Shadow Slave

In the end, the Flesh of Kanakht never reached the Dark Castle.

It grew and spread until the entire northern part of the Palace Island became consumed by the virulent mass of red flesh. Sunny could easily imagine that harrowing red sea expanding endlessly... swallowing entire cities, kingdoms, and realms, metastasizing until the entire world and all the living creatures inhabiting it became nothing but one endless, dreadful expanse of undulating flesh.

A single, abhorrent organism.

But that was not meant to be, because a towering wall of immolating white flame ignited in the Great Titan’s path like a sacred barrier. No matter how much the harrowing mass of bleeding flesh grew, no matter how hungrily it reached forward, its tendrils were burned and incinerated, becoming nothing but ash.

It was a primal, elemental conflict between two Titans of an equal Rank.

Nephis stood motionlessly behind the wall of fire, looking forward with a dispassionate expression on her beautiful face. Her calm grey eyes were cold and firm, shining with the pure white radiance of incandescent flame... and the scathing, dreadful agony of being burned alive.

Behind the emotionless mask, however, a storm of furious passions fueled her fire. The sea of red flesh could not pass the wall of white flames... but the flames could not spread and consume the red sea, either. The two titanic forces were at a stalemate. Meanwhile, the main vessel of the Great Titan — a hideous, bestial colossus of bleeding flesh — was struggling to advance deeper inland. Its attempts were thwarted by Sunny, who unleashed a hail of devastating javelins from the dark expanse of the crumbling sky, all aimed at the joints and tendons of the detestable creature. Each javelin struck like a meteor, causing the boiling waters of the vast lake to overflow its banks and making the sprawling ruins of the Eternal City quake violently.

His aim was true, striking the Flesh of Kanakht in the precise points that, if damaged, would slow the Titan down the most. In retaliation, the gargantuan Nightmare Creature unleashed a vile forest of towering tendrils to pursue Sunny across the sky, forcing him to play a fatal game of cat and mouse across the collapsing firmament.

The battle of three Titans was truly terrifying, unfolding like a world-ending calamity in the heart of the dying city.

’No, actually... isn’t it the battle of four Titans? Serpent participated, too.’

And naturally, there was Nightmare as well. The battle had gone badly for Sunny and Nephis at first. They had barely managed to hold ground, gritting their teeth and refusing to be pushed back. He was even forced to consider the worst-case scenario — abandoning Nightwalker and retreating to save themselves.

But then, slowly...

The Dream Curse started to take hold.

It was difficult to notice at first, the effects barely noticeable. But as Sunny and Nephis stubbornly continued to resist the Flesh of Kanakht, they felt their enemy slowly growing unfocused. The speed with which the red flesh spread diminished a little, and the movements of the titanic Abomination grew faintly sluggish.

And as they stood their ground some more, the difference slowly became more pronounced... until it was easily noticeable. The Flesh of Kanakht was weakened by the Curse, which allowed the Dream Curse to take root in its consciousness faster... which, in turn, made it weaker still. Contained by Neph’’s flame and undermined by an insidious synergy of Sunny’s powers, the Great Titan fell into a vicious cycle. And once it did, there was no escape.

The gargantuan Nightmare Creature, which had been slowly advancing south, became completely immobilized by the devastating rain of black javelins. The sea of red flesh, which had been straining to drown out the wall of white flames with its ghastly mass, started to recede.

The northern part of the island had been completely destroyed by then — the ground was shattered and pulverized, then melted into lava and swallowed by the lake. Billowing clouds of boiling steam and swirling ash were washed away by the ice-cold rain, and deafening thunderclaps echoed above the ruins as enormous waterfalls crushed the Eternal City into dust in the distance.

The Shadow Legion had wiped out most of the remnant wraiths by then, allowing its champions to join the fight against the Flesh of Kanakht.

Saint arrived first, reshaping her tenebrous blade into a greatbow made of pure darkness. Fiend rose from the shadows and gleefully dove into the towering wall of white flames — his steel body turned incandescent, and he unleashed his own infernal flames upon the receding sea of undulating flesh.

Slayer ignored her grievous wounds to draw the string of her bow against the faltering Great Titan. Naeve used the last of his essence to pierce the limbs of the titanic fiend with towering spikes of azure ice... and lastly, Jet faced one more Nightmare Creature born from the scattered fragments of Kanakht, shredding its flesh with a storm of enchanted shurikens.

Their combined assault slowed the Great Titan down, then halted its advance completely. The red sea of flesh was pushed back and incinerated, receding until it disappeared altogether.

Only the gigantic, hideous mountain of flesh that was the Nightmare Creature’s main vessel remained.

Nephis, Sunny, and their companions continued to deal it an unimaginable amount of damage. The power of Sovereigns, Saints, and Supreme Shadows descended upon it like an annihilating guillotine, tearing the gargantuan body of the Flesh of Kanakht apart over and over again.

It was truly an assault worthy of destroying a Great Titan.

Sunny even caught himself feeling quietly awed by their terrifying show of force.

And yet, and yet...

’How is this even possible?’

The Flesh of Kanakht refused to die.

It refused to be irrevocably wounded, even. Its body and soul continued to repair themselves, enduring an unfathomable amount of punishment with no visible effect.

No matter how terribly the Great Titan was mangled and mutilated, soon enough, it was entirely unscathed again. It stayed alive.

..And it was still alive by the time the Dream Curse pulled him into the embrace of deep, unnatural slumber.

That was how the Eternal City was conquered.

What was left of it, at least.