"I'd prefer not to pick them off or start an all-out battle. In all honesty, I'd rather just assassinate the three of them."
Sunny looked around, trying to see if he could find any traces of them. Kai was in the air, scouting from above; Pauline was gathering die-hard supporters for the three of them; and Effie and Cassie were together—but instead of looking for those three, they were doing something far different.
In this world, you need a good cop and a bad cop. Sunny had chosen to be the bad cop. Effie and Cassie were making sure that Nephis was seen as the good cop. By spreading rumors about him and praise about Nephis, they were setting the stage.
Sunny already had a good way to kill them. The idea had come to him when he summoned the echo he had received. Speaking of the echo, it was—
That train of thought was cut off as Sunny walked out of an alley and found a crowd gathered. In the middle of it were two of the three: Lucien and Olivita.
"Food won't need to be hunted for anymore! We will have a dedicated force for hunting and supplying nightmare creature meat! Of course… we can't reasonably do that without a price. So, by trading in soul shards, you shall get food without risking your life!"
Lucien's voice rang out, and Sunny heard cheers drown out the swish of his salute. But wasn't that the same thing Gunlaug had done? Still, after chaos and distrust in an old leader, people would want anything, wouldn't they?
That was fine. This would work.
Days later, Sunny made an announcement to the people of the Dark City—how there was a dangerous nightmare creature posing a threat to the entire kingdom, and how he was going to gather the strongest among them to take it down. Among those strongest were the devotees of the three inspiring tyrants… two of those tyrants themselves… and Sunny.
And so, they headed off into the forest.
---
"Where did Cassie go?!"
Effie looked around but couldn't find her anywhere. They'd been doing their tasks for days now, but she couldn't find Cassie at their meeting spot today.
Inside a tent, Cassie sat at a table, pouring a drink from a waterskin into a makeshift wooden cup. Across from her was a familiar face—though she couldn't see it.
It was Han Li Caster.
"Thank you for allowing me to come in. In all honesty, it's been quite tiring these days, running around this large city..."
Cassie smiled at him before placing her hand on his face.
"It's nice to have someone familiar here. Even though we never had the chance to talk, I know you were good friends with Lady Nephis."
Caster smiled, taking a sip of the drink, his eyes gleaming with a snake-like shine.
"That actually brings me to what I wanted to talk about. Has there been any news yet about where she is?"
Cassie's hand rubbed his face, sliding down to his chest before resting there.
"She should be back soon. She actually told me that you were here and to look for you—to help you in any way you need..."
A sultry smile appeared on her face as she traced circles on his chest.
"And how much does that enta—"
Looking down, he saw it: an obsidian knife embedded in his chest.
The smile on Cassie's face faded as her eyes dimmed.
"Goodnight, Han Li Caster."
---
They seemed unhappy following him. Right now, they must have just been tolerating his control until those three could gather enough influence. Either that, or they knew they couldn't beat him yet.
Well, it didn't matter in the end. After all, this would only take a few minutes.
"What a way to reunite, huh? Well, I suppose it must be some sort of fate, right?"
The tattooed boy, Olivita, spoke—but no response came from Sunny.
"Tough crowd, huh..."
Once again, no response.
A swish came from the air as Sunny jumped back—two heads flew off, two of the devotees. The Black Knight was here—the one who had gutted Sunny.
They were in range. Instead of letting them run, he used every last bit of his essence. Straining himself, he made a box of shadows around the Black Knight and everyone else except himself.
He heard screams and splashes, tearing and gutting—the horrific sounds echoing from inside the box.
What was the point of a grand, epic fight when he could just have someone else do the dirty work?
The only thing he had to worry about was killing the Black Knight. That was fine with him—after all, he had the perfect plan.
Soon the walls fell, revealing the chopped-up bodies of the two and all their followers. They'd done a number on that abomination; its armor was dented, darkness leaking from the cracks. It lunged at him, but before it could, a pearl-like blade stood in its way.
The echo Sunny had decided to name Saint had appeared—or should he say, the Pearl, instead of an echo. Either way, victory was his.
Before he knew it, the injured abomination had fallen to the Pearl Saint's blade.
[You have received an echo]