Shadow Slave

Sunny looked down on himself, evaluating his own state.

The wound in his chest was gone. However, it wasn't as though he was unscathed… his body, or at least this manifestation of it, seemed battered and beaten. However, it was also full of ferocious strength and vigor, as well as feeling light, as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders just a few moments ago.

He didn't know how exactly this battle of the souls was supposed to work, but suspected that his current form was a representation of his spirit. He had endured a lot in these recent weeks, enough suffering and fear to crush someone with a lesser will… Sunny, however, had survived far worse, so his strength was not diminished by much.

He was still clad in the bleak steel of the Undying Chain, and holding his weapons. Three shadows lay at his feet, and he could feel the presence of the Soul Serpent nearby. His enemy, meanwhile, was alone and unarmed.

This was Sunny's soul, after all. Here, he was bound to have the ultimate advantage.

'Let's see who will destroy whom, you bastard.'

With a smirk, Sunny commanded the shadows to rise and wrap themselves around his body. Instantly, his strength, speed, and resilience were enhanced manifold…

In the next moment, however, his expression froze.

Mordret looked at him, then smiled. As he did, six shadows descended upon him like a dark mantle, making the pressure that the Prince of Nothing exerted feel almost suffocating.

"...You didn't think that it would be that easy, did you?"

A split second later, he was beside Sunny, his fist crashing into the breastplate of the Undying Chain. As pain exploded through his body, Sunny flew back and fell onto the still water, sliding across it into the darkness.

'What?'

Before he could even rise, Mordret was already upon him, his foot slamming into Sunny's ribs. Sunny yelped as he was thrown into the air, then felt another blow landing on his chest, pushing all air out of his lungs and sending him plummeting back down.

Knowing that he had to escape somehow, Sunny dove into the shadows and emerged from the darkness behind the Prince of Nothing, the blade of the Cruel Sight shooting forward.

However, it pierced nothing but air.

Mordret had turned into a shadow himself, and disappeared without a trace, his laughter echoing across the surface of the silent sea.

"Weak! Too weak…"

Something struck Sunny in the back, sending another explosion of pain rolling through the very core of his being. He groaned and tried to slash with the Midnight Shard, but the enemy was already gone. A moment later, he was kicked in the abdomen, then ruthlessly slammed across the face.

Mordret's fist felt like a sledgehammer… no, like a mountain descending.

Half-blinded and disoriented, Sunny fell to his knees, spitting blood.

'What the… what the hell…'

This was not how he had imagined things going. The damned mirror fiend clearly had to weaken his prey before attacking… so, his victory was not set in stone. There was a way to defeat him, somehow, and since Sunny's spirit had not been broken, he had expected to be able to prevail.

However, the bastard was just too powerful… how was he supposed to resist such terrifying force?!

Worse than that, Mordret seemed to be able to mirror all of his powers…

"Bastard! Lost from Light, stop!"

The Prince of Nothing laughed again, then struck Sunny in the side of his head, almost blinding him.

"Sorry to say this, but that trick is not going to work… this is an entirely different situation, you know…"

Hurting and hoping to escape the next blow, Sunny turned into a shadow again. This time, however, he wasn't in a hurry to attack and remained incorporeal, thinking…

Before he could form a single thought, however, another shadow lunged at him from the darkness, and suddenly, he was in the throes of indescribable agony, his very soul damaged and cracked. With a stifled shriek, Sunny escaped the shadows and assumed his human form again, only to be ruthlessly struck down a moment later.

He fall on his back and desperately gulped for air, but his lungs seemed to be paralyzed. All he could do was try to block the next blow, only for it to fail and another wave of pain spread through his body.

'Goddamit!'

Sunny used Shadow Step to disengage, but his enemy simply followed. He deflected one strike, almost managing to cut Mordret's forearm open, but the mirror fiend was just too fast, strong, and skilled.

No matter how hard Sunny fought, it was all useless. No matter what strategy he tried to implement, Mordret saw right through it. Fighting against the Prince of Nothing was like fighting against death itself — he was terrifying, inevitable, and final.

There was no escape…

But Sunny was not going to give up. At this point, he wasn't even sure that he knew how.

He gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and fought.

After what seemed like an eternity, beaten and bloodied, Sunny was thrown down again. The helmet of the Undying Chain was bent and deformed, pressing into his temple and obstructing his vision. He dismissed it and raised a hand to defend himself, but it was easily wrestled down.

Mordret had a few bruises of his own, but looked infinitely better than Sunny. Grabbing him by the throat, the banished prince inhaled deeply, and then asked in a somber tone:

"Haven't you had enough? Why don't you just surrender? I am not enjoying this one bit, you know."

Sunny looked at him through the red haze and grinned, his teeth painted red by blood.

"R—really? Ah, too bad… cuz… I'm actually having the time of my life…"

With that, he lowered his head and tried to sink his teeth into Mordret's hand.

The Prince of Nothing sighed, then hit Sunny in the face, sending him rolling away.

'Crap… that one... really, really hurt…'

Sunny slid a few meters and came to a rest just beyond the rows of silent shadows. He tried to stand up, but the world suddenly spun around, making him fall back down. A quiet groan escaped from his lips.

Mordret shook his head dejectedly, and then walked over to the Cruel Sight, which lay on the surface of the tranquil waters where Sunny had dropped it. He bent down to pick it up, but the somber spear simply turned to tenebrous mist, dismissed by its master.

The mirror fiend remained unperturbed. He lowered his fingers into the water and caught the reflection of the fearsome Memory before it fully dissipated, then brought it up, ending up with the exact same spear in his hand.

"To think that the Spell would make it anew and return it to me... it's fitting, I guess."

He studied the Cruel Sight for a moment, then turned to Sunny, a dark look in his eyes.

"Let's end this now… no matter what you may think, I don't enjoy torturing people. Ah, unless they deserve to be tortured, of course."

Sunny finally managed to rise to his knees, and glanced at the approaching prince with a grim expression. One of his hands reached toward the hilt of the Midnight Shard, which lay some distance away, while the other was pinned awkwardly behind him.

In it, a ghostly stiletto silently appeared, its transparent blade hidden from sight by Sunny's body.

"Whatever you say…"

Mordret willed the Cruel Sight to extend to its full length, then lunged forward, thrusting it toward Sunny's heart.

Sunny tensed, preparing to dodge…

But before he had a chance to, he was suddenly covered by a massive shadow, and a long, multijointed arm appeared from somewhere above, blocking the blade of the spear with its terrifying bone claws.

Sunny blinked.

Mordret froze, too, and then slowly looked up. As he did, Sunny mirrored the movement.

...Towering above him, the shadow of the Mountain King stood silently, one of its four arms extended forward. For a moment, nothing happened…

And then, another shadow moved slightly, clicking its chitinous claws. One of the carapace scavengers took a small step forward.

Like a chain reaction, a wave of movement spread through the ranks of the silent shadows, bringing them to life. All of them shifted, their gazes focusing on Mordret. Members of the carapace legion, dwellers of the Crimson Labyrinth, horrors of the Dark City, inhabitants of the Chained Isles... there were monsters of all shapes and sizes, each more terrifying than the other. A horde of creatures that Sunny had slain…

There was an abominable Spire Messenger, a nest of slithering vines, a tall knight in a heavy suit of intricate armor, a strange creature with a chest in place of a head... and many, many more.

For the first time, confidence drained from Mordret's face, and he paled. Taking an involuntary step back, the Prince of Nothing hesitated, then said evenly:

"Sunless, my dear friend… tell me… why is there an army of dead Nightmare Creatures hidden in your soul?"

Sunny finally managed to grab the Midnight Shard and slowly rose to his feet, using the tachi as support. His teeth flashed in a dark smile.

"Oh… I have human souls here, too. So, don't you worry, Mordret… when I kill you… you'll have good company, at least…"

The mirror fiend chuckled nervously, then slowly brandished the reflection of the Cruel Sight.

In the next moment, the horde of shadows surged forward, descending upon him like an avalanche of darkness.

And Mordret suddenly…

Vanished without a trace, as if he had never existed.

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