"Ah~~~~"
The piercing scream struck Shade's eardrums just as the moonlight went out. The gurgling sound vanished, and the sharp cry first shattered the remaining glass in the buildings around Saint Derain Square before even drowning out the gale's shriek.
Blood flowed from Shade's ears. Enduring the splitting pain in his head, he faced the towering monster behind the buildings and slashed with the staff in his hand, sending forth silver moonlight:
"Moonlight Slash!"
But the arc of moonlight only traveled halfway before invisible tentacles dancing in the darkness shattered it into motes of light above the rooftops. Shade's eyes had already adapted to the darkness. Behind the fishman, in the space he had originally taken for mere darkness, tens of thousands of pus-dripping tentacles emerged behind its mountain-like black silhouette, as though giving it a pair of enormous black wings.
Watching this scene in a world of utter darkness, anyone without a strong enough will would likely fall into endless madness at once. Shade bit his tongue, gauged his remaining spirit, and realized that he likely had only one chance.
The moisture in the air was increasing. Behind the fishman, the dancing tentacles aimed their tips at the square. After less than two seconds of charging, tens of thousands of black water arrows shot toward the square that had become an arena.
"Moonbeam Greatsword!"
Shade gripped the Holy Silver greatsword in his left hand, and a golden shield emerged in the darkness. Scattered streams of light formed an eggshell-shaped barrier around him. Then, amid rumbling blasts, the incoming water arrows completely destroyed what few intact floor tiles remained in the square.
The pitch-black water arrows, carrying corruption and destruction, bombarded the shield. Dense cracks appeared, and Shade, along with the seal shield, was driven backward uncontrollably by the impact.