Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1616

1616 /2446

Sunny had never stopped fighting, sharpening his mastery of combat to a sublime level. He had already been one of the most seasoned warriors of humanity four years ago... mostly because very few had it as rough as he had it on the Forgotten Shore and in the Antarctic Center.

But the last four years had not been easy on him, either. Crossing the Hollow Mountains alone had given him more battle experience than most Awakened would receive in their lifetime. So, now, he had a solid reason to be supremely confident in his ability.

That said, there was a difference between fighting Nightmare Creatures and fighting humans. Sunny had mostly been doing the former recently, so the latter... he was a bit rusty.

As the Fire Keepers surrounded him, Sunny observed them silently.

Now that they were Masters, each possessed one additional Aspect Ability. Gorn not only had four arms, but also expanded in size, towering above the floor at almost three meters in height. Gantry seemed to have augmented his body, somehow... making it more durable? More nimble? Or simply more powerful?

He was going to find out shortly.

Erlas, meanwhile, was enhancing the physical state of each member of the cohort. His powers had been mainly focused on endurance and stamina before... what about now?

Sid was bound to do something unpredictable, as well.

Shim, Shakti, and Kaor all possessed non-combat Aspect, so guessing their powers was of less importance. Still... they could be full of surprises.

There were the Memories the Fire Keepers wielded to consider, as well.

'Ah...'

Sunny felt a pang of regret for setting such strict restrictions for himself. But, still... he was looking forward to it.

A real clash of skill, cunning, and competence.

He had missed it a lot.

"What are you waiting for?"

Before the echo of his cold voice had time to disappear, the Fire Keepers attacked. The two archers opened the battle, instantly letting two arrows loose. They were showing decorum, too — since it was a friendly duel, his opponents refrained from using truly destructive Memories inside the Citadel.

Sunny did not augment himself with any of his three shadows. Being a Transcendent already gave him a great advantage as far as physical prowess and the intricacy of essence control went, so it was unnecessary.

Shifting slightly, he dodged both arrows with the minimum effort. One seemed to possess a homing enchantment, turning sharply to strike him in the back, but was tossed aside by the flat of the black odachi's blade.

At that moment, the melee fighters of the Ascended cohort were already upon him. They coordinate their attacks seamlessly, using the arrow salvo to cover their advance.

'Perfect teamwork.'

Shim and Sid were the spearheads aimed at his chest and back. Gorn and Gantry, who wielded longer weapons and had a wider reach, attacked from behind them at the same time.

There was a ceiling to a numerical advantage, since space was limited and only a few people could target a single opponent simultaneously... but by using this simple formation, the Fire Keepers effortlessly increased that limit. _{freewebnovel.cσ๓}

There was no way for Sunny to block and deflect four attacks that came from different directions with a single sword.

So, he didn't. Instead, he removed himself from the path of the enemy weapons, deflecting Shim's spear and Gantry's heavy axe in the process. Using explosive footwork, Sunny escaped the encirclement and used the bodies of the Fire Keepers to block their comrades from chasing after him.

Then, he lashed out with a probing attack.

Sharp steel sang in the dark expanse of the Nameless Temple.

'Interesting...'

Sunny's smile widened under Weaver's Mask. The Fire Keepers... had not wasted these four years, either. He had known that Valor had used Nephis and her personal battle force like a sledgehammer, endlessly sending

them to put out one fire after another. It was almost as if they were being repeatedly sent to death, but stubbornly refused to die. As a result, their lethality reached chilling levels.

Of course, he could have crushed them easily if he wished to. The gap between Saints and Masters was already vast, and Sunny was a singular existence even among Saints, to boot.

But with the limitations he had put on himself, the Fire Keepers were a challenging adversary. Especially because he could not allow himself to be hit even once.

Plus, he had chosen to only use a single battle style against them... Morgan's own battle style, to be precise. The sharp, deadly, and ruthless technique she used was representative of how warriors of Valor fought —not even becoming one with their weapons, but instead treating themselves as weapons.

So, it wasn't easy.

It was exhilarating, though.

'Damnation. More!'

There were a few tense moments when the unexpected facets of the Ascended Abilities of his enemies revealed themselves. There were several interesting enchantments their Memories possessed, as well.