Shadow Slave

Answering the deafening call of the ringing shield, two bestial crimson flames ignited in the darkness cast by the towering black colossus. A dreadful growl drowned out the howling of the wind, and something colossal rose from the shadows at its feet.

It was an enormous wolf, its fur moving in the wind like tongues of dark flame. The size of the Sacred shade was colossal, and yet, it only reached the armored giant’s hip. Together, they glanced like a warrior and his warhound - both born from shadows, surrounded by darkness, and full of murderous intent.

”Good boy.”

Sunny grinned behind the visor of his helmet.

At the same time, he felt a pang of surprise.

’What the? I can talk?’

Saint never did, so he often assumed that Stone Saints had simply not been given that ability by Nether. But, as it turned out, his assumption was wrong. The Shadow Wolf lowered its head to the ground, letting out another frightening growl.

Sunny had summoned it because he could. Usually, the strain of controlling a Sacred shade would have been too great for him to attempt calling upon more than one at a time - not impossible, but too strenuous to be useful in most situations.

However, since Sunny was not controlling Condemnation, could not control it, rather, and had not summoned the shade of the Cursed Tyrant through usual means, he still had the capacity to call forth a helper. The Wolf was the strongest of his shades, so it was an obvious choice.

Now, there was only one question left to answer.

Would he and his Sacred shade be enough to defeat the Puppeteer and bring Condemnation down once more?

Somewhere outside the cocoon of black silk surrounding the Snow Castle, most of the sun had already drowned in the sea of clouds. There was not much time left before the sunset extinguished itself - mere minutes, possibly. Not that time often stayed reliable in a battle between deities unless the deities wanted it to. And the Puppeteer would definitely attempt to hold out until night fell, even if it meant forcing time to run faster.

So, Sunny had to kill it swiftly. Looking up, he saw Condemnation collapsing under its own weight. The shadow of the Cursed Tyrant was grievously diminished, shrinking to half its former size. It was both falling and falling apart, its immense body unable to sustain itself.

But Condemnation was still unshaken and ready to continue the battle.

Only the material vessel of the vast shade had been damaged - the nebulous force itself remained unscathed. It was going to create a new body for itself soon enough, this time from the fabric of Ariel’s Game.

The Puppeteer, meanwhile, fluttered its great wings and rose into the air, pushing itself off Condemnation’s collapsing chest and sending the crumbling giant plummeting to the ground faster.

The sight of the enormous moth opening its wings above the falling adversary looked both majestic and undeniably nightmarish, as if the night itself gave birth to the distressing Spirit of Doubt.

That was going to be a problem.

The mountain shuddered when the crushing mass of Condemnation impacted against the fractured slope. Sunny stood as if he was rooted to the ground, as solid as the dark caverns of the Underworld, easily maintaining his balance. He considered the situation for a heartbeat, then shifted his gaze slightly, looking to his right.

There, a hill of black silk was coming undone, sliced apart by Slayer’s sharp blades. An angry roar tore free of the mass of lifeless strands, and then, a magnificent dragon followed, clawing its way out of the silken barrow.

Kai climbed out of the suffocating black cradle and rose above it, looking at the great wings of the Puppeteer, which obscured the sky. Slayer was standing nearby, dwarfed by his size. The graceful Shadow had sheathed her swords, and was already summoning her bow.

Sunny lingered for a moment, and then thrust his sword to the sky, pointing it at the detestable moth.

”Kai, Slayer. bring it down!”

He knew that he could kill the Puppeteer. he was sure of it, without a shadow of a doubt. However, doing so while the eerie black moth stayed in the air was going to be problematic, since Stone Saints were not made for flying. ŕä₦ộ฿Ěṩ

Of course, Sunny could still diminish the weight of his towering body and leap into the sky, but the Puppeteer would have an advantage in an aerial battle. Similarly, Sunny would have an advantage on the ground. Luckily, one of his companions had a claim to the title of the ruler of the sky, as well. Kai was a dragon, after all, and while he was not powerful enough to slay the giant moth, he could at least prevent it from keeping its distance from Sunny.

As Sunny’s voice thundered above the quaking mountain, Kai and Slayer swayed under its destructive force. Then, they exchanged a glance. The graceful Shadow leaped onto the back of the dark dragon, and the dragon soared into the sky, rushing to meet the Puppeteer. Tendrils of black silk pursued them, but Kai dodged them nimbly, flying much faster than the silk could move.

Sunny then lowered his sword and pointed at the ruins of Condemnation - and at an eerie vortex of shadows, obsidian, shattered rock, glacial ice, and black silk spinning slowly at its heart as it swallowed more and more matter, reforming itself.

”That’s your prey. Go get it!”

The Wolf was, first and foremost, a predator. And a predator knew how to target its prey when it was weak, weakened, or ailing.

The Sacred shade burst into a leap, rushing at its rogue kin.

Sunny, meanwhile.

Draw his right hand back. And then, he tossed his enormous shield with all the power of a Supreme Titan, sending it flying into the black sky like an obliterating discus. Right at the Puppeteer’s eerie form. The giant black moth fluttered its wings, barely dodging the giant shield.

It was distracted for a short moment, though. And in that moment, a destructive sonic blast slammed into one of its wings, while the other was pierced by a lethal arrow.