Shadow Slave

Nightmare landed on the surface of the highway less than a hundred meters away from the rushing swarm and galloped forward without ever slowing down. The wind howled in Sunny's ears as the dark stallion's adamantine hooves rang sonorously on the cold concrete.

A vicious grin somehow found its way to Sunny's face.

'I must have lost my mind...'

Diving headlong into a tide of hundreds of Nightmare Creatures was no cause for a smile, but for some reason, he felt exhilarated. Perhaps it was the sinister whispers of the cursed jade sword that were subtly influencing him...

Perhaps, Nightmare was simply not the only one who longed to go on a murderous rampage. Ever since LO49, nothing had gone right for Sunny. The bitter pressure of it all fueled him with frustration and anger, and the anger wished for a way out.

Now, he was going to unleash it on these damned abominations.

"Die!"

Driven into a mad frenzy by the call of the Dying Wish, the first of the Nightmare Creatures leaped into the air, its fangs glinting in the moonlight. Sunny leaned forward to cut it apart, but before he could, Nightmare's jaw snapped and tore the beast's throat open. With a violent twist of his neck, the black stallion sent the convulsing body flying into the mass of abominations.

...In the next moment, they plunged into the swarm.

The Sin of Solace sang, slicing a creature after creature apart. Wrapped in shadows, Sunny fought with stunning speed and precision, obliterating any abominations that tried to get close. It was as though he was surrounded by a whirlwind of rending jade. The flesh of Nightmare Creatures parted before the white blade of the beautiful jian like water.

Nightmare was no less deadly. The dark steed galloped forward, slaughtering creatures with his fangs, his horns, and his hooves. Some were torn apart, some were thrown to the ground and trampled to death, some were simply tossed aside like broken dolls by a shattering crash with the destrier's wide chest.He rushed through the mass of abominations like a dark omen of dread, leaving a bloody trail in his wake.

To Sunny, it seemed as though Nightmare was especially lethal today. Perhaps it had to do with the black steed's long slumber, or maybe it was just a powerful combination of enchantments, Attributes, and Abilities that made the spacious coastal highway a perfect battlefield for his Shadow.

Nightmare's speed, strength, and resilience were enhanced when surrounded by darkness and shadows, and the polar night provided plenty of both. The tenebrous stallion's might also grew the more he was feared, and currently, both his own [Mantle of Fearl Ability and the I Omen of Dread 1 enchantment of the Sin of Solace were poisoning the rabid minds of hundreds of Nightmare Creatures with insidious terror.

Maybe most importantly, the [Nightmare! Ability made the black steed more powerful the more nightmares he had subjugated, and by now, there were hundreds of conquered dreams serving as his thralls.

All of this meant that the large swarm of abominations blocking the convoy's path was in for a sea of suffering.

...However, that was not enough.

Even while sundering one revolting body after another, Sunny saw that there were simply too many abominations ahead of them to slaughter them all. For now, Nightmare and he had been able to continue their bloody charge without slowing down, but as soon as enough abominations threw themselves into the carnage, that was bound to change.

Once the rampaging stallion was stopped, the swarm could potentially overwhelm them by burying both under a mountain of bodies. Sunny and Nightmare could escape such a trap by turning into shadows, of course...

But, even if Sunny could eventually kill every single abomination, it would take too much time. Not only would more Nightmare Creatures inevitably join the mayhem, but the convoy was less than a dozen seconds from reaching the swarm.

He had to remind himself that his goal was not to slaughter the hateful wretches that had dared to stand in his way... his goal was to clear a path for the column of battered human vehicles, whose passengers all depended on him to deliver them to safety.

'Curses...'

By now, most of the swarm must have been affected by the pull of the Dying Wish. All of them had nothing on their mind but one all-consuming desire - to rip Sunny apart. Using that to his advantage, he commanded Nightmare to veer left, cutting through the tide of abominations and getting closer to the ocean.

The black stallion pivoted and changed the direction of his murderous charge, but was soon met by an impenetrable wall of claws, fangs, suckers, and hideous appendages of all kinds. Even with Sunny dismantling one abomination after another with the Sin of Solace, the mass of them right ahead seemed too overwhelming to fight through it.

Nightmare, however, seemed to think differently. Continuing forward at the same speed, he let out a contemptuous snort, and then soared into a powerful jump. His hooves landed on the sea of abominations, crushing a few skulls, and then used the bloody pulp as support for a second leap.

Before the Nightmare Creatures could react and tear at the stallion's belly, the two of them landed just outside the swarm, on the narrow stretch of empty land between the highway and the vast expanse of undulating black waves.

Suppressing a shiver, Sunny sent Nightmare closer to the ocean, and then closer still, almost into the shallows, to the point where fountains of cold water started to fly from the courser's hooves with each stride.

Just as expected, the swarm rushed to pursue the terrible steed and its slaughtering rider. The mass of abominations spilled from the highway both behind and in front of them, aiming to surround the enemy once more.

...Just as planned.

With that many abominations leaving the road, the convoy received a chance to slip through. Luster sent the Rhino crashing through the barrier separating the railroad from the thoroughfare, and continued forward along the slopes of the mountains, plowing through a few stragglers with its ram. The column of vehicles followed, with the Irregulars clearing the path ahead as well as they could.

Looking to his right, Sunny saw the massive silhouette of the APC speeding past his position, barely visible behind the sea of monsters. With a sigh, he ordered Nightmare to slow down, so that the swarm would concentrate on them and give a convoy a chance to pull ahead.

A few moments later, the tide of abominations descended upon them. Sunny and Nightmare fought like fiends, eviscerating dozens of creatures - the Shadow in a brutally gruesome way, his Master with clean cuts of a pristine jade blade. Slowly, a pile of corpses started to grow around them, making it hard for new enemies to lunge at the dreadful pair.

After this battle, Nightmare would have sown plenty of seeds of fear to harvest later... of that, Sunny had no doubt.

But even then, their luck was bound to run out.

At some point, the mass of abominations pressing down on them had become too great to resist. The pile of corpses careened dangerously, threatening to entomb both Nightmare and Sunny, and new creatures were raining down on them like a flood. Behind them, the deep dark ocean murmured, cutting off the retreat.

Just a moment before the tidal wave of Nightmare Creatures crashed on them...

Both the horse and the rider disappeared, turning into elusive shadows.

As they glided past the frenzied sea of abomination, embraced by darkness, a choir of maddened howls tore the night apart