The cohort of the outer settlement walked carefully through the Dark City.
Effie walked in front as vanguard, guiding them to their destination, Nephis and Caster following behind, with Kai and Cassie soon after.
Sunless was on the very back, using two of his shadows to scout the surroundings.
And the last one was with the Shadow Watchers, watching them for one last time.
His subordinates were about to fight after all, stalling the wards so the cohort didn't have any issues while on the way out of the City.
Seems like there was a limit to Gunlaug's confidence in his wards, from what Seishan said, after learning about Sunny's [Mantle of the Underworld] and just how much he and Nephis accomplished, the amount of people leaving the Bright Castle, how many spies were dead. He wanted to make sure none of the cohort survived.
He would be mostly fine with the situation… He expected most of it
Except for a certain someone who got in at the last minute…
He stared at the charming archer.
"Kai, I'll ask again, what are you doing here?!"
The handsome singer turned to him with a smile.
"It's just as I explained Sunny, I don't have a place in the Bright Castle anymore, plus, I do owe you one for saving me."
Sunless sighed, not believing the archer, not believing Cassie insisted on bringing him!
But as he mumbled silently, he heard one last thing from the archer, low enough to tell he was talking to himself.
"And most importantly… This is my choice, to not have any regrets anymore…"
Those words made Sunny stop and consider Kai's position, he had been in the castle for years, probably seen people challenge Gunlaug only to fail and yet…
'You had enough courage to survive, but not to fight back…'
Did he find his courage?
Well, that was a question for the future… What matters right now is that they were about to reach their destination. Sunny recalled the shadow he left with Motza, he would need his full strength for the journey ahead.
Moreover, he doubted they needed any help…
—
Kira sat on the steps of the entrance of a small building, it was located in the middle of a certain intersection of the Dark City.
He was waiting for the wards to reach him, he was in their way. If they wanted to get the cohort, they would have to pass through him, Lady Cassia guaranteed it.
He sighed, he would see his old 'friends' after some months, yet his mind was somewhere else.
Kira was thinking of Sunless Song, more precisely, he was comparing him to Gunlaug.
'The ends justify the means… Such a disgraceful quote…'
He was allowing him to risk the life of the tenants of the Bright Castle… It was much different then what Gunlaug did, but it wasn't at the same time, sacrificing people to keep the 'peace'... And yet, they were doing it for different reasons.
'But do the reasons matter?'
Such a dilemma. A fine line between a ruler and a Tyrant.
"Damn it…"
The road to hell is made with good intentions.
He couldn't let it repeat. He let Gunlaug become what he is now, he won't let Sunless or Lady Nephis become like him.
Even if they are very different people, he couldn't risk it, Gunlaug was also different before…
Sunless helped him see the error of his ways, he made Kira see that he shouldn't have given up.
This time, he would follow him to the end.
A voice filled with disbelief snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Kira…?"
He turned his head to see the owner of the voice, it was Gemma, several others were with him, Tessai right beside him, the others were a collection of guards and hunters, Mei and Lycon were in the very back, seemingly fighting for them… Seemingly.
And in the middle of them all… Harus, the Hunchback.
'He is the main threat… We must be careful.'
Gemma took a few steps forward, confusion apparent.
"What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in the Castle."
Kira sighed and sat up, cracking his neck as he did.
"We both know what I am doing here Gemma… You shall not pass, turn around and don't come back."
Tessai moved forward to spat in an angry tone.
"Traitor! You think you can just come here and make demands?!"
But he froze when he noticed the sudden mist start to crawl around them. The hunters looked around, confused and concerned, the only ones calm were Lycon and Mei, who slowly took steps back in a motion to surround the group. None noticed this, except Harus, the Hunchback began to smile.
Gamma seemingly got nervous upon seeing the mist, turning once again to Kira, trying to reach a peaceful resolution.
"Kira, please! We don't have to do this, don't go against Gunlaug, it will only cause unnecessary death!"
The armored man sighed.
"I'm tired of this Gemma… A decade of 'necessary' death, a decade of fear for 'protection', a decade of manufactured 'justice'... A decade of living in this hell, trying to call it 'home'...
A decade of excuses, of giving up. This is the last time someone dies of 'necessity'."
White sparks enveloped his hand, expanding and forming the silhouette of a sword, the memory summoned was a longsword made from silver metal.
"We are tired, and we are strong enough to face you, he helped us see that. And I will make sure he won't become another Bright Lord."
The mist grew denser, heavier…
Two figures appeared through the mist.
As soon as Tessai noticed them, he recognized the navy blue eyes of both, grinding his teeth, his voice showed cold anger.
"Lan… I expected this from you, but Kin too..."
Lan laughed cockly, already having his gauntlets ready while he positioned beside Kira's left.
"Ha! C'mon… Don't look at him like that! You knew he hates you way more than I do!"
Kin confirmed the statement with his gaze that was piercing Tessai, cold and calculating hatred in them. He brandished his sword, causing nearby mist to sway and twist. Approaching Kira's right.
Tessai pointed his weapon towards both separate brothers.
"Fine, I'll kill you both for being traitors, it's not like either will be missed."
A heavy bump was heard at the groups back, as they turned their heads to identify the reason of the loud sound, they finally noticed that two of their own were away from them, an armored being between them.
Lycon had his glave pointed to his old allies, the magnitude of his traitorous act hidden by a false smile, while Mei held her indifferent expression with her hand on the hilt of her katana.
The being between them was a creature the hunters knew well, a Stone Saint, no, an Echo of the fearsome stone knight.
Finally, a white haired girl walked to their side, her fearless smile and non-chalant attitude giving up her identity. Merlin, one of the girls they were looking for.
Gemma immediately understood their intentions.
"Mei! Lycon! Don't do this!--"
But his warnings were ignored by the blond man's scoff.
"Please Gemma… A leader who doesn't punish his subordinates is no leader at all, you let Andel free and only Changing Star did anything about it."
Mei closed her eyes, cutting all ties with Gemma with a single phrase.
"I will no longer follow your orders."
Opening her eyes, she unsheathed her blade, purple lightning-like sparks beginning to form.
Merlin meanwhile, laughed and rested the point of her longsword on the ground, leaning on it, mocking the wards.
"Your chances aren't looking good!"
The group of the Bright Castle shivered. The 5 guards and 3 hunters may be among the elite of the Castle, but all knew the power and skill of their opponents, and the Echo of the Stone Saint consolidated that fear.
The only one that wasn't nervous… Was Harus. Quite the contrary, the Hunchback held an amused smile, euphoric even, he was excited. Chains began to move beneath his cloak.
Kira took a few steps forward.
"Turn around Gemma, it's your last chance."
The Pathfinder widened his eyes, then closed them, breathing steadily, he opened them to try diplomacy one last time.
"Kira, Changing Star and her Shadow or whatever they call themselves are no heroes, they'll fall, just like all others, even they know that, why do you think they are leaving?
Just stand aside and let us get them, then all will go back to normal."
Kira stared at Gemma for a few seconds…
Before a muffled laugh came out of him. A genuine, loud laugh.
It was unusual, no one had even seen him laugh before, the hunters, guards, wards, even the Shadow Watchers stared with surprised and uncomfortable gazes.
When Kira finally stopped, all amusement was drained from him, and a cold, insidious voice spoke through the helmet.
"Normal? You think this is normal Gemma?!"
Kira angrily gripped his hand on the blade of his sword and rapidly heated up almost instantly it burst in flames becoming a crimson red, until they grew hot enough to turn azure blue. It grew so hot the air and mist reacted to it, distorting to the knight's blade as he brandished the weapon.
"There's no such thing as NORMAL in this Nightmare!"
All present took a step back, fear took over them. The black knight looked like a dark emissary of death coming to reap the lives of all present with hellfire.
However, as Kira took a step forward to begin his rampage, his world suddenly turned dark.
He faltered, dazed by the sudden lack of vision, he was blind.
Harus suddenly dashed between the group, a psychotic smile plastered on his face as chains burst out of his cloak and moved violently towards Kira with killing intent.
It was expected for the two brothers by Kira's side to move to protect their companion. But they didn't, instead, Kin and Lan advanced forward, ignoring the presence of the fearsome ward completely.
Because they knew a blade had already met the chains of the Hunchback.
Coming out of the mist, Motza parryed the chains, with his black dagger, and dashed closer to Harus' side, who moved his arm to grab the assassin's throat.
But Motza ducked, falling to the ground doing a spin kick to the Hunchback's side, launching him into the mist, the hunter followed soon after.
"I'll deal with him."
With his sight returning, Kira's eyes hurt with the sudden light, but he still could reach his hand towards Motza, trying to stop him.
"No! Wait!"
It was too late, Motza had already delved into the mist.
"Damn it!"
An arrow passed through his face, it would have hit his head if he hadn't had fast enough reflexes to dodge.
Looking at the culprit of the attack, he saw Gemma, his face twisted in regret.
Tessai was already exchanging blows with both Kin and Lan, the brothers working together to take down the ward.
The rest of their group had turned to face Mei, Lycon, Merlin and the Echo of the Stone Saint.
Gemma dismissed his bow and arrow and began summoning another weapon.
"As long as Gunlaug exists, his reign is our only choice."
A sword appeared on his hand.
"Unless someone else acquires a Transcendent Memory or Echo, we cannot resist."
Kira chuckled, and moved to meet him.
"If that's the case, why did he send you to kill Immortal Flame? Why bother?"
Gemma didn't answer.
"The answer is simple, and in a few days, you will see it."
Gemma's sword blurred as he slashed towards Kira, who parryed flawlessly, the simple contact of the blades made the ward's sword heat up, almost deforming because of the knight's flaming sword.
"I just hope your aspect is strong enough to heal you from my flames."
—
"8 against 4… Doesn't seem fair…"
The hunters and guards from the Bright Castle began to surround the three Shadow Watchers, their weapons drawn.
The guards stood in front, serving as vanguard, while the 2 hunters drew their bows and arrows, the last one pointing a spear at them, cursing as he did.
"Mei, Lycon, don't make us do this, you can still come back…"
Lycon scratched his neck, grunting in annoyance.
"Tach, we both know that's not possible, the choice was already made."
Mei ordered her Echo of the Saint to raise its shield and get ready to advance.
The hunter Tach, who once saw them as companions, gritted his teeth.
"Take them down."
The vanguard of guards got ready, fighting the fear of the Echo of the Stone Saint.
Merlin turned to her allies lazily.
"They sure are loyal to you guys."
Her voice was full of sarcasm, the last thing Tach and the other hunters cared about right now were Mei and Lycon, their motivation to kill them was fear of Gunlaug.
The blond man chuckled.
"Well then dear little fox, since they want to kill us, why don't you go wild and have a little fun?"
Merlin's eyes tweaked, and her smile widened.
"Fox? I like that! A fearsome fox!"
She raised her longsword.
"Let's have some fun!"
Lycon chuckled again, entertained by the girl.
Mei sighed because of the other two, but dashed forward to face their opponents.
—
Tessai pushed Lan back with the strike of his axe, just to receive a slash on his body dealt by Kin's aspect.
Fortunately for the ward, his own aspect protected his body by creating a barrier made of ice all over his body.
He shrugged off the strike and advanced, reaching the swordsman and raising his weapon to deal a powerful strike to Kin, who blocked it and unleashed his aspect with all his strength, aiming to cut the axe.
But Tessai didn't let him, reinforcing his weapon with his own aspect.
Lan finally returned and punched the ward's gut, breaking the barrier and forcing Tessai to puke blood.
That left an opening for Kin to release the bind his blade had with Tessai's axe and made him able to slice it.
Tessai's weapon disappeared in white sparks.
Wide open, the brothers slashed and plummeted Tessai, until the ward was launched back, hitting the wall of a building.
Yet Tessai shrugged it off, coughing as he cleaned the blood from his face. Wounds covering him.
"Bastards…"
The brothers weren't in the best of shapes either, blood ran down their bodies, Tessai had more experience, his skill and strength were impressive, even when fighting against two enemies, he could still hold his own.
"You saturated your cores."
"No sh*t, want a prize mister obvious?"
Lan's voice did not hide his disdain.
Kin stared at Tessai with anger.
But there was something wrong… Why weren't they attacking?
'I'm wide open, unarmed, yet they just stand there…'
Tessai squinted his eyes, they hated him, it made no sense for them to do this. They are not holding back, yet it doesn't look like they want to kill Tessai…
The ward extended his hand and summoned another weapon.
"What is your plan…?"
Lan smirked.
"Finally noticed?"
-----
Inside the dense mist, Harus smiled while blood tarnished his chains.
"Where are you, little assassin?"
He tossed something to the ground, it rolled in it, blood flowing out non stop.
"I wish to see more…"
Motza's severed arm bleed on the ground, not showing any sign of the lone hunter.