Shadow Slave

The battle between the Azure Serpent and the krill swarm did not last long, but it was the most terrifying event Sunny had seen since entering the Third Nightmare.

The Great Beast completely lost its mind as it fought the legion of vile abominations. Stirred by its fury, the water seethed and roiled, sometimes exploding into colossal fountains of scarlet foam, sometimes rising in titanic waves. The magnitude of these undulations was so severe that the whole island rocked and swayed like a ship caught in the middle of a world-ending storm.

The cacophony of wrathful roars and thunderous sonic booms merged into a deafening litany, to the point that both Sunny and Nephis were forced to plug their ears.

Thousands of attacking krill were destroyed... but the swarm did not seem diminished at all. Instead, no matter how furiously the Azure Serpent fought, more and more abominations were lunging at it, their thin legs moving in gluttonous anticipation.

At first, the water armor the leviathan had created protected its prodigious body, but eventually it failed. One krill struggled past the repelling current of the whirlpool, then two, then a hundred. Their teeth scraped powerlessly against the impenetrable azure scales...

However, after suffering through three dire battles with the Dark Butterfly, the Azure Serpent was battered and littered with wounds. Its body had already been covered by countless scars before, and now, there were numerous new ones. Some scales were broken, some cracked, and some were missing entirely.

It was only a matter of time before one of the krill managed to draw blood... then two, then a hundred. Even though their size was minuscule in comparison to the great river serpent, they were Corrupted abominations nevertheless, and their painful bites added up.

The pain did not slow the Azure Serpent down, though. Instead, it became even more enraged, even more deranged, even more frenzied. The battle, which had already been frightening to look at, suddenly exploded in intensity, reaching a realm that went beyond fear.

Standing on the swaying shell of the Black Turtle, Sunny and Nephis watched the boiling river with pale faces. Before Sunny knew what was happening, he found himself holding Neph's hand... he did not know which one of them grasped the other's hand first, but felt that this simple touch was his only lifeline in a world that had lost all reason.

He also did not know how much time had passed.

All Sunny knew was that the battle... was changing.

The Azure Serpent did not manage to destroy the krill swarm. However, the swarm had also failed to consume the serpent.

But their goal was not the mad leviathan, in the first place.

The serpent was rampaging in the waters infested by the krill, but the swarm was simply too vast. Thousands of abominations at its edges simply rushed past the Great Beast and continued toward the carcass of the Black Turtle, their translucent bodies turning crimson as they dove into the cloudy red water.

Noticing that, the Azure Serpent let out an infuriated roar, but there was little it could do. The main mass of the swarm surrounded it like a cage, and no matter how forcefully it slammed into its shifting barrier, it couldn't break free.

Suddenly, Sunny felt a purifying warmth enter his body and soul. Looking down, he saw a soft glow rising from his skin, and glanced at Nephis with a silent question.

Her lips seemed dry.

"Bow... I think you should summon your bow."

He lingered for a moment, and then his eyes glinted darkly. Sparks of light ignited around his hand and formed into a black bow with a scarlet string. Then, an arrow that was like a bolt of lightning appeared out of nothing.

Drawing Morgan's Warbow, Sunny aimed at the seething mass of the approaching krill, and let the Strike of Thunder loose. The lightning flashed toward the crimson water and exploded, sending arcs of electricity flying across the surface of the river.

The monstrous krill were about the length of Sunny's arm, with carapaces so thin that they appeared transparent. Still, they were Corrupted Beasts, so their shells were tough enough to resist a direct hit from a railgun, and their teeth were sharp enough to tear through armored MWPs as if they were made from paper.

But Sunny and his bow were augmented both by the shadows and the soulflame, granting his arrow tremendous power. Which was why he soon heard a familiar voice whispering into his ear:

[You have slain a Corrupted Beast, River Locust.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

[You have slain a Corrupted Beast, River Locust.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

[You have slain a Corrupted Beast, River Locust.]

[Your shadow grows stronger...]

Without stopping to listen to the Spell, Sunny sensed a flood of shadow fragments pouring into his soul and drew the string of the warbow again.

He did not hope to stop the advance of the krill swarm, and neither did he hope to help the Azure Serpent prevail. Even if Sunny killed a hundred abominations, he wouldn't be putting a tiny dent in the swarm.

Rather, what he was doing was pure opportunism. Nephis needed to burn the enemy with her flames or consume the soul shard like a normal Awakened to receive fragments, but Sunny just needed a kill. So, he could just as well use the opportunity to strengthen himself.

Sunny managed to fire off a few soul arrows and the Strike of Thunder once more before the krill reached the Black Turtle, reaping a rich harvest of lives. Then, however, it became too dangerous to remain near the edge of the island - even though the revolting creatures could not crawl out of the water, they showed themselves capable of jumping out of it with enough force to propel their translucent bodies through the air.

After one of the krill landed a mere dozen or so meters away from them and scurried forward before being pierced by a black arrow, Sunny and Nephis decided to retreat.

Below them, thousands of Corrupted Beasts were fruitlessly trying to bite into the impregnable black scales of the dead behemoth. Some, however, were already swimming into the gaping wound under its flipper.

Further away, the Azure Serpent finally managed to break the cage of the greatly diminished swarm and shot through the water in pursuit.

It looked terribly mangled, bleeding from a thousand tiny bites. Some of the krill even seemed to have burrowed into the open wounds, just like the serpent itself had burrowed into the body of the Black Turtle before.

Despite that, the Great Beast seemed just as murderous and consumed by madness as ever.

'...The old snake did it. It actually... won?'

Even though many krill had managed to reach the carcass and swim inside, the swarm was undeniably broken.

The Azure Serpent - and the two humans it was hunting - were going to live another day.