Mixed Signals

'Damn… ation…'

Sunny had fought all kinds of adversaries over his long and tumultuous career as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell — and more still after his sudden and inexplicable retirement from being one. Among them were powerful Nightmare Creatures, seasoned Awakened champions, and dreadful horrors he struggled to describe. 

But very few of them, if any at all, had managed to put this kind of pressure on him. At least not in recent years, after he achieved Transcendence and came close to the known pinnacle of power. 

The mysterious shadow was different from Nightmare Creatures, because it possessed the martial skill and deadly intelligence akin to that of a human.

But it was also different from humans, because its mind was utterly alien, elusive, and filled with nothing but murderous, merciless killing intent. 

It was fierce and ferocious, but at the same time cold and calculating, focused entirely on slaying the enemy.