Sunny moved, gripping the hilt of his sword harder.
"I'll give you the opening!" He yelled.
Nephis gave a simple nod, understanding what he was planning. She had been thinking the same thing, too. The next moment, a visor of pale metal appeared over her head, hiding her grimace.
Pale fire manifested over her, making her more powerful. It was only one-fifth of what she could do, but it still hurt.
She followed Sunny, rushing towards the Carapace Demon.
Sunny moved to the left of the walking colossus. His enemy was too large for pitiful sleepers to reach its weak point and kill it, so he needed to make sure it would give Neph an opportunity to hurt it itself.
And for that, he needed it to drop to the ground.
If it did… if he made it do that, Nephis would be able to finish it off. Sunny had no doubt that she could.
He trusted her.
He trusted her strength.
He trusted her skill.
He trusted her longing.
He trusted her fury.
He trusted every part of her.
…
Except for the part of him that refused to tell her about his true name; about his innate ability.
He trusted her…
did he?
Sunny was sinking deep into clarity, his thoughts moving at rapid speeds. But he could not help to think about her and Nephis, their relationship.
He swung his blade, tearing deep into one of the injured legs of the demon and tearing it off.
On the other side, Nephis did the same, tearing one of its legs off as well. This has been a reliable way to fight scavengers and centurions, but the demon was much more intelligent.
The Carapace Demon shuddered. The loss of two legs should have detrimentally affected it. It was already injured beyond recognition. But it did not give Nephis any chance to attack. It moved its scythe, lodging it deep into the ashen sand, and regaining its balance.
It was still too high.
Sunny gritted his teeth. What he was about to do was very stupid, but it was the only way to get it down to the right height.
He ran and slid right under the steel titan.
Unlike the beasts and monsters, demons were intelligent. The centurion might have been stupid enough to not realize that it had to crush Nephis, which was in the same situation, under its weight. But this enemy was not.
That was exactly what Sunny wanted as well.
He ran from the front of the demon towards the back, hoping he could outrun its descent. The distance was too long, but if he gave it his all, he could…
At the same time, a part of his mind wandered away. Why had he been reluctant to tell her about the secrets of his aspect? Did he really think she would use it if the push came to shove?
Yes, he did.
He was not wrong in that thought, though.
Sunny was right; Nephis would use his weakness if forced.
Not to defeat him, but to save him.
Sunny trusted Nephis, but the gods knew he was too stubborn. If she had told him to leave her in a dangerous position and go alone to save himself. He would not.
Sunny slid closer and closer to the backside of his adversary. Plates of steel descending on him like a trapped ceiling. Despite that, his mind kept churning.
He hated it all.
He hated the fact that he could not bring himself to trust his friend—the person closest to him—with his deepest secrets.
She trusted him with all of hers.
He hated the circumstances they faced.
Why did she have to suffer to use her power?
The tide of steel was descending upon him, threatening to crush him into a human pancake. However, Sunny could not focus. Why was it this of all times he had to think about this?
But he could not stop himself.
He augmented himself with more shadow essence, tried harder, went faster. But he still could not stop thinking.
He hated when Nephis was subjected to her cruel flaw. But why?
Did he really hate it because he thought it would turn her into the ghouls? Make her like them?
No, not really.
He hated seeing her get hurt.
More than getting hurt himself.
What he wanted was for her to live a quiet and peaceful life, and leave all the killing to him.
Would such a world be possible?
Where she did not have to suffer. Thinking about it made Sunny sick. He resented the world for robbing him of what could have been. Maybe it had been the true reason why he was thinking about it in the first place. He wanted to kill the sovereigns, those who brought pain to him and Neph. His fury and rage had been strong.
But now he felt it was nothing.
He should have hated them more.
He should have hated them so much that the thought of it would be powerful enough to kill them.
So he gave in.
He felt anger like he had never felt before. The Carapace Demon was just a stepping stone, a stepping stone he would have to step over. It would die, the enemy after it would die, everything in his way would die. Then the ghouls would die under him, as well.
He would bring the mercy of shadow upon all his enemies.
He was a divine shadow, after all.
An unfounded power rushed into Sunny's body. It felt as if the lineage of Shadow god had flared up, making his blood rush warmer, his body stronger, and his instincts sharper.
The body of the Carapace Demon had been above him, but he had been fast enough to slide out from the back. The island gave a groan as the massive creature landed on it with all of its dreadful weight.
A cold glint shone in Changing Star's eyes.
This was an opportunity. Sunny had given his all to give it to her; she would not waste it.
She leaped, raising her blade high and augmenting himself with the full force of her fire. Under her visor, she gave a pained expression, almost shedding a tear. But she held on.
She shot a glance at the chest of the steel colossus—the part of it Cassie had mentioned—maybe she could pierce the other parts of its armor with her demonic strength, but she did not have to.
She could simply aim for the spot that was not protected.
So she did.
She aimed her sword perfectly at the demon's heart, shattering the plate armor that was supposed to protect it, but it had not, not after the fearsome thunder, that is.
A spiderweb of cracks spread around its breastplate until it shattered, her blade sinking deep into its flesh. Radiant fire flared up from it, burning the flesh and almost melting the armor.
She had used the full force of her power.
All the time she had meditated, all the times she was getting used to her flaw.
It all amounted to this.
Her fire surged, hot, radiant, and most importantly, sharp. Sharp enough to cut the fabric of the world itself someday. It dug deep into the demon's flesh and reached deeper, until it reached the heart.
Then it consumed it, too.
The demon released its final, dying roar, shuddering and falling to the ground, lifeless.
[You have slain an Awakened Demon, Carapace Demon.]
[You have received a memory — Midnight Shard.]
The voice of the Spell rang in her ears like a melody, announcing their victory over the monster of the ashen barrow. Not only that, it had also given her a memory, something it had not done for a long time.
Memory: [Midnight Shard].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Forged from the shard of a fallen star, this stalwart blade is firm and unyielding. It favors those who are willing to fight to the last drop of blood and knows no surrender.]
Nephis took a quick glance at the Runes. From the description, she could deduce its enchantments. It was pretty obvious, actually. It had a durability enchantment, one of the most common types of enchantments.
Nephis smiled lightly as she looked past the demon corpse to where Sunny was resting on his sword, panting heavily. After coming to the forgotten shores, it had always felt like Sunny was always giving her something, but she had done nothing in return. But now… she had a gift to give him as well.
The thought of it made her happy. It was beyond reason; why would she want to give away an awakened weapon of the third tier? There was no reason. She just wanted to.
Maybe some people would consider her strange for this. But she did stuff because she wanted to. She did not need any other reason. So she got closer to Sunny.
"Sunny… give me your hand." She said with a grin on her face.
Sunny blinked… once… twice… thrice. But he did not question. He shook his head and followed.
Nephis touched the perfect, silky smooth skin of Sunny. A spark traveled through her into Sunny like a lightning bolt, then the spell spoke in her ear.
[You have lost a memory.]
"W-What is this?" Sunny asked.
"…a gift."
Sunny's lips curled up in what looked like a bitter smile.
"Thanks…" He said in a voice that was concealing something. Like he wanted to say something.
"Neph, I have to tell you something."