Sunny was having a blast with his new echo. That was until he almost lost it from trying to climb the thorn-filled vines that were the temple's legs. Nephis had seriously cut herself while climbing them with a careful grip, but Bitey was at least 10 times stronger than her and had a stronger grip. So, its hands were covered in its own bright red blood as they hopped from tree to tree following the path the temple was going. They had picked up Neph after she was flung away. Together, they chased down the temple and simultaneously reached closer to the middle of the forest — which was their way out of Dream Realm if they could beat the second nightmare as sleepers. Something unheard of but something that needed to happen since he had escaped death far too many times to die now.
Plus, he had unfinished business in the waking world like making sure Rain was okay and living rich and lavishly, preferably with Nephis.
"So, I'm right to think you know how to destroy it too?" Nephis asked behind him as she clung to him, hugging his waist. She didn't seem too enthusiastic when he offered her a ride on his new echo.
'I would much rather have a horse to ride than a monkey, although I doubt, I'll ever get a horse echo without selling an arm and a leg on the black market.'
"Yes, the shards we saw inside that pillar on the bottom floor of the temple. I'm starting to regret not having an echo, weapon, or someone that can attack at cores like Master Jet, the value of having that is really starting to show itself the deeper we go into the Dream Realm."
"Master Jet... the one who watched over you in your first nightmare?"
"Yeah, according to Teacher Julius, she's one of the most feared awakened, and for a good reason. Either way, I think if we smash the pillar, we destroy the power source that keeps it running."
Nephis nodded, having come to the same conclusion; her face remained untouched by her flames. Sunny on the other hand was getting ready to throw his returned [Prowling Thorn] as they traveled. He also spotted the large tree in the distance, looming above the rest of the otherwise large trees. The wind howled as they sped from branch to branch, leaves falling on their figures before flying off from their speed. Suddenly though, Nephis spoke up.
"You know I have a soul-dealing weapon, right? Shouldn't I be going instead?"
"Yes, but I'll be the best fit for this one out of the two of us to enter and destroy the pillar itself as I'm sure I only need to destroy the pillar, not the shards. Most likely it'll collapse like how the stone giant did so I need you to catch me with Bitey. Plus, you look like you need the break more than I do after injuring yourself that badly." Nephis could heal from almost any wound, but that came at the cost of burning herself, so he wanted to give her some time to recuperate. Plus, she was still too prideful to allow herself a much-needed rest which annoyed him, but he bit his tongue since he too was prideful at times.
Eventually Sunny saw a chance as he threw the kunai and lodged it deep inside the vines. Sunny inwardly sighed as he looked at both Nephis and Bitey in the eyes.
"Behave you two," he said before jumping off Bitey and falling through the trees as he dodged the large branches.
Sunny felt the invisible yank at him as he started going in a horizontal downward swing. The deep shadow of the temple consumed him as he was under the belly. He started going in an upward swing after going halfway through the belly, which he then prepared and grabbed the edge of the stone bricks covered with vines of the temple.
If he didn't have Blood Weave, then he would've mostly bled profusely and died to blood loss from the speed his hands were scraped by the vines and missed the ledge before grabbing higher than intended. He bit back a scream and growl as he pulled himself into a climbing position he had perfected ever since the crimson labyrinth having to climb the walls every night.
He started climbing, dismissed [Prowling Thorn], summoned [Surge of the Broken Will], and used Serpent as a climbing tool. It was an atrocious climb but [Surge of the Broken Will] made it manageable. It was a ring so it didn't weigh him down and increased his overall physical strength and his bones. However, the enchantment vaguely proposed that it was drawing strength from himself and losing something in return, but he wasn't feeling anything wrong or missing during his past usages. So what would've been a demanding and tiring climb was lowered to a more comfortable easier climb as he felt his muscles and grip burn with strength that well exceeded his limit. He hadn't used it till now because it had a short time window that was about 10 minutes and once it ended would make Sunny feel significantly weaker and cause him to stutter momentarily.
Stopping or pausing in any battle was a death sentence so he hesitated using it during combat and limited it to using it only outside. Sunny continued to climb up the temple as it walked with heavy steps that threatened to shake him off and he held on each time with enough force to make his hands slightly red. Eventually, he reached the open entrance of the temple as he pulled himself up and sprawled on the cobblestone floor, only breathing slightly hard.
"Thank the Gods that's over, that was horrible." He groaned as the effects from the ring ended. It wasn't that terrible but that didn't mean he couldn't complain.
Before he could rest for a moment though a low growl could be heard further ahead in the temple. Turning his head to the growl Sunny saw a pack of wolves hiding in the deep shadows.
"Damn-." He said as what he guessed was the leader pounced at him.
He shoved Serpent as a tachi into its mouth as it kept it back from biting his face off as it growled above him and pushed tremendous force down on Sunny. Luckily his shadows were already augmenting him or else he wouldn't have been able to hold it back for the moment as he kicked it back using his feet on its weak spot near the stomach.
The other wolves seemed to hesitate to enter the brawl, whether from fear or their leader commanding them not to intrude, he couldn't tell. Wolves normally hunted in groups and stayed in groups, with a leader commanding it all. Peering inside its soul his hypothesis was confirmed as five dark nodes of darkness that were its soul cores showed themselves inside the leader of the wolves. It was an awakened tyrant, with the rest of the wolves ranging from Dormant Beasts, Awakened Beasts, and Awakened Monsters.
The minions had black fur with even darker eyes, their paws were much bigger than a regular human's hand, and their claws looked like they could cut through flesh with ease and their teeth could chomp on even rocks. The leader was much bigger than they, with the wolves being half of Sunny's height and the leader being almost his size. The leader had a lighter almost green tint to its fur as it was also missing its right eye. Sunny was reminded of how much he admired wolves, he had thought they were cool as a kid and still thought that — even if they were trying to kill, although he couldn't blame them since he was going to do the same.
Sunny stared at the wolves before the shadows behind them started to shift as a stone statue appeared from the shadows. Banging her shield twice as [Midnight Shard] appeared in her hand she slashed at the two wolves in front of her as the spell whispered their deaths. If Sunny were anything like past Nephis or perhaps Caster he would've honored the duel between tyrants. However, he had no honor, and he loved breaking the rules to his favor so why would he not use the window of them being distracted to lower the numbers.
The tyrant looked back but Sunny rushed towards it with Serpent already slashing down as it dodged to the left and sent its claws out. Sunny jumped back, something only an amateur in combat would do, but suddenly its claws grew in size and sharpness as it scratched at his chest and ripped the fabric of [Puppeteer Shroud] slightly. If he had tried to block or parry Serpent would most likely have been damaged, but more importantly he would've lost a limb. And so a deadly dance between Sunny and the tyrant began as Sunny moved and dodged the pounces and bites of the wolves as it tried to make him bleed with its claws or pin him down to maul him.
Saint worked her magic... swordsmanship? She cut down the minions of the wolves with ease as she slashed and stabbed into the corrupted wolves. Sunny and Saint had to deal with the constantly moving temple so at times the floor was unstable or slanted enough to cause them to shift along. Sunny almost fell into the creature's jaw when what he could only guess was a hill that the temple stepped in as the floor tilted the opposite way from the entrance.
Sunny used shadow dance to learn how the creature would attack and predict its moves before punishing the wolf by stabbing and slicing its tough skin. As they fought and he understood the creature more and more he realized their battle styles were quite similar even though Sunny's battle style was unique and like no other. The wolf did what needed to be done just like how Sunny swapped battle styles to whatever fit the situation the best. It fought with the same determination that Sunny did and fought as trickery as he did.
Unlike Sunny and Nephis, he and the wolf were on the same side of a coin. That made him feel... a sort of deeper understanding with the creature as they fought, kinship even.
Serpent wasn't the best weapon to use, especially considering that it was a rank lower than the wolf and a tier, but it was the most adaptive to the situation like a sword. At times Sunny needed a dagger instead since it was the better choice for attack, other times he needed a battle scythe or a long sword. Plus, his shadows helped clear the power gap so the difference was barely noticeable. The wolf — after realizing it couldn't win again him — tried to retreat back to its pack, only for it to see Saint removing the blood from her sword as the dead bodies of the pack of wolves lay around her. Sunny moved in and struck at the head with his scythe before switching to a hammer instead to trick it to go to the side to dodge as Sunny changed the hammer's trajectory as he smashed at its head as it became dazed.
Using that time he summoned [Ashwake] and retracted Serpent back into its dormant tattoo form to circulate essence. Sunny moved around the wolf at a calm pace as it tried to scare him off. He felt... sympathy for the creature, it was like him in many ways except one, Sunny was no leader. That's why even though he saw himself in the broken wolf's eyes, he didn't let his feelings get in the way of business. Plus, if the tables were turned it wouldn't feel any sympathy towards Sunny. Even so, he'll make sure the wolf died quickly instead of a long and torturous fight that would ultimately end in his victory no matter what.
Sunny stabbed [Ashwake] into its back before activating its enchantment as a mini explosion happened inside its stomach, causing irreversible and untreatable damage internally. It barely yelped before falling to the ground.
[You have killed an Awakened Tyrant, Protector of the pack]
"Well that was better than expected," Sunny said as he looked, Saint. He himself didn't know which he was talking about though, killing the wolf or the fight in general. Perhaps it was both, either way he didn't let it fester in his mind.
Saint in response only banged her shield twice before looking at the bodies and pointing her cleaned sword at it.
"Good point, you can carve out large portions of meat and the soul shards while I head downstairs." He summoned the chest and ran down the stairs while summoning [Shadow of the Drowned Moon] for the extra speed boost considering he wasted enough time with the unexpected fight.
Soon Sunny reached where the pillar holding the 4 shards was. He entered the room carefully expecting an ambush or traps set up somehow or a hidden mechanism, but nothing happened once he entered. Reaching the pillar he breathed out as he stabbed [Ashwake] into it before activating its enchantment once more as rock flew all across the room and pelted Sunny with a handful of rocks. He was hit straight in the balls which caused him to fall to the ground with tears in his eyes and holding back a yell.
"G-god damn it!" Sunny cried out as he collapsed.
Sunny was quite glad he was on the ground though as the temple suddenly started going into a free fall as he slid towards his left across the ground towards the wall. Sunny - although in pain - pushed passed it as he got up and started running towards the stairs. Once he entered them he summoned a platform of shadows and raised himself towards the top. Once he entered the room he stabbed Serpent into the wall before thinning the blade as he went down the wall from the disoriented temple. He ran, hopped, and vaulted over broken pots and workbenches that went sideways. He reached the second staircase and summoned a platform while running which brought him up to the lifted stairs as he used the backward stairs up.
He reached the entrance where Saint was nonchalantly standing next to his chest.
"Great, time to go now!" Sunny yelled as he dismissed both Saint and the chest as he ran towards the entrance.
Jumping out, he looked down and saw he barely made it out in time as a few moments later the temple crashed into the ground. He was still high above the ground to where he would be splattered like a pancake if he reached the ground but luckily Bitey jumped out of the trees and he landed on his back. Before he could fall off Nephis pulled him close as they reached another tree.
"Thanks, I really didn't feel like falling at bone-breaking speeds." Sunny gasped
"No... problem, up ahead is the tree and the seed, we need to reach it in time before the fog comes in." Nephis spoke
"And are you certain that we'll reach it in time?"
"I never said we would..." The wind picked up as Bitey jumped to another branch but Sunny could still see the way her eyebrows scratched up slightly whenever she was concerned or worried. No one else would've noticed but Sunny admittedly spent a lot of time looking at her face so he could see even the smallest distortions in her face.
"So it did come down to luck in the end."
Sunny had already guessed that since [Fated] most likely orchestrated them facing every enemy they encountered so far like they were protagonists in a webnovel or fanfic. Either way, Sunny couldn't tell exactly where The Mist was since the whole forest had its shadows warped by the trees and they weren't high enough to see from above. Sunny sent a shadow up and even then he couldn't spot the Mist so he couldn't tell if it was far away or nearby and simply hidden... he wished it was the former rather than the latter as he really hated devious creatures that had anything to do with the mind.
Sunny's shadow sense couldn't find it either as it seemed to have a trait or ability that allows it to conceal itself from all senses mundane or magical. He was growing concerned but relaxed once they entered the seed area. He knew they were really close now as he felt the strong pull of a nightmare seed pulling him in, and he doubted Neph wasn't as affected as he was. However, once they entered the area the satyr jumped at them from the tree top so Nephis jumped off with [Dark Wings] summoned as she went down with Serpent in hope that she could carve out a path to the seed that was hidden under the tree.
With Sunny however, all hell broke loose as Bitey and the satyr clashed mid-air as the satyr kicked and jabbed at Bitey's face and chest while Bitey tried to bite its head off and slash into its body. Sunny helped out by stabbing his twin daggers when the opening allowed it as they started falling down at incredible speeds. Before he could react he and his shadow were both thrown to the ground as the satyr leaped off them like a platform and they crashed and landed on the ground, lifting dirt and making Sunny groan from the fall. He leaped back with his feet sliding on the grassy land as it tried to kick him in the chest as Bitey lunged at him as the brawler once more.
Sunny tried to enter the fight but it was clear that it would be impossible at that point onward as it was able to kick or hit him hard before he could. The ground around them started to unravel as his echo and the dreadful fought as the leaves swayed from the small shockwaves they produced as hooves met arms. Sunny augmented Bitey two-fold keeping two shadows with him as its dark fur grew as dark as darkness as he turned around and swatted an arrow away and barely managing to stay up from blocking as more arrows started coming out from the tree lines.
Sunny ducked and summoned a wall of shadows to hide behind, but it was quickly destroyed by the barrage of arrows as Sunny had to dash across the war-torn battlefield while dodging arrows. Glancing at the tree line he saw little miniature goblins with bows in their hands. Their faces were squashed up, they wore wooden-like armor that seemed to dig into their skin, and they were entirely green which was a perfect camouflage as at times he would lose sight of them for a moment even if he sensed their shadow. Halfway towards reaching Neph horn sounded as Sunny turned around to see the satyr blowing a horn made out of bone from whatever creature it had previously belonged to. After a few seconds a row of semi-organized goblins marched out of the tree line and towards the entire battlefield, armed with wooden swords that were sharp and wearing a sort of leather armor with bones covering their weak spots which he knew because of [Death's eye].
He summoned Saint before augmenting her with happy and equipped her with [Midnight Shard], [bow], and [arrows]. Sunny once again ran towards Nephis with the cover of Saint who engaged with the goblins as he soon reached Nephis at the gigantic tree. The trees' bark had turned not a single hue of red from the fiery inferno Nephis was causing with her flames as her white flames seemed to merely tickle the tree. She had her sword shallowly inside the tree which seemed to be a huge task as she was covered in sweat from head to toe.
"Things aren't looking so good out there," Sunny gasped as Nephis side-eyed him. She had [Dream Blade] augmented by [Nameless Sun] plunged only a little into the bark before augmenting her sword with her ethereal white flames along her blade.
"I can hear all the trouble, Sunny, I'm working my best here but this tree is too dense for me to do anything. You'll have to figure it out Sunny before we all die here."
"Well, that's what I came to do," Sunny said quickly as Nephis gave him a confused look, prompting him to continue.
Taking a deep breath and calming himself down, although a hint of fear still lingered in his voice, he spoke.
"This tree... it's a Great Beast. Not only that but it's connected and rooted firmly to every other tree. It doesn't seem to be able to produce any form of attack though which confused me. But it makes sense now, why would a tree need to defend itself if it had someone to defend it like the Soul Devourer? That satyr is its defender, and not only that but every other creature, the fog, Bitey, the goblins, and the creature on its ground are all its defenders too, or at least heard the terrifying scream it let out that made them come here to look for prey."
Sunny paused and was slightly out of breath too. He had realized the horrifying revelation when he looked deeper into the world and saw the one massive soul core that was embedded deep into the center of the tree. Nephis for her part didn't seem surprised by the sudden revelation only showing a small frown.
'Huh, I guess she's taking it better than I thought she would, good for her.'
'Damn it Sunny! You are your stupid [Fated] is always getting us into trouble.' Nephis was shocked, flabbergasted even, before recollecting herself.
"You said you figured it out though, what's the plan?" Nephis asked as she watched Bitey get thrown across the field as the satyr chased after it behind Sunny.
"You go and summon [Nameless Sun] to face the fog since you can deal soul damage and I have a small suspicion that the entirety of the fog is its soul."
"That makes sense I suppose, but what about you?" Nephis frowned
"Me? I'll try to find a way to reach the seed without cutting through it since that's the only way we'll get to it."
"Okay then, take care, Sunny," Nephis said as she started to walk away towards the fog that was starting to invade the field.
However, Sunny was happily surprised when she turned around quickly and kissed him on the lips.
"Sometimes I wished you had escaped, only then I wouldn't be facing Great Beasts daily," Nephis said before turning around and dashing forward.
Sunny was left there speechless, he touched his lips out of reflex. The kiss tasted like dirt, ash, soot, and a little bit of blood, but it still lingered with Nephis's scent.
"Wait was she being serious?" He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his shadow.
His shadow only looked at him with boredom as it lazily shrugged its shoulders as if to tell him, "Figure it out, dummy."
Sunny was about to say something before shaking his head and turning to the tree.
'Now let's see what I can do with you.'