Quite a Vile Thieving Hook Indeed

Sunny took a step back, but at the moment, the vile bird lunged forward, its demented eyes igniting with avarice and greed.

Before he could even react, he was drowned by its loathsome shadow.

And then, its talons plunged into his chest.

Sunny gasped.

However, the talons did not rip his flesh apart. Instead, they dove much deeper, finding their way into his very soul.

If he had time to enter the Soul Sea at that moment, he would have seen the shapeless form of the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn being snatched by the crooked talons.

And yet, they did not stop there.

Passing through Sunny's soul, the talons dug even deeper, into the depths of his being he had not even known existed.

And there, they grabbed onto something else.

Onto countless strings that were wrapped around him tightly, surrounding him like a chrysalis.

Or like the strings that held up a marionette.

Straining itself, the vile bird struggled for a few moments… and snatched those strings, too, somehow ripping them away from his existence.