The outer settlement had changed, it was better than ever.
It was all thanks to Nephis's experience this time. She this time knew how to navigate people and enforce her vision.
There was also graffiti drawn on the walls of the most derelict hovels, some of them depicting a shining star, some the image of a... beautiful bronze spear?
'Ohhh yeahhh. I forgot, Effie was a bit of a folk hero back then. Sigh, I need to be careful now, to not forget even smallest details.' You never know when a small detail becomes a huge thing.
When the sentries saw who was approaching, their faces first became shocked, and then lit up with intense jubilation.
"Lady Nephis! It's Changing Star!"
"Lady Nephis has returned!"
"She is alive!"
The joyful voices of people spread through the settlement, celebrating as they surrounded the cohort and asking all kinds of questions.
Of course people were also praising Effie more than usual, as she was grinning from ear to ear seeing this. Sunny as usual got almost no attention, as if he was just a background character, he liked it this way.
Nephis faced the inhabitants of the slum and took a bag from Effie. She, as in the original, gave a speech then threw the bag down.
From it, claws of messengers and monsters they slayed came out. Suddenly the slum went silent, fear and awe on everyone's face.
Closing the bag, Nephis put it on her shoulder and said, her tone dark and piercing:
"Out there in the Labyrinth, we have fought and slew one of the cursed Messengers of the Crimson Spire. I bring you its claws as a gift, to become your weapons."
***
With this, she gave another speech, then the cohort sometime later went to the main hall lounge. Here there was another small crowd, but these were no ordinary sleepers. Every single one of them was an experienced hunter and fighter she recruited.
Then they all started giving her the reports of what happened when she was away. The reports didn't change from last time.
'Seems like we still didn't change much, huh? Even though we did everything much sooner than it was supposed to be it didn't change anything? [Unseen from fate] that strong?' Sunny thought as Nephis turned the bags upside down.
A river of glimmering crystals flowed from the bags, scattering on the table's surface.
There were hundreds... no, thousands upon thousands of soul shards. More than in the last timeline amount she before had given.
The hunters immediately went silent. Their eyes got larger as if they were gonna pop off, most of them stepped back while trembling. Thousands of soul shards is not a small deal, more so in this place.
Meanwhile Sunny sighed, then looked at the pile with an expression of grief and sorrow.
One of the hunters took a step back and said while trembling a bit:
"What... what is this, Lady Nephis?"
She remained silent for a few moments, and then said in her even, reserved, strangely softened voice:
"This is for you. To nourish yourselves, and grow stronger. You are going to need every bit of strength for what awaits us in the days to come. All of this should be enough to fully saturate all of your soul cores."
The young man and others watched her, a dangerous flame slowly igniting in their eyes. A flame of resolve, adoration...
Almost worship-...no, it is worship.
Sunny's face darkened a bit.
Not long after, everyone started absorbing the soul shards to saturate their cores. The amount of soul shards was so insane that it would probably saturate all of their cores.
Meanwhile Effie nudged Kai and whispered awkwardly, "Umm... hey handsome, is it me or we didn't kill enough nightmare creatures to produce this many shards, no?"
Kai shrugged, not giving an answer.
Finally, everyone in the hall fully saturated their cores, with just a few shards left on the floor. Some of the hunters were throwing random punches in the air to test their improvements and were surprised by the immense power they were feeling.
Suddenly, one of the watchers ran into the room, breathing heavily:
"Coming! They are coming!"
Sunny flexed his shoulders and stretched.
'The show is about to start.'
Everyone in the hall started panicking. Nephis calmed them down. After hesitating for a few moments, one of the hunters said:
"But... but... they are coming to take Effie! We can't allow that to happen. I'm done watching good people be taken into the damn Castle and never return. If they want to make an example out of her, like they did with Jubei... over my dead body!"
The hum of angry voices rose in the hall, accompanied by heated glares.
Sunny and Nephis shared a look before turning around.
A crashing sound came from the direction of the entrance to the stone lodge. It seemed as though someone had just smashed through the door.
Tessai walked into the hall, his mere presence making the entire space look tiny. As leader of the Castle Guard, his presence scared almost everyone in the hall.
Though Sunny...
'The amount of openings he has is ridiculous, like at this point just kill yourself before anyone pierces through you. Heh, that's why being shorter is better than being longer.'
Of course they won't kill Tessai yet, since he will be needed in the fight against the hordes of nightmare creatures when escaping the Forgotten Shore.
The giant only glanced at Effie and then turned to Nephis. His deep, low voice resounded in the stone hall.
"Changing Star. So you're alive after all."
"You must be Tessai. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Oh, no. The pleasure is all mine."
Then, he raised his mighty arm and pointed at Effie.
"Lord Gunlaug has invited this one to the Castle, to face punishment for her crimes. You should have trained your dogs better, Changing Star. See what happens when they go around biting people? Now, I would advise you rats to step aside and let me take that she-wolf with me."
"Or what?"
***
As they moved toward the Castle, more and more slum dwellers surrounded them, their faces full of shock and anger.
"They got Effie!"
"Bastards! Let her go!"
"Lady Nephis! Do something!"
They reached the entrance of the castle and passed through it, entering the castle. At some point Caster appeared and took position beside Nephis.
Though he was as insignificant as he could get for them them currently.
Nephis briefly looked at Sunny before telepathically saying through [Unknown Bond].
Neph saying so many words all together would be unusual for anyone else.
Sunny nodded and focused again.
'Straight up defeat him, huh? Well, seems like goldie is not gonna have much of a shining day today.'