A legion of fearsome shades rose from the darkness, assembling into a flawless battle formation behind Saint. Those were the shades of her kin she had slain on the way to the heart of the Underworld — no less than a thousand of them, all encased in suits of impregnable plate armor, wielding sublime weapons, most holding indomitable shields.

That was the strange thing about the Stone Saints. When a human died and became a soldier of the Shadow Legion, they had to be armed — that was why the shadow of the King of Swords worked tirelessly in the forge. Their Memories were gone, and so were their mundane weapons.

The Stone Saints, however, did not part with their armaments even in death. Maybe it was because of how their armor and weapons were forged, or perhaps it was because the Stone Saints had a special relationship with their weapons, making them a part of themselves.

In any case, it was a boon for Sunny.

Saint commanded a legion of a thousand warriors, including more than a dozen Supreme lieutenants. It was a formidable force, no doubt about it... however, the enemy outnumbered them five-to-one. Not only that, but the abominations held the defensive advantage, while the structure of the city itself made that advantage utterly deadly.

And yet, Sunny and Nephis could not allow themselves to stay and help Saint in this battle. The fallen Jade Titan was a far more terrifying enemy, and if he was allowed to join the fight, a legion of a thousand powerful shades would be wiped out like an army of dolls.

So, Saint had to conquer the city of her creator — her original creator, that was, not Sunny — herself.

There was no time to waste, so Sunny rushed forward after receiving a nod from Saint. One of his incarnations stayed with her, and a measure of Neph's flames was augmenting her as well — so, he was not too worried about his loyal Shadow. If things turned from bad to worse, he would be able to rescue her and flee, at least.

The odds were stacked against them, but there was one silver lining to this troubling situation. Since the vast city of the Stone Saints was illuminated by myriad lanterns of divine flame, it was populated by shadows. So, Sunny had regained access to most of his powers, including Shadow Step — his mobility had been restored to its usual preposterous levels.

For now, he continued to fly, rushing across the vast expanse of the magnificent city with the help of two great black wings. Nephis was just ahead, piercing the darkness like a radiant star.

Behind them, Saint's taciturn legion and the army of Tainted Saints clashed in a ferocious battle.

The abominations acted with a level of unity and discipline that one would never expect from Nightmare Creatures. Instead of rushing toward the invaders as a frenzied mob, they maintained their positions, implementing a flawless defensive strategy. Those stationed on the battlements high above unleashed a devastating barrage of arrows and javelins at the enemy below. Those guarding the neighboring stalagmites moved to block the aerial bridges, surrounding Saints and her warriors on all sides.

As the hail of arrows fell, Saint raised her shield and struck its rim twice.

Behind her, a thousand of her kin did the same, their shields ringing like a twin thunderclap.

Then, they moved with swift precision. Their battle formation split into seven distinctive units, each turning into an impregnable fortress as the Shadow Saints raised their shields and brought them together.

When the terrifying barrage of arrows fell, none managed to pierce the turtle-like formations. The cacophonous ringing of a myriad arrows striking a thousand shields fused into a deafening litany.

Saint, who stood in front of the seven centuriae, raised her shield as well. Then, she pointed her dark blade forward.

The warriors of her legion flowed forward like seven streams of inky darkness, never breaking the shield domes protecting them. Four centuriae advanced toward the aerial bridges connecting the great stalagmite to the neighboring districts, while three marched toward the enchanted elevator platforms that would soar to the stalactite above.

Saint led the larger contingent, while the smaller one was commanded by the shadow of the Great Devil, Absence.

Soon, the warriors of the Shadow Legion poured onto the arching aerial bridges. The Great abominations among the defenders rushed forward, and at the same time, the Supreme champions of Saint's dark army exploded from the turtle formations as well.

When they clashed, the entire city shook. Shades of higher Ranks were weaker than their living counterparts by definition since they barely possessed any Will. However, Sunny was there, fused with Saint. He could empower them with the help of the Curse — as a result, the clash was not as one-sided. Most importantly, the legion of shades wielded one decisive advantage over their enemy...

They were led by Saint.

And Saint was far more powerful and deadly than any of the Great abominations among the fallen defenders of the city.

Her dark blade flashed, and her shield crashed into the armor of the enemy champions. The power of nothingness drained their strength, and in just a few moments, the phalanx defending one of the aerial bridges crumbled. The silent shades poured into the breach, slaughtering the enemy with merciless skill and precision. Moments later, the Tainted Saints they killed joined the ranks of Saint's army, slowly chipping away at the numerical advantage the abominations held.

Ruby dust spilled on the cold stones of the desolate city, and the deafening clangor of battle tore apart the silence that had ruled it for thousands of years.

Far ahead, Nephis and Sunny were flying toward Nether's citadel.

Long before they reached it, however...

The titanic figure standing at its landing platform leapt forward.

The Great Titan soared through the air, easily breaching a dozen kilometers of distance, and landed on a vast empty space at the heart of the city with an earth-shaking thunderclap.

There, the entire peak of a colossal stalagmite had been cut, creating a vast circular expanse of flawlessly flat stone. An ancient structure seemed to have stood on that field of stone once, resembling an enormous amphitheater, but it lay in ruins now — what little of its walls still remained was toppled with a thunderous rumble, plummeting into clouds of dust.

The Jade Titan was close enough for Sunny to discern every detail of his intricate, fearsome armor — the same armor Sunny himself wore.

However, at the moment, he was not looking at the Titan's black armor, and neither was he thinking about how to slay that terrifying foe.

Instead, Sunny felt a cold chill running down his spine.

Because he sensed that there was something very wrong about that Great Titan.

Something about it felt eerily sinister and utterly wrong.

It was as if he was not looking at a terrifying Nightmare Creature, but at something else — something else controlling the Jade Titan like a puppet, and wearing his colossal body like a glove.

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