Silence enveloped the Temple as two Transcendents gazed at each other.
Sunny was able to put one knee on the floor, still staggering due to the hole on his chest that was still being healed by Nephis' healing flames.
Nephis put her hand on his grievous wound, unleashing as much as she could, she was the only one that didn't seem to really care about the two Saints, only focusing on healing Sunny.
Undying Blade noticed that, giving the girl a glance and noting the worried expression on her face.
Then he turned his eyes to look behind Cormac, to an Awakened who he never saw in his life, but he knew that someone else was in possession of their body…
His old student, Mordret.
He was no longer the boy Blade had taught, and yet, he recognized him almost instantly.
Mordret widened his eyes at the sight of his teacher, but no word came out, almost as if he didn't know how to react…
But all of that could be put into hold, he would have plenty of time to talk after they finish the Second Nightmare.
"Sunless."
His wounded student coughed and dismissed his helmet, looking up at Blade, recovering relatively quickly with Changing Star's flames.
Blade lowered his sword and grabbed a shard of glass, throwing towards him, Sunless grabbed it flawlessly.
"Order your Shadows to kill the soldiers then get out of here. Same goes to Mordret."
Sunless hesitated, but nodded, looking at the possessed Awakened, the self entitled Prince of Nothing looked back at him for a few seconds.
Before his body was mangled by Cormac's hand.
It came quicker than any strike Sunny had seen in his life. The Saint of Valor didn't hesitate in decapitating the corpse of his subordinate.
However, the act of violence mattered little, evident by Blade's lack of reaction and the fact that Cormac grunted in frustration.
"I would listen to his advice."
Sunny blinked repeatedly as he heard the voice of a male in his head. Then he remembered Mordret's Aspect.
Looking at the glass of the mirror on his hand, he saw his own reflection smiling at him.
"Or would you like to be in the middle of a battle between Saints?"
"... I would not."
Sunny raised a brow as he saw his reflection's mouth moving on its own, but for once, he decided not to question. Accepting that Mordret's Aspect was creepy.
Putting the mirror away in his pocket, Sunny turned to Nephis who had just finished healing him, a silent question in his eyes. She nodded without him needing to say anything.
But before they could move, Cormac dashed towards them.
In the blink of an eye, the Knight of Valor appeared in front of the two, twisting his body in a punch that carried decades of power and experience of a Saint.
Time seemed to slow down as Sunny saw Cormac's fist threatening to destroy his head.
But a black sword flawlessly blocked and reflected the punch to the side, destroying several walls behind Sunny and leaving a trail of fire and ash.
"Get out of here."
A fist full of fire encountered Undying Blade's black blade in the next second in an attempt to break it, but it was futile as the sword didn't even crack.
Blade flourished his sword, changing the air and reflecting Cormac's fist, then proceeded to twist his weapon to swing it against him.
Cormac blocked with both his arms, but Blade put his other hand on the hilt of his sword and used his strength to push Cormac, breaking his guard and the ground beneath. Leaving him right open to receive a kick from the Saint of Song, forcing the Knight to slide some distance.
Looking up, Cormac saw five black longswords being created on the spot. They were created in red crimson fire, with lines flowing like blood throughout the blades. As soon as they were finished, they were shot in his direction.
The swords impacted the Knight of Valor, making dust rise as the floor fractured. Concealing Cormac in it.
The whole exchange happened in the blink of an eye, not even the Masters could absorb the sheer force and speed the Saints were escalating, and they all knew this was merely warming up to them.
Undying Blade slowly stepped forward with narrowed eyes and a complicated expression, but he said no word as he approached the mist of dust slowly.
Pierce seemed to finally snap back to reality as he understood his role in this battle. He needed to eliminate Hollow Death and Changing Star before they escaped.
Lord Cormac was strong, as one of the Saints of Valor and someone who constantly made expeditions to the Hollow Mountains, he needed to be, however, he knew how powerful the traitor, Undying Blade was. Even if he spent most of his time on Song's forge, he still had been one of the most powerful of Valor back in the day.
So Pierce had to be fast, as he had no idea how the battle between the Saints would turn out.
He turned to look behind Undying Blade, observing as both the Immortal Flame's daughter and the Spawn of the Queen of Worms got up and proceeded to leave the hall, listening to the orders of the Traitor.
Pierce flicked his sword and prepared to dash, putting one foot forward…
Before his trajectory was barred by a tall, black figure made of shadows, wearing full body marble armor and shining red ruby eyes.
Pierce widened his eyes, he thought the Echo was fighting the sentinels, then looked around, the shadows were shifting, rapidly, and that included the Echoes.
It seemed the Hollow Death switched tactics. Welthe was no longer struggling against the wolf, quite the contrary, the female shadow knight had picked her by surprise, launching her back to the walls. The wolf meanwhile was now with a serpent, facing all the soldiers together with roots made of shadows coming from the walls.
Pierce cursed, his soldiers were being killed and from what he's seen, these Echoes were far from being normal.
The male shadow knight glared at him with contained wrath, seeming like seeing his master wounded made them angry.
"Since when do Echoes care about anything?"
The knight didn't answer, of course it didn't, he simply let go of his shield and put both hands on the hilt of his sword, raising to put himself on an offensive stance, the hilt close to his head, blade pointing towards Pierce.
The Valor's Master cursed internally, and raised his own weapon, regardless of how powerful Echoes were, they were still Echoes, a Master like him wouldn't lose to this… Would he?
Undying Blade walked to the cloud made of dust that Cormac was in, calmly, logically, analyzing every possibility.
He stopped, and put his guard up.
A human sized bolt was suddenly shot out from the cloud as Cormac launched himself to Blade.
The Saint of Song was able to block by raising his weapon, connecting with Cormac's fist and absorbing the brunt force of the attack. As a consequence, the excess power was released on the ground and walls of the Temple, destroying the area behind Undying Blade.
Yet he showed no reaction.
"I expected more from someone who goes to the Hollow Mountains."
The knight scoffed.
"And you are just a traitor that never leaves his room!"
Three swords were forged from red fire right above Cormac, but these were stronger, having the color of blood red fire.
They quickly finished and rained down on him.
Cormac was forced down, crashing onto the floor and piercing several floors down.
Leaving the main hall, Undying Blade turned around, intending to leave the Night Temple and meet his enemy outside. Now, without worrying about the battle destroying his student's Shadows.
—
Cormac was falling, crashing onto every floor of the Citadel.
One would think he was frustrated, or in absurd pain, cursing his enemy.
But everything that passed through his mind aside from the pain of the three swords on his back was…
'Ahhh… How long until the end?'
—
Sunny and Nephis had already met back with Cassie, who was waiting on the entrance of the Temple, and were currently running through the wooden bridge, trying to escape.
Nephis was holding Cassie's hand, forcing the blind girl to run faster than she could while Sunny insisted on going faster.
"Why don't you summon your bird then?"
"First of all, its a raven, second, I just did!"
Underneath the bridge, right where Sunny's shadow was passing, the silhouette of a giant raven appeared as Dreadwing manifested itself into reality after being summoned from his post on the flying ship.
Moving around to rise through the air and reach their master, landing on the fragile bridge, not caring if it could support its weight.
Sunny stopped running as he slided on the bridge, immediately pointing at his Shadow.
"Hop on, now!"
Neither of his companions questioned, wasting no time to climb the back of the grand raven and gripping the slits where the armor parted.
As soon as Sunny climbed on, he ordered Dreadwing to fly and go to the flying ship, ignoring all other things.
So the raven did it, parting the wings and flapping them upward, heading towards their destination.
Only when they were in mid air did Sunny finally let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and laid on his Shadow's back.
He then looked through his shadow helpers. Most were augmenting his Shadows, so he was watching through Gloomy as the battles occurred, already having given out orders while he ran away.
He figured Saint and Igris should be the ones to face the Masters given they are his most powerful Shadows, leaving the rank and file to Serpent and Wraith.
He was going to let Tree help them, but after he saw Undying Blade push Cormac downward with his blades, he immediately dismissed the grand Shadow, fearing for its safety.
With everything seemingly calming down, Sunny breathed slowly, his Shadows were winning, Serpent and Wraith had pretty much eliminated all sentinels, and his Shadow Saints had the upper hand against the knights of Valor, they even seemed angrier than usual.
Knowing that Welthe's Aspect had something to do with debilitating her opponent, Sunny augmented Saint twice and ordered her to pressure the Master and not let her open her eyes.
Pierce on the other hand, he didn't know much, so he–
"Order your Echo to throw Pierce off his balance."
Sunny dead-panned as he grabbed the piece of mirror that was in his pocket and looked at his own reflection, smiling gently.
"That Master has an Aspect that makes him highly resistant to various forms of attacks, so I suggest that your knight throw him off his balance so he can use his Aspect against himself."
Sunny looked at his smiling figure that just spoke and sighed.
"Fine, I'll give the suggestion, not that I think he needs it. And stop using my face to talk, it's creeping me out."
Mordret simply smiled at Sunny, which made him sigh, even then, he wasn't too bothered by his actions, something else was getting his attention.
There was something wrong with Mordret, Sunny could feel his shadow, but there was something deeply wrong with it, as if his shadow was missing something important…
But Sunny couldn't dwell on it, as an explosion took away his attention, making him and the girls look at the Night Temple.
Beneath the Citadel, a grand ferocious wyvern took flight, black scales as dark as the abyss made up the body, with mighty muscles rolling under them like iron chains. The head of the creature was crowned with twisting horns, and in his maw, countless sharp fangs glowed darkly, illuminated by immolating red flame burning in the depths of the beast's adamantine body. On its back, three red swords still burned, but they didn't seem to bother the creature.
Sunny stared at the wyvern, identifying as the Transcendent form of Saint Cormac.
The creature raised itself from the air, flying to the entrance and flapping his wings to hover.
To meet the grand figure of the reptilian creature, a small man walked out from the gates of the Night Temple.
Undying Blade looked at the imposing grand wyvern that was bearing down on him…
And only sighed.
Cormac's dragonic form opened its mouth and filled its lungs full of fire, unleashing it all in a breath full of purifying red flames against the Undying Blade.
The wave of fire approached Blade at an unnatural speed, yet he made no effort into dodging it, there was no need after all.
Instead, he walked directly into it, letting the fire pass his skin and burn him as he entered his own Transcendent form.
As the cloud of fire ended, the figure of Undying Blade walked out, having received no visible damage. But he himself changed.
Hair white as ash, skin grey as a cloudy sky. His eyes now were even more red, burning with unseen power, his bandages now were coloured a deep shade of ebony, with a symbol now embedded into his torso: a red-spider-lily.
Behind him, multiple dark crimson swords hovered in the air, waiting for their forgers orders.
Undying Blade was now a living, breathing, forge of blades.
His blood was the fire that tempered all weapons under his control.
And his Will was what brought them all to life.
All under the command of him, and the sword that accompanied him all his life.
The [Onyx Blade].
Sunny widened his eyes, it was the first time he saw the Transcendent form of his teacher, and it did not disappoint, even if it wasn't a creature, it represented him perfectly… A living forge.
The Living Forge, Undying Blade.
Blade looked up with his crimson red eyes at the black wyvern, stepping forward, as soon as his foot touched the ground, the whole floor flooded with warm, red blood.
In a matter of moments, from that blood, blades started to form.
One, two, three… Twenty, thirty, fifty…
The walls of the Temple started bleeding blood as well.
The next second, one hundred blades were created.
Cormac seemed to grimace, as much as a wyvern could grimace, he breathed a long breath, raising his body, he burst into flames.
Twisting in the air, the flaming wyvern rolled and dived in Undying Blade's direction.
Cormac's Transcendent form seemed like a burning meteor rapidly closing on the Temple's entrance. The intention of the Saint was clear, Cormac wanted to destroy the Citadel along with Blade.
It would have…
But Undying Blade had other plans.
Raising his hand, the hundred swords moved from the black sword and began flying as their maker wished.
Then, gripping his fist, the three swords embedded on Cormac's enormous back suddenly pierced even deeper into his skin, igniting inside his body, transferring enormous pain all throughout him.
The sudden pain made the wyvern stumble and stagger, the flaming meteor lost strength and speed, giving the living forge an opportunity to completely shut down his enemy.
A hundred blades flew in the air, piercing wind and tearing through the sky, reaching just above Cormac.
With a flick of his finger, all swords fell down, piecing the great wyvern, ripping skin, tearing wings, and embedding on the body.
Cormac was forced to fall, brought down by the might of the traitor he so despised.
His body crashed onto the entrance of the Citadel, pinned to the ground by the hundred blades that continuously tore through him, extinguishing the flames that burned throughout his body, pinning his wings, torso and mouth on the floor's entrance of the Temple.
And right in front of his eyes, Undying Blade stood, unflinching.
"May Shadow have mercy on you."
The living forge reached out his hand and ordered all nine blades hovering behind his back to move towards the [Onyx Blade].
Like a mirage, the blades flowed into the dark blade on his hand, melding together and becoming a blinding inferno as it grew hotter and hotter.
Heat reached its peak as the ground around them burned in crimson fire, a consequence of the power on display.
And so, Undying Blade gripped the blinding sword that was infused with red fire tighter and raised it above his head.
"So long Cormac."
He brought the blade down the next moment.
For a second, nothing seemed to have happened, but soon, a shockwave of power resounded throughout the islands, reaching even Sunny, making Dreadwing stumble in its flight.
When he looked back, Sunny felt a shiver run down his spine.
The body of the wyvern was split in two.
No blood was spilled as it had been cauterized by the blinding fire, the whole body had been burnt, slowly crumbling to ashes.
Undying Blade looked at the corpse of what was once a Saint of Valor, and sighed, dismissing his Transcendent form and his sword.
Looking up, he saw the flying Shadow where Sunny and the others were in and raised his hand, summoning a flying Echo of his own that had the appearance of a silver owl, climbing it and ordering it to follow the dark Shadow.
Sunny let out a breath full of astonishment and awe, it had been the first time he had seen one of his teachers fight seriously, to see a Saint fight seriously for that matter, and it was already this impressive.
Looking to the side, he saw Nephis had a similar reaction, but it was a lot more contained, only moving her eyebrows slightly up.
Mordret meanwhile had…
"Can we talk privately now?"
Sunny was suddenly transported into his soul sea.
The calm silent waters rippled as a foreign presence infiltrated his soul.
Turning around in his soul sea, it was the same as always, the same lightless suns, the same shade army on the horizon and Remnant was still in his evolution process and the Soul-Devouring Tree in the distance…
But a figure approached Sunny with calm, light steps. The figure was smiling, seemingly being pleasent… But Sunless knew better, there was something deeply wrong with the one approaching him.
He was tall and slender, with pale skin and raven-black hair. He seemed to be in his twenties, around Seishan's age. His face was sharp and thin… not exactly handsome, but at the same time charming and strangely beautiful. His most striking feature, though, were his eyes, which didn't seem to possess a color of their own, and instead reflected the world back on itself like two pools of liquid silver.
Mordret, the self entitled Price of Nothing.
"Sunless Song, correct? It's a pleasure to finally meet you. As I said, my name is Mordret, but I have a feeling you already know me…"
Sunny stared at the young man standing before him who had been the student of the same teacher he himself had, it was strange, he didn't seem like someone who was imprisoned for years without a body. He was way too pleasant, like a true Prince.
Yet his presence and actions showed anything but. Pierce was terrified of him, Anvil had imprisoned him, his own son, in a horrific way. And Mordret had made a massacre to all the sentinels he could, and was even annoyed that Sunny didn't let him kill them all.
Not to mention the uncanny feeling Sunny got every time he looked or sensed Mordret's shadow, something was wrong, but he still couldn't tell what. It wasn't like he was looking at a human but… At the same time he was definitely a human.
Sunny stared at Mordret for a few more seconds until he was forced to answer.
"Yes, might you say why are you in my soul sea? You don't plan to steal my body, do you?"
A gentle laugh resounded out of Mordret.
"Well of course not my friend! I'm no monster, I just wished to have an honest talk face to face…"
He put his hands behind his back.
"But I must say, to meet not one, but two other Divine Aspect users? I'm impressed, to say the least."
Sunny furrowed his brows and glared at the mirror-like eyes that seemed so pleasant and so dangerous at the same time. His hollow eyes, cold and piercing.
"You can see our runes?"
Mordret's smile grew dangerous, he seemed happy for his new… 'Ally' to be so quick on the uptake.
"Yes, as a token of gratitude, let me explain. My Aspect Ability allows me to infiltrate one's soul sea, as you see now, and face my opponent in what I call a soul duel, where I face my opponent with the same Abilities as my opponent and see their runes…"
"Which includes my Innate Ability…"
"Correct! But don't worry my friend, I have no intention of hijacking your body, I made a deal with that blind seer after all, and I am a man of my word."
Sunny sighed, he looked down to the calm waters of his soul…
Then noticed something important about what Mordret said. Or more exactly, how he said it.
"'Other Divine Aspect user'? You met more? Or…"
Mordret paused for a moment, shifting his gaze somewhat. Yet his smile permeated.
"Oh? I was under the impression that the blind seer had already told you, but seeing her nature, maybe it was my mistake."
He opened his arms as if presenting a show and declared:
"No matter, indeed, I am a Divine Aspect user, just. Like. You. And I will be your companion in the Second Nightmare… And in the War against Valor."
Sunny narrowed his eyes, there was still something really bothering him about Mordret.
From what he knew, Mordret was the son of Anvil that was given to the Dreamspawn when he was very young. After Awakening, he returned to Valor, being treated more as a nightmare creature than a true human, ending up being imprisoned by his own father, being denied even a body.
So his hatred was justified, and his reasons were clear and proven, given what he saw in the Night Temple.
Mordret reminded him of Lycon, in a way, and Sunny even felt a bad feeling about both, but even then, they were different.
Sunny felt that Lycon might stab him in the back and return to his family, revealing all the Shadow Watcher's secrets… The ones he remembered, at least.
While he felt that Mordret would stab him in the back only when Sunny wasn't useful anymore.
Sunny sighed.
"Alright Mordret, let's say I trust you, tell me, aren't you angry at Song too?"
The Prince of Nothing's smile seemed to dim, but soon returned, his expression feigning ignorance.
"I'm not sure I'm following Sunless."
"Please, I know you are not stupid, you're an Heir of War God after all. And Undying Blade is our teacher, he knew what happened to you, my mother knew. Yet we did nothing for many years, so aren't you angry with us too?"
Mordret's smile disappeared, and suddenly, he seemed to be in deep thought.
It looked like he had never thought about the possibility, his reaction upon seeing Undying Blade proved that as well, he didn't show anger or resentment, only surprise.
Mordret stared at Sunless for what seemed like an eternity, until the smile returned.
"Oh, why would I be angry, Sunless my friend? You didn't have any real way to let me escape, moreover, I'm sure war was the last thing Song wanted, am I wrong?"
Sunny furrowed his brows once again, why did it seem like he was searching for an apology? Like he rationalized his lack of anger at his old teacher.
Eventually, he had to answer.
"I guess you are not."
"Excellent! May we formalize this alliance, my friend from the same teacher?"
Mordret approached and reached out his hand.
Sunny sighed, but he couldn't deny Mordret's power, or how useful he would be. But at the same time, that weird feeling about his shadow still bothered him.
He hesitated for a moment but in the end, he also reached his own hand and both shook hands, solidifying their alliance…
"Alright Mordret, I'll trust you… For now."
The Prince of Nothing couldn't help but laugh.
"I wouldn't have it any other way… Sunless."
Sunny took away his hand and turned around and started walking, pretending to have a destination.
"Fine, now leave! It's weird to have you here."
Mordret chuckled… But didn't leave.
"I will, but Sunless, may I ask something?"
A groan came from the owner of the soul sea. Sunny answered without turning around, trying to not sound unpleasant.
"Fine! What is it?"
Mordret proceeded to ask a question with a normal tone, like it was nothing serious… But it was anything but.
"I spent some time observing things from the mirror fragment, and I got the gist of things… Why is Changing Star going to Valor?"
Sunny stopped immediately, he still didn't turn around, but he answered, his voice dark and mysterious.
"She wants to learn something, she's still my ally."
Mordret proceeded to smile, a friendly demeanor came from him. If Sunny didn't know any better, he would say Mordret was simply giving a suggestion…
"I would advise her to rethink that decision, there's nothing to learn from that wretched Clan… And I can't guarantee I won't take her out unknowingly…"
… Sunless knew better.
Mordret felt a sudden air pass through his nape as a black sword was pointed against him.
Turning his head to see the culprit, a dark knight was there, with marble armor and burning red eyes glaring at him.
He felt another sudden wind pass, turning to it, another knight threatened the Prince, this one having the same armor, only being a male rather than female.
Roots appeared from underneath the waters.
A shadow wolf snarled at him.
A giant serpent rose through the waters and opened its giant maw that could eat Mordret whole.
"Threatened her again…"
The Hollow Shadow turned his head, and hollow eyes, an endless pit of shadows glared at the Prince of Nothing. Cold bloodlust exuding from him.
"And I will kill you."
Mordret's eyes widened a little, but his smile permeated.
It seemed like the Masters Pierce and Welthe were defeated, for him to summon all his Shadows…
"I see. Forgive me Sunless, I will watch my words better next time."
"Hmp. Leave."
"As you wish."
Mordret vanished from the dark soul sea, and Sunny could finally return to reality.
He went back to his senses already back in the flying ship, seeing Seishan and Nephis by his side, both sharing subtle worried expressions.
"Sunny…"
The rest of the cohort was standing in the main deck, as the Undying Blade had just arrived in his flying Echo.
The Saint looked at all of the members and stated evenly:
"Go to the Nightmare now, and become Masters."