[You have slain an Awakened…]
[You have slain an…]
[You have slain…]
The earth quaked below Sunny's feet as he stood in silence, watching as a cloud of dust rose up somewhere in th Artisanship Commission. He sincerely hoped that it wouldn't be connected to him, or hey may be faced with charges.
Sunny grinned as he felt his Shadow Essence refill itself at great speeds — much greater than normal. Thanks to Serpent's [Soul Reaver], each of its kills would serve to regenerate any Essence he had spent. The rush of energy flowing through him was extraordinarily intense, and gave Sunny no concerns in regards to how long he could last. In the end, his only complaint was that he couldn't get Shadow Fragments from those of the Awakened Rank anymore, as he was now a Master.
Seeing as he was going to have so much excess Shadow Essence, he might as well put it to good use…
***
Sunny sauntered over to the cluster of roots that grew along with the rest of the Ambrosial Arbor. Hail Sorrow was held up by his shoulder as he walked right over to where the Transcendent Tyrant's presence was.
Which was to say that Sunny hadn't been able to actually see it. He had just known it was there, seemingly lacking the ability to stalk its prey like a true Nightmare Creature. Though, the Mara-Struck certainly weren't comparable in the first place. They lacked the instincts, the hunger, and the natural advantages the predators of Corruption had.
No matter. Sunny would slay the Tyrant today, whether it held that madness or not.
Its body rose from the coiling mass of the Ambrosial Arbor's roots like something that had not walked into existence, but grown into it. Limbs long and elegant, yet impossibly firm, as though carved from polished wood and living metal at once. Deep blue formed the foundation of its frame, but that color was almost incidental — overrun by veins of gold that crawled across its body in branching patterns, mimicking the structure of roots and veins alike.
Its legs were too perfect. Each joint bent with organic precision, yet there was no softness to them. They resembled sculpted pillars more than flesh, something designed not for movement, but permanence.
'A deer…'
Normally, Sunny would be ecstatic to see such a legendary creature, but he wasn't one to compliment his potential murderer.
Though, that wasn't to say that he was willing to die.
As the Tyrant's eyes landed on him, Sunny did not hesitate; he leaped through the shadows, reaching the deer instantaneously Hail Sorrow fell atop its neck…
And cleaved straight through.
Sunny's body lost its balance for a split second, having expected resistance just for his sword to cut through like butter. The deer's head anticlimactically rolled onto the ground, its horns clicking against it.
With a raised brow and a befuddled expression, he looked back to the rest of the deer's body before immediately jumping back.
Despite being headless, the deer's body still stood upright with no intervention whatsoever. To further confirm that it was still alive, Sunny saw the five Transcendent Soul Cores burning.
Vine-like growths stretched out of the deer's neck, causing Sunny to grimace as he used Shadow Step once more to close the distance. Slicing through the vines that were trying to shoot towards the head, Sunny wondered if this was a Wormvine situation all over again. Raising his sword for another slash, Sunny prepared to once more cut down the Tyrant. There must have been a limit to its healing…
Before his blade could hit his target for the third time, however, multiple large roots — around Sunny's own size — suddenly circled him and the deer he had been trying to kill. Diving into the shadows to avoid the attack, he once more made some distance away from the deer, his sword tapping the ground as his swing finished its arc. The place he had previously stood was left with a crater, the roots having not moved from their position despite it.
Or maybe it was too fast for him to perceive?
'This is so weird…'
The Tyrant could survive without a head. It could control vibes to reattach itself, possibly use those to attack, and summon strange roots for offensive use. The survivability and vines could be either a natural trait of the creature or its Devil Ability. The roots it called upon could also be its Devil Ability, or possibly its Tyrant Ability.
With a scowl, Sunny did what he did best.
He retreated.