1043 The Fall of Falcon Scott (61)
On the doomed streets of a snow-covered city, surrounded by ruins of collapsed buildings and remnants of devastating battles, a young man with alabaster skin and onyx hair was fighting a wraith made of darkness and hatred. One wore a simple tunic of beautiful black silk, the other was clad in menacing black armor. Both moved through the ruins like a pair of swift shadows.
'd.a.m.n it… break!'
Sunny shuddered as he deflected a vicious strike of the mysterious black tusk, felt the impact send a painful jolt through his entire body, and guided the enemy's blade to the side. At the same time, he took a step forward and slammed his elbow into the Scavenger's chest.
The creature was pushed back, releasing the Sin of Solace from the bind. The cursed sword instantly flashed forward, slas.h.i.+ng across the abomination's side… the defense, counterattack, and follow-up had been executed flawlessly, flowing into each other like the nimble steps of a graceful dance. Despite being light and swift, they also carried tremendous power and annihilating intent.
And yet, the white jade slid fruitlessly off the black bone armor, barely leaving a scratch on it.
'What the h.e.l.l are you made of, b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!'
The Scavenger… was just too d.a.m.n overbearing.
At times, fighting him was fighting like water — when the Sin of Solace lashed out at the cracks in the bone armor, the Scavenger would turn into a shadow, allowing the jade blade to harmlessly pa.s.s through. Other times, fighting him was like fighting against an indestructible mountain — the plates of black bone seemed utterly impervious, and the creature's blows carried with them crus.h.i.+ng weight.
Even compared to the Corrupted creatures Sunny had faced, the Scavenger was abnormally powerful. He was so strong that it did not even make sense… the Sin of Solace had come from the Remnant of the Jade Queen, an astonis.h.i.+ngly dreadful Corrupted Tyrant, and had an enchantment that bestowed it with unparalleled sharpness as well. What kind of indestructible creature had the vengeful goblin devoured to be able to resist its edge?!
It seemed as though there were peerless geniuses even among the Nightmare Creatures… and the pathetic, tiny imp Sunny had failed to kill many months ago just so happened to be one of those.
'Just my luck...'
Gritting his teeth, Sunny braced himself and received another blow of the black tusk. Another bloodless wound appeared on his body — none of them were deep enough to be dangerous, but the damage was slowly mounting.
Worst of all, he was completely suppressed.
There were countless ways for Sunny to kill the hateful fiend. For example, if the sharpness of the Sin of Solace itself was not enough, he could augment the power of the jade blade manifold with his shadows. He could manifest wild shadows, as well, forming chains, swords, or tentacles to attack and entangle the Scavenger. He could use Shadow Step to keep up with the d.a.m.ned ogre…
But he was prevented from doing any of these things.
Sunny could not afford to augment his sword, because he needed the shadows to match the Corrupted Devil's speed and strength — and even then, the Scavenger was faster and stronger. He could not wantonly use Shadow Manifestation, because his reserves of essence were nearly empty. The same went for Shadow Step, or any other trick he could come up with on the spot.
The b.a.s.t.a.r.d had known just when to attack. He had only shown himself when Sunny was at his weakest, and now, Sunny was forced to defend himself against a Nightmare Creature of a superior Rank while being robbed of most of his powers. Even those that remained were countered, because the Scavenger possessed the same ones.
Sunny could not really blame the abomination for setting such a wicked trap, though, because it had been precisely how he himself had slayed many powerful adversaries.
'Doesn't matter… I'll still kill you… you're going to die no matter what…'
Sunny's eye burned with cold fury as he released the hilt of the Sin of Solace, switching to a one-hand grip. The great jian was the same length as a longsword would have been, but incredibly light and swift. Although it could not hack and slash with the same ferocious power as the Scavenger's black blade, it was far more nimble and versatile.
Sunny seamlessly switched to a more agile and reserved battle style, summoning the Cruel Sight into his free hand in the form of a shortsword. The silver sword's [Ghost Blade] enchantment allowed it to strike down incorporeal targets… and so, the Scavenger was in for an unpleasant surprise the next time he chose to turn into a shadow.
If there was one advantage Sunny had, it was his skill and experience. The Scavenger was tremendously powerful, cunning, and possessed a truly vicious, murderous will… he had devoured a great number of mighty creatures, and grown with explosive speed. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was supremely devious and surprisingly intelligent, enough to survive and even thrive in the h.e.l.lish meat grinder of the Chain of Nightmares.
But he was still an abomination, and a young one at that. His attacks were smart and powerful, but also clumsy and crude — just like the makes.h.i.+ft saber he was using, which had obviously been fas.h.i.+oned from some dreadful monstrosity's tusk. For now, the Scavenger was able to suppress Sunny simply because of his timing and vastly superior physical might. But he was not nearly as experienced of a killer…
As for spite and viciousness, both had them in spades.
'Die!'
As soon as the Cruel Sight manifested itself, Sunny blocked the black tusk with the jade sword and then struck with the silver one, aiming at the elbow of the abomination's right arm — no matter how tough an armor was, it had to be weaker at the joints to allow for enough flexibility. And indeed, there was a gap between two bone plates there.
In truth, Sunny was not sure if the Cruel Sight could cut even the weaker parts of the Scavenger. However, the creature did not know that…
Just as expected, the vicious fiend chose not to risk it. The shadow powers he possessed were, strangely, both superior and inferior to Sunny's — as of yet, the abomination had only shown the ability to use a form of Shadow Step.
That ability, however, was more insidious than the original, allowing the creature to not only teleport and turn incorporeal, but even selectively turn only parts of himself into shadow.
And so, the body of the Scavenger remained perfectly material, continuing to pressure Sunny with dreadful strength, while the middle of his right arm became ghostly and incorporeal.
The Cruel Sight pa.s.sed through the abomination's elbow without meeting any resistance, never even touching his flesh.
However, the Scavenger suddenly staggered and let out a pained hiss, causing a vicious grin to appear on Sunny's face.
The silver blade might not have cut the creature's flesh, but it did cut his shadow. Which was the same as cutting someone's soul…
The damaged span of the fiend's arm instantly turned back to flesh and bone, but the damage was already done. Using the momentary lapse in the Scavenger's awareness, Sunny lunged forward and tangled with him, pus.h.i.+ng them both to the ground.
Fighting a slippery shadow... was really a nightmare. He had far less essence to spare, giving the hateful fiend a vital advantage — unlike Sunny, the Scavenger could use Shadow Step as much as he wanted, avoiding attacks and launching his own from unexpected directions. The abomination could even escape, if he wished.
…However, it would not be able to do anything if Sunny was clutching it with his own two hands.
As the two hit the ground, he growled and grasped the Scavenger's throat, constricting it with enough force to shatter armored alloy. Sunny's eyes were s.h.i.+ning with dark, malicious joy.
If he could not break the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's armor… he would just strangle him! Most Nightmare Creatures still had to breathe, after all. Even if the Scavenger didn't, a broken neck was bound to solve something.
It was strangely fitting, actually. Sunny had killed his first abomination by strangling it with a chain.
And now, he was going to squeeze the life out of this Corrupted Devil, too!