Shadow Slave

Black pillars of smoke rose into the sky, obscuring the stars like a smoldering veil. Between the roiling dark heaven and the cold ravaged land, a fiery inferno seethed and swarmed, drowning the world in a scorching orange glow. Surrounded by numerous abominations and the cacophonous roar of heavy armaments, Sunny and Jet fought against the Devouring Cloud.

The wind was picking up.

Struggling not to slip on the fetid blood that covered the alloy expanse of the battlement, Sunny pulled Soul Reaper close and bent down, summoning a dome of shadows to surround them. His breathing was hoarse and labored.

There was no light inside the improvised shelter, and the brood beasts were already attacking it, the whole structure trembling under an onslaught of heavy blows. Worse still, he did not dare to sustain the barrier for more than a few seconds, afraid that the swarm would lose interest and shift its attention to the city beyond.

"I won't last much longer."

Master Jet was uncomfortably close, her physical state as battered and bloodied as his. Her chest rose and fell erratically, betraying the same level of exhaustion. Nevertheless, her voice sounded calm:

"You can't fight anymore?"

He shook his head, then spoke after realizing that she probably could not see him.

"No, not that. The charm... I don't have enough essence left to keep it active for long."

She lingered for a moment.

"Do what you can. After that, let's see what fate has in store."

Sunny winced at her choice of words, then considered if it was time to summon Nightmare. The black steed would be helpful in surviving the tide of brood beasts, but the two of them were not at the point of needing to be rescued yet. It was supplying the Dying Wish with essence that was the problem.

Nightmare was also large and lacked armor. His main defense was speed and viciousness, which would not protect him against the swarm. If the shadow stallion sustained heavy wounds today, Sunny would not be able to call upon him tomorrow.

'Back to the slaughter, then.'

He glanced at Jet.

"Ready?"

She smiled in the darkness.

"Always."

He allowed the suffering shadows to lose substance, and the black dome fell apart around them.

Immediately, a flood of brood beasts descended upon the two Ascended. Sunny and Jet were pushed back to back, unable to move. The jade longsword and the silver glaive blurred, tearing through the ghastly abominations. The smell of blood permeated the air.

It was somewhat of a heroic scene, exactly like what he had often seen in dramas and webtoons about valiant Awakened... not very practical, though. Stuck in one spot and limited in where he could move, Sunny became a perfect target.

'Curse it!'

A strong gale of wind slammed into them, throwing many brood beasts off course. Jet used that moment to lunge forward and brandish her glaive, causing an explosion of frost to spread through the swarm, and clear a bit of space around them.

High above, the veil of smoke looked like storm clouds.

Sunny was still feeding his essence into the Dying Wish and sustaining the augmentation of the [Underworld Armament], hoping to buy Winter another minute... maybe half a minute... of time.

But the Devouring Cloud seemed to have suddenly learned how to resist Solvane's charm.

Without any provocation, the mass of brood beasts shifted, flashing past the two bloodied Masters. Ignoring the alluring enchantment of the Dying Wish, they lunged in the direction where Dale's protective barrier still gleamed with mystical energy.

'What the hell!'

Sunny slashed at the nearest abomination, cutting it in half. The other brood beasts simply ignored him and flew away.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Brood of the Devouring Cloud.]

[You have received...]

He ignored the quiet whisper of the Spell and stared at the apocalyptic scene of the battlefield.

The killing field below the wall was enveloped in flame. The sky was burning with red embers, as well. The main body of the swarm seemed... diminished, somewhat. Where once there had been an uninterrupted wall of winged horrors, now there was a tattered curtain of them, with vast breaches and gaps in its vile, seething mass.

Winter and all the other defenders did not waste the time he had bought them.

The problem, however, was that the flames unleashed by the Ascended archer in her initial attack had almost died down, and now, the whole of the Devouring Cloud was advancing on the city.

This was a key moment. Winter had to break their advance once and for all... and for that to happen, nothing could interrupt her.

'Goddammit...'

Sunny prepared himself, ready to dash toward the position of the rest of the Irregulars.

He could see a dark tentacle of the thinned protuberance slamming into Dale's barrier, the wind howling so loudly that it drowned out the thunder of the firing rail guns for a moment. The barrier grew dimmer, but held... for now.

A radiant arrow escaped from it, streaking across the killing field and disappearing into the Devouring Cloud. Then, it was as though a large portion of the swarm imploded in on itself, countless abominations being violently pulled and crushed by an invisible force.

However, it was still not enough. Dale's barrier was growing dimmer and dimmer, and the swarm was still advancing, a dozen seconds away from crashing into the defenders of the city.

'Not enough...'

...And then, a vast shadow fell from the sky, tearing through the veil of smoke and storm clouds obscuring it. At the same time, a destructive net of lightning surrounded the Devouring Cloud, turning the world white for a second. Thousands of abominations were instantly burned to ash.

A giant bird of prey with white feathers and devastating talons of lustrous steel dove into the swarm. Her enormous wings were wreathed in thunderclouds, and bolts of lightning danced around her body like a cloak. A hurricane of wind summoned by her arrival threw the center of the Devouring Cloud into disarray.

Sunny froze.

"Sky Tide!"

Saint Tyris looked beaten and exhausted, but still incredibly fearsome. Her white feathers were painted by blood, and there was a thin layer of ice covering many parts of her body.

Despite all that, she cut through the swarm like a blade of a guillotine, and at the same time, powerful winds squeezed the monstrosities down and pushed them away from the city.

Sunny stared at the incredible scene in tired silence. He had never been that happy to see a Saint before.

Lowering the Sin of Solace, he looked at Master Jet. A somewhat disoriented question escaped from his lips:

"...Have we won?"

She lingered for a moment, then shrugged.

"It seems that w..."

Before Soul Reaper could finish the sentence, however, the city wall suddenly quaked under them.

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