The ground split open, and the head of a massive insect appeared from beneath. Sunny was thrown off balance, and much worse, there was no time for him to dodge the sudden attack. He could not even use Shadow Step.

'Crap!'

Before he could do anything, the maw of the Fallen Devil closed around one of his legs. Sharp mandibles scraped against his greave, smearing revolting mucus all over the bleak steel of the Undying Chain.

The good news was that his Transcendent armor turned out to be too tough to be bitten through by the damned abomination. No matter how hard the creature pressed with its jaws, the armored greave refused to bend or be pierced. It also withstood the corrosive effect of the liquid oozing from the insect's maw.

Perhaps things would have been different if Sunny did not possess such a high divine affinity, but with the [Brilliant Will] enchantment reinforcing his armor, it reached a stupendous level of durability.

The bad news, however... was that Sunny was completely immobilized. Even if the Fallen Devil could not bite off his leg, there were countless other abominations that were already dashing forward to press the attack and rip him apart. Every armor had its cracks, and the Undying Chain was no different.

"Let go, you filthy bug!"

Sunny reversed his grip on the Cruel Sight and thrust it down. His strike was so powerful that the incandescent blade pierced all the way through the impregnable chitin of the insect, cracking the thick plate protecting its forehead and melting parts of it away.

Despite the terrible wound, the Devil refused to die. Even with its listless black eyes turning into liquid and evaporating, it rose from the ground and then viciously jerked the upper part of his torso, swinging Sunny into the ground.

No matter how tough his armor was, at this point, human bones would have shaped and shattered.

However, [Bone Weave] stubbornly held his femur and tibia together.

It hurt like hell, though.

"Argh!"

Slamming into the rocks, Sunny stubbornly thrust his spear deeper into the Devil's head and then briefly glanced at the approaching soldiers of the stone hive. Following his command, the shadow tentacles shot forward and crushed a few closest ones.

At the same time, two dark hands appeared from his lower torso and grabbed the Devil's jaws, trying to pry them apart.

It was of no use. The creature was just too strong.

...The Fallen Devil possessed a wicked intelligence, too.

Seeing that neither its bite nor its slam managed to damage the thorny opponent, it decided to change tactics. Instead of trying to savage the enemy, the glant insect simply clenched its jaw tighter... and then dove into the ground, pulling Sunny with it.

The solid stone parted around them like liquid.

'Not good...'

Like every human, Sunny harbored a deeply rooted fear of being buried alive. And this was exactly what was happening... pulled dozens of meters into the solid stone, he was going to be buried under its crushing weight if the Devil let go.

Perhaps that was exactly the bastard's plan.

Before that could happen, however, Sunny snarled and thrust the Cruel Sight even deeper, pushing it into the body of the Devil as far as he could. At the same time, he commanded the spear to assume its maximum length, and then send all four of his shadows from his body onto the somber blade.

Augmented by them, the divine flame summoned by the [Dark Mirror] enhancement suddenly grew even hotter. For a moment, it seemed as though the giant insect became illuminated from within. A blinding light escaped from the cracks of its carapace, and then, the Devil contorted in a terrible convulsion. Just a few seconds later, it was immolated from within, turning into nothing but an empty, blackened shell.

[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Stone Titan Flea.]

[Your shadow grows stronger...]

Sunny shuddered, feeling his heart turn cold.

'That's great, but...'

The Devil was dead, and so, its unnatural power dissipated. The stone surrounding them turned back into its solid state, encasing Sunny in a cold, inescapable coffin.

There was no light, no room to move, no air to breathe. Even with a Master's prodigious might, digging himself out was impossible. A creeping horror entered Sunny's mind...

Luckily, he was not just any Master.

Stretching his Shadow Sense upward, Sunny simply used Shadow Step and emerged from a stretch of darkness above ground.

...The cold air of Antarctica had never felt so sweet. The inhospitable, dim sky had never looked so beautiful.

Suppressing the desire to fall to his knees and take a gasping breath, Sunny swiftly looked around to evaluate the situation.

He had only been absent from the battlefield for a dozen heartbeats... but in a clash like this one, just a few seconds was an eternity.

Just as he had suspected, things were not looking great. His absence left the rear of the human formation wide open, and a tide of stone hive soldiers was already flowing up the slope, approaching it. Most were already well outside the range of effect of the Dying Wish. That was really, really bad.

Sunny's eyes widened.

I have to come up with something. Fast!"

Since there was no time to think, only a single idea came to mind. It could lead to a lot of unforeseen circumstances, but forced to act immediately, he did not see any other choice.

Commanding the Extraordinary Rock to relay his command, Sunny barked:

"Samara, Kimmy! Turn around and open fire!"

At the same time, he... dismissed his armor.

As both of his soldiers unleashed a hall of bullets at the flood of abominations advancing from the back, the Undying Chain disappeared into a swarm of sparks. At the same time, wisps of dark fog swirled around his body.

For a few seconds, Sunny was left without any protection.

Ignoring that chilling fact, he dove into the mass of Nightmare Creatures, rampaging between them as the dark fog slowly coalesced into a different suit of armor. Luckily or rather due to his panicked effort - no attack managed to land on his body in that time.

Glossy onyx, ominous lines, intricate and ancient design.

Finally, the Mantle of the Underworld wove itself into existence. His shadows slid onto its black surface.

Merged with it, the Dying Wish was suddenly augmented by the [Underworld Armament] enchantment.

The Nightmare Creatures advancing on the rear of the human formation slowed down and stalled. Then, they froze in place. © 2024.

And then, one after another, they slowly turned around and peered at Sunny.

Subjected to an almost palpable pressure of immense hatred and bloodlust, he smiled nervously.

"Uh... come eat me, bastards. Look! I am very tasty!"

With fervor and frenzy that made him shudder, the mass of Nightmare Creatures obliged.