Shadow Slave

Sunny had already faced off against a Spire Messenger once.

Back then, the vile creature had killed several experienced hunters in a span of just a few seconds, and the rest had only been spared this fate because of Effie's strength…

That and the fact that the Messenger had no need to fight them and chose to retreat and search for easier prey.

There was nowhere to retreat in this hidden cavern. Sunny didn't even know how the flying abomination had gotten here in the first place.

However, he was not the same inexperienced kid he had been all those months ago, either.

Sunny had grown considerably stronger. His arsenal of Memories was better now. His skill and technique were far beyond what he had known in the past, and his kill count had crossed a hundred Nightmare Creatures a long time ago.

There was the Stone Saint, too.

But, most importantly, his Memories were empowered by the Crown of Dawn.

Theoretically, Sunny could stack three augmentations on the Midnight Shard — one from his shadow, one from the miraculous crown, and one from the Blood Blossom, as long as someone managed to make the Messenger bleed.

Hopefully, that would be enough to breach the gap between a dormant human and a Fallen Beast and allow him to actually wound the abomination, unlike the previous two times he had tried to cut into the flesh of similar horrors — Corpse Eater and the giant eel that had tried to hitch a ride on the ancient colossus.

…But first, he had to survive.

Judging that the Puppeteer's Shroud had a decent chance of withstanding a blow from the Messenger thanks to the enhancement of the Dawn Shard, but also not even reamotely willing to put that to the test, Sunny dove to the side.

A moment later, the massive abomination collided against two shields — one belonging to Effie, the other to the Stone Saint. The terrible beak came down, aiming at the huntress…

If it was before, the round shield that protected Effie from knee to shoulder would have been easily pierced and torn apart, as if it was made out of paper instead of metal. But due to the empowering aura that emanated from the Dawn Shard, it somehow held.

The force of the impact, however, still threw both of them back. Even Shadow Saint, whose flesh was made of stone and weighed accordingly, was launched into the air like a doll made of feathers and rags.

But they had bought the cohort the precious second to regroup and counterattack.

As Kai and Cassie flew in different directions, creating some distance between them and the ferocious abomination, Nephis and Caster attacked from the sides. One sword shined with brilliant white radiance, while the other gleamed with ghostly green light.

However, the Messenger was still terrifyingly formidable. The Memories wielded by the cohort might have been enhanced, but their masters remained the same. They couldn't compete with a Fallen creature in terms of raw power and speed.

Two of the beast's six front limbs swiped forward, deflecting the swords. Two more shot at the attacking humans, forcing them to retreat while barely staying alive.

…Then, the Messenger twisted its neck and caught Kai in its sight.

Its powerful black wings lashed down, creating a small hurricane that threw Nephis and Caster aside. Using powerful hind legs to throw itself into the air, the abomination lunged at the retreating archer, who twisted his body in a desperate attempt to aim his bow.

...And then, suddenly, a triangular blade cut an arc around one of the legs and tied an invisible string around it.

'Crap!'

That was all Sunny had time to think before his hand was jerked forward with incredible force.

However, this was exactly what he wanted.

With the Dark Wing turning into a blur behind his back, Sunny used the momentum of the pull to turn his laughably slow levitation into real flight.

In fact, he shot in the direction of the Messenger as though someone had launched him from a cannon.

The Midnight Shard flashed through the air and bit into the abomination's flesh.

'Do it!'

Indeed, with both the shadow and the Dawn Shard augmenting it, the stalwart blade was able to cut into the flesh of the Fallen Beast. Granted, it felt as though he was trying to cut stone.

But it was enough.

Sunny aimed at the base of the Messenger's wing. With all the speed given to him by the combination of using the Dark Wing to levitate and the Prowling Thorn to create momentum, the blow Sunny had delivered was truly devastating. In fact, it was so forceful that every bone in his hand almost shattered.

But he wasn't the one on the sharp end of the sword.

The Midnight Shard cut deep into the wing of the vile abomination, sending rivers of blood streaming down its pale body. As soon as they did, the enchantment of the Blood Blossom awakened, making the blade even sharper. The elegant tachi tore through the wing, crippling it.

The Messenger suddenly lost control of its flight and crashed back to the ground.

'Eat dust, bastard!'

After a moment of glee, however, Sunny hurriedly dismissed the Dark Wing and plummeted down, landing on the sand some distance away from the monstrous beast.

While gliding all the way back to the floor of the cavern would have been more comfortable, he wasn't going to become a sitting duck. Crippled wing or not, the Messenger could still jump and use the other one.

Maybe...

At the same time as Sunny hit the ground and rolled, a menacing black arrow suddenly fell from above, piercing the second wing of the fearsome creature. There was no blood coming from the wound, though — the arrow greedily drank it, preventing the Blood Blossom augmentation from growing a bit stronger.

The abomination did not stagger and slowly turn into a mummy like the iron spiders had, however. It simply shook its body, causing the arrow to shatter and crumble into a stream of white sparks.

But Sunny didn't see any of that.

With his back to the Messenger, he was already running toward to giant statue with all the speed he had.