Chapter 585: Clash
As the Cruel Edge started to manifest itself from swirling dark mist and the helmet of the Undying Chain was being summoned into existence, Sunny had a moment to evaluate their chances.
The result… wasn't too good. He didn't know how powerful exactly Mordret was, but the chances that he was considerably stronger than their enemies seemed to be slim enough to be considered non-existent. Otherwise, the banished prince would not have had to rely on his cunning so much.
From how they were positioned and the little details of everyone's gazes, Sunny knew that Welthe was aiming for Mordret, and vice versa. That meant that he was going to have to face Pierce, while Saint and the Serpent would be tasked with holding back the Echoes.
He wasn't too worried for Saint, who was an Ascended and excelled in defense and durability. The Serpent, however, would have to be really careful…
Sunny was most worried about himself, though. He was not going to underestimate Pierce… the man was not only a Master, but also an elite, a knight of the great clan Valor. He was as formidable as he was deadly.
His Aspect made Pierce resistant to all sorts of attacks, as well.
With this in mind, Sunny commanded two shadows to wrap themselves around his body, and reluctantly sent one to Saint. Ascended or not, fighting against eight Echoes was going to test the limits of her ability.
That was all the time he had to prepare.
Long before the Cruel Edge finished weaving itself from mist, the blood-soaked hall of the somber cathedral exploded with violence and motion.
Welthe's eyes suddenly shone with a hypnotic scarlet light, and Mordret staggered as he was dashing forward. A pained groan escaped from his lips, and his movements slowed down considerably. In the next moment, the body of the female sentinel shimmered and disappeared.
Moving with terrifying speed, Welthe lunged forward, then spun, her slender saber colliding against something midair. The clashing of blades echoed amid the black stones, and two fissures appeared on the layer of blood covering the floor, as if someone was sliding back, pushed away by the force of the impact.
At the same time, the eight Echoes attacked. The creatures moved with the frightening precision of soulless machines, coordinating their assault with enough cohesion to make them a fearsome threat. Although their intelligence couldn't compare to actual humans, the morbid effigies retained enough of the skill of their originals to fight almost as human warriors would.
Each of them possessed an Aspect, too.
Saint collided with their formation like a demon born out of darkness, her kite shield receiving a rain of blows as the Midnight Shard shot forward. The Soul Serpent submerged into the shadows and flowed through them, appearing behind the six advancing Echoes to lunge at the two whose Aspect Abilities allowed them to perform ranged attacks.
And lastly, there was Sunny.
Pierce descended upon him like a siege ram, bringing down his longsword with enough force to make the whole hall tremble. Even augmented by two shadows, Sunny was still unable to compete with the Master in terms of physical ability… but the gap between them wasn't large enough for him to be instantly overwhelmed.
Sidestepping, he received the edge of the enemy's sword on the vambrace of the Undying Chain, angling it in a way that allowed for most of the force to be deflected instead of absorbed, and threw his other hand forward, the ghostly blade of the Moonlight Shard glinting dimly as it appeared out of nowhere, aimed at Pierce's throat.
The Master simply lowered his head, allowing the tip of the stiletto to slide off the cheek guard of his helmet, and pushed the hilt of his sword forward, trying to deliver a crushing blow to Sunny's chest.
Sunny jumped back, not at all disappointed by the failure of his treacherous blow. It had not been meant to do any damage, anyway. It just had to buy the Cruel Edge to finally manifest itself into a material form.
And now, it had.
Sunny thrust the somber spear forward, forcing the enemy to dodge out of the way and give him a moment to breathe.
'...Strong… the bastard is just too strong…'
Through the insight of Shadow Dance, Sunny could see and understand some of the Ascended knight's battle techniques. Pierce possessed explosive strength and enough agility to channel it into almost inescapable attacks. His understanding of combat was tremendously deep, sharpened by years upon years of relentless training and countless battles.
A warrior of such skill was not going to be led into an easy trap.
His control of soul essence was also on a completely different level. From what Sunny could perceive, the Master was using it with terrifying efficiency, achieving results that he himself couldn't even dream of, especially without the help of Soul Serpent.
That was the core difference between them, and his main disadvantage.
The only advantage he had, really, was the Undying Chain. The transcendent armor was durable enough to withstand a few blows from Pierce, and his high divine affinity only made it stronger. He just had to make sure that he doesn't receive the brutal blows directly.
His body beneath the bleak steel was not as resilient.
Neither he nor Pierce possessed Aspect Abilities capable of dealing direct damage, so this fight was going to be decided by skill, cunning… and the hidden aces they were saving for the right moment.
Problem was, Sunny didn't really have any aces left. At least none that would work on the fearsome Master. He was already going all out…
Sunny had a split second to check on how the others were doing before resuming the deadly dance of death with Pierce. He quickly glanced to the side, and saw the Soul Serpent entangled with the two Echoes, dodging destructive attacks as it slithered around them.
Saint was forced into a defensive stance, being barraged by constant strikes as she somehow managed to deflect all of them with the Patient Avenger and the Midnight Shard.
Mordret and Welthe seemed to be at a temporary stalemate, too… or at least that was how it seemed. The second Master was moving too fast, and their battle was too bizarre to really tell.
Sunny gritted his teeth.
'Curses!'
He couldn't divide his attention anymore. If he wanted to win against Pierce, he had to focus all of it on him.
And make sure that the bastard had no time to pay attention to anyone else, as well…
Chapter 586: Cold Steel
Sunny used everything he had, moving with unimaginable speed, agility, and precision. Both shadow essence and the tenacious blood of Weaver flowed through his body, supplying his muscles with the strength and endurance necessary to perform with such an inhuman level of effort.
His mind was aflame, devouring information about his surroundings and the enemy's movements, making lightning-fast decisions, trying to predict countless probable eventualities, and simultaneously studying the sophisticated battle style of the battle-hardened Master.
…And despite all that, he was barely surviving Pierce's unrelenting assault. Every moment, he was just a split second away from death.
The knight of Valor was just too powerful, skilled, and overbearing. His cold eyes were full of calculating ruthlessness and dark, iron killing intent. They were calm and focused, like that of an experienced predator stalking helpless prey.
That prey, unfortunately, was Sunny.
'Damnation!'
Nothing he had experienced could have prepared him for this. Sunny had fought many opponents that were stronger and faster than him, but he had never been this outmatched in terms of sheer power, at least not in a fight against a human… who, unlike most Nightmare Creatures, also possessed a keen mind, devious cunning, and martial skill that were the greatest weapons of his kind.
Maybe only Morgan of Valor… but she had held back, and theirs had not really been a battle to the death.
Sunny and Pierce clashed on the bloodied stones, their weapons flashing through the air fast enough to leave afterimages behind. The clangor of metal filled the somber hall, mixing with the furious sounds of battle coming from their left.
There, two different storms of metal raged violently, one centered around Mordret and Welthe, the other from where his Shadows fought the Echoes of the fearsome Master.
Sunny had no time to look that way, but he could hear the constant ringing of blades landing on Saint's shield. There were so many blows that their sounds almost merged into one dreadful, uninterrupted litany of steel. He had not heard the Spell yet, so he knew that none of the Echoes had been destroyed.
The Shadows were in one piece, as well…even if he didn't know whether or not they were whole, damaged, or dying.
He deflected another strike of Pierce's swift longsword, then whipped the butt of the Cruel Sight forward, hoping to catch the enemy in the face. Helmet or not, such a strike was bound to deliver some damage…
Pierce received the blow calmly… and didn't even flinch. Instead, he lunged forward and rammed into Sunny with his shoulder, sending him flying back.
'Curse that bastard! Is he made of stone or what?!'
Sunny twisted in the air and landed on his feet, tasting blood in his mouth. That shoulder bash was powerful enough to shatter a stone wall.
His tempered bones had not shattered, though.
Gritting his teeth, he immediately shifted, dodging a powerful thrust, and brought his spear down on the enemy.
'Fine… this is fine… the longer I survive, the better I understand his style… the better I understand his style, the longer I'll survive…'
The two of them fought ferociously, neither showing any sign of doubt, hesitation, or weakness. Yes, Sunny was younger and less powerful… but he was skilled and experienced, too. He was ruthless a cunning, too.
He was a killer himself.
Pierce had managed to land several debilitating blows, rattling his entire body. The Undying Chain held, but beneath it, Sunny was bruised and battered.
However, he had been able to break through the knight's defense and deliver a few strikes of his own. The results were less than ideal, though. Even when he succeeded in thrusting the tip of the Cruel Sight through a crack in the enemy's armor, it was like trying to cut through a monster's hide. He only managed to burn the bastard a little, and make a few drops of blood roll down…
Why was divine flame not as destructive as it should have been? What was wrong with this monster?!
Pierce pushed him away, briefly glanced at the shallow wound, and grinned darkly, not showing any indication of being bothered by it.
"...Is this all you can do? Not enough… not nearly enough, little rat."
Sunny growled.
"Shut your mouth! You suddenly have time to waste breath?!"
With that, he attacked again, this time switching the enchantment of the mirror blade from incandescent flame to invisible, insidious soul damage.
Pierce snarled and deflected the blow without too much effort.
…It was almost time, though.
When the Master decided to speak, without doubt aiming to distract and agitate the opponent, Sunny had a split second to steal a glance at how his Shadows were doing.
The Serpent was on the verge of destroying one of the Echoes, and had already wounded another.
Saint was doing worse. Faced with six opponents, she couldn't launch a successful attack. Some of the Echoes surrounding her were severely wounded, but none seemed to be close to death.
That was not her task, though.
Actually, Sunny preferred that she didn't eliminate any of the Echoes. He wanted them all in one piece, constantly attacking the taciturn knight.
Landing more and more blows on her shield.
The Patient Avenger…
By now, its surface was glowing with an angry orange light, as if there were furious flames burning beneath the cold steel. And there were, in a sense.
A string of runes surfaced in his memory:
[Cold Steel] Enchantment Description: "This shield can store a portion of impact damage it receives to augment another weapon of its wielder or unleash an immolating wave of fire."
Well… by now, the Patient Avenger received more than enough impact damage to unleash an ocean of flame. A few more strikes, and it was going to overload, sending all that fire outward.
Just as Sunny thought that, two more strikes landed on the shield, and the angry orange glow turned brighter, slowly turning incandescent white.
Currently, Saint was wielding the Blood Blossom charm, as well. With all the dismembered corpses lying around, its enchantment had long reached its limit, augmenting all the Memories the Shadow wielded with rampant strength.
Sunny blocked Pierce's strike and slid back, his hands trembling from the force of it.
At the same time, Saint spun and deflected two more swords with her shield. Its surface was almost entirely white now.
'Almost there… d—damn...'
Sunny gave a mental command, and the shadow that had been augmenting Saint flowed from the graceful demon's body onto the furiously shining shield.
Another blow landed on the Patient Avenger.
Saint braced, putting her shoulder behind it.
'Crap!'
…And in the next moment, a terrifying explosion rattled the entirety of the inner sanctum.
Chapter 587: The Explosion
Just a moment before the Patient Avenger detonated, Sunny fell backward and dove into the shadow cast by a wide stone pillar. He noticed a hint of surprise in Pierce's eyes, and in the next second, everything was suddenly drowned by blinding white light.
The sound came next, a thunderous roar that would have probably destroyed his ears if he had not turned into a shadow. Then, the shockwave arrived, obliterating the pillar and turning it into a mass of flying rubble. Sunny's shelter was destroyed, and he was thrown back into the corporeal world… just in time to be engulfed by a terrifying, immolating flame.
Luckily, he had summoned the Memory of Fire at the very start of the fight. Protected by its enchantment and by the Undying Chain, Sunny had withstood the terrifying heat. His eyes were tightly shut, and so only his eyelids were singed.
The explosion… had turned out to be much more powerful than he had expected.
'D—damnation…'
The hall was completely decimated. The pillars supporting its ceiling had been destroyed, and its walls had cracked, some sections crumbling completely. The bodies of the murdered Lost were practically erased from existence, and everything was obscured by a cloud of stone dust mixed with thin crimson mist, which had appeared after the pool of blood had evaporated.
In all this mayhem, Sunny was able to sense a few familiar shapes. The Serpent had merged with the shadows before the explosion had hit, too so it was unharmed.
Saint, however, was not as lucky — her entire left arm had been torn off at the shoulder, the onyx armor mangled and revealing scorched alabaster skin. Fine ruby dust was flowing from the terrible wound, falling to the floor like a stream of a morbid hourglass, as if counting off how long she had left to live.
That was the result of augmenting and overloading an Ascended Memory… even the wielder was not safe from the consequences, as it turned out.
Sunny's mouth twitched, and he immediately dismissed the taciturn knight, then called back his third shadow.
In the short moment before it reached him and wrapped itself around his body, he managed to sense the rest of the devastated hall.
The Echoes seemed to be obliterated. Welthe was kneeling at a distance, shaken and superficially wounded, but still alive. Mordret was sprawled on the floor, seemingly thrown out of his invisibility.
…Only Pierce was still on his feet, as if not affected by the explosion at all. His armor was battered and scorched, wisps of smoke rising from the cracks, but the Master himself appeared unperturbed. In fact, his murderous intensity only grew more suffocating.
He was like an impregnable stone cliff that could never be brought down by the raging winds.
Not wishing to reveal himself, Sunny suppressed an infuriated growl and silently dashed forward.
The silver blade of the Cruel Sight whistled quietly, shooting toward the bastard's heart.
However…
At the last moment, Pierce shifted and easily deflected the blow with his sword, throwing the spear off course. His armored fist flashed, flying toward Sunny's head.
When the blow connected, Sunny was blinded for a moment. His eyes were still closed, but it was as if something exploded behind his eyelids, and at the same time, his mind blanked. He only felt the world spinning.
Disoriented, Sunny continued his lunge and collided with the fearsome Master. The impact threw them both to the ground in a clatter of metal.
They flew back, then collided against the stone floor. Pierce grabbed Sunny by the throat and drove a knee into his abdomen, causing another explosion of pain to spread through his body and sending him rolling over his head and away.
…But not before Sunny's free hand snaked toward one of the cracks in the Ascended Knight's armor and planted something deep into his flesh.
A long, narrow needle forged out of black steel, with gold wire wrapped around one of its ends.
Driven with all of Sunny's strength, the Heavenly Burden sunk into Pierce's flesh almost entirely, with only a few centimeters sticking out of his skin and barely visible in the narrow fissure marring the surface of the knight's armor.
Of course, such a tiny needle was not going to wound a Master seriously, or even slow down his movements. But damage was not what Sunny used it for.
Rolling on the ground, he twisted and landed on his knees, sliding a few steps back and almost instantly regaining his balance.
A few meters away, Pierce was already rising to his feet, too. His eyes were brimming with killing intent, and his longsword was glistening as it reflected the flames burning around them. He was ready to finish this fight...
But then, something strange happened.
The fearsome Master suddenly swayed, a confused expression appearing on his face. A moment later, the soles of his armored boots separated from the stone floor and rose into the air.
…The Heavenly Burden was the Memory Sunny had exchanged for contribution points after helping Master Jet put down the demented Awakened, Shadow Blade Kurt. Its single enchantment was simple and straightforward: living beings pierced by the needle would float up, and up, and up, until it was removed.
Sunny had acquired it to combine the enchantment with the Dark Wing and receive the ability to fly out of the Sky Below, if need be.
Which did not mean that it had no other uses.
…Pierce was rising into the air, his feet already a full meter above the floor. His initial confusion was gone, and he swiftly looked down, at the tip of the needle buried in his flesh. The Master's hand shot toward it, but the fingers of his armored gauntlet were too thick and clumsy to dig the needle out on the first try.
Sunny had no doubt that he would manage soon. He was also fairly certain that the Ascended knight possessed at least one Memory in his arsenal that would be able to help him either counteract or control the effect of the Heavenly Burden.
However, both of these options were going to require some time, no matter how short.
The time that Sunny wasn't going to give him.
He thrust his hand forward, sending the Moonlight Shard flying toward Pierce's eye. Without anything to use as purchase, the knight was deprived of the very foundation of combat ability — the warrior's connection to the ground. He couldn't move to dodge, couldn't control the distribution of his weight to mount an effective defense, and couldn't even use most of his strength.
However, Pierce still managed to deflect the ghostly stiletto with his sword…
Which left him open and defenseless to Sunny's true attack.
As soon as the Moonlight Shard left his right hand, Sunny brought his left up and behind him, used all of the strength the three shadows gifted him, sent a flood of essence into his muscles, and cast the Cruel Sight forward.
His throw was performed with perfect form, just like Effie had taught him.
At the last moment, the three shadows flowed from his fingers and wrapped themselves around the somber spear's silver blade.
Pierce's eyes widened.
The Cruel Sight shot through the air like a black comet and sunk into the fearsome knight's chest. The force of the throw was so great that it went right through his damaged armor, his tough skin and bones, and then his heart.
Still affected by the Heavenly Burden, the Master's body was sent flying up with terrifying speed and impaled on the stones, hanging lifelessly from the tall ceiling of the devastated hall.
A stream of blood fell down like crimson rain.
Sunny staggered then supported his weight with his hands and let out a shaky breath.
'Come… come on…'
A moment passed in silence, and then, he finally heard the painfully familiar voice.
This time, the Spell's whisper sounded like beautiful music to his ears:
[...You have slain an Ascended human, Pierce.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
'Gods... I actually did it...'
Sunny smiled darkly, allowed himself a second of rest, and then rose to his feet, knowing that the battle was not other.
Mordret and Welthe were still there, both as deadly as the damned bastard he had just killed.
He dismissed the Cruel Sight and immediately summoned it again, simultaneously checking on his reserve of shadow essence. Sunny had spent a lot, but not so much as to worry… yet.
The Soul Serpent appeared from the shadows and slithered onto his skin, turning into an intricate tattoo.
Still keeping his eyes closed, partially out of caution and partially because his eyelids were burned and hurt like hell, Sunny extended his shadow sense forward and tried to understand what was happening to the other two participants of this hellish battle.
Welthe was standing some distance away from him, swaying. Her hands were pressed against her face.
Meanwhile, Mordret…
Sunny froze.
The female sentinel... was dead.
He had not noticed it before, but she was laying lifeless on the floor, her neck twisted at an unnatural level.
'How… how can this be?'
Something was not adding up… how could Mordret lose his only vessel so easily? He had only fought one of the Masters… surely, he had the ability to defeat Welthe one on one. Otherwise, what had he been planning to do if Sunny allied with the knights of Valor? How had he planned to resist both of them, let alone with a third enemy added into the mix?
The Prince of Nothing could not have been that weak…
Suddenly, a small detail attracted Sunny's attention.
One of the sentinel's hands was clenched in a fist, something dangling from it.
A piece of a torn chain…
...Didn't that chain feel awfully familiar?
A cold, uneasy feeling appeared in Sunny's chest. He turned his head slightly and concentrated on the last survivor of the Valor forces, searching for...
Welthe suddenly laughed. Her voice sounded strange and different.
And her amulet... the anvil amulet was gone.
The Master lowered her hands and smiled.
"Ah! That is much, much better…"
Chapter 588: Trust lssues
'Mordret… he has taken Welthe.'
Sunny shifted, lowering the Cruel Sight and slightly turning its blade. His heart was full of unease, his mind in the throes of a dark premonition. The banished prince had already been monstrously powerful… how much more deadly would he become in a body of a Master?
A few things were now clear, at least. Out of the two Ascended knights, Welthe had been the more powerful one. Her Aspect possessed Abilities that could debilitate her enemies, all the while enhancing her own physique. That was why she had been the one to sap Mordret of a large portion of his strength and attack him.
And yet, it was strange to see that the Prince of Nothing had struggled to defeat her so much, and for so long. If he couldn't win against one of the Masters, how had he ever planned to face both?
However, if he had decided to take Welthe's body and thus couldn't harm it too much… that would explain his tardiness. Fighting an Ascended elite while not being allowed to wound her was a dreadfully harsh task.
Had Mordret been aiming for Welthe's body from the start, or had he changed his plans on the fly when the opportunity presented itself?
Was his intention to take Sunny as his vessel just a ruse, a misdirection… or was Sunny still in danger?
'No way… he already has a body of a Master. There is no reason to abandon it for the sake of mine. Right?'
"Ah! That is much, much better!"
Mordret straightened, then stretched, looking at his own arms with curiosity. He clenched Welthe's fists, then grimaced slightly and let his hands relax. Finally, the Prince of Nothing turned slightly and looked at Sunny with a smile.
"...Wouldn't you say, Sunless?"
Sunny lingered for a moment, then nodded cautiously.
"I guess. How does this work, exactly? Are you an Ascended now?"
Mordret's smile widened a little.
"So curious. Your inquisitive nature is truly worthy of an Academy researcher."
'Dodging the questions like always, huh?'
Sunny sensed the slender saber laying by the former Master's feet, then concentrated on the corpse of the female sentinel for a moment.
"So… what now? How are we going to escape this place before the Saint arrives?"
The Prince of Nothing bent down, picked up the saber, and sighed.
"Oh, that… don't worry. I do have a plan. It's just… I am not sure that you are going to like it very much, Sunless."
Sunny felt cold shivers running down his spine. Mordret's tone was still friendly, but the implication behind his words did not promise anything good.
'Bastard! He's going to double-cross me, isn't he?!'
Well… it's not like Sunny had not been planning to do the same.
He gritted his teeth, then said somberly:
"...We don't have to do this, you know. It is just like you said… there's no quarrel between us. We can just go our separate ways. Maybe even work together… uh, for a bit. Let's be friends?"
Mordret chuckled.
"Oh! I would like that very much. But, Sunless… if you really want to be my friend… why do you still have your eyes closed?"
He took a slightly awkward step forward, as if not yet entirely used to his new body.
"It's hard to trust someone who refuses to look you in the eye, you know. Why don't you look at me, huh, Sunless?"
Sunny paled, then backed away a little.
"I… I'd rather not. My eyelids hurt."
Mordret grinned.
"That is a pity. But oh well… to tell you the truth, we wouldn't have become real friends, anyway."
Sunny took another step back, then asked tensely:
"Oh yeah? Why is that?"
The Prince of Nothing stopped smiling. When he spoke, Welthe's voice sounded cold and insidious, full of endless darkness:
"Do you take me for a fool? Did you really think that I would not smell the stench of Dreamspawn on you? Huh? You better tell me, Sunless… why did Asterion send you to the Chained Isles? Why hunt down my Beast? What is that abomination scheming now?"
Sunny scowled.
'...What?'
He was genuinely confused. If his eyes weren't closed, he would be blinking in surprise right now. Did Mordret really lose his mind?
"I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. What stench? Why would I be sent by Asterion? I've never met anyone by that name, let alone knowing anything about their schemes! Are you hearing yourself, you lunatic?!"
'Wait a minute… the prince… the Dreamspawn… could it be?'
Mordret froze, then tilted his head a little.
"Huh… how curious. You can't lie, so this must be the truth. But if you never met Asterion, why do you reek of Dreamspawn?"
Sunny grimaced, not wishing to answer. However, he had no choice. Surrendering to his Flaw, he uttered through gritted teeth:
"I… may have met another Dreamspawn."
The Prince of Nothing raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Really? Who?"
'Goddammit!'
Sunny clenched his fists, then said darkly:
"...Nephis."
Mordret frowned.
"Nephis… Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan? Wait, she is still alive?"
Sunny nodded, and the banished prince threw his head back, laughing.
"Oh! Oh, my! So there is another Dreamspawn walking the Dream Realm, and she is the daughter of Smile of Heaven and Broken Sword! This must be fate… ah, I wonder if the old bastard knows…"
While Mordret was laughing, Sunny was feeling cold all over. Not because of this sudden outburst, but because of what the Prince of Nothing had said right before.
'You can't lie… so this must be the truth. H—how does he know that I can't lie?'
Since when had Mordret known about his Flaw?
Had he simply figured it out after watching Sunny for a few months? No, that wasn't possible… Sunny had not spent that much time in the Dream Realm after escaping the Sky Below, and especially not communicating with a lot of people outside of selling them real-world items. He had not done anything to compromise himself…
What… what was going on?
Chapter 589: Dark Mirror
For a moment, Sunny's heart grew heavy, his mind consumed by murderous darkness. He thought that he had been betrayed again…
There were very few people in the two worlds who knew the secret of his Flaw. Nephis was one, but she was far away. Kai and Effie probably had their guesses. However, they chose to remain silent out of respect for his unwillingness to speak about this matter.
That left only Cassie.
Cassie, who was right here in the Night Temple and had already turned on him once…
But after thinking about it a little, Sunny realized that there had been another being who possessed the knowledge of his Aspect. The problem was that it had been dead for a long, long time.
The Mirror Beast.
The Ascended Reflection had mirrored his Aspect, so it had to have glimpsed it somehow. And it was connected to Mordret far more thoroughly than Cassie ever could be.
The Prince of Nothing had not known everything about the Shadow Slave Aspect before, Sunny was sure of it. Back in the abyss of the Sky Below, Mordret had expressed genuine curiosity and surprise about things that he would have already learned otherwise.
Which meant… which meant that he had most likely only received that information after the mirror shard was brought into the Night Temple. It also meant that he was only informed about what the Mirror Beast had learned, and what had been true then. If this guess was correct, maybe Sunny would be able to use a gap in Mordret's knowledge to his advantage.
…Or he was wrong, and Cassie had really betrayed him again.
A lot of things depended on whether or not he was ready to trust her again. His very life, most likely.
Sunny frowned, then said, his voice even:
"You seem to be having fun. So… now that you know that I have nothing to do with Asterion, whoever that might be, are you going to rethink your previous plans and leave me be?"
Mordret chuckled.
"...What do you think?"
Sunny sighed.
"Honestly, I don't know what to think anymore. Not when it comes to you, at least… you really are a devious bastard, you know that, right? Oh, don't take it as an insult, by the way. Coming from me, it's actually a compliment."
The Prince of Nothing shook his head, then took another step forward.
"Well. A mirror can only reflect what is in front of it, Sunless. Is it my fault that the things in front of me are cruel, vile, and deceitful? I think not… then again, maybe it is. Either way, I don't really care. Blame your bad luck for being of use to me, if you wish."
His eyes ignited with a hypnotic scarlet light, and although Sunny's own were closed, he suddenly felt slow and sluggish, strength draining from his muscles. He swayed, and used the Cruel Sight to support himself.
"Argh! W—wait… before we start this, answer me one last question…"
Mordret smiled.
"...Sure. Why not. What do you want to know?"
Sunny strained, as if trying to speak. His mouth opened…
But instead of saying anything, he simply attacked.
The Prince of Nothing laughed, amused by this little deception. His saber flashed forward to meet the blade of the Cruel Sight.
A moment later, though, his laugh abruptly stopped.
***
Sunny had no illusions about his chances in the fight against Mordret… not when the bastard occupied the body of a powerful Master, one whose Aspect allowed him to weaken his enemies and strengthen himself, no less.
But then again, when had Sunny ever fought fairly?
From the start of it, he had been subtly manipulating the banished prince. Every step back he had taken was meant to bring them into the right positions. The angle at which he held the Cruel Sight had been calculated so that the mirror blade only reflected what Sunny wanted Mordret to see…
Or rather, so that it didn't reflect what Mordret was not supposed to see.
And at the moment of his attack, his efforts finally paid off.
…Because, in the end, he had chosen to trust Cassie after all.
The blind girl silently appeared at the entrance of the hall, behind the banished prince. Her eyes were hidden by the silver half-mask, but the polished steel armor and the midnight blue coat were gone. Instead, she was wearing the familiar light tunic and a cloak the color of sea waves.
This was the Memory gifted to her by Nephis, one that Changing Star had received after slaying an Awakened Terror in her First Nightmare. The armor that possessed an enchantment which made enemies less likely to pay attention to its wearer.
Unnoticed, Cassie knelt and placed something on the floor in front of her.
It was a large wooden box, its surface engraved with a complicated weave of a beautiful, but disorienting pattern. The lid was still slightly opened, rising above the lip by a few millimeters.
Sunny suppressed a grin.
'Good thinking…'
The box had not been part of the plan, but Cassie seemed to have made a correction when a beneficial opportunity presented itself.
The moment the blade of the Cruel Sight met Welthe's saber, the blind girl grabbed the lid, threw it open… and then poured her soul essence into the box.
Inside, the mirror trap was lined with plates of polished silver, each reflecting the one opposite it, thus creating an infinite labyrinth of reflections. The pattern on its surface shined with a pale glow.
Mordret staggered, his laughter cutting short. His hand seemed to weaken.
Sunny easily pushed the saber aside and thrust his spear forward, aiming to end the fight with one ruthless strike. However, the Prince of Nothing wasn't done yet.
He recoiled, narrowly avoiding the killing blow. Even though the tip of the Cruel Sight pierced Welthe's flesh, the wound wasn't fatal. In the next moment, Mordret disengaged, jumping back and staggering as he raised the saber into a defensive stance. His eyes darted toward the wooden box.
"That cursed thing…"
Blood was streaming down his side, but the banished prince didn't seem to care.
Neither did Sunny. He dashed forward, feinting a downward slash, then turning it into a swift thrust. Who knew how long Mordret would be slowed down by the mirror trap? It hadn't helped the forces of Valor. He had to finish this fast…
Mordret barely deflected the attack, moving with visible strain. His mouth twitched.
"Hey Sunless… why don't you… go and destroy that box?"
Sunny pushed forward, closing the distance between them and simultaneously turning the Cruel Sight into a sword. It flashed through the air, but was deflected once again. Even with his powers reduced so direly, the prince was still a formidable fighter.
Mordret bared his teeth.
"No? Ah... but I must insist. Why don't you go and kill that little oracle of yours…"
His eyes gleamed with vicious amusement.
"...Lost from Light? That is your True Name, is it not? Do it!"
Sunny froze. His sword trembled.
Then, as his face become pale as a ghost and his pupils widened in horror, he slowly turned, facing Cassie. A strange sound escaped from his lips.
Mordret smiled, slightly relaxing his guard.
…It was at that moment that the Cruel Sight shot toward his body, easily sliding past the slender saber.
Sunny scoffed.
"...Why don't you go to hell? I already have a master."
Chapter 590: The Host
Indeed, it was as Sunny had thought.
Mordret had learned his secrets from the mirror shard left behind by his Beast. He didn't really know of his Aspect… he only knew of its reflection.
And that reflection was incomplete.
That was why the cunning prince had assumed that he would be able to enslave Sunny by using his True Name. Of course, Mordret would have been careful, taking the possibility that Lost from Light already had a master into account… but Sunny was half a step ahead. He had doused that caution by being ready to pretend to be enslaved…
And then attacked.
...The Cruel Sight shot forward, narrowly avoiding the mirror fiend's saber and sinking deep into his flesh. It cut through the enchanted black tunic, pierced Welthe's body, and emerged from her back.
Mordret's face contorted, his eyes full of shock and pain.
Sunny, of course, couldn't see it, since he was still relying on shadow sense to navigate the world. All he felt was a tremble that went through his enemy's body.
A moment later, the Prince of Nothing groaned, a stream of blood escaping from his mouth.
Then, he lashed out with the saber, forcing Sunny to stagger back. The Cruel Sight slid out of the terrible wound, wrecking more damage on its way back. Sunny was slightly disappointed that he had not been able to end the fight right there and then, but it hardly mattered.
The wound he had delivered was not immediately fatal, but deadly nevertheless. Now, all he had to do was wait for the enemy to bleed out… even a Master's body was not resilient enough to stem the flood of blood he had caused…
Mordret, it seemed, realized the same, and dashed forward in a desperate attempt to kill Sunny before the blood loss made him too weak.
…Or so Sunny thought.
'What…'
Instead of attacking with the saber, the Prince of Nothing used it to push the Cruel Sight aside, and continued to move forward, eventually colliding with Sunny and grabbing him by the throat.
'Is he crazy?!'
At such a close distance, Sunny had all the advantages. Mordret couldn't slash with the saber, but he could easily bring his shortsword back for a killing thrust, long before anyone would have been able to strangle him.
This attack made no sense...
However, in the next moment, he felt that something was wrong.
And then, his chest was pierced by a blinding explosion of pain.
Sunny screamed and staggered back, falling to the floor. Somehow, against all logic, the Prince of Nothing seemed unscathed again, the bloody gash on his torso gone.
Instead, it was as though Sunny had run himself through with a sword. He could feel a deep wound in his chest, even though the surface of the Undying Chain remained unbroken.
'C—curses…'
Fighting through the pain, he rolled away, dodging the descending saber. Luckily for him, Mordret did not pursue, instead choosing to dash toward Cassie and the mirror trap.
'Damned… damned Welthe!'
Although Sunny was not entirely clear on what had happened and how he had ended up with a hole in his chest, he had an inkling. Welthe's Aspect seemed to be all about devoiding the enemy of their power while enhancing your own… almost as if transferring it. A Master had three Aspect Abilities…
Was her third Ability capable of transferring wounds from her body to that of others?
If so… was he going to die by his own sword?
No… no, he wouldn't.
Unlike Mordret, Sunny was not going to bleed to death. In fact, he was barely bleeding at all. His body was pierced and heavily damaged, but fortunately, blood loss was one of the two causes of death he was practically immune to.
The other being broken bones.
The evolved Weaves of his body would not allow such a thing to happen.
"Argh!"
Growling from pain, Sunny stood up and swayed slightly. He didn't feel too well… in fact, he felt pretty terrible. Every breath was torture, and his heartbeat was strange and irregular. Every contraction sent a pulse of suffering rolling through his body.
'It's alright... I've been through worse… I think…'
Sunny willed the Midnight Shard to manifest itself into existence, and tried to assess what was happening around him.
Mordret was already upon Cassie, his saber flashing toward her neck. The blind girl met his attack with a skillful block, the Quiet Dancer ringing clearly as it deflected the enemy's blade. The blind girl survived…
However, she was pushed back, away from the mirror trap.
As soon as her hand left the surface of the wooden box and the flow of soul essence was interrupted, the glow of the engraved pattern shimmered, dimmed, and was then extinguished.
Mordret sighed.
"...Not bad, guys. Truly, a valiant effort."
He glanced at the mirror trap, and then brought the saber down on it, turning the box into a pile of splinters and mangled silver plates.
Sunny shuddered.
'...Crap.'
Released from the burden and back to the full might of his stolen body, the Prince of Nothing inhaled deeply, an expression of delight on his face. Then, he turned to Sunny and smiled amicably.
"Now, who should I deal with first…"
At that moment, the austere tachi finished manifesting itself into existence. The [Unbroken] enchantment activated, filling him with newfound power. Its effect wasn't as incredible as when he had been a mere Sleeper, but still quite pronounced.
Holding the Midnight Shard in one hand and the Cruel Sight in another, Sunny willed the mirror blade to ignite with the incandescent light of the divine flame, and grimaced.
"Come here, your royal highness. I can promise to kill you quickly."
With Sunny in front of him and Cassie behind, Mordret laughed.
"So fun… ah, what a pity. I am really going to miss you, Sunless…"
With that, he blurred and was suddenly just a step away, the slender saber falling down with terrifying speed.
The two of them clashed, with one attacking and the other desperately trying to defend. The ringing of steel merged into one deafening sound. Sunny cursed...
Although it seemed like an eternity, in fact, just a second had passed. The Quiet Dancer had not even had time to reach them from the other end of the hall to help.
…And he really, really needed help.
Perhaps if he had not been wounded and under the debilitating effect of Welthe's Aspect, Sunny would have been able to hold his ground against the deadly prince. With three shadows wrapped around his body and the gift of the [Unbroken], his prowess would not have been much less than that of a Master.
But as things stood currently, fighting against Mordret was like trying to fend off a tornado. He barely managed to deflect the killing blows, but couldn't do anything against the rest of the rain of ruthless strikes. The Prince of Nothing fought with terrifying skill and purpose, not leaving Sunny any chances to retaliate… well, what else did he expect from the heir of War God?
The bastard truly lived up to his lineage...
The Undying Chain held, for now, but Sunny knew that it wouldn't be able to protect him much longer.
Even when the Quiet Dancer joined the fray, things didn't change much.
Sunny thought feverishly, trying to come up with some trick, some way for him to survive and prevail. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything he could do to win this fight.
It all seemed hopeless.
Slowly, a creeping fear settled in his heart. Ignoring it, ignoring the terrible pain nesting in his chest, Sunny gritted his teeth and continued to resist with all his might, all his cunning, and all his will.
And it was then that Cassie's voice suddenly reached his ears:
"Open your eyes!"
He shivered, suddenly experiencing a feeling of a terrifying deja vu.
'What… has she lost her mind?'
"Open your eyes… open them, Sunny!"
Was Cassie hysterical or planning to kill him? Why else would she give him such stupid advice?
Sunny couldn't come up with one logical reason to listen to her.
…In the end, it all came down to a question of blind trust.
He sighed, then strained his singed eyelids and slowly opened his eyes.
Mordret's figure came into focus, a surprised and joyful expression on his stolen face.
Sunny saw his reflection in Welthe's eyes, clad in the bleak steel of the Undying Chain. No… no, it wasn't him. There was another reflection hiding even deeper, almost lost in the darkness…
…And then, it was gone.
Something cold and alien entered him through the reflection, sinking deep into the dark depths of his soul.
A moment later, the world disappeared.
Chapter 591: Sea of Soul
Sunny found himself in the tranquil darkness of his Soul Sea.
It seemed as empty and silent as usual… the three black suns burned with dark flames above him, arranged in a perfect triangle. Small spheres of light — his Memories — floated between them like dying stars. The silent waters were vast and motionless, and some distance away, just beyond the periphery of his vision, the rows of lifeless shadows stood, unmoving.
However, this time something was different.
Sunny did not remember entering the Soul Sea, or even wishing to do so. More than that, he couldn't perceive the real world at all. Usually, visiting this place resulted in a strange split of his consciousness, with one part of it exploring the depths of his soul, while the other remained aware of his actual surroundings. It was akin to imagining a landscape… doing so did not turn you blind and deaf.
But now, he was here and only here, as nothing existed outside of this dark and silent sea.
Come to think of it, it was a lonely and frightening place. Untethered from the real world and surrounded by nothing except for deathly silence, Sunny did not feel as calm and comfortable as he usually would.
…And he wasn't really alone in the darkness.
"What a strange soul you have…"
Hearing those words, Sunny flinched, then turned around.
The voice that had spoken them did not belong to Welthe. It was familiar and pleasant, just like it had been in the lightless abyss of the Sky Below… Mordret was speaking with hi real voice once again.
The Prince of Nothing stood some distance away, looking up with a curious smile on his face. Now, for the first time, Sunny saw how he must have looked before his true body was destroyed.
Mordret was tall and slender, with pale skin and raven-black hair. He seemed to be in his twenties, older than Kai and Effie by a couple of years. 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.
Currently, they were as dark and lightless as the endless abyss of the void.
Mordret was dressed in a simple tunic, its fabric long devoid of any color. He wore no armor, and didn't seem to bear any weapon. However, Sunny could feel immense pressure radiating from his slender figure, and knew that he was in mortal danger.
What surprised him, however, was that Mordret's face seemed familiar. In fact… he looked exactly like a slightly older, male version of Morgan of Valor. The resemblance was too striking to be a coincidence. It could only be shared by siblings…
And there was another thing that Sunny saw which made him tense and apprehensive.
All around the Prince of Nothing, he could see a pale golden glow. The same kind of beautiful radiance that hid in his own blood, and surrounded Nephis… the light of divinity.
'Curses…'
Mordret studied the three cores of Sunny's soul curiously, then looked at him with a friendly smile.
"I have never seen anything like it. How kind it was of you to invite me inside, Sunless! I really do wonder what your little friend was thinking, though… does she, perhaps, think that you will be able to resist me?"
Sunny stared at the invader somberly, then shrugged.
"How would I know what she is thinking? Trying to understand an oracle is a fool's errand, you know."
Mordret chuckled.
"Ah, wiser words have never been said. Well, I guess we will find out soon…"
Sunny shifted slightly, then asked, his voice gloomy:
"Why would you even want to possess my body, anyway? Didn't you get Welthe already? What's so great about it that you would rather have me than a Master?"
The Prince of Nothing smiled.
"Who says I can't have you both?"
That seemed like an answer, but actually, it wasn't. Sunny had already experienced Mordret's habit of dodging questions to be misled this way. He frowned and glared at the mirror fiend, unamused.
The invader laughed.
"So serious… don't sell yourself short, Sunless. You might be just an Awakened, but then, who else should I make a vessel if I wish to Ascend myself? Plus, your body suits my current needs perfectly. You have an Aspect that gifts you both stealth and teleportation Abilities. A perfect combination for someone who wishes to escape a Saint, don't you think?"
He took another step forward and continued:
"I also have never met or heard of anyone else who possesses a Divine Aspect. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you were just like me. And that thing you have… I am very curious to find out what it is that allowed you to make me blind, back in the Ebony Tower. Such a powerful anti-divination artifact will make my life much, much easier… so, you see, although I am not too happy about it, taking you as a vessel is a regretful, but inevitable choice I had to make."
Sunny narrowed his eyes, trying to understand what Mordret was talking about. Making him blind… back in the Ebony Tower? Sunny had worn Weaver's Mask to read the harrowing runes on the fifth level of the stronghold of the ruler of the Underworld. Was that what the mirror fiend meant?
So the Mask had been able to hide Sunny from his spying, as well… and more than that, the Mirror Beast had not managed to glimpse its secrets. So, Mordret did not know what it was, just that there was something in Sunny's possession that could prevent him from being tracked and seen by otherworldly means.
…When he narrowed his eyes, though, something else happened.
Sunny didn't expect it, so he almost lost his composure. He had not known that he possessed such an ability, but it seemed that the evolution of the Blood Weave had enhanced his eyes, as well.
Suddenly, he was able to peer beneath the surface of Mordret's soul, just like he was able to peer beneath the surface of Memories and Echoes to study their weaves.
And what he saw there made him tremble.
'Crap...'
As a living soul, the Prince of Nothing did not possess a spellweave, of course. However, what he did possess were soul cores… six of them…
Mordret was a Terror.
And that Terror was getting closer and closer to Sunny.
"...to tell you the truth, Sunless, your body fits me so perfectly that I even thought, for a second, that the old man had sent you to me as a gift. Gods know he has a lot to apologize for… to think that he had nothing to do with it, and all of this was just a coincidence! That funny Attribute of yours is really something, isn't it?"
Sunny gritted his teeth, and then said in a grim tone:
"That is really wonderful. I am very glad for you, pal. However… what exactly happens now? You don't really expect me to just surrender my body to you, right?"
Here in the Soul Sea, Sunny wasn't bound by his Flaw, since his words were nothing more than thoughts. It was actually a bit of a relief.
Mordret stopped, now just a few steps away from him, and smiled.
"Now? Why, what else… now, I am going to destroy your soul, of course…"
Chapter 592: Soul Slayer
Sunny looked down on himself, evaluating his own state.
The wound in his chest was gone. However, it wasn't as though he was unscathed… his body, or at least this manifestation of it, seemed battered and beaten. However, it was also full of ferocious strength and vigor, as well as feeling light, as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders just a few moments ago.
He didn't know how exactly this battle of the souls was supposed to work, but suspected that his current form was a representation of his spirit. He had endured a lot in these recent weeks, enough suffering and fear to crush someone with a lesser will… Sunny, however, had survived far worse, so his strength was not diminished by much.
He was still clad in the bleak steel of the Undying Chain, and holding his weapons. Three shadows lay at his feet, and he could feel the presence of the Soul Serpent nearby. His enemy, meanwhile, was alone and unarmed.
This was Sunny's soul, after all. Here, he was bound to have the ultimate advantage.
'Let's see who will destroy whom, you bastard.'
With a smirk, Sunny commanded the shadows to rise and wrap themselves around his body. Instantly, his strength, speed, and resilience were enhanced manifold…
In the next moment, however, his expression froze.
Mordret looked at him, then smiled. As he did, six shadows descended upon him like a dark mantle, making the pressure that the Prince of Nothing exerted feel almost suffocating.
"...You didn't think that it would be that easy, did you?"
A split second later, he was beside Sunny, his fist crashing into the breastplate of the Undying Chain. As pain exploded through his body, Sunny flew back and fell onto the still water, sliding across it into the darkness.
'What?'
Before he could even rise, Mordret was already upon him, his foot slamming into Sunny's ribs. Sunny yelped as he was thrown into the air, then felt another blow landing on his chest, pushing all air out of his lungs and sending him plummeting back down.
Knowing that he had to escape somehow, Sunny dove into the shadows and emerged from the darkness behind the Prince of Nothing, the blade of the Cruel Sight shooting forward.
However, it pierced nothing but air.
Mordret had turned into a shadow himself, and disappeared without a trace, his laughter echoing across the surface of the silent sea.
"Weak! Too weak…"
Something struck Sunny in the back, sending another explosion of pain rolling through the very core of his being. He groaned and tried to slash with the Midnight Shard, but the enemy was already gone. A moment later, he was kicked in the abdomen, then ruthlessly slammed across the face.
Mordret's fist felt like a sledgehammer… no, like a mountain descending.
Half-blinded and disoriented, Sunny fell to his knees, spitting blood.
'What the… what the hell…'
This was not how he had imagined things going. The damned mirror fiend clearly had to weaken his prey before attacking… so, his victory was not set in stone. There was a way to defeat him, somehow, and since Sunny's spirit had not been broken, he had expected to be able to prevail.
However, the bastard was just too powerful… how was he supposed to resist such terrifying force?!
Worse than that, Mordret seemed to be able to mirror all of his powers…
"Bastard! Lost from Light, stop!"
The Prince of Nothing laughed again, then struck Sunny in the side of his head, almost blinding him.
"Sorry to say this, but that trick is not going to work… this is an entirely different situation, you know…"
Hurting and hoping to escape the next blow, Sunny turned into a shadow again. This time, however, he wasn't in a hurry to attack and remained incorporeal, thinking…
Before he could form a single thought, however, another shadow lunged at him from the darkness, and suddenly, he was in the throes of indescribable agony, his very soul damaged and cracked. With a stifled shriek, Sunny escaped the shadows and assumed his human form again, only to be ruthlessly struck down a moment later.
He fall on his back and desperately gulped for air, but his lungs seemed to be paralyzed. All he could do was try to block the next blow, only for it to fail and another wave of pain spread through his body.
'Goddamit!'
Sunny used Shadow Step to disengage, but his enemy simply followed. He deflected one strike, almost managing to cut Mordret's forearm open, but the mirror fiend was just too fast, strong, and skilled.
No matter how hard Sunny fought, it was all useless. No matter what strategy he tried to implement, Mordret saw right through it. Fighting against the Prince of Nothing was like fighting against death itself — he was terrifying, inevitable, and final.
There was no escape…
But Sunny was not going to give up. At this point, he wasn't even sure that he knew how.
He gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and fought.
After what seemed like an eternity, beaten and bloodied, Sunny was thrown down again. The helmet of the Undying Chain was bent and deformed, pressing into his temple and obstructing his vision. He dismissed it and raised a hand to defend himself, but it was easily wrestled down.
Mordret had a few bruises of his own, but looked infinitely better than Sunny. Grabbing him by the throat, the banished prince inhaled deeply, and then asked in a somber tone:
"Haven't you had enough? Why don't you just surrender? I am not enjoying this one bit, you know."
Sunny looked at him through the red haze and grinned, his teeth painted red by blood.
"R—really? Ah, too bad… cuz… I'm actually having the time of my life…"
With that, he lowered his head and tried to sink his teeth into Mordret's hand.
The Prince of Nothing sighed, then hit Sunny in the face, sending him rolling away.
'Crap… that one... really, really hurt…'
Sunny slid a few meters and came to a rest just beyond the rows of silent shadows. He tried to stand up, but the world suddenly spun around, making him fall back down. A quiet groan escaped from his lips.
Mordret shook his head dejectedly, and then walked over to the Cruel Sight, which lay on the surface of the tranquil waters where Sunny had dropped it. He bent down to pick it up, but the somber spear simply turned to tenebrous mist, dismissed by its master.
The mirror fiend remained unperturbed. He lowered his fingers into the water and caught the reflection of the fearsome Memory before it fully dissipated, then brought it up, ending up with the exact same spear in his hand.
"To think that the Spell would make it anew and return it to me... it's fitting, I guess."
He studied the Cruel Sight for a moment, then turned to Sunny, a dark look in his eyes.
"Let's end this now… no matter what you may think, I don't enjoy torturing people. Ah, unless they deserve to be tortured, of course."
Sunny finally managed to rise to his knees, and glanced at the approaching prince with a grim expression. One of his hands reached toward the hilt of the Midnight Shard, which lay some distance away, while the other was pinned awkwardly behind him.
In it, a ghostly stiletto silently appeared, its transparent blade hidden from sight by Sunny's body.
"Whatever you say…"
Mordret willed the Cruel Sight to extend to its full length, then lunged forward, thrusting it toward Sunny's heart.
Sunny tensed, preparing to dodge…
But before he had a chance to, he was suddenly covered by a massive shadow, and a long, multijointed arm appeared from somewhere above, blocking the blade of the spear with its terrifying bone claws.
Sunny blinked.
Mordret froze, too, and then slowly looked up. As he did, Sunny mirrored the movement.
...Towering above him, the shadow of the Mountain King stood silently, one of its four arms extended forward. For a moment, nothing happened…
And then, another shadow moved slightly, clicking its chitinous claws. One of the carapace scavengers took a small step forward.
Like a chain reaction, a wave of movement spread through the ranks of the silent shadows, bringing them to life. All of them shifted, their gazes focusing on Mordret. Members of the carapace legion, dwellers of the Crimson Labyrinth, horrors of the Dark City, inhabitants of the Chained Isles... there were monsters of all shapes and sizes, each more terrifying than the other. A horde of creatures that Sunny had slain…
There was an abominable Spire Messenger, a nest of slithering vines, a tall knight in a heavy suit of intricate armor, a strange creature with a chest in place of a head... and many, many more.
For the first time, confidence drained from Mordret's face, and he paled. Taking an involuntary step back, the Prince of Nothing hesitated, then said evenly:
"Sunless, my dear friend… tell me… why is there an army of dead Nightmare Creatures hidden in your soul?"
Sunny finally managed to grab the Midnight Shard and slowly rose to his feet, using the tachi as support. His teeth flashed in a dark smile.
"Oh… I have human souls here, too. So, don't you worry, Mordret… when I kill you… you'll have good company, at least…"
The mirror fiend chuckled nervously, then slowly brandished the reflection of the Cruel Sight.
In the next moment, the horde of shadows surged forward, descending upon him like an avalanche of darkness.
And Mordret suddenly…
Vanished without a trace, as if he had never existed.
Chapter 593: One Step Forward
Sunny opened his eyes, disoriented. The orange glow of the fire and the dancing shadows on the shattered walls, the smell of blood, the tearing pain in his chest… he had escaped the Soul Sea and returned to the scorched heart of the Night Temple.
He had prevailed… but what was going on?
It felt as if he was falling…
Why was he falling?
Sunny crashed onto the cracked stone plates of the floor and heard Welthe's body falling somewhere nearby. A tortured groan escaped from his lips, and then a stifled curse.
'What the hell…'
Although his battle with Mordret had lasted for a while, it seemed that just a single moment passed in the real world. That time had not even been enough for Sunny to properly fall down.
The Quiet Dancer was still in the same position, and Cassie was still rushing over, dagger in hand.
'I... survived?'
However, why did it feel like he was forgetting something?
Sunny strained his wounded body, trying to sit up. He felt exhausted and weak — both from his physical injuries and the damage his soul had sustained in the harrowing battle against Prince of Nothing.
What… what was it?
Cassie was already by his side, reaching out to help him sit. Her rapier hovered in the air, and then turned, the tip of its blade aiming at Welthe's unmoving form.
'Oh, right… where did Mordret disappear to?'
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
Sunny raised his head, pointing at Welthe.
"K—kill her!"
The Quiet Dancer was already flashing through the air, reacting faster than its master. Cassie frowned.
"What? Isn't he d…"
But it was too late.
Welthe suddenly moved, her hand shooting forward to catch the flying rapier by the blade. The sharp point stopped just a few centimeters away from her throat.
…No, Mordret wasn't dead. He had simply run away, retreating from a fight that he knew he wouldn't be able to win.
Back to his previous vessel.
Cassie stared at the Prince of Nothing in shock, and then shrieked when thin cracks appeared on the blade of the graceful rapier. She hurriedly dismissed the Echo, saving it from the crushing grip, and pulled Sunny to his feet.
"What… what do we do now?!"
Sunny saw the body of the Ascended knight stirring, as if slowly coming back to life. Her hollow eyes suddenly glistened, becoming full of dark will and lethal intelligence once again.
His heart skipped a beat.
Now that Mordret had failed to both enslave and possess Sunny, there was only one use for him left. Torture the Weaver's Mask out of him, and then dispose of what was left.
With that fiend wearing a Master's body… what were they supposed to do, indeed?
Actually, Sunny had a perfect answer.
He glanced at Cassie with a determined expression, and then screamed:
"What else?! Run!"
…Mordret wasn't the only one who knew when to remove himself from a hopeless situation.
Pushing the blind girl toward the large hole in the wall of the former stronghold of the Valor forces, Sunny turned his back on Welthe, who was slowly rising to her feet, and sprinted away as fast as he could. His eyes were tightly shut, so that the bastard couldn't spy on them through the reflections.
The Night Temple was a large place. With some luck, they would be able to play cat and mouse… or rather, mice and tiger… with the damned prince for a few days.
Hopefully, Saint Cormac would arrive soon.
As he was diving through the breach in the wall, a mocking voice assaulted him from behind:
"...What, leaving so soon?"
Feeling Mordret taking a step forward, Sunny dismissed the Heavenly Burden. Pierce's corpse, which was still pressed against the ceiling, suddenly plunged down and crashed right in front of the mirror fiend, forcing him to jump back and slow down a little.
Without turning his head, Sunny threw the Broken Oath behind him, then sent the Ordinary Rock flying into the depths of a random corridor, and ran in the opposite direction with Cassie.
As they rushed away, the Rock ricochetted off the walls and screamed loudly in Sunny's voice:
"Run! Run! Run!"
***
Sunny didn't expect his tricks to slow down Mordret for long, but with enough of a head start, they were bound to be able to disappear into the confusing labyrinth of the great cathedral. They just had to get out of the inner sanctum in time… once outside, catching them would be much harder.
He might not have been a match for the Prince of Nothing in direct combat… for now… but when it came to stealth and traversal, Sunny had a decisive advantage. Not only could he use Shadow Step to jump across large distances, but he could also use his shadows and senses to scout, spy on the enemy, and navigate in the darkness.
Mordret, meanwhile, was only able to see through reflections, which were few and far between in the Night Temple. Hiding from him was not an impossible task.
Especially with the help of Cassie and her uncanny intuition — the blind girl was going to slow Sunny down somewhat, but at the same time, having her with him was a boon.
Just as he thought that, Cassie suddenly pulled him into a barely visible mouth of a narrow corridor, which then led them to a small staircase. They ascended it and ran through a circular hall, sliding down the domed floor and then climbing back up.
As they did, an echo of a deafening crash reached their ears, announcing that the Prince of Nothing was not too far behind.
What was the bastard doing, breaking through stone walls instead of searching for a path?!
The interior of the Citadel was bizarre and confusing, so Sunny quickly lost his sense of direction. All he knew was that they weren't moving toward the familiar exit out of the inner sanctum, nor were they approaching the central bell tower.
His doubts were dispelled, however, when Cassie opened a narrow wooden door, and cold wind hit him in the face.
Somehow, they had reached the grand hall of the cathedral, where the broken Gateway stood in the center of the vast basin of the craterous dome. Instead of entering it through the tall gates of the inner sanctum, Sunny and Cassie appeared on a hidden gallery circling the hall's perimeter high above.
Almost at the same time, a familiar figure emerged from the gates far below.
Chapter 594: Two Steps Back
Mordret was right below them, walking out into the great hall of the somber cathedral at a relaxed pace. Above his shoulders, a dozen blinding orbs of light hovered in the air, throwing white reflections of the dark stones.
Sunny silently stepped back, pulling Cassie with him. Pressed against the back wall of the gallery and safely hidden in the deep shadows, they slowly moved away.
Below, the spheres of light suddenly shot in different directions, illuminating a large portion of the dark nave. Luckily, their radiance did not reach the hidden gallery, be it just barely.
…What it did reach, though, were the hundreds of mirror shards scattered around the vast expanse of the inverse hall. Each of them shone, reflecting the white light.
It was as though countless stars suddenly ignited in the darkness.
Sunny silently cursed, knowing that those shards served Mordret as eyes. Who knew how many more were hidden throughout the cathedral? Without slowing down, he dismissed the Memories he had left behind, and continued moving toward the distant end of the vast circular chamber.
The Prince of Nothing, meanwhile, tilted his head a little:
"Where are they hiding? I wonder…"
Suddenly, he was surrounded by a whirlwind of white sparks. Sunny did not linger to see what Memories Mordret was summoning, and instead concentrated on reaching another door.
Before the sparks of light coalesced into tangible shapes, Cassie and he had already left the gallery, finding themselves in another corridor.
They had successfully left the sanctum behind and were now in the main structure of the Citadel. It was a large and convoluted space, so finding them here was not going to be easy — from where they stood now, just outside the nave, they could go anywhere in the temple proper, exit into the outward ring, or descend into any of the six belfries.
They could even circle back and try to hide in the seventh, the main bell tower, hoping that the mirror fiend would not expect them to return.
However, somehow, Sunny doubted that escaping Mordret would be that easy.
The morbid remains of his butchered victims were all around them, after all. None of these people had escaped...
He hesitated for a moment, then pulled Cassie in the direction of the outward ring. That was the part of the Citadel they both knew the best, which was an important advantage. Of course, the banished prince understood that, too, which meant that he would most likely be moving there, too.
This was a risk Sunny had to take.
At the end of the day, their goal was to escape… and they could only do that by reaching the sealed gates of the Night Temple.
***
A few hours passed, suffused with fear and tension. Sunny and Cassie had moved through the main structure of the cathedral, getting closer and closer to the outward ring. On the way, they took a short break — partially to eat and replenish their strength, but mostly because he simply couldn't walk anymore.
The exhaustion and pain were taking their toll on Sunny. Finding a safe spot, he fell to the floor and remained motionless for a while, breathing hoarsely. Then, he dismissed the breastplate of the Undying Chain, pulled the shirt hiding beneath up, and tentatively explored the dire wound dealt to him by Mordret.
The result was not too good… Sunny wasn't going to die anytime soon, but neither was he going to heal quickly. For the time being, he was as good as crippled.
"Curses…"
At least he had not bled to death… that was something, at least.
He summoned the breastplate back, then opened the Covetous Coffer and took out a couple of tubes of synthpaste. The two of them hurriedly consumed the nutritious sludge, and then, it was time to get back up again.
Before that, however, Cassie handed him something.
"...Here. You hold on to this."
Sunny took the item and raised his eyebrows, recognizing the shape. It was a small piece of cold steel, shaped into a semblance of an anvil.
His fingers, though, could feel that the thing was not at all simple. In fact, it seemed like one of the most potent artifacts he had ever held…
"Welthe's amulet? When did you grab it?"
The blind girl sighed.
"After you opened your eyes. I should have tried to reach his body in time, instead. If only I had more essence, I could have seen… could have done something differently…"
Sunny hesitated for a moment, then threw the amulet into the maw of the Covetous Coffer.
"Why are you so down? Yeah, we might have failed to get rid of that bastard, but then again, we've done better than a hundred Lost and two knights of Valor did. That's not too bad of an achievement, isn't it? Plus, Mordret's plans are also ruined… he might seem in control, but trust me, that guy is in as much trouble as we are. Things didn't exactly go his way, either…"
The blind girl remained silent for a few moments, then nodded and helped him stand up.
Somewhat rested, but not at all free of exhaustion, they continued moving forward, soon crossing into the outward ring.
When they did, however, Cassie suddenly froze, then trembled.
Sunny tensed.
'What…'
Then, he heard it too — the insidious sound of approaching footsteps. And a second later, Welthe's familiar voice:
"There you are…"
Gritting his teeth, Sunny grabbed Cassie's hand and ran in the opposite direction.
'Damn it, damn it, damn it…'
His chest was burning, pulsating with excruciating pain. They moved with all the speed they could muster, but what was the point? A Master was so much faster than an Awakened. Even though Mordret didn't seem to be in a hurry, the sound of his footsteps was growing closer and closer.
Before he could reach them, however…
The whole Night Temple suddenly shook, throwing Sunny to the floor.
An explosion of pain radiated through his body, and a moment later, his Shadow Sense was not constrained by the outer walls of the Citadel anymore. It pierced the black stone and easily reached into the vast emptiness beyond.
Sunny clenched his fists.
'The seal… it's lifted!'
...The Saint had arrived.