Sunny realized that trying to catch the Cursed Demon would prove to be impossible. That's why he detached an incarnation to help Slayer.
Currently, the Sacred Shade of the wolf had one incarnation, Slayer was fighting with one incarnation, and Sunny possessed three augmenting him. Well, only two now since he sent one away.
The other incarnation actually ambushed the one Slayer was battling. Running him through with [The Thrill]. Sunny knew he wouldn't die from such an attack, but he still felt the pain of soul damage, but what he didn't feel was mind damage that [The Thrill] would release. The soul damage still stung, but Sunny knew he was already going to get hurt and prepared for it.
The Red-Eyed demon found itself stunned for the first time in the battle, and Sunny didn't miss his opportunity, nor did the Wolf.
The Sacred Shade sank its teeth into its arms. The Red-eyed demon prepared a counterattack when Sunny stabbed its shadow, giving soul damage on top of mind damage.
Grinning proudly, Sunny swung his sword towards the Cursed Demon this time, but now it was his turn to be shocked.
The incarnation the Cursed Demon enthralled, which was currently getting overpowered by Slayer and Sunny, brought its hand down and impaled itself.
Sunny's soul writhed in pain. The soul core of that the incarnation received a net of cracks.
"You bastard!" Sunny bellowed.
The sacred shade finally twisted as if finding the perfect angle, violently and finally ripped the Cursed Demon's arm off.
Sunny moved forward. The Cursed Demon retreated once more. Opening it's mouth once more. To release an attack.
When a supreme arrow distracted it. It was approaching the Cursed Demon caught it easily.
Hundreds of meters away, Kai activated the enchantment that would bind it in its space. The same ones they used to bind Abundance. The Cursed Demon quickly dropped the arrow, but it was too late.
Sunny and the wolf didn't miss the opportunity. Sunny cleanly severed the Cursed Demon's other arm, and the Sacred Wolf clawed its face, leaving it a terrible mess of mangled flesh, rendering two of its three mouths useless on its face.
Sunny found himself raising his sword to impale the head with his 'Death Will'. If it really was a Mind Virus, then cutting off its head wouldn't kill it, you'd have to impale the odious thing.
The one remaining mouth on the Cursed Demon hung open. Its jaw is clearly broken, unable to close and speak words to deliver its attack.
About to impale it, Sunny heard a shriek. This time, it was from the severed hand. Momentarily dazed, the Cursed Demon launched its head towards Sunny's body, completely detaching from its body.
'Shit, shit, shit,' Sunny thought. The wolf was busy destroying the Cursed Demon's body, and Sunny was about to get taken over.
Detaching and summoning an incarnation would take a second as well. The best-case scenario was Sunny summoning the helm of the Jade armor and cushioning the blow. It was a last-ditch attack its power shouldn't be that strong, but it was a Cursed Demon.
Time seemed to be frozen. Sunny was ready to regain control. This moment was only less than a quarter of a second, yet because of the Cursed Demon's and Sunny's 'Will', they both tried to bend the world into their favor. One was trying to speed it up, and one was trying to slow it down, and Sunny was losing the battle.
That's when it happened.
The wind delivered a weak, pitiful 'Will'. Truly, it was incredibly weak, but it tilted the scales just slightly as there was a 'Will' contained in that voice. The voice was loud and melodic.
"MOVE!" Sunny was a Supreme Titan. Normally, Kai's voice wouldn't even make him budge, but dealing with a Cursed Demon absolutely ravaging Sunny's mind, there were gaps in Sunny's soul, mind, and body. His defenses were in chaos.
Sunny's soul and mind also resonated with the command, it was truly something he wanted to do after all. Although it was so weak, it was more like a plea.
Sunny didn't dodge. He simply moved his shadow sword up. The speed at which the head was moving was incredible, and it impaled the sword, sliding all the way to the handle of the sword. Its face was frozen with shock and dismay.
Then Sunny finally heard another voice.
[You have defeated a Cursed Demon]
Instantly, Sunny regained control of both his incarnations and felt the mental assault of Cursed Demon disappear.
At the end of the battle, Sunny had actually lost control of the incarnation augmenting the Sacred Wolf Shade as well. That's why it was mindlessly attacking the body as the Cursed Demon was actually just trying to distract the Wolf.
The battle might truly have turned for the worse if it had continued. The insidious mind virus would've gotten a two-for-one deal if Sunny didn't cancel the Wolfs summoning.
Landing carefully next to Sunny, Kai spoke.
"That was really chaotic for the last few minutes, but we won," Kai said with a stiff but ultimately happy look.
It must've been puzzling for Kai to see the battle unfold from such a far distance, he wouldn't know who would be enthralled. He managed to sneak a glance at the right time. Sunny was dealing it significant damage to the Cursed Demon, so even if it did notice Kai's gaze, it couldn't do anything to him.
"Congratulations on using 'Will'," Sunny remarked.
He was in significant pain, but he still congratulated his friend.
"Thank you, although I did mostly use my aspect on myself. It's strange. I feel so different and tyrannical when I used 'Will,'" Kai said.
"Sounds about right," Sunny said as he assessed the situation.
Returning all the shades to his soul sea and calling back his avatars. It wasn't a bad fight, but it was incredibly risky.
"It was worth it, though. I received two Sacred shades." Sunny thought.
In the future, I definitely threw them into the clouds below, giving that giant tentacle its lunch. Sunny thought.
As he never received shades, they were defeated using underhanded means, but they had survived, and that mattered more in the Future.
Sunny assessed himself quickly. Four incarnations couldn't be summoned, the Sacred Wolf's mind is also messed up and difficult to control at the moment. Slayer developed some wounds from Sunny's turncoat incarnation, the Hydra was also too damaged, and the Obsidian Wasps are all mending in his soul.
Some of his incarnations had holes, and others were missing limbs. All in all, it was a decent result.
For Kai, it was amazing. He had figured out how to use his 'Will'.
The Death Game was special in a way. The Ash domain they were a part of strengthened them over the days they killed the Cursed abominations. This gave Kai the training wheels he needed, already on top of his aspect.
The Death Game was unique in this as it helped beings understand domains a bit better. This no doubt aided anyone who wanted to understand domains better.
Sunny wondered if this place. Once all the creatures were defeated, if it would be worth putting in new creatures to help assist Saints develop an understanding of domains in the future.
Looked at his new Sacred Demon shade in his soul sea, Sunny thought of a new name for him.
"Hmmm, I'll call you Mind Plague. Or Plague for short." It was good at taking control of creatures, but ultimately, Sunny's vast mind was too much to plague too quickly. Sunny was a unique Supreme Titan after all, and his consciousness was vast even for a Titan.
Sunny looked at Kai.
"Me and Slayer are going to rest up. You should try to hold onto the feeling of controlling 'Will', although it'll probably be impossible to forget the feeling." Sunny said.
It would be. Since controlling 'Will' was amazing in its own right and nearly unforgettable, Kai could always command himself to assume that very same mindset again or just channel that very memory using his voice.
Kai nodded.
"Alright, rest up. I guess I'll just continue practicing." Kai said.
***
Sunny woke hours later. The last fight was incredibly exhausting. He was losing way more essence than gaining it back. Near the end, his essence reserves dropped under twenty percent. That's typically how it went for fighting Cursed beings.
Waking up and stretching, he saw Slayer looking at him murderously.
"Aha, you know I didn't mean to attack you, right?" Sunny said shamefully.
She stretched out her hand, and Sunny knew what she was asking for.
Blood.
"Alright, I guess you deserve it anyway." As Sunny finished saying this Kai entered the living room of the shadow mansion.
"You're finally awake," Kai said.
Sunny glanced at him as he finished pouring Slayer a cup of his blood in a goblet. Kai watched this strange interaction unfold, furrowing his brow.
"Uh, what's going on?" Kai asked tentatively.
"Just giving Slayer the best, top-class blood. Don't worry. She won't ask for yours now that she's full. Just make sure she's full." Sunny said darkly.
Kai stayed silent as he watched the shadow drink the blood and somehow look a bit less ethereal. Completely unsure how to reply, Kai just decided to skip it altogether.
"You've been asleep practically an entire day. It's now or never to leave this square." Kai said.
"Makes sense. Alright, now for the main course." Sunny said.
"Main course?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, we're fighting a Cursed Tyrant," Sunny said.
Kai's flaw quickly told him that it was the truth, and he was left astonished.
"Sunny, not to be rude, but we almost lost against a Cursed Demon. How in the world are we supposed to be a Cursed Tyrant?!" Kai said, raising his voice.
"Relax, Kai, it won't be too difficult. It's a Cursed Tyrant, yes, but it doesn't have any thralls, and this one is another creature that attacks via mind. This time we won't have to split our forces either." Sunny said.
Kai seemed to relax a bit more after hearing that.
"Then you'll get this lineage you spoke about?" Kai asked.
Sunny nodded.
"Yes, and after that we'll be free to leave this place," Sunny said.
Leaving the grey mansion, Sunny, Kai, and Slayer seemed to look way better than they had a few hours prior.
My strength hasn't fully returned, but I possess a lot more powerful shades and a good number of incarnations that aren't injured. All in all, I'll still be stronger than when I faced it last time. Sunny thought.
****
Sunny, Kai, and Slayer approached the final square of the Death Game. With each victory, the Ash in their souls actually amplified their strength, making them more powerful just like last time.
Looking at the fine webbing encompassing the entire square the Cursed Moth was in, Sunny and Kai both had grim looks.
"You know, fighting a Cursed Tyrant still doesn't seem like a good idea," Kai said.
Sunny chuckled at that.
"Yeah, well, you play the cards you're dealt. By the way, if it starts talking to you, don't listen to it." Sunny carefully reminded Kai once more.