No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

Sunny looked at the wounded demon, a grim look of resolve on his face.

At this point, there was no reason to argue. They had no other choice but to face the guardian of the island themselves. Sunny's bag of tricks was all empty anyway - in the end, their fates were still going to be decided by sharp blades.

Someone was going to get killed, and someone was going to be the killer.

"How are we going to deal with his armor?"

Nephis weighed the sword in her hand and glanced at Levi. And.. Levi had a good assumption what she was going to ask..

"Shashi , Sunless and I will be the decoys. Corrode the armor and pierce its heart. Can I trust this job to you , Levi?"

A smirk crept up to Levi's lips.

"I will kill it."

***

As soon as their feet touched the ground, Sunny felt a heavy gaze burning a hole in his chest. Glancing up, he saw the crippled Carapace Demon staring right at him, a dark glint shining in his one remaining eye.

The other one was gone, leaving only a bleeding black gap behind.

At this distance, the damage dealt to the demon's body seemed even more debilitating. Its carapace was fractured in several places and covered in cracks, each seeping with azure blood ... sadly, none of the cracks were near the vital organs. His horns were shattered, as was one of his front legs - in addition to several rear ones that were either broken or torn off completely.

The stumps of his two severed arms were pressed tight against his torso to stem the heavy bleeding. The other two were hanging to the ground, almost brushing against the ashen sand.

The giant monster looked broken and tired. However, it was still terrifying, perhaps even more so than before. Because, despite the horrible wounds, his gaze was still firm and full of evil intelligence. It was still radiating madness and bloodlust.

Which was now concentrated on Sunny , Nephis , Shashi and Levi - the architects of his sorry state.

The first beams of the rising sun shone on the spikes covering the demon's once lustrous carapace, painting them in shades of burning crimson.

Sunny summoned the Azure Blade and glanced at Nephis.

"Be careful. He's lightning fast."

He was the only one who had seen the terrible creature in action. As such, only he knew how dangerous the demon really was.

Nephis nodded, not taking her eyes off the enemy, and stepped forward.

The three of them walked toward the waiting Carapace Demon. Sunny and Shashi were slightly ahead and aiming to circle the behemoth from the right - the side where the demon had both his last remaining scythe and eye.

Changing Star was a step or two behind him, aiming to circle the creature from the left - the side where his pincer arm was slowly rising into the air.

Levi however , stayed back. He would attack immediately when he saw an opening.

As they were closing in, Sunny felt a slight shift in the demon's posture. Instantly, he knew that hell was about to break loose.

He had warned Nephis about the speed of their enemy, but he also had to deal with it himself. Sunny knew that he was much slower than the giant creature, but he still had to find a way to dodge the massive, terrifying scythe.

Sunny was running as fast as he could, the Azure Blade outstretched behind him. A fire of cold resolve was burning in his heart. Shashi was just beside him , her katana made out of her own blood clenched in her hand.

He was ready to live or die by his blade.

However, in the next moment, his leg seemed to slip in the sand, and as his eyes opened wide, Sunny stumbled..

Not wasting the opportunity, the Carapace Demon attacked. The terrifying scythe tore through the air, aiming to cut the helpless human in half ...

But it hit only sand.

Sunny, who had feigned his loss of balance to bait the demon's strike, easily avoided the deadly blade by jumping to the side at the last second.

"Fool!" Shashi said in a loud tone as they both dashed towards the demon's legs.

At the same time, Nephis had managed to avoid the massive pincer and was closing in on them, too. They reached their goals almost simultaneously, one from the right, the other from the left.

Sunny and Shashi slashed their blades against the demon's leg at the same time , both hitting it from different directions , they had fought many battles together before , so Sunny could co-operate with everyone in the cohort by now. They moved as one as they performed the slash , both attacks hitting the leg at the same time , however their blades bounces back , not even leaving a scratch on it..

On the other side of the behemoth's massive body, Nephis achieved more success. She had attacked the already injured front leg of the monster, cutting deep into his flesh through the wide crack in the metal plate. Severely damaged, the leg wasn't able to support the weight of the giant creature anymore. It buckled, sending the demon reeling.

At this point, a scavenger or a centurion would have lost their balance and fallen to the ground. However, the Carapace Demon was too smart and experienced. He compensated for the loss of another leg by shifting his body weight to the opposite side and thrusting his scythe into the ground to remain stable.

Sunny had really hoped that the bastard would fall down.

Because then they wouldn't have had to do what they were about to do next.

But now there was no other choice.

Cursing inwardly, Sunny briefly looked at Shashi , she nodded at him and he nodded back at her.

Then, he held his breath and ducked right beneath the Carapace Demon's steel abdomen along with Shashi.

***

Instantly, Sunny was covered in cold sweat. There was nothing but polished metal and murderous intent above them now. All the monster had to do to turn the tiny human into a puddle of blood was to rest its bodies on the sand.

Under the crushing weight, their organs would burst and his bones would turn to dust. There wouldn't be anything solid left of them at all, only a thin layer of bloody goo smeared across the ground.

Not the best situation to find yourself in.

With his nerves on the verge of melting, Sunny brandished his sword and rushed forward. His eyes were glued to the joints of Carapace Demon's legs. He was utterly focused, looking for the slightest movement. Waiting for it.

With no room for error, Sunny pushed every unnecessary thought and emotion into the farthest corner of his mind, not allowing dread, doubt and his tendency to overthink things to slow him down even by a fraction of a second.

Time moved excruciatingly slowly. It felt as though hours had passed, but in reality, it was only a couple of moments. Sunny and Shashi were only at the second pair of the giant monster's legs.

It was then that he finally noticed the almost imperceptible change in the demon's posture. The tension in his joint changed slightly, indicating that the behemoth was about to move.

This was the sign that Sunny was both hoping for and terrified of. Now, his survival was wholly dependent on whether or not he was fast enough.

"Run!" Shashi told to him in a loud tone..

Sunny pivoted on one leg and dashed to the side, trying to get away from underneath the armored giant. A small cloud of sand was sent flying by his sudden turn , Shashi immediately followed suit.

But the demon was incredibly fast. He threw his body down, determined to squash the odious invader like a bug. With inertia and the limits of his human body slowing Sunny down, he felt the metal surface of the carapace begin to fall down on his head long before reaching the safe zone.

Death was approaching with abhorrent speed.

One step, two ... was he going to make it in time ?!

The Carapace Demon fell to the ground with a thunderous crash, sending large clouds of sand into the air. The impact was so strong that the whole island trembled.

The furious mass of falling metal and spikes missed Sunny by just a few centimeters. He flew from underneath the demon's body at the last possible moment by performing a desperate dive.

Crushing into the sand, Sunny rolled away and jumped back to his feet, slightly disoriented by the shockwave of the giant's fall. Shashi had also gotten out at the last second too..

Sometimes, life was full of surprises.

But, all jokes aside, he was not really astonished. His actions, while potentially fatal, had been deliberate and calculated. He was not in the habit of putting his life at risk without being sure that there would be at least a moderate chance of making it out alive.

His actions were also always purposeful and pursued a specific goal.

He was barely back on his feet when the terrifying scythe flashed through the air, threatening to slice his body in half. Sunny had no idea how Nephis was doing on the other side of the creature's enormous body against the pincer, but dealing with the scythe was almost beyond his abilities.

The burning eye of the demon that followed his every move was not helping the situation at all.

With very little time to react, Sunny did the only thing he could think of - he jumped as high as he could and pulled his legs up to his chest, performing a very awkward forward somersault.

Because of the number of shadow fragments he had consumed and the physical enhancement brought by the shadow, the height of his jump was nothing short of impressive, by human standards. The scythe's blade whistled beneath Sunny, so close that he could feel the wind brushing against his face.

"Cover me!" Sunny shouted at Shashi. Shashi nodded , the blood katana turning back into a small ball of solidified blood as she placed it between her palms , and then extended her arms forward fully , she focused on condensing and compressing her blood to the limit..

he dashed forward. Sunny knew that the scythe would come back, but he had a second or two to

change his position, getting in front of the behemoth.

He had to make the giant creature forget about Nephis completely and concentrate fully on dealing with him, and him alone. To do that, he had to get in range of both the scythe and the pincer.

What a lovely task!

Feeling that his time was running out, Sunny spun around and raised the Azure Blade.

Just as he thought, the Carapace Demon was already bringing the scythe down at him again, this time in a ruthless

horizontal thrust. The sharp tip of the scythe was flying through the air, aimed at his chest.

However, he had slightly underestimated the demon's reaction time. As the result, there was already no time to dodge.

One small mistake was the difference between life and death on the Forgotten Shore.

The scene of their first fight against a carapace centurion flashed in Sunny's mind. The situation was eerily similar to this one, with the inescapable doom approaching him at the speed of lightning, too swift and close to be avoided.

Brought by the blade of a carapace creatures's scythe.

But Sunny wasn't the same as he was before. Since that fateful battle, he had spent every day training, gaining experience and gathering power. He had fought his way through this hell, paying a price of blood for every step.

He wasn't that easy to kill anymore , and.. he had a companion covering him.. suddenly.. he heard a loud clap sound further behind..

As Shashi suddenly clapped her hands together a straight line of Blood suddenly surged out between her palms with a piercing head that looked like an arrow , it flew towards the creatures's scythe that was flying at Sunless in the speed of sound. The piercing blood hit the scythe first before it hit Sunny , however it wasn't powerful enough to deflect it , since the direction of her piercing blood changed , Shashi's hands were tilted and the Piercing Blood was set wild loose. She lost her balance and fell , and finally shut down the technique... 

"Shit!" She cursed as she hit the ground..

As for Sunless , the scythe was flying at him , albeit with less force and speed.. Blade. Not only did Sunny block the blow, he even managed to angle the sword in a way that would deflect most of the impact instead of absorbing the full force of it.

One of his hands was placed on the hilt, the other gripped the tip of the blade with enough strength to prevent the edge from cutting his fingers off.

The residual force was still enough to send him flying back ... but it was not enough to break the bones in his hands. Not with the shadow enhancing the resilience of his body.

... The Azure Blade, however, was not as lucky.

With a sorrowful ring, the blade shattered, breaking off near the crossguard. Beautiful shards of blue steel fell to the

ground.

Sunny gritted his teeth, knowing what would happen next.

The Spell spoke, announcing the destruction of his trusty sword.

[Your Memory has been ... ]

He didn't get to hear the rest of the sentence, because, in the next moment, his body collided with the ground. Sunny bounced a couple of times, feeling flashes of pain radiating through his bones, rolled, and finally came to a stop.

He was comparatively fine.

Standing up, Sunny stumbled and barely managed to remain on his feet. He glanced around and noticed that the trunk of the great tree was not that far away.

Two dozen meters away, the Carapace Demon was slowly turning his head, planning to concentrate his murderous rage on Nephis. This was the exact opposite of what Sunny had to achieve.

He had to attract the monster's attention somehow.

But what could he do?

As the remains of the Azure Blade began to shine with soft light in his hand, ready to disintegrate into a rain of sparks, Sunny raised his hand and threw the broken sword with as much force as he could gather.

However, he didn't throw it at the demon.

Instead, he threw it at the miraculous tree, as though trying to harm it.

Not far away, the demon suddenly froze, even if only for a second. His scarlet eye followed the shining Memory as it flew through the air, approaching the trunk of the great tree.

Then the broken sword fell apart, turning into a shower of white sparks, which then disappeared without a trace. None of them even touched the obsidian bark.

However, the Azure Blade had already fulfilled its purpose.

It distracted the giant for a few precious moments.

For No Return , that was more than enough.

***

Levi observed as the broken sword came flying at the tree , however his observation was cut short. Because he had been already running ahead at full-speed , no.. at speed even he didn't think he would be capable of achieving as a sleeper..

His red cloak was disintegrating into yellow sparks , revealing his bare torso underneath. Both of his arms were infused with his memories. Black veins pulsed around his body eerily , making him look like someone who had been cursed by the demon's themselves.

Filled with Hatred and Murderous intent , Levi had closed the distance between the demon and him in just mere seconds. There was a murderous grin on his face. To kill a monster you had to become one yourself. 

'I will become as monstrous as I must.'