Deep in the caves of the Jade Palace, the great forge of the Undying Blade roared as the Saint struck the anvil with his hammer, his blood constantly dropping on the burning room.
He had been in there for hours, his eyes never leaving the black anvil, now bright red because of the intensity of the heat.
The angry heat intensified as Blade cursed and struck the anvil one last time, breaking the Memory he was making, causing a shockwave of burning blood to explode in the room.
The bloodied and burning Saint stood in the middle, angry at one more failed attempt at making a soul-bound Memory.
Soon, Undying Blade calmed down, and activated the sorcery of the room, making the destroyed room, rebuilding it into the elegant and pristine forge it once was before he started his work.
Blade walked to his desk, where his black coat and sword stood, grabbing a new set of bandages and wrapping around his wrist.
He didn't need them, of course, but it was part of his ritual, he liked to wrap the wounds he made to himself while he forged. An old friend always demanded he do it out of worry…
"Still here? You are disturbing my studies."
Blade turned around to see Lunae and Divine Strategist entering his forge.
"Yes Hendren, you know I won't stop until I complete my work."
Lunae sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose, making Divine Strategist chuckle.
"You know, you guys could just confess your lov-"
"Shut it!"
"Shut it!"
Strategist laughed loudly, enjoying the reactions of his friends that were so different yet so similar. After recovering, he finally asked what he wanted to know.
"Either way, what are you doing that is so difficult, Charon?"
Blade sighed, and grabbed the hilt of his sword that was in his stand, looking at the reflection of his eyes that shined in the dark blade.
"I'm trying to build a soul-bound Memory."
Lunae crossed his arms and sharpened his eyes, knowing full well what Blade wanted to do was borderline impossible.
"You want to do the same thing the Daemon of Destiny did? You will work yourself to death and accomplish nothing."
Blade sighed.
"I know, but a soul-bound Memory… Is one that evolves with you, that complements you. Just look at Sunless, having an extra protection alongside the armor you wear, with all the enchantments and advantages of the two Memories. And if it is a weapon, one that complements your entire fighting style, one that is an extension of your soul…"
He dismissed the sword back into his soul.
"But I'm no Divine Forger…"
Strategist hummed, understanding the objective of his friend and looked at the anvil that Undying Blade used to make the weapons and armor of the Song family.
"Maybe it's time to take a break, deal with the problem another time."
Blade sighed, accepting he would reach no progress the way he was doing things.
"Maybe you are right, I'll think about what to do afterwards. In other matters, what kind of Echo do you think I should make for Sunless?"
Lunar raised an eyebrow.
"An Echo? It is rare for you to make those."
"True, Echoes are useful, but have many limitations, however, with his aspect, all those limitations vanish when they turn into Shadows. Meaning I can make a very useful Echo that will follow him forever as long as we give him enough Memories to do Transcend them."
Strategist led his hand to his chin in a questioning manner.
"Maybe… An Awakened Tyrant?"
Lunae shook his head.
"From what we understand, to make a Shadow of an Echo he didn't kill himself, he needed to use at least two shades of the same Rank and Class from his Soul, he only killed one Awakened Tyrant in the Blightlands and one in the First Nightmare, he can make one in theory, but I don't think we should give it to him yet."
"You think we are giving him too much?"
Lunae nodded.
"He's already more powerful than some Masters, we give him more, and we risk him not evolving properly."
Blade picked a piece of paper from underneath his desk and put it above it.
"Then let's wait for him to progress in the Path of Ascension, in the meantime, I need some ideas of what to actually do…"
— — —
While the Government forces secured the area, clearing up the mess made by the Nightmare Gate, Sunny was occupied looking at the new Memories he had acquired. Save to say, he was disappointed.
In the massacre he committed, he only managed to get one Memory… A single damn Memory!
And on top of all that, he could hear a crowd of people gathering outside the Government line… Their fans…
"Oh my God! It 's them!"
"Lord Sunless!! Lady Nephis!"
"Please look at me!!!"
"I just watched the movie!"
He sighed in annoyance, and chose to ignore them. He dismissed his Shadows, Wraith and the Saints went to his shadow as they were ordered.
Then, a notification appeared on his communicator, it was a message from Lauma.
[Lord Sunless, Kin and Lycon found a spy near the Immortal Flame's manor.]
Sunny frowned, it was the third time Valor's spies were found near Nephis's house, they were really looking for anything to recruit her…
[The protocol remains the same, make sure they can't track it back to us. Also, inform everyone to meet in the Blightlands tomorrow, we have much to do.]
[Understood.]
Turning off his communicator, Sunny looked up to see Kai staring with his eyes widened in a certain direction, not blinking one bit, a worried expression on his face.
A question mark appeared at his head, and he followed his gaze to see what was his friend so interested–
He was staring at Seishan's body while she was wiping the blood off her hair…
Kai saw Sunny suddenly appear in front of him, a darkness glaring at him in his eyes, that was so deep and so hollow the singer jumped in horror and surprise. The shadows were deep, angry, sharp, all staring at the charming archer that almost wet himself.
Sunless grabbed Kai's collar and brought him close, then proceeded to talk with an angry and deep voice.
"Kai. What are you doing? I know very well what your Awakened Ability is."
Kai's Awakened Ability lets him see through objects… Including clothes, Sunny thought his friend was too pure-hearted to do this. But to do this to Sunny's sister, right in front of him? Well, it seems like Night&Gale would no longer be a Duo…
Kai smiled innocently and trembled, not understanding Sunless' question.
"S-Sunny, my friend! W-What do you mean?"
Sunless rolled his eyes.
"You were staring at Seishan!"
"Y-Yes, she was covered in blood, I was looking to see if she was wounded! She's just wearing a dress after all, I was worried!"
Sunny sharpened his eyes.
"Don't you know that dress is a Transcendent armor? Were you really not looking at her body?"
Kai's face twisted in terror, a red tint appeared on his face.
"Absolutely not! I had no idea! I was not looking at her body!!"
Sunny glared at him for what seemed like hours…
Then he sighed, and let Kai's collar go.
"You are lucky I know you… Sorry for overeacting… I jumped to conclusions."
The charming archer let out a breath of relief, breathing steadily.
"It's fine, I understand, having sisters as beautiful as her must make you paranoid, even I couldn't help but admire her!"
Kai chuckled a little to ease the tension, but his statement made Sunless realize something.
"Wait… You admire Seishan?"
That didn't make much sense, Seishan and Kai barely spoke as far as he was aware, even though they did stay in the Bright Castle, they weren't exactly friends, in fact, the only time he remembers them talking was when Seishan was informing what had happened in the Fallen Demon's attack, after Gunlaug yielded.
Kai's smile dimmed a little, and a light crimson colour appeared on his cheeks.
"You know Sunny, your family may be masters at tricks and secrets, but my flaw kind of makes that difficult, no?"
Sunny hesitated, understanding where he was going.
"... Yes."
Kai looked around to make sure no one was hearing and continued, a longing permeated on his voice.
"She was the one who led the Demon to the Bright Castle. I figured it out after she told her story, filled with lies and half-truths, and yet, I felt no wish to interrupt her.
Because even if the words were lies, the regret wasn't."
Kai looked at Seishan again, who was done cleaning herself, admiration filled his voice.
"I saw everything, the determination, the guilt, the wish to protect everyone under her command. Underneath all that mysterious and cunning smile, there's someone who cares. And I admire that."
Sunny stared at the charming archer for some moments.
"But we killed so many…"
"And even more survived because of it."
Sunny's eyes widened, he had already understood that, Kira helped him see that, but the Knight was a battlehardened warrior that passed through many trials that shaped the man that understood the sacrifices that had to be made, Kai… He wasn't like that. The archer chuckled.
"I know I seem like an innocent, harmless boy, but I know why you do what you do Sunny, even if I would never do it myself, so don't worry, I'll still be by your side. Moreover, a depressive guy like you needs a friend like me!"
Kai proclaimed proudly, pointing at himself like he was a prize to be held…
Maybe he was.
Sunny chuckled and lightly punched Kai's shoulder in a friendly manner, barely pushing him.
"You better not die, you charming archer."
Kai's contagious smile forced Sunny himself to smile.
"Am I interrupting?"
Shin walked calmly to the pair with his hands in his pockets. Sunny shook his head.
"No, not at all, we just finished. What is it?"
The Government Master signaled with his head to the side.
"Can I talk privately with you Sunless? I want your help with something."
Sunny sharpened his eyes, sighing as he nodded, looking at Kai, who was confused, he made a signal with his hand indicating it was all fine. The archer raised a brow, but slowly walked to where the rest of the cohort was.
"Sure, what is it?"
Shin breathed in and took both his hands out of his pockets, opening them wide to summon a Memory. Soon, ethereal white sparks formed around them and the form of a pair of dual pure white sabers.
They were beautiful, identical, ethereal…
Sunless couldn't help and admire.
"They are for Moon. Her birthday is coming and I wanted to–"
"She'll love them."
Shin widened his eyes, surprised at how fast he answered.
"She'll treasure them even if they are Dormant."
Even if Sunny wasn't Shin's biggest fan, mainly because he was Moon's boyfriend, he knew how much his sister cared for the Master. He was the first person Moonveil showed to really care about, who she wasn't dense with, so Sunny was willing to give him a chance.
Shin smiled, and dismissed the sabers and put his hands in his pockets again.
"Thank you, either way, the other reason I wanted to talk to you, Soul Reaper Jet wants to talk to you."
"Hm? Why would she want to talk to me?"
"Don't know, but it didn't seem like she just wanted to 'talk'. She wants your help with something."
Sunny thought for a second, then nodded. If a Government agent wants his help, then having someone being in debt to him is good.
"Alright, let me talk to my friends and I'll go to her."
Shin nodded.
"I'll be in the PTV at the end of the road, and don't worry, I told her that the movie was garbage and doesn't represent who you are, so she'll talk to you normally."
Sunny was surprised.
"She saw that? With the little time she has?"
"She saw the trailers, I presume you didn't?"
"No, thanks either way."
With that, Sunless turned around and walked towards the rest of the cohort.
Nephis was speaking to Seishan, actually, more like arguing, while Kai looked at the side, looking kind of scared. Merlin seemed to be the only one enjoying herself, eating candy as if watching a movie. Sunny sighed.
'Agh, what now?'
Seishan spoke with a gentle, controlled voice, as if educating a child.
"I am merely warning you, Changing Star, you should learn to control those flames of yours, attacking everything indiscriminately cannot solve all of your problems. Especially when your allies can be in your line of fire."
Nephis, meanwhile, held an indifferent face, but her tone showed annoyance.
"And I'm saying these warnings are unnecessary when I can control who gets burned and who doesn't, or do you think I am a fool?"
Sunny rolled her eyes, getting in between the two.
"Enough! You two want to challenge the Second Nightmare arguing like this?"
Seishan raised her brow at her brother.
"Arguing? We are merely having a disagreement, nothing serious. Correct, Changing Star?"
Nephis closed her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Right."
Sunless looked between the two, not believing them one bit. He looked at Kai, who was shaking his head unceremoniously. Merlin, once again, was enjoying herself sitting on a dead nightmare creature.
Sunny sighed, groaning at the situation.
"Whatever, I'm leaving, the Government wants my help with something."
Seishan raised her eyebrows, interested.
"Oh? Must be something important, remember your diplomacy lessons, don't want to mess it all up."
"Yeah, yeah, don't nag me, you guys can go."
He turned around to leave, Nephis however, grabbed his arm, pushing him to stay. He blushed a little.
"Neph?"
"When you are free… Can we… Talk?"
"S-Sure… I'll contact you…"
Nephis smiled a little, then let him go before returning to her usual demeanor and leaving the scene.
As Sunny turned to go to Shin, Seinhan smiled, interested where things would go from there.
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Please see Notes.