Shadow Gladiator
There were wooden fences built throughout the arena, partitioning it into many small enclosures, each connected to a next one by a rusty iron gate. Currently, Sunny was at the very edge of the colosseum, with one of its stone walls behind him. Three sturdy fences formed the rest of the killing box, sharp spikes mounted on them to prevent the combatants from trying to escape.
…And that was unmistakably where he found himself — a colosseum. A theater of death where slaves fought each other for the entertainment of the crowd, unless they wanted to be slaughtered by the other gladiators or their own masters.
Granted, this one was rather strange. For one thing, the slaves were predominantly wild beasts and monsters of all kinds, as opposed to captured humans. The crowd was behaving weirdly, too. After his experience in the Dreamscape, Sunny expected to see the spectators overwhelmed by bloodthirst and dark, cruel fascination.
Instead, these people seemed to be joyful and proud, almost solemn. It was as though they were genuinely happy for the gladiators, even a little bit… jealous? The crowd was undulating and shifting, singing one word over and over again:
"Glory! Glory! Glory!"
Their voices merged into an echoing, thunderous roar.
'What the hell is wrong with these bastards…'
Sadly, Sunny didn't have a lot of time to think about the weirdness of the audience. He had bigger problems on his plate.
Right in front of him, another creature was let go of the chain, its powerful body covered in dirty brown fur. Four mighty paws, a long muzzle with terrifying fangs, and six eyes burning with madness… it was very similar to the Dread Wolves he had thought at the island covered by strange, twisted trees.
And it wasn't alone.
Two more beasts appeared from behind the first one, falling low to the ground as guttural growls escaped from their maws.
'Damnation!'
Sunny shifted his gaze, trying to discern the Rank and Class of the murderous beasts. They seemed a lot smaller than the Fallen Monster he had killed before, at least — simply the size of a bull instead of a full cargo vehicle. His newfound ability to peer into the souls of living things and see their soul cores was going to come in handy...
However, what he saw beneath their tough hides left him confused. Instead of spheres of radiant light, the creatures had hideous masses of swirling darkness at the center of their beings, veins of it spreading throughout their souls like cancerous growths. In the depths of that darkness, something unclear seemed to be moving, as if trying to break free.
The sight of it was both frightening and repulsive.
It reminded him, somewhat, of the harrowing rot he had witnessed in the Ebony Towe, growing from the severed arm of Weaver.
'...So this is what soul cores of the Nightmare Creatures look like.'
Sunny had no idea how to judge the Rank of such cores, since he only knew to measure the usual ones by their size and luminosity. The growths of darkness in the dread wolves seemed to have two swirling nods each, which at least told him that they were mere monsters.
Not that it helped him very much.
How was he supposed to fight against three monsters while barely being able to stand upright in this new, unfamiliar body?
'Curse it!'
…He was also not at all happy with the fact that this gaunt and powerful body was standing more than two meters tall, devoid of any fat... and stark naked, with all his stuff hanging loose for everyone to see.
Or bite off!
Plus, there were a lot of women in the crowd...
Hiding his discomfort, Sunny stared at the wolves, his black eyes full of menacing resentment. His lips parted, revealing sharp fangs that were in no way inferior to that of the monstrous beasts. A low growl escaped from his mouth.
'Come on… look how big and scary I am! You wouldn't want to fight a scary demon like me, would you? One would have to be insane to attack such a monstrosity…'
Sadly, this was exactly what Nightmare Creatures were. Insane…
The wolves lunged forward, madness burning in their bloodshot eyes. Their maws opened, foam glistening on jagged fangs. The crowd roared.
'Damn it all!'
Sunny commanded the shadows to wrap themselves around his body, which suddenly turned black and lusterless, as though cut from obsidian. Thankfully, at least that part of his Aspect still worked… almost instantly, his might quadrupled, and so did his speed.
He dashed through the darkness and appeared from the shadow of one of the wolves, his four hands shooting forward to grab the beast, sharp claws sinking into the soft flesh. Sunny was still struggling to control his body, and for that reason, his movements were much slower and messier than they could have been.
But, embraced by the three shadows, he simply used brute power to overcome that disadvantage.
Raising the massive monster above his head, he hissed and pulled with all his might. Lean muscles moved like steel cables under his onyx skin, and in the next moment, a river of blood flowed onto his horned head from above as the body of the wolf was mercilessly torn apart.
The crowd went wild, their voices growing loud and triumphant — at least of those spectators who were close to his enclosed box.
'What… what are you screaming for, idiots…'
Sunny was more than a little startled by the violent strength of his new body. It was much more powerful than his human one… however, it was also much taller, and his center of gravity was much further from the ground.
For that reason, Sunny miscalculated his posture completely, lost his balance, and toppled over as soon as the dread wolf's body lost its integrity.
He crashed onto the bloodied stones, instinctively raising two of his four hands to cover his throat. Almost instantly, one of the remaining two monsters was upon him, its maw opening wide before closing around his neck like a crushing bear trap.
Luckily, Sunny's arms were already in the way, so instead of tearing his throat open, the wolf only managed to bite into them, sharp fangs burrowing through tough skin, piercing flesh, and scraping against bone.
Overwhelmed by the explosion of terrible pain and the sudden fall, Sunny momentarily forgot how to control his limbs and operate the shadow demon's body. The second wolf jumped on him, tearing his abdomen with long claws.
'Argh!'
Not good… this was not good! He was pinned to the ground, defenseless, seconds away from being disemboweled and having his head torn off. And he couldn't even remember how many hands he had, and what to do with them…
Sunny shuddered, then opened his mouth and roared. His bestial scream washed over the wolves, momentarily stunning them.
Then, he moved his two upper hands, grasping the first wolf by the jaws, and simultaneously threw his lower arms around the second one. Twisting his body, Sunny threw the monster digging into his abdomen off and pinned it to the stones, at the same time pushing the maw away from his neck.
Growling menacingly, he pulled the jaws of one of the monsters apart, while crushing the other in a devastating embrace.
The three of them struggled furiously for a few moments, more and more gashes and lacerations accumulating on Sunny's body. The pain flooded his mind, clearing it of all unnecessary thoughts.
All that remained was a cold and murderous will to kill.
He strained the muscles of his demonic body to the limit, and finally felt the spine of one of the wolves snap in his embrace, and at the same time, the lower jaw of the other one separate from its skull.
A pitiful wail assaulted his ears, and he threw the paralyzed monster away, ripping the other's jaw off entirely.
Both wolves fell to the ground, while Sunny was finally able to rise. His fists came down like sledgehammers, crushing the skulls of the abominations into paste.
The massive bodies of the Nightmare Creatures shuddered, and then grew still.
Sunny was left kneeling, his chest rising and falling heavily. His naked body was covered in deep lacerations and blood, most of it not his own. His eyes were as black as the bottomless abyss of the Sky Below, and his four hands hung low, claws marred with strands of brown fur, bone dust, and disgusting greyish-red sludge.
The crowd cheered loudly, more spectators starting to pay attention to his box with disturbingly joyful and sincerely pleased expressions on their faces.
Sunny sucked in the air into his four lungs, his two hearts beating wildly, and slowly rose to his feet. He scowled, painfully aware of the absence of the familiar voice announcing his kills. The Spell was silent.
'...Now what?'
As though to answer his question, a rattling of chains resounded from somewhere up ahead.
And then, the rusty iron gate in the front fence of the box rose, opening a path to a new one, this one closer to the center of the arena and permeated with the smell of death even more.
Sunny stared at the newly opened path with a bleak expression, then let out a low growl and walked toward it, now acquainted with his towering body a little bit better.
'Damned Solvane... that witch! I am going to kill her… kill her again, I mean. Anyway, she's going to answer for everything before the Nightmare is over... this, I promise before the gods!'
Radiating a menacing aura of anger and resentment, Sunny passed beneath the rusted gates and entered the second box.
