Sunny was disoriented.
The last day — the last two days — had been such a rollercoaster that he felt drained. Mentally, emotionally, physically.
A good thing, then, that he had finally found a place to relax.
Sunny had killed the demon after a vicious battle. The nightmare creature had been undoubtedly strong and cunning. Demons, unlike creatures of lower classes, possessed their own sense of intelligence. While not comparable to a human and most definitely not comparable to Sunny it had still made the fight unnerving. The steel demon had attacked him slowly at first, displaying its weakness, and then surprised him with a powerful strike that almost crushed him into a puddle. Only the enchantments of the Crown of Ice saved Sunny from an untimely end.
Yes, the demon had not been an easy opponent. But the thing had just been too badly wounded. When Sunny needed a moment of rest he could just sprint away from the fight and the monstrosity would crawl to him so slowly he could catch his breath in the meanwhile. It was almost laughable. But it was also a testament to the trength of the Dark Sea and its horrors.
After slaying the demon and acquiring a new weapon, Midnight Shard, Sunny had collapsed to the ground. When the night was falling again he reluctantly climbed to the tree. He had a feeling that whatever had reduced the carapace demon to such state might very well return to finish the job next night and he really didn't want to be on the ground level when that happened. The tree, while also unsettling, was probably the safest place he could be in at this moment.
Sunny slept the night and nothing bad happened. He then got an idea to climb to the treetop to search for his next destination. From the height he could easily see what course to take next. Heck, he might even catch a glimpse of the supposed human castle.
The red-leafed tree was humongously massive. Its trunk was sturdy like a house and its branches were so wide he could walk on them without a fear of falling off. Still, Sunny was vigilant. He had summoned his new memory, Midnight Shard, as well as the Crown of Ice. But it was difficult to stay focused. He had slept well, that much was true. And he felt safe. But there was just too much for him to focus on, to contemplate... it was almost like a constant buzz going on inside his head.
Sunny wanted to focus on something else for a minute and grabbed a delicious-looking fruit from the tree. He looked at it. Its glistening surface just begged for him to taste it...
Yeah, no thank you.
Sunny pulled his eyes away from the fruit. If he had learnt something over these last few days, it was to never trust anything. And he definitely wasn't going to trust a random fruit he found in the Dream Realm. That would just be asking for trouble...
In any case, Sunny had now climbed so high he could easily see the Bone Ridge and even the island they had been in before it... the island where Nephis had revealed her secret and enslaved him all in one swoop. He wanted to go to the other side of the tree trunk to take a look at the west but stopped in his tracks when something else caught his eye. It was...
It was a nest?
The nest was made of the giant tree's branches and so it was black as onyx. It was also a huge one, its sphere being many meters in diameter.
What kind of creature would make its home there? Not a kind of creature Sunny wanted to meet, that's for sure.
He gripped Midnight Shard tight and locked his eyes to the nest. But when nothing came out... when nothing moved... he started to feel intrigued.
It seemed that the owner of the nest wasn't home. And that meant that Sunny could as well investigate the strange place.
Still hesitating he climbed over the walls of the nest. There was nothing particularly threatening inside. The nest was cushioned with giant spiderwebs (which wasn't particularly pleasant) and in its center stood a massive grey egg.
Sunny wondered for a good minute but eventually decided to tempt fate — not a very wise a decision, to be honest. But he felt a strange compulsion to do what he did next — like the act of striking the egg with his sword would somehow set right something that had gone terribly wrong. The feeling was peculiar and he didn't dwell on it for long because what happened next made him even more perplexed.
[You have slain a Great Devil, Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a memory: Drop of Ichor]
Wait a moment... wait a moment.
A great devil?
No way in hell I just killed a great devil! Sunny thought frantically. But the Spell didn't lie, not to his knowledge anyways. It merely bent the truth sometimes, like when calling him treacherous...
And that meant... that Sunny had just done something no other human (or at most, very few) had ever done in the history if mankind. Great nightmare creatures were thought legendary and were deadly opponents even for Saints. He had no business dealing with them! But this one had appearently been an exception.
Sunny started to laugh. He laughed so hard he forgot about time. Incridulous tears spilled from his eyes and he clutched his stomach.
So this was what it meant to be both blessed and cursed at the same time! Events so improbable, so unbelievably lucky that they almost balanced out the soul-crushing moments he had from day to day.
But when his mirth subsided he decided to finally take a look at the next memory. It was unlike anything he had seen before. It wasn't a tool, it wasn't a weapon and it most definitely wasn't an armament. It looked just like a drop of blood.
He took a look at the memory description, but it didn't help him to understand things any better. It did appeal to his curious side, though.
So much -unknown-... Memory rank and type are both -unknown-, too...
Spells' voice broke him out of his trance.
[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?]
After a moment of contemplation Sunny said: "Yes."
What could go wrong?
*******
And so, Sunny was disoriented.
He had screamed, he had cried in agony, and now he was perched on the western side of the giant tree trying to understand everything as well as having a mental breakdown upon the fact that he had no way to move west anymore.
The torment he had just endured was unlike anything he had known existed. He had passed out... or rather, he felt that his memories of it were cut and deformed like his mind couldn't come to terms with what had transpired. When he finally had enough strength to move he learned about a strange new sense he now had that seemed to only work when looking at memories. Then he got spooked out by a legion of dead nightmare creatures lurking in his Soul Sea... the list went on and on. On top of it all he was terribly hungry. Luckily he could do something about that problem at least, seeing as the tree had numerous of those enticing fruits.
He was munching on one of them when yet another strange event shook him out of his thoughts.
The tree was shuddering, its branches creaking like a powerful gust of wind had blown on them. But there was no wind. The tree just swayed forcefully for no appearent reason. Its leaves rustled desperately. It sounded like the tree was weeping or crying for help.
Sudden thought struck Sunny: something was attacking the tree!
When he was climbing feverishly downwards a smell of smoke and burned wood reached his nostrils. Sunny frowned. He had an inkling of what was causing the commotion.
And indeed, when he reached the ground he saw something that made his blood boil.
"What are you doing?"
It was Nephis. She was kneeling on the ground in front of the tree, her palm pressed against the trunk. White flames spread forth from her hand and engulfed the base and the wide roots of the tree. The heat was intense even in the lower branches and the smell of smoke was making Sunny dizzy. It smelled weirdly sweet but that only made it worse. Based on the size of the flames Nephis must have been working for quite a long time.
Nephis looked up. In her face was a calm expression. The mask that Sunny had seen many times, especially when Nephis used her flames. He suddenly remembered the girl's Flaw. Spell told that she must suffer to use her powers, but what did that entail? Sunny had never seen any outward sign of pain or discomfort... but maybe that cold and emotionless mask was the sign?
His thoughts were getting of the trail. Why should he care about her suffering? If anything, he should be happy about it considering all the suffering she had put him through!
"I'm burning this tree", Nephis said. "It would be better for you to come down, lest you burn down with it."
"Why are you burning the tree?" Sunny asked. The idea was preposterous and it made him angry. "I wouldn't even be alive if not for the tree. It is the safest place here. If anything we should guard it against monsters and help it."
This pyromaniac...
"Sunny, look at your attributes."
Sunny didn't even have time to question what it was that Nephis wanted him to see before he felt himself responding. Without a conscious thought he opened the runes and scaled them down to find his attributes. When he finally got down to them he realized what had happened. His body and mind had reacted instantly, without any possibility of refusal the second those words left her lips. He shuddered. He hated it.
But he had to look and so he saw that he had in fact five attributes instead of four like he had thought, even with addition of the bloodweave. Strangely enough he couldn't read the last attribute — it kept slipping out of his mind as soon as he tried to discern the runes. But it didn't matter.
What really mattered was Nephis and the anger that had been building in him from the moment he saw her. Sunny summoned the midnight shard and leaped from the low hanging branch he had stood on.
The fall was not too long but he still felt a pang of pain in his legs as he rolled upright. He immediately ran towards Nephis.
Let's see how much pain she can handle...
Nephis reacted quickly and stood up, dodging his attack. Her expression never wavered. She didn't have her blade and by the looks of it she wasn't about to summon it. All the worse for her. Did she really think playing a noble princess would pay off at this point?
"Sunny, I'm trying to help you. This tree is a nightmare creature and it has enthralled you under its influence."
Sunny advanced, blade ready. "Do you think that the tree is the reason I'm doing this?"
Nephis shook her head. "No, I don't think it is — " but she had to dodge backwards again. They were slowly moving towards the western edge of the hill. Sunny was looking for any sign that Nephis was about to summon her sword.
"Sunny!"
Cassie's voice pierced his ears. He had forgotten about her, but he didn't even try to glance at her. He wasn't interested in what she had to say. It made sense that she had taken Nephis's side even after her betrayal — Nephis was the stronger of the two of them after all.
That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though.
"I think you should listen to what she has to say... " Cassie begun but Sunny cut her off.
"No I don't, and I don't want to listen to you either."
He had had enough of this. If Nephis didn't want to have a fair fight — well, then that was her problem. He had raised his sword again, this time ready to end it.
Nephis looked at the midnight shard and her right hand clenched instinctually like she was expecting to be holding a sword.
"Go ahead, summon the sword", Sunny said. "Better yet, command me not to attack you. I'm sure it's not beneath you."
He stepped closer to Nephis, who still hadn't moved.
"Sunny... "
He struck, the same strike she had had him practice thousands of times. Nephis barely moved and the blade bit her in the shoulder. Even with armor the cut should render her right hand immobile. It would be easy to finish her off...
"Sunny... I'm sorry. Don't kill me", Nephis said.
And then she did something Sunny would not have expected in a million years.
She unsummoned her armor, or at least the outer layer of it so that she wore only the black bodysuit underneath.
Then she kneeled on the ground and looked at him.