Stuck in the middle of a neverending massacre, barely holding on, and sensing a ruinous hint of exhaustion already seeping into his muscles, Sunny knew that the battle was entering its decisive stage.
For now, it seemed to remain in a fragile equilibrium. The jade beetle and Saint Tyris were clashing somewhere high above, neither of them capable of striking down the adversary yet. On the ground, Master Jet was fighting alone in the tide of Nightmare Creatures, seeking out the most powerful foes. She had already killed many, but her task was far from being accomplished.
The Irregulars held, pushing back against the rabid onslaught of the stone hive. They had managed to avoid being overwhelmed, but could not throw the enemy back and go on the offensive. Even with Winter and her sharpshooters taking out the most deadly Fallen abominations, the situation was extremely precarious.
And finally, Sunny was protecting the rear of the formation. He was containing his share of Nightmare Creatures, as well, but was not anywhere near prevailing against them. For every hive soldier he killed, two immediately took its place.
Neither side could wipe out the other. This balance, however, could be destroyed at any moment.
Time was working against the Irregulars, for the most part, since their soul essence and endurance were not infinite. The soldiers were not going to be able to keep up with the ruthless tempo of the furious battle for much longer.
Their only hope was that Soul Reaper would finish off the last of the Corrupted abominations and join the fight against the mass of lesser soldiers soon. However, from a few glimpses that Sunny had caught, things weren't going too well for the commander of the First Irregular Company.
Master Jet had quickly dealt with the comparatively weak Corrupted, but now, only the most powerful of them remained. More than that, the stone hive seemed to have understood how much of a threat this single human represented. With each second, it was getting harder and harder for Soul Reaper to move and attack her targets.
She would probably be able to kill them all eventually, but was that going to be fast enough?
Currently, Sunny was not sure.
'I need to do something…'
He had extinguished the divine flames burning within the blade of the Cruel Sight to conserve essence, and was now fighting against the frenzied abominations with nothing but its somber silver steel. Mounds of corpses surrounded him, and more creatures were jumping over their fallen brethren every second to lunge at the hateful human.
'But what can I do?'
How was he supposed to break the balance of the battle in favor of the human force?
He had already done his best to gain the upper hand in his own section of the battlefield… and failed. Preventing the soldiers of the stone hive from advancing at the rest of the Irregulars was all that he could achieve here.
Changing the scales of the main frontline was also outside his ability. If Sunny chose to join the Awakened fighters, they would gain a boost of inspiration from the Dying Wish… however, they would also be forced to split their focus and defend against attacks from two directions. Whatever benefit he could bring would be invalidated by the increased pressure.
Assisting Master Jet was out of the question… although Sunny was more than capable of slaying a Corrupted abomination or several, it would take him some time. Not to mention that to achieve real results, he was going to have to abandon his position behind the formation of the Irregulars.
So then… only one component of the battle remained.
Dodging an especially fierce attack of a bloodthirsty bug, he used one of the shadow tentacles to suddenly pull himself away from the advancing enemies and pierced the body of a somewhat startled abomination a dozen meters further down the slope instead.
Then, he briefly looked up.
Two giant shapes were entangled with each other high in the dark skies. Arcs of lightning danced between them, and rivers of caustic black ash were flowing through the air like clouds.
His face turned grim.
'It's too strong. I can't kill it. Can't kill it fast enough…'
But then again… did he need to?
Deciding something, Sunny sighed and threw the Cruel Sight into the maw of a lunging abomination. Then, he closed his eyes and tried to forget about the fact that he was surrounded by a swarm of Nightmare Creatures, each of them driven crazy by the desire to tear him apart.
The shadows unleashed from the small lantern that was tied to his belt suddenly surged forward and formed a barrier around him. Even the tentacles that had been slaughtering hive soldiers dissipated and merged into its dark walls.
Within the barrier, Sunny summoned Morgan's Warbow.
As a swarm of scarlet sparks appeared in the air, a heavy blow shook the shadow cage he had constructed around himself. Then, another, and another, and another. Soon, countless strikes were raining on it, making the surface of the barrier shake and crack.
Sunny had made the cage as durable as he could. Infused with his Ascended essence, it was much more resilient than the armored hull of the mighty battleship he had once helped preserve.
And yet, just a few breaths later, it was already crumbling. Wide cracks appeared on its surface, and then a sharp chitin blade shot through one of them, scraping against the onyx surface of the Mantle of the Underworld and throwing Sunny back.
However, it was enough.
As the black bow appeared in his hand, Sunny commanded the shadow cage to transform itself. Immediately, it lost solidity and substance… instead, long and sharp spikes shot forward from the barrier in all directions.
A few abominations were skewered by them, but most were only stalled for a moment as deep scratches appeared on their carapaces.
Not paying them any attention, Sunny looked up and drew his bow.
[Soul Arrow].
[Death Dealer].
This time, a lustrous arrow that appeared to be made out of pale gold appeared on the string. Its wide broadhead, which was perfect for slicing flesh and dealing devastating wounds, was radiating a soft golden radiance.
As time seemed to slow down, Sunny took aim, wrapped his shadows around the arrow, and then sent it soaring into the sky.
Flying through the darkness, the arrow reached its target almost instantly.
The target, of course, was the Corrupted Tyrant.
However, Sunny was not aiming to kill it. He knew all too well that a creature like that would not be destroyed by a single strike, no matter how much essence he poured into it.
The golden arrow did not strike the milky-white chitin, or pierce the creature's eye.
Instead, it hit one of its translucent wings, tore through it, and then bit deep into the base of another one.
At the same time, Sunny activated a third enchantment.
[Burden of Peace] Enchantment Description: "After soul arrows pierce the flesh of an enemy, their weight can be drastically increased."
Lodged deep into the jade beetle's flesh, the golden arrow suddenly grew as heavy as a ship's anchor.
Far below the monstrous Tyrant, Sunny smiled in satisfaction.
'Try and fly away now, bastard…'