They had departed.
After several turbulent weeks—most of them surprisingly beautiful, weeks Nephis knew she would treasure for a very long time with Sunny—the Chain Breaker once again sailed along the great River of Time. The wind stirred the sails gently, and the constant sound of water striking the hull accompanied the ship's slow progress like a quiet heartbeat.
It was strange.
With each passing day, she found herself growing more worried, but the reason for that worry was precisely because she had become comfortable.
She had found peace in Ariel's Tomb.
In the tomb of a daemon who had died thousands of years ago, built from the blood of an unholy titan, in a place where time itself had stopped obeying the laws of the world... she had lived some of the happiest months—or years?—of her entire life.
Of course, she still had worries.
Her friends were still missing.
They had to survive.
They had to leave this place as Transcendents.
And above all, Nephis was certain that these peaceful days were drawing to an end.
Terrible battles awaited them.
Impossible decisions.
Pain.
The two specters bound to their respective swords had returned.
And they were more talkative than ever.
Even so, precisely because danger was approaching, Nephis cherished every moment with Sunny far more than she was willing to admit. She did not know what fate awaited them, but she was certain of one thing.
As long as Sunny was by her side...
They could face anything.
⸻
Nephis watched the horizon with a distant expression. Her hands rested on the wooden steering oars as she guided the Chain Breaker with slow, precise movements.
Sunny stood at the bow, clearly nervous. That morning he had told her that he would finally finish weaving his new Memory.
In one of the rooms aboard the newly restored Chain Breaker, Cassie was sleeping.
Ever since their reunion in Fallen Grace, the blind oracle had begun acting strangely around Sunny. Nephis often saw her raise a hand slightly, as if she were about to ask a question... or say something important.
And the moment Sunny turned around, Cassie would withdraw her hand so quickly it was as though she had never intended to speak at all.
Most of the time, she ended up looking deeply embarrassed.
Like a sister who had made a mistake far too great and no longer knew how to begin fixing it.
For some reason, Sin of Solace had not exposed her.
In fact, the demonic spirit merely watched her with curiosity, as though waiting for Cassie herself to find the courage she lacked.
Apparently, she had not made much progress.
But Nephis could tell that the desire to apologize was real.
She simply had not done it yet.
Still, it was progress.
And although the relationship between them was nowhere near what it had once been, at least Sunny no longer hated her.
Whenever they crossed paths, Cassie looked at Sunny with the same mixture of guilt and sorrow with which she seemed to look at herself.
A soft creak of wood pulled Nephis from her thoughts.
She heard footsteps behind her.
When they came close enough, a familiar voice spoke quietly.
"How long until we arrive, Neph?"
Nephis kept her eyes on the river ahead.
"About two days. Assuming nothing unexpected happens."
Sunny nodded and remained beside her, watching the endless horizon. For a long while, neither of them spoke. There was only the constant murmur of the river and the wind brushing against the sails.
Sunny looked at the water, but every now and then his gaze drifted toward Nephis's profile.
Seeing her there, focused on steering the ship, silver hair moving gently in the wind, her face illuminated by the crimson light of the sky, had a strange effect on him.
It calmed him.
It made him believe, if only for a moment, that everything might turn out all right.
It helped.
But apparently, it did not hide everything.
Nephis was too perceptive.
Even when she was supposed to be concentrating on steering the Chain Breaker and making sure they did not die.
She would tease him about that later.
"Are you very nervous?"
Sunny did not bother denying it.
"Yes."
His answer was so solemn that it was almost funny.
"Unfortunately, I think we're getting pretty close to the end."
Nephis remained silent.
Sunny continued, his eyes fixed on the river.
"And now that we are... we have a lot to do. A lot to resolve."
He paused.
"There was a Sovereign here. And he succumbed to corruption. I've never seen any of the three Sovereigns from the waking world, but... they must be almost like gods, right? If someone like that fell... what are we supposed to do?"
He drew a slow breath.
"We still have to find the cohort."
"And finally... we have an enemy in our own ranks."
His voice grew quieter.
"Mordret is dangerous. Just being near him makes me uneasy."
Nephis looked toward the horizon for a few seconds before replying.
"Yes... admittedly, the future doesn't sound very encouraging."
Sunny let out a humorless laugh.
"That's a very elegant way of putting it."
She turned slightly toward him.
"But still, Sunny..."
She waited until he looked at her.
"I don't think whatever awaits us here is impossible to overcome."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"And why is that?"
Nephis answered as naturally as if she were stating the most obvious fact in the world.
"Because you're here with me."
The wind stirred both their hair.
"Enormous Nightmare Creatures? Sovereigns? Those were already our goals back in the real world."
Her voice remained calm.
"A Divine Aspect bearer? There are two of us."
She looked out at the endless river stretching before them.
"The world and time itself against us?"
Then she looked back into his eyes.
"Do you really think that can stop us?"
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Nephis gave a small nod, almost as if she had just convinced herself with her own speech.
Sunny watched her quietly.
She's adorable, he thought.
And even though her speech had been a little cheesy...
He couldn't help but smile.
The weight pressing on his chest was still there.
But it felt a little lighter.
And for now...
That was enough.
———
Kai looked up at the sky.
It was a vivid scarlet, so intense that it resembled freshly spilled blood—bright, almost wet, as if the heavens had been painted with an open wound. Whenever it took on that luminous shade, Kai assumed it was daytime... if the concept of "day" still meant anything in this place.
Ever since he had arrived in the Third Nightmare, all he had known was that crimson sky slowly changing shades with the passage of time.
For Two months, the sky had been his only constant.
He had inherited the body of an Ascended who had been tasked with guarding this island. What a miserable fate he had drawn. Of all the places in Ariel's Tomb, he had ended up trapped on a forgotten island in the middle of the River of Time, surrounded by endless water and Nightmare Creatures.
From everything he had managed to investigate, this ship-island had once been an ancient settlement of the great river. He had found enough ruins, tools, shattered buildings, and traces of a forgotten civilization to conclude that, in its prime, this place had been home to tens of thousands of people.
Mundanes.
Awakened.
Ascended.
Perhaps even Transcendents.
It had been a warrior civilization, older than reason itself, its history stretching back to a time before the War of Doom.
Who knew?
Considering the madness the ancients had been capable of, perhaps this city had once possessed a Supreme among its ranks.
Kai had no way of knowing.
After all, he had spent the last two months...
Well, he had certainly had better days.
Fighting Corrupted Nightmare Creatures every single day while being only an Ascended was an experience that bordered on absurdity.
Damn it, with the help of his companion he had even managed to kill a Corrupted Terror.
The strange thing traveling with him had deceived the creature in a way Kai still struggled to understand. The colossal being looked like a uniform mass of flesh mixed with water; it was difficult to describe with words. It had no eyes, and its head was an abomination impossible to stare at for long. It also seemed capable of controlling water...
A horrifyingly useful ability in a place surrounded by an almost infinite ocean.
But in the end, it had been "only" a Corrupted Terror.
And they had still almost died.
Having an Ascended Terror as an ally—one as cunning as that thing—was the only reason Kai was still breathing.
His companion, Mordret, had formed his sixth soul core long ago.
And yet Kai had never seen him summon a single one of his strange Reflections.
That was one of the main reasons their situation remained so precarious.
He did not know whether Mordret avoided using them because splitting a soul core would leave him vulnerable, and the prince refused to take that risk.
Or because he considered the whole situation trivial and simply enjoyed making Kai suffer a little longer.
With Mordret, both possibilities were equally plausible.
But, unfortunately for him, today he intended to ask.
He heard footsteps behind him.
Mordret never seemed concerned about making noise, so Kai assumed that, for the moment, they were safe.
He took a slow breath and spoke.
"Mordret."
The prince stopped.
"Your strange Reflections... why haven't I seen a single one of them here?"
Kai felt the prince's gaze settle on his back.
And although he hated admitting it, spending two months with him had allowed him to understand the bastard from Valor a little better.
He could almost picture the mocking smile Mordret was wearing.
"Oh, my dear Kai... there are many reasons. Though, if I'm honest, I'm not sure I want to tell you. Even after all the time we've spent together, I can still feel that slight disdain you have toward me... despite the fact that I've never actually done anything to you."
He paused dramatically.
"In fact, I've spent two Nightmares in a row helping you. If you think about it, that's one more than the leader of your cohort."
Kai frowned.
His Flaw had not activated.
That meant that, so far, Mordret had not lied.
Which, somehow, was even worse.
His Flaw could be deceived. Or, more accurately, used against him.
Sunny had made sure he understood that through countless jokes and carefully worded answers.
The problem was that Mordret was not Sunny.
And Mordret's jokes, when he made them, were never truly funny.
They were unsettling.
Like the time he claimed he had done "nothing" during the massacre of an entire city, playing on the double meaning between "nothingness" and the mystical fog he had used to slaughter thousands.
No.
The concept of nothing ceased being amusing when Mordret was the one saying it.
Besides, he still had not answered the question.
Mordret's smile widened slightly.
"But since it's possible you'll discover it sooner or later... I'll tell you."
He took a few steps forward and looked up at the crimson sky.
"The sky above us is, as you well know, a terrifying Nightmare Creature. Terrifying enough that you've never used your Awakened Ability to look beyond the scarlet heavens. After all... who knows what might be there? It could be a Great Titan. Or something far worse."
Kai remained silent.
"And, by the way, you're wise not to look."
Mordret's smile vanished for a moment.
"The only reason we're still alive is that the ancient inhabitants of this city managed to put that thing to sleep."
He looked at the sky again.
"For some reason, it feared nothingness. I don't know why. No records remain. And I doubt that thing was kind enough to answer questions."
His voice returned to its light, almost conversational tone.
"Fortunately, mystical fog is quite rare in the Dream Realm... and it had never set foot inside Ariel's Tomb."
Then he shrugged.
"Unfortunately for me... well, you know. I'm the Prince of Nothing and all that."
He sat down in front of Kai, rested an arm on his knee, and looked him directly in the eyes.
"So even though my Reflections would be extremely useful, I don't think it's worth risking the awakening of an ancient horror."
He paused briefly.
"Well... that's what I think."
The smile returned.
"Of course, you're completely free to share your opinion."
"A Divine Aspect bearer? There are two of us."
She looked out over the endless river stretching before them.
"The world and time itself against us?"
She looked back into his eyes.
"Do you really think that can stop us?"
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Nephis gave a small nod, almost as though she had just convinced herself with her own speech.
Sunny watched her quietly.
She's adorable, he thought.
And although the speech had been a little cheesy...
He could not help smiling.
The weight pressing on his chest was still there.
But it was a little lighter.
And for now...
That was enough.
Yes... it was probably a good idea.
Kai spent a few seconds studying the man sitting across from him.
Mordret was tall, only a few centimeters taller than Kai, with a slender build and skin so pale it looked as though it had never known sunlight. His black hair was smooth and slightly long, falling to his ears with a carelessness that somehow still looked elegant.
His face was sharp, almost aristocratic, and his eyes were strange—difficult to describe. They were not merely beautiful; they seemed to reflect the world before them, as though every glance were an imperfect mirror of reality.
Kai could admit, without any hesitation, that Mordret was an exceptionally handsome man.
The problem was that every time he looked at him, a chill ran down his spine.
He was also an Ascended. Like all Ascended, the Spell had erased every human imperfection from his body. No visible scars, no blemishes, no asymmetry.
And, to Kai's surprise, the bastard actually knew quite a bit about fashion.
In fact, he seemed to enjoy dressing well. He preferred dark suits, elegant tailoring, and impeccably maintained clothing—a style completely opposite to Kai's own. As a former idol, Kai was used to eye-catching outfits, bright colors, and designs meant to stand out on a stage.
It was depressing to admit that he had had far more interesting conversations about clothes and style with Mordret than with Sunny, Nephis, and Effie combined.
Fortunately, Cassie still existed to preserve, in some way, the cohort's sense of aesthetic dignity.
Kai let out a quiet sigh.
What a strange life this was.
He was trapped on a forgotten island inside the River of Time, sharing a camp with the man he should probably fear more than anyone else in the entire Dream Realm, and yet they were discussing suits and tailoring as if they were two acquaintances waiting for a train.
Silence settled between them once more.
The wind stirred the dry grass, and the scarlet sky continued watching them from above.
At last, Kai looked toward the horizon and asked quietly,
"So... when are we leaving this place?"
Mordret smiled.
A small smile.
Almost kind.
Which made it all the more unsettling.
"Soon, my dear Kai. Very soon."
Kai could not tell whether those words were a promise...
or a warning.