Shadow Slave novel Chapter 674

'What the…'

The shards of stone and the dancing flames moved, flying through the air toward the tall woman. Instead of crushing and burning her, however, they somehow assembled around her slender body, the pieces of stone levitating around it to form a strange armor, the fire shrouding her hands like incandescent gloves.

Sunny suddenly felt a deep, dangerous sense of unease.

"How dare you, vile shadow…"

The voice of the War Madein thundered in the darkness that the Shadow Lantern had created, and then, two furious white eyes ignited in its depths, piercing Sunny with a murderous gaze.

"How dare you challenge War…"

A split second later, the Maiden disappeared from where she stood, the stone slab beneath her feet exploding into a rain of shards. Almost instantly, she was already upon him, a flame-wreathed palm shooting forward to pierce his chest.

'Damnation… what is it with women of War always going straight for my heart? This is already the third time this happens!'

Sunny awkwardly blocked the devastating blow, and felt himself being thrown back by the terrifying force of the impact. Luckily, the Mantle of the Underworld had withstood the touch of the divine flames that shrouded his enemy's hands, if just barely, the enhanced enchantment of Memory of Fire still coursing through its polished onyx.

'Argh!'

Something wasn't right here… even for a Master, the speed and strength of this woman were way too terrifying. With three cores nearing full saturation and augmented with two shadows, he was supposed to be near the realm of the Ascended, at least, if not more or less on par with some of them. And yet, her might was far greater than his.

That could have been explained by possessing an Aspect that augmented one's physicality, but as Sunny had just seen, the white-haired War Maiden seemed to be some sort of an elemental sorceress.

'Ah… I see how it is…'

Crashing onto the floor in a roll, he instantly threw the Cruel Sight forward to prevent his enemy from chaining the next attack after the first, and then slashed at her with the Midnight Shard.

The blade of the austere tachi scraped fruitlessly across the carapace of levitating stone shards surrounding the War Maiden's body.

It seemed that the effect of her Aspect was broader than just elemental control. Not only was the fearsome leader of the Red Sect capable of manipulating the elements, she also drew power from them. The stone probably enhanced her strength and endurance. The fire… her speed? Attack power?

Whatever it was, it seemed to also allow the white-haired Maiden to perceive her surroundings despite the veil of shadows his lantern was creating around them.

With a ruthless scowl on her beautiful face, the woman easily swatted both the Cruel Sight and the Midnight Shard to the sides.

…However, she failed to defend against the sharp blade of the ghostly stiletto that suddenly appeared in one of Sunny's hands and slid between the chunks of stone protecting her body. The Moonlight Shard bit into the Maiden's body, failing to sink deep, but still drawing blood.

Sunny grinned. There was a benefit to having four arms, after all.

'Not so high and mighty now, are you…'

The Maiden seemed more infuriated than hurt, though. The stone carapace swirled around her, sending the Moonlight Shard flying away from his hand, and then two incandescent fists descended upon him. A spark of flame traveled through the whirlwind of stone shards and licked her body, perfectly cauterizing the wound.

'Bad…'

The white-haired warrior and Sunny clashed, their speed and ferocity causing more destruction to befall the devastated hall of the temple. Since they were shrouded by a rolling cloud of darkness, no one would have been able to see what was happening under the veil of shadows, noticing only flashes of white radiance that tore through it from time to time. _{freёwebnoѵel.com}

All they would be able to perceive were the furious sounds of a frightening, inhuman battle.

The War Maiden had used her Aspect to adjust her eyes to the darkness. And for that reason, a sudden flash of daylight blinded her, while Sunny remained unaffected by it. He was relying on his shadow sense to move around, anyway.

His enemy was only blinded for a second… but in the battle at their level, one second might as well have been an eternity.

Simply losing her sight would not have made the War Maiden defenseless, of course. A warrior like her would have been taught how to fight with her eyes closed. And indeed, she instantly shifted her body and moved her hands, preparing to deflect the most probable attacks.

Unfortunately for her, Sunny had already gained enough insight into her style to know exactly what these movements would be. And so, he knew how to slip through them.

One of his hands suddenly shot forward, the clawed gauntlet shattering a piece of stone protecting the woman's neck. The other followed, passing through the momentary gap in the magical carapace… and ripping her throat apart.

A strange sound escaped from the War Maidens's lips. Her eyes widened, the white radiance burning in them growing dimmer. For some reason, Sunny felt himself be disturbed by that sight.

The whirlwind of stone shards surrounding the Maiden's powerful body rained to the ground.

"C—can't… can't be… a shadow…"

With that, the fearsome leader of the Red Sect fell to her knees, life draining through the terrible wound on her neck.

…All it took to kill her was one calculated, treacherous strike.

Before the Spell spoke, Sunny hesitated for a moment, then leaned down and whispered:

"Find peace within me. This... is the mercy of Shadow."