as well.

It had already sustained plenty of damage — but, luckily, it could sustain numerous times more.

Sunny was slowly realizing that luck was actually on his side in this harrowing battle. He knew it because the Vile Thieving Bird was only using its beak, talons, and boundless madness in its attempts to destroy it — even though it was capable of much more.

It was capable of stealing his Aspect, for example. It could steal his resolve or his reason. It could steal something bizarre, like his ability to know the difference between right and left, or his memory of having learned swordsmanship.

It could even steal his skill as a warrior and use it in his stead.

However, it didn't.

Not because Sunny was powerful enough to resist it, but simply because...

‘I can't even believe it.' 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Simply because the Vile Thieving Bird liked shiny things, and nothing about Sunny was shiny. In fact, everything about him was the opposite of shiny — dark, lightless, and dreary — and so, the Thieving Bird had no interest whatsoever in taking any part of him. The thought simply never crossed its demented mind.

So, in a sense, Sunny was the worst possible opponent for the loathsome Terror to fight. That was the reason he had managed to stay alive for so long while enduring the fury of the Cursed Terror.

He wasn't going to stay alive indefinitely, though, and Nephis was not dealing enough damage to the Vile Thieving Bird to kill it before Sunny was completely destroyed. Which meant that Sunny was going to have to abandon his elusive dance and go on the offensive soon.

And Nephis was going to have to get serious about delivering as much punishment to the Cursed Terror as possible, throwing everything she had into the fight without looking back.

For now — for a few moments more — they were testing the limits of the Vile Thieving's Bird Will and vitality, searching for a way to make their final assault count. Waiting for the right moment.

And soon, that moment finally presented itself...

Or rather, there was a moment that, as both of them felt, was as good as it was going to get.

As Sunny's soul received another harrowing wound, a monstrous form fell from the sky and scurried in a crescent around the Cursed Terror, lashing out at him with a thousand scythe-like legs.

That was Serpent, wounded and bleeding, having assumed the form of the Ember Queen — the Great Tyrant who had ruled the Black Millipedes once.

The Ember Queen was not the most lethal form among those Serpent could assume, but she was the most elusive, existing in the moment between the present and the future. And since Serpent was already severely wounded and faced an adversary that could easily destroy it, defense meant more for it at the moment than raw offensive power.

Serpent wasn't the only one who joined the fight against the Vile Thieving Bird, though. Sunny had bought enough time for Ananke to finish wiping out the stolen shades.

So, first, a black arrow suddenly pierced the fabric of the world and buried itself in one of the Thieving Bird's eye, the force of the impact making its head sway. That was Slayer releasing the string of her bow.

At the same time, a towering knight whose armor seemed to be forged from black jade slammed into the side of the Cursed Terror, her shield producing a devastating shockwave.

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