Chapter 2577: Encroaching Shadows |
The Black Millipede tribe might have surrendered a lot of ground to Sunny and his Shadow Legion, but it was still countless and fearsome... beyond fearsome, in fact, for almost anyone except him.
There was an endless sea of Corrupted Nightmare Creatures, six Great Tyrants, and a deadly retinue of their powerful champions—Great Devils and enormous Demons alike, their glossy black chitin decorated with vivid and eerie patterns. There were Monsters, as well, some of them dozens of meters long.
This dreadful force was enough to wash over Earth and consume every human populating its dying expanse. The Black Millipede tribe was far more terrible than the entirety of the Nightmare Creatures unleashed upon the world by the Chain of Nightmares in and of itself—except for the final few Gate Guardians, perhaps. But even then, the Millipede Queens had numbers on their side.
Sunny was facing the monstrous tribe alone.
It was no coincidence that the Shadow Legion had suffered myriad bitter defeats, and that even his own Shadow Shell had been destroyed by these sinister abominations more than a few times. However, it did not matter. Sooner or later, the Black Millipede tribe was going to become a part of the Shadow Legion, and their long string of victories would ultimately conclude with a final defeat. Sunny was just not sure that it would happen today.
While the Rat King clashed with the great swarm of monstrous millipedes, the Legion of Death rose from Sunny's shadow. Saint appeared first, riding atop Nightmare. She regarded the scene of unimaginable violence with cold indifference, then raised her tenebrous sword and clashed it twice against the rim of her shield.
As if to answer, a sea of shadows rose from the darkness and surged forward.
Then Shadow Legion split into two wings as it advanced.
The left wing was commanded by Saint, who led the original shades into battle. Behind her were the shade of Daeron the Serpent King and his daughter, Wind Flower, the Snow Wolves of Ariel's Game, the Asuras of Condemnation and other the Supreme shades earned by Sunny in Godgrave, the shades of seven Song Saints he had slain, twin shadows of Solvane, the powerful shades of those abominations he had killed in Antarctica, and the remainder.
The towering figure of blackened steel and infernal flame that was Fiend followed Saint into battle, as well. Serpent was also with her, flowing across the charred tangle like a river of onyx scales.
The right wing of the Shadow Legion was a flood of black chitin, composed of countless millipede shades. It was controlled by the Ember Queen, her ephemeral form hidden behind the seething mass of her monstrous soldiers. Slayer rode on the carapace of the elusive Supreme Tyrant, surrounded by wisps of ghostly fog.
The Shadow legion spread into a wide formation, moving past the terrifying slaughterhouse of the clash between the Rat King and the vast swarm of the monstrous millipedes.
The six Great Tyrants moved their reserve forces, as well, sending the elites and champions of their monstrous kind to contend against the advancing shadows—otherwise, the great army of their abominable tribe would be pincered and eventually surrounded, suffering terrible losses and losing the ability to retreat if need be.
Nightmare rushed forward, covering hundreds of meters with each leap. The aura of dread surrounding him made the slithering millipedes cower, and Saint raised her sword, ready to reap their lives...
Before she could, however, the Burned Forest was suddenly drowned in blinding light. Sunny felt the shadows shift and retreat, washed away by the radiant radiance—then, the roar of a devastating explosion rolled across the charred tangle, and a powerful shockwave sent clouds of ash flying into the sky.
Directing his attention to the right flank of the battlefield, Sunny saw myriad millipedes dissolving into a cold silver light.
[You have slain a...]
[You have slain a...]
[You have slain a...]
Standing atop the radiant chitin of the Ember Queen, Slayer lowered her bow and regarded the devastation she had unleashed with dark malice. Moments before, she had poured her pure soul into the head of her arrow and let it fly—it was as if a falling star streaked across the ashen sky and landed in the carnage, obliterating both millipedes and the scurrying rats alike in the explosion of essence.
So, the first kill of the battle was hers.
Saint turned her head, as if looking at the murderous Shadow across the vast distance of the battlefield. Slayer gave her a glance, as well... then calmly reached for another arrow.
A moment later, Saint and Nightmare were among the millipedes. Her black blade lashed out, severing several monstrous abominations in half, while his hooves trampled a few more.
The two armies collided, causing the entire world to quake.
Fiend let out a bellowing roar, plunging into the mass of millipedes like a giant made of sharp steel and flame. Despite his enormous size, many of the elder abominations dwarfed him—their impregnable chitin parted under his claws, though, and plumes of smoke rose from the cracks in their carapaces, hinting that the monstrous horrors were beings burned from the inside. Serpent clashed with a colossal Great Devil, coiling around its long body and constricting it until the black carapace cracked, and a great flood of fetid blood was expelled from its maw.
The Shadow Wolves descended upon the monstrous millipedes with the wild ferocity of primal predators. King Daeron led the shadows of the human Saints into a deadly assault, the frigid winds raised by the shade of the Winter Beast howling as they froze and stiffened the bodies of the frenzied Nightmarer Creatures.
The battle entered a terrifying state of utter chaos, with annihilating forces being unleashed by both armies to grind the other army to dust.
Observing the carnage from a distance, Sunny remained calm.
‘It seems to be going well...’
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