Sunny's mind was a mess.
Not long ago, he had received a transcendent Memory from Dire Fang... and lost it in less than two minutes, using it to escape from one of those skin-changing abominations. At that moment, he had been alone—almost died. But since he was good at running away, he managed to survive. Of course, not without consequences. A deep cut ran across his side, but luckily, he wasn't someone who bled easily.
By pure luck—or fate—he had reunited with his cohort and Jet. And miraculously, none of them were infected. But the real problem was the two Valor Masters.
Or rather... what was left of them.
They had been completely taken over. That meant the creature could possess as many bodies as it wanted.
Fuck. This was too much.
With no other choice, he used his transcendent armor to send a message to his cohort, warning them and giving orders. They would handle one Master, while he, along with all his Echoes, would deal with the other.
Cassie was too quiet. Lately, she always was.
Was it because her visions had shown her something?
Did she see them all dying here?
He really hoped not.
Fortunately, these two were weaker than the first abomination he had encountered. He wasn't sure how to gauge their level, but one thing was certain—if they had been as strong as that first monster, they would all be dead in under a minute.
What luck...
Yes, luck.
Even with his three Echoes—Saint, Nightmare, and Imp—attacking from the shadows, the battle was brutal. The abomination moved as fast as a Saint, but for some reason it didn't use the Master's Aspect. Could it not? Had it not learned how yet?
It didn't matter.
What mattered was that its speed was enough to leave Sunny in this state.
Saint was in his Soul Sea, recovering from near-death. So was Imp.
Only Nightmare was left, and even he was injured. But at least Sunny had sent him away—thankfully, the horned horse was fast, and somehow, he knew how to fight incredibly well. If Sunny was still alive, it was because of him.
But he had to end this.
His friends had already taken down the first abomination. And they were alive.
Barely.
They were unconscious, their essence completely drained. And Kai... well, Kai was missing an eye again.
But they were alive.
The problem was... if Sunny died now, the abomination would take him.
And then it would take them all.
No.
That wasn't happening.
Summoning the Lantern of Shadows, he plunged the battlefield into darkness.
The world dimmed.
Shadows spread across the sand like a thick tide, drowning everything in an unnatural twilight. It was as if night had fallen in an instant.
And then Sunny attacked.
The abomination was damaged. But not dead.
And he was.
Or he would be, if he made a single mistake.
But luckily...
He was like an unwanted son of the God of Shadows.
The God of Death.
So he fought like one.
His movements were sharp and deadly, woven into a dark dance—an eerie, lethal, and strangely beautiful style of combat. But this time, it wasn't enough. He needed something more aggressive.
So he copied the one person he admired the most: Nephis.
She was the greatest swordmaster he knew. But months ago, she had left behind much of her original style. Or rather, she had perfected it. After all, who needed defense when they could regenerate arms, lungs, and legs?
Nephis had abandoned almost all defense, focusing entirely on devastating offense.
And Sunny copied her.
Without the regeneration.
How stupid.
Or how brilliant.
Of course, he didn't copy it completely—he wasn't trying to die. But he adopted her most dangerous, reckless attacks. Some were meant only for those who could regenerate, but thanks to Blood Weaver, he didn't have to worry about bleeding out.
Even so, his Aspect wasn't invincible.
His body was a mess of cuts.
His own blood stained the sand.
His leg was stripped of skin.
But he was alive.
And now, he needed a final strike.
His opponent was in the same condition—missing an arm, half of its flesh gone, a broken leg.
But it was still standing.
If he wanted to win, he had to cut it into pieces.
So he did.
He lunged with everything he had left, his body screaming in agony. But he didn't stop. His loyal steed, wounded but determined, followed.
He dodged a strike aimed at his eye and counterattacked, slicing one of the abomination's eyes out with his jade sword.
Of course... he wasn't lucky enough to avoid getting slashed across his own cheek in the process.
But he ignored the pain.
It wasn't enough.
He needed more.
A cut to his foot.
Another to his ribs.
Probably broken.
But he didn't hesitate.
His enemy had lost both eyes... and it was still standing.
Sunny knew he had no time left.
If he didn't end this now, he would die.
With a final burst of speed, he made his move.
His body was an inferno of pain and blood, but he didn't care. He used Shadow Step, teleporting straight to Nightmare—right in front of the creature.
In his hand, Sin of Solace—which had whispered to him throughout the battle, telling him to surrender, calling him a fool—
Fell silent.
For the first time.
A flash of speed.
A clean strike.
And the abomination's head fell.
Sunny had won.
Of course, the result was that he had probably lost an arm.
But it didn't matter anymore.
In the distance, he saw a tall figure with silver hair.
If she was here...
He could finally rest.
He let himself fall into unconsciousness.
—
Sunny slowly opened his eyes, his mind shrouded in a hazy confusion. He couldn't clearly recall the last moments before losing consciousness, but there was one thing he was sure of: at this moment, he should be in excruciating pain... and probably missing a hand.
However, he felt neither of those things.
In fact, he felt... good.
Too good.
His body wasn't just healed, it felt completely refreshed, and—somehow—even comfortable. It was as if he were resting on the softest, most luxurious pillow imaginable, one that could only be compared to the bed he once had back in Dark City, years ago.
This wasn't right.
This damned hellish desert wasn't supposed to have comfortable beds. Or pillows.
A trick of the mind, perhaps.
When his vision finally adjusted and his senses fully returned, he looked down to see what the hell was going on.
And then, he understood.
His warm, comfortable "pillow" was none other than Nephis' shoulder.
The two of them were seated side by side, and because of his smaller stature, Sunny's head was perfectly nestled against the tall woman's shoulder. To make things worse, her long silver hair had also fallen onto his shoulder, which meant he was slightly crushing it.
And Nephis?
Completely unfazed.
She sat there, as composed as ever, as if this meant absolutely nothing. Her expression was as calm and serene as usual, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
However... Sunny noticed something.
Something barely perceptible.
But it was there.
The slightest curve at the corner of her lips.
A smile.
Shit.
They were sitting atop one of those tall sand dunes, the sand towers that served as temporary shelters in this merciless desert. Here, they were safe from the scorching sun, and, luckily, there weren't any creatures lurking nearby.
But that wasn't what was strange.
What was strange was who they were with.
Around them, resting in exhaustion, were all their friends—alive and breathing. Effie, Kai, Cassie, and Jet.
They all looked drained, but they were there.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was the other guests.
Morgan of Valor.
Seishan Song.
Two figures of royalty. Two mortal enemies.
And yet, here they were.
Sunny's body instinctively tensed for a brief moment, but then he forced himself to relax. This wasn't too concerning—both of them were smart. They knew that fighting here would be suicide.
Still... the tension in the air was unmistakable.
But even that wasn't the real problem.
The real problem was his position.
The fact that he was literally lying on Nephis.
With everyone watching.
The heat of the desert was nothing compared to the wave of embarrassment that hit him at that moment.
Nephis, for fuck's sake...
Sunny turned his head quickly, expecting to see at least a little bit of discomfort from her.
Maybe some sign of embarrassment.
But... nothing.
She sat there, expression completely neutral, with not even a hint of shame.
As if this was the most normal thing in the world.
And then, he saw it.
Effie's maliciously amused smile, slowly creeping onto her face.
Shit.
Sunny knew in that instant that he had to do something before things got worse.
With awkward urgency, he cleared his throat, attempting to change the subject.
—So... what's the plan?
He poured every ounce of mental effort into making his voice sound normal, casual, unbothered. Like he wasn't dying of embarrassment.
Luckily, he pulled it off.
Unluckily... it didn't work at all.
Effie's grin widened, her eyes gleaming with playful mischief as she spoke, not wasting the opportunity.
—Oh, we were just waiting for the princess to wake up in her beloved's arms so we wouldn't have to repeat ourselves, you know?
Her gaze locked onto Sunny's, pure amusement dancing in her eyes.
The joke landed perfectly.
A few snickers escaped from Kai and Jet. Even Cassie, who barely had any energy left, gave a small smile.
And Nephis...
Nephis also smiled.
Goddamn it.
Sunny gritted his teeth and swallowed his pride in silence.
But the worst part wasn't even that.
The worst part was that when he looked away from Effie and the others...
He saw Morgan smiling too.
Morgan.
The heir of Valor.
What the fuck?
The joke wasn't even that good.
And besides...
He wasn't a damn princess.
With as much dignity as he could gather in his miserable state, Sunny lifted his head, moving away from Nephis' shoulder and trying to compose himself.
Somehow...
He managed.
The little joke had helped ease some of the tension weighing on everyone's minds, even Sunny's. No matter how strong they all were, the reality remained the same: they were in one of the most dangerous places in the Dream Realm.
The worst part was that the skinwalker they had faced... probably wasn't just a wandering monster. It was too strong, too resilient. If they thought about it carefully, there was a disturbing possibility: that creature might have been the guardian of one of the Nightmare Gates that had appeared in Antarctica.
If that was true, it meant that the creature wasn't just an ordinary abomination.
And if one existed, then there could be more.
Sunny took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. But the truth was undeniable.
They were lost.
No map, no information, no idea how to escape this cursed desert.
They couldn't keep wandering aimlessly. They needed a plan, a direction, a way to understand their situation before the desert, its creatures, or the night itself killed them.
So, whether they liked it or not, they had to carefully consider their next moves.
This was going to be a long conversation.