Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Sunny was mentally sweating bullets as he held Bronya at knifepoint. Dozens of rifles were aimed in his direction as he threatened to kill the daughter of the Supreme Guardian.

Normally, Sunny wouldn’t have been very threatened by mundane weapons. Although he wasn’t wearing it, the odds that a mundane bullet could get through the Puppeteer’s Shroud was extremely low. Even if the Awakened armor of the fifth tier couldn’t protect him, Sunny was an Awakened Demon. Not only that, but he wouldn’t bleed from a gunshot wound.

Of course, this only applied to mundane weapons. Even though the guns were not Memories, Sunny could feel a mystical property radiating from them — and the Silvermane Guards that wielded them as well.

The guards were not Awakened, and their rifles were just that — rifles. Normally, there wouldn’t be any threat, however...

Sunny’s thoughts drifted to his hostage. Bronya had yet to make any attempt to release herself. Considering that Sunny was augmented by all his shadows, it made sense that she didn’t have the strength to escape. What truly confused Sunny was the fact that Bronya hadn’t used her Aspect to at least make an attempt. Obviously, her Aspect had to be combat related — otherwise, she wouldn’t have been allowed to lead the Silvermane Guards to arrest the trio.

The artificial smirk that Sunny had on his face widened slightly.

’I see.’

It wasn’t that she hadn’t attempted to use her Aspect. Rather, she had already activated it. The feeling that he had gotten from the soldiers was a result of her Aspect — a strengthening of her allies and their weapons.

If he were to take a guess, the boost that was applied to the Silvermane Guards was her Dormant Ability, while the strengthening of their weapons was an Awakened Ability. Of course, it was possible for it to be the other way around; or for both effects to be the result of a single Ability.

If it was the latter, then that meant that Bronya’s Aspect Rank must have been relatively high.

Either way, Sunny came to one conclusion based on the gleamed information.

’She’s willing to get killed as long as I’m taken down as well.’

Bronya’s clothing was not a Memory, and would therefore provide no protection against even a mundane bullet. Considering that she didn’t have an Aspect that provided augmentations, it was highly likely that an enhanced rifle could shoot through her entirely — hitting Sunny in the process.

It was quite the cunning — if not suicidal — plan. In fact, it could have succeeded if Sunny hadn’t deduced the nature of her Aspect. He also doubted that the Silvermane Guards were willing to shoot Bronya just to finish him off.

It was definitely possible that the augmented bullets could hurt Sunny. However, that would be under the assumption that Sunny was a normal Awakened.

With three shadows wrapped around his body, all of Sunny’s capabilities were augmented to be quadruple of what they originally were. Four times stronger. Four times faster.

Four times more durable.

Sunny wouldn’t even need the Puppeteer’s Shroud to tank a bullet.

Allowing one of his shadows to discretely slide off his body, Sunny took a look at the situation behind him. March and Dan Heng had summoned their weapons, which meant that an escape wouldn’t require too much time to initiate.

...But even if Sunny could survive being shot by the augmented rifles, the same couldn’t be said about March and Dan Heng. In fact, Sunny guessed that they haven’t even noticed the mystical presence of the Silvermane Guard’s weaponry.

As his shadow returned to augmenting himself, Sunny spoke in a mocking tone:

"What? Are you really going to shoot the future Supreme Guardian herself — without her ever flourishing as your leader? I didn’t think you guys could be so heartless..."

Sunny couldn’t see any of their faces, but he could see the hesitation in their body language.

When Sunny had decided to hold Bronya hostage, he saw only two outcomes. The first of which was that he forced the Silvermane Guards to drop their weapons, giving all three of them a clear opportunity to escape. The second of which... was a little bit violent, even for Sunny.

He would have to kill Bronya, getting rid of the effects of her Aspect. Once that happened, the streets in front of the hotel and coffee shop would bathe in the blood of both royalty and soldiers.

Then, he would become a criminal in the truest sense of the world.

’The lengths I have to go to save my own skin...’

Sunny genuinely hoped that the Silvermane Guards would stand down. It would make things much easier for both him, and his criminal record. Besides, how would they imprison them in the first place? Shadow Step was the answer to practically any problem regarding confinement.

Silence reigned the streets, even with people exiting their homes and places of work to see what all the commotion was all about.

Nobody dared to speak... until someone did.

A single Silvermane Guard lowered his gun, hesitation apparent in his voice.

"You... if we drop our guns, will you stay true to your word?"

Sunny grinned.

"Of course! I’m the most honest person in the world — two worlds even! I’m not a fan of violence, you know?"

A few moments passed. Suddenly, the soldier who had asked the question slowly laid his gun on the floor.

"W—wait! Don’t believe anything he says! You’ll only give the rebels more of an advantage!"

Sunny blinked as Bronya squirmed in his arms. Now that he thought about it, he really was acting like a wanted criminal now...

Tightening his grip to secure Bronya, Sunny spoke in a whisper so that others would not be able to hear. Otherwise, he might actually end up going to prison...

"You’re really getting on my nerves, calling me a rebel of all things. I’m a law-abiding citizen... on particularly good days."

Sunny lingered for a second, wondering if he was really going to say this. It was less embarrassing since Bronya couldn’t see his face without turning around, but still...

"Did you know that there are plenty of things worse than death? Especially for a girl as pretty as you..."

Sunny felt disgusted by what he was implying. Even he had limits when it came to what the Nightmare Spell would dub as his ’treacherous ways’. Honestly, he was grateful that his Flaw limited him to only insinuate the threat rather than state that he would do it himself.

’I’m really going to have to scrub my tongue clean after this.’

Bronya froze in his grip. Sunny saw the side of her face pale, which showed that he had achieved the desired result.

Looking back at the Silvermane Guards, he nonchalantly stated:

"I’ll need all of you to put your guns down. If even one of you has a weapon, I’ll take that as a declaration of war."

Slowly but surely, the Silvermane Guards disarmed themselves. Sunny made sure to keep an eye on each and every one of them. Despite the fact that they were normal humans, it wouldn’t do him well to underestimate any of them.

Once they had all put down their weapons, the same Silvermane Guard from before spoke again.

"There... we did as you asked. Now let her go!"

Sunny tilted his head in confusion.

"Ah... maybe you didn’t hear me correctly. When did I ever say that I was letting her go?"

Sunny stood silent as the onlookers felt dread seep into their nerves. A chill crawled up the spines of both the Silvermane Guards and the onlookers. Based on their expressions, Sunny could guess what must have went through their minds:

’How could such a person possibly be human?!’

He chuckled, causing Bronya to flinch. They wouldn’t be wrong. An Awakened Demon was a classification reserved for Nightmare Creatures after all.

"All I said was that I wouldn’t kill her. This might be your first time handling negotiations, but I feel like it’s common sense to never let go of a hostage until they aren’t needed anymore."

March and Dan Heng hadn’t done anything yet — probably to see where he was going with this drastic plan of his. It would get pretty dicey if they interrupted, due to the fact that Sunny had made couple bluffs.

Which was the reason why Sunny made sure to whisper to Bronya when he had made his... questionable threat. If March or Dan Heng had heard it, they might have thought that he was going too far.

Before anyone could say anything, Sunny made sure to confirm something for the soldiers.

"Don’t even think about picking up your gun. If any one of you try something, her head might roll across the ground."

As the clear warning resounded throughout the streets, Sunny dismissed the Moonlight Shard before chopping Bronya on the back of her neck in quick succession. A slight grunt exited her lips before she fell limp, unconscious in his arms.

Carrying the unconscious heir to the Supreme Guardian in his arms, Sunny turned towards his two companions. He kept a shadow on the lookout to make sure that nobody made any sudden moves.

Looking between March and Dan Heng — the former giving him a dubious look as the latter sighed in exasperation — Sunny awkwardly asked in a hushed tone:

"So... where do we go now?"