<h4>Chapter 272 Shadow And Darkness</h4>
Augmented by the shadow and with the help of nine hundred fragments that Sunny had collected, the Saint had be incredibly strong. The graceful stone body of the taciturn monster hid incredible power to begin with, and now, it was vastly enhanced.
Holding her shield with both hands, the Shadow delivered a devastating blow at the weakest point of the ck de. The de, which was pinned between the marble floor and her greave, rang deafeningly… and shattered.
Still mounting the ck Knight, Sunny grinned with vicious joy.
Then, he let go of the dented helmet of the devil and pushed himself off, performing a backward flip andnding nimbly several meters away.
Nephis immediately disengaged, too.
Both of them knew that there nothing was more dangerous than an enemy on the brink of death. With nothing to lose, humans often relinquished any sense of self-preservation and turned berserk, taking their killer with them to the grave.
Nightmare Creatures were much the same, only more terrifying.
Despite the fact that Sunny was sure that the devil''s weakness hid in his sword, he wasn''t certain what would happen if the de was actually broken. Hopefully, the ck Knight would just crumble into a pile of steel.
If not… it would be better to be far away when they found out.
As the shards of the ck de rained on the floor and the Stone Saint fell on one knee, a shudder ran through the devil''s body. The darkness hiding in the corners of the ruined cathedral suddenly boiled and lunged forward in a wave.
But none of it reached the ck Knight, annihted by the radiance of Changing Star''s intricate white armor.
The devil froze in a twisted pose, his hands powerlessly hanging down, his back bent. The ck steel of his armor was… rusting. It was swiftly turning dull brown, its luster gone, its once impregnable surface looking corroded and brittle.
Then, he slowly andboriously raised his head and turned it slightly to the side. As if staring at the face of the nameless goddess whose statue oversaw the dark hall of the ruined cathedral for thousands of years.
As the devil looked at the goddess, the crimson light of his eyes slowly weakened and dimmed…
…And then, suddenly, exploded into furious red mes.
The rusty armor came apart, exposing the mass of darkness hiding within. The darkness stretched its limbs and rose above the kneeling Shadow, the parts of the armor that floated in it giving the creature a vaguely humanoid shape.
Revealing its true form.
A ghostly colossus made of darkness and rusting steel towered above the taciturn monster like an omen of death, two crimson fires burning furiously in the ck depths. Another me appeared just beneath them, like a twisted mouth made from the mes of hell.
And then, a terrifying roar shook the ancient temple.
Sunny took an involuntary step back, a feeling of dread rising from the depths of his soul. His eyes searched for Nephis and found her standing a few meters behind the Stone Saint. Changing Star was hesitating, looking at the dark apparition with an uncertain expression.
She caught his gaze, lingered for a moment and then nodded, understanding what Sunny wanted to convey without the need for any words. Then, Nephis cautiously backed away, not letting the devil out of her sight.
What was going to happen next was not something a human could survive. Not a Sleeper, at least.
With a harrowing fury, the creature of darkness crashed down on the Shadow. Its hands tore through the air and wrapped around the taciturn monster''s neck, then raised the living statue in the air as if her stone body weighed nothing.
The devil brought the Saint high above the marble floor of the ruined cathedral and squeezed her neck, as if trying to strangle the her. A of cracks streaked through the Shadow''s armor, bits of stone falling down.
…Through all of it, the emotionless expression on the hauntingly inhuman face of the Saint did not change one bit.
But in her ruby eyes, a hint of a feeling appeared, much stronger than ever before.
p??da n?vel …Disdain.
Letting go of the shield, she raised her hands, grasped the vambraces of the rusting armor, and easily shattered them in her grip.
As another roar resounded in the darkness, the taciturn monster fell back to the ground. Landing with nimble grace, she instantly dodged the ws of the apparition, which had bent down to shatter the living statue once and for all. Then, she took a step forward.
The Stone Saint was right beneath the leaning devil now.
As her ruby eyes shed with ruthlessness, she lunged forward and delivered a crushing blow to his chest. Her gauntlet tore through the breastte of the rusted armor and sank deep into the living darkness, right where a human heart would have been.
…Or a soul core.
A momentter, the crimson mes burning in the depths of the dark creature exploded into a wave of blinding red light.
…And disappeared.
The dark essence of the devil dissipated like fog, its remnants vanquished by Changing Star''s radiance. The pieces of armor fell to the ground in a ngor of steel.
The terrifying devil of the cathedral, the ck Knight, was dead.
Sunny threw his head back and let out an exhrated, vengefulugh.
''Die! Die, you bastard! Die and go to hell, forever!''
Oh, revenge tasted so great!
A momentter, the voice of the Spell whispered sweetly into his ear:
[You have in a Fallen Devil, Forsaken Knight.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Sunny smiled.
''Anything else you want to add? A Memory? An... an Echo?''
However, a momentter, he forgot all about the Spell. A cold shiver run down his spine.
Because right in front of him, something very strange was happening to the Stone Saint.
Her hand was still raised, frozen in the same position as when she had pierced the heart of the living darkness with her fist.
And in it…
''What the hell is that thing?!''