Seishan and Nix were in the luxurious room of the Bright Castle owned by the daughter of Song, current ward of the handmaidens.
It had been a few days since the news of what happened in the Dark City reached them, and even if Gunlaug tried to stop it, rumors would circulate, three wards of the Bright Castle had been defeated, returning with grievous wounds.
The wards didn't report the reason, anything they said would simply be used against them. So they stayed silent.
But that only fueled the rumours.
Some thought a terrible nightmare creature was wandering the City.
Others, that Changing Star and her cohort defeated and humiliated the best forces of the Bright Lord. That was the most believed rumor since no one had died.
It mattered little what they believed happened, it mattered that they knew the wards were defeated by something or someone, that alone already damaged the illusion of Gunlaug's absolute power. After all, Gemma, the leader of the Pathfinders, known for always keeping his cohort safe, returned with wounded allies. Tessai, the oppressive leader of the Guards, was covered in scars and broken bones.
And Harus… Returned wounded and frustrated. An impossible sight until now.
It was perfect… But not enough. No matter how much they hurt the wards, it wasn't Gunlaug, his figure was still untouchable.
This was the reason Nix was here, sitting right across Seishan…
"How are the Shadow Watchers?"
Nix kept looking at the window, the night sky was beautiful… Yet it was only a way for her mind to escape.
"We are stable, since we revealed ourselves, naturally i'll be the only one to stay in the Castle, the rest are in the Dark City, we'll change locations constantly, as always.
And thanks to Lord Sunless relentless hunts, we'll hardly find any mass of nightmare creatures to endanger us."
Seishan sighed.
"Good, it's going to take some time before Sunny gets back… Then we'll do the rest of the plan."
Purple eyes changed their target from the window to the Princess of Song, Nix asked the question that was on her mind since she entered the room.
"Is it really necessary?"
Seishan stared at Nix, a somber voice escaped her mouth.
"We talked about this."
"We did… But you are not the one who's going to lead it here."
Seishan felt an uncomfortable sensation creeping through her, guilt, for making her do this.
"I'm sorry Nix…"
Her friend smiled… However, it was a hollow smile, a guilty, humorless smile.
"Don't worry Shan, I understand… Moreover, I doubt it will matter, I can't feel anger after all…"
—
"Breathe Neph, it's almost over."
Nephis was kneeling on the ground while gripping her chest, her third soul core was about to form. Sunny was right beside her, waiting for the painful process to finish.
They had just finished clearing a nightmare creature nest of giant iron spiders, which made Nephis absorb enough fragments to saturate her core after using her aspect to destroy the cave where the nest was located.
Right after they checked what was inside… It almost made them puke.
The rest of the cohort was not far, collecting some soul shards or sharing memories with Cassie to discover the enchantments. They didn't know about [Bloodweave], only assuming it was part of Cassie's aspect to be able to see enchantments.
After a few seconds, Nephis let out a breath of relief, looking up at him and nodding, indicating the process is over. She was now a Demon, like him.
"Alright, let's go."
Sunny nodded as well and helped her up, she soon started to walk back to the rest of the group, Sunny followed closely behind her.
With all the members of the cohort together, they were ready to go forward.
As they did, Sunny noticed Cassie holding something between her hands, a sharp, small object, a needle. Curiosity got the better of him, so he asked.
"Is that a Memory?"
Cassie seemed to be snapped out of her thoughts.
"Hm? Yes, I got it after my Echoes killed some spiders."
Sunny looked behind them, where the Echo of the Carapace Scavenger followed the group. Originally, he thought it was useless, but as time went on, the creature was actually pretty good, protecting Cassie and giving some considerable support.
"It is an Awakened needle with an enchantment that makes it easier to wield and uses essence to create strings."
Sunless sharpened his eyes, it was… Kind of useless…
"Sure you want to keep that? I can find a better use for it."
One more Memory for Saint to consume would be perfect for the moment. However, the blind girl observed the unassuming needle and shook her head.
"No need, I have a feeling it will be useful."
"... If you say so…"
—
They had finally reached the great canyon they would use to catch a ride with a… A certain neutral party on the Forgotten Shore.
The waters were rising, soon, they would no longer be safe.
Sunny always did find it strange. When mapping the Forgotten Shore, Cassie marked 6 giant statues, it was strange because the Spell had somewhat of an obsession with the number 7, the only exception being the Gods.
The reason was simple, there was a seventh statue, it just wasn't stationary.
Loud sounds began to invade Sunny's ears, an enormous figure appeared in their vision, bigger than anything he had ever seen, with exception being only the Jade Palace, dwarfing the mountains.
It tore the canyon, destroying the environment and red coral with each step of its stone body.
The headless statue of the builder, as Cassie called it.
Nephis was drawing it here with the blinding light of her flames, it would serve as their transport for the journey ahead, until they reach the edge of the Forgotten Shore.
With each step, the giant got closer and closer destroying more and more of the ground and the canyon, until it came close enough for them to jump on it.
And so they did.
They started running towards the ledge of the platform of the canyon and jumping. Beginning with Nephis, then Caster, then Sunny and Effie. Piercing the thigh of the giant with their weapons to stabilize.
Cassie however was blind, so had to be carried by Kai, who used his aspect to fly to the giant.
They faced the ruthless waves of water of the Dark Sea that had already risen enough to reach them, until they finally were able to climb to the shoulders of the stone titan.
Sunny sighed in relief.
'Finally, now we just have to wait… Right after I deal with that thing…"
He felt through shadow sense, a big shadow climbing, no, crawling up the leg of the titan.
He looked down, it was pitch dark, but he could see in the dark thanks to his attribute. A giant eel with limbs was crawling higher and higher in their direction, it would get to them in no time.
"We have an unwanted passenger."
Kai looked at him worried.
"Is there any hope that it will fall down on its own?"
"I'm afraid not… We'll have to deal with it."
He felt a heavy hand touch his shoulder.
"You mean you will deal with it, right? I for one can't see a thing here, and lighting up a fire will only screw us even more!"
Effie said that with a smiling face only she could do, the rest stared at him, as if agreeing with the huntress but not having the courage to say so.
"Tsk, fine! Do I have to do everything around here? Don't answer that."
He begrudgingly jumped, using [BloodRaven] to pierce the stone to slow his descent.
He had an idea of the rank of the beast; it must have been a Fallen, [Heir of Shadows] was a very versatile attribute it seemed, but still was held back by his own rank.
In normal circumstances, Sunless would be at a disadvantage, he was two ranks below the monster, a very vulnerable position, and with an awkward angle of attack. However, he had an arsenal of Ascended Memories and three very powerful Shadows that all could face Fallen creatures head on, not to mention it was night, when the shadows protected him the most.
Right now, he was the most powerful human on the Forgotten Shore, with the only exception being Gunlaug and Nephis if she used her aspect with intention to burn him alive. But even then, that was if he was humble, he definitely could defeat Nephis, maybe even Gunlaug...
Sunny summoned [Prowling Thorn] and pierced in the stone skin, then, he stood up, standing perpendicular to the giant statue, hanging thanks to the invisible string connecting his wrist and the kunai embedded on the stone.
He looked forward, well, down, depending on the perspective. The eel-like creature continued to crawl using its four strong, massive, limbs, seemingly not noticing Sunny's presence.
Because it did not notice… For now.
The shadows protected their future God, desperately trying to hide him from the abomination. But their master was still too weak.
The eel stopped, something got its attention, it started searching, using the other limbs, smaller, weaker limbs, all around its body.
'Calm down… Don't move.'
The eel came closer…
'Don't… Move…'
The creature's limb pierced the skin more carefully, the head, the closest thing it had to a head, turned around, opening and closing its mouth repeatedly.
The shadows grew more desperate, doing the best they could.
The abomination's mouth approached, mere centimeters to Sunny. He held his breathing.
A limb struck the skin right next to him.
'Finally…'
He transferred all his three shadows into [BloodRaven] and used his essence thanks to Serpent using [Shadow Guide] to use the active enchantment of his odachi, [Blood Clot].
He slashed the limb with all his might.
The Ascended blade augmented by 3 shadows sliced the skin of the abomination with relative ease, an infection began to spread inside the eel's body.
It let out a tormented squirm, losing its balance and risking falling down into the sea. Sunny would guarantee that happened.
He ran through the stone wall of the statue's back, pulling the [Prowling Thorn] out of the skin and using momentum and gravity to maximize his attack, his target was the other limb of the eel.
The other two enchantments of his odachi kicked in, since he already sliced the skin of the eel, his sword adapted to it, becoming stronger against the creature. [Blood Reaver] also activated, the blood of the creature did fall on the blade after all.
The other limb was easily torn out from the abomination. Sunless pierced [Prowling Thorn] on the giant again.
It was barely hanging on, only being suspended with the strength of the last two posterior limbs, an insidious venom tearing it from the inside, Sunny made sure that it fell.
Wraith summoned itself from the shadows, falling into what was left from the eel, the wolf's weight was finally enough for the abomination to fall, plummeting into the Dark Sea.
Before being dismissed, Wraith tore the eel's skin with its sharp teeth, letting blood splatter on the air, then disappeared in shadows, returning to Sunny's soul sea.
The giant body splashed on dark water.
Sunless breathed fresh air, finally breathing normally, then the Spell surprised him.
[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Fiend of Shallow Waters.]
[Your shadow grows stronger...]
[You have received a Memory.]
The [Blood Clot] must have finished the job.
'That's good… Wait…'
He looked up, sensing more enormous abominations, they were coming for the cohort from above, flying.
"So much for a simple voyage…"