The warden shivered in excitement as he witnessed the tenebrous steed appear, after decades, he finally reencountered his old rival.
"So you made the horse step into the light! Marvelous! It has been a long time since the last time I actually fought someone."
The monstrous figure of metal raised his arm, snapping the fingers made of sharp knives.
"But I doubt it will do much while protecting you… How well do you know your nightmares, Prince of Shadow? Oh, and to make things clear, once you die here, you'll join your girlfriend in my endless torture hall!"
The scenery began to change, the nothingness that was before soon was extinguished, and the ground began to form.
Stone slabs formed underneath Sunny's feet, after they traveled some feet, they rose to form pillars and walls. Dark windows reshaped the stone, engraving themselves to complete the imposing Palace that was being built in the land of dreams.
Wood snapped itself into place, making grand doors behind Sunny. Light fixtures in the ceiling completed the familiar, dark atmosphere.
What cemented the familiarity was the throne formed behind the warden, where a figure formed itself in white sparks.
Sunless widened his eyes in shock.
'No… You wouldn't!'
But the warden only laughed.
"Let the show begin!"
The liquid metal deformed, as if it lost the puppet master that was holding its strings, vanishing as if it was nothing. Revealing the figure sitting in the throne completely.
An imposing, tall man with golden armor, sitting like a king that governed all who dared to enter the castle. The armor shimmered like it was alive, and had no visor to speak of, only a plain helmet that reflected everything.
The Bright Lord.
'Gunlaug! Of course, this is the land of dreams, why wouldn't he use the ones I know as a weapon?'
The dream simulacrum moved its head, looking at Sunless, and immediately, an aura of anger unleashed from him, so intense it made Sunny shiver.
Finally, he got up from the throne.
"So, you dare come here, liar!"
The voice that came out of Gunlaug's doppelganger was eerily similar to the original as far as Sunny remembered him, but what he said… Liar? Sunny never lied to Gunlaug, why would…
Sunless hesitated, trying to understand what Gunlaug meant, but he couldn't think for long, a golden axe flew in his direction at monstrous speeds.
He barely dodged it, moving to the side, the shining blade almost cutting his hair as the axe tried to find a target, going right in Nightmare's direction.
But before the steed was hit, it vanished, transforming into a mist and going in his master's direction, into his soul.
And the axe crashed in the ground, causing a minor shockwave and destroying the stone with a strength no Dreamer could ever reach.
'How-?!'
Before Sunless could understand, Gunlaug appeared in front of him, throwing a fist in his direction.
He dodged, taking a step to the side and grabbing Gunlaug's arm, twisting his torso and correcting his footing, Sunless connected their backs and used all his strength to throw Gunlaug aside using martial arts.
The Bright Lord flew, but not for long as he corrected himself mid air and landed on the ground, sliding on it before dashing once again.
"Murderer! You killed them all! You manipulated us!"
Sunny furrowed his brows, cursing whatever the name of the warden was as Dream Gunlaug raised his arm, a new axe forming on his hand.
The golden axe pierced the air as Gunlaug slashed against Sunless with uncanny speed, forcing him to dodge by a hair's breath.
'Since when was he so fast?!'
Regardless of how strong the Transcendent armor of Gunlaug had been, the man himself was still a Dormant, he shouldn't be able to stand against Sunless, who was an Awakened Terror that could easily defeat even some Masters.
But for some reason, he was being pressured by the memory of the Bright Lord.
Without weapons, all Sunny could do was dodge and counter attack, but that was proving to be progressively difficult as Gunlaug persistently assaulted him. The Bright Lord was truly a fearsome foe, having the experience of a decade battling the creatures of the Forgotten Shore and the many foolish rebellions that rose against him.
But even so, Sunless was able to keep up, for now.
'I can't just dodge! I need a weapon!'
He tried to summon any of his weapons, but it didn't work, it was like he was cut off from summoning anything, and apart from Nightmare, even his Shadows couldn't be summoned.
The reason was kind of simple in hindsight, this was the warden's domain, Dreams, and he imposed the rules, so he could only do what the warden wanted.
Such was the insidious nature of his Aspect, once inside the dreams, you were in his control, his flaw must be severe to have such a powerful Aspect. Thankfully, Sunny had Nightmare, who was protecting him from having the same fate that Nephis had.
Eventually, Gunlaug pushed Sunless into a corner, kicking him against a pillar of the Bright Castle. The golden axe was raised and fell on him like a guillotine towards his shoulder, but thankfully, Sunny felt something change in him.
He immediately fell into the shadows, delving deep and traveling a few feet away from Gunlaug to the center of the hall, reappearing in a crouched position before turning back to his enemy.
The pillar was crashing down, Gunlaug's attack had been so powerful it caused the very concrete to fall under his strength. Dust raised, creating a cloud that cancelled the Bright Lord for some moments.
"I trusted you, WE trusted YOU! You and that GIRL!"
Gunlaug walked slowly out of the cloud, his armor glistering as it reforged itself.
"And you just led us to our deaths!"
Sunny grimaced, knowing exactly what the war monger wanted to do, trying to use his actions on the Forgotten Shore against him, his regrets and failures.
Breathing in, he decided to bury the emotions he was starting to feel, there was no use in feeling regret now.
Moreover, it seemed Nightmare was finally able to gain some control over the domain on the Ascended: Sunny was able to use his Aspect.
He looked down to see three of his shadows, Gloomy, Crazy and Naughty, the ones he had augmenting himself before he was dragged here.
'Alright, now we–'
Pain flashed as he felt his leg be pierced by something sharp. Forced to kneel, he looked at the damage, an arrow was logged through his right calf, the problem was that he recognized the arrow, more precisely, he knew who it belonged to.
Looking to his right, the owner was standing at the edge of the throne hall, bearing a cold wrath that was uncanny in his face. Gamma, the ward of the Pathfinders…
'Of course he would use more people!'
He felt a movement on his left, and quickly turned to see Gunlaug dashing once again, trying to capitalize on the wound Gamma did.
Sunless was about to seek refuge into the shadows once again, but suddenly, his entire world went dark.
He became blind.
This little distraction was enough for the Bright Lord to use the chance, approaching with his unusual speed and impaling his axe onto Sunless' shoulder. It was able to do so because the uniform Sunless was wearing wasn't the [Mantle of Shadows], merely a representation of the Memory.
Gritting his teeth and suppressing a pained groan, Sunny grabbed the hilt of the axe to stop the weapon from piercing his body any further. Thankfully, his [Stone Shell] made his skin almost impenetrable.
He began seeing through his shadows, watching through his three shadows, he saw him, the damn bastard that killed his friend. The Hunchback, Harus.
Sunny suppressed his anger and delved into the shadows, this time with no interruptions.
The sharp piece of metal vanished, as he transformed into the shadows, running through the battle, he surfaced close to the throne, holding himself on the stairs.
The skin of his shoulder was cracked like it was a statue, blood flowing out of it. Sighing, Sunny cursed and took his hands to the arrow on his calf, grabbing both ends and breaking the sharp one in a curse, taking out the arrow soon after.
Sunny looked up to see his enemies, Tessai and Kido now appeared as well, all wards flanked the Bright Lord, all bearing anger and resentment towards him… With the exception of Harus, who had a deranged smile.
"You killed us all! You and your lies!"
Sunless sighed, looking at Gunlaug with cold, hollow eyes.
"I didn't lie to you, you died for what you believed in."
"And who forced that belief on me?!"
The ground suddenly shook, big tremors rippled the hall as a roar pierced Sunny's ears.
A sound resounded in the hall, the grand doors were being attacked by a giant creature.
"Who sent a monster to the Bright Castle?!"
Another boom resounded, the doors wouldn't last long.
"Who deceived us into going to the Crimson Spire?!"
The doors gave in, being burst through with violence and brutality, raising a cloud of dust upon crashing onto the ground, revealing the monster that destroyed the Bright Castle… A Demon with multiple arms and mouths with a giant eye in the middle of his mouth-head.
Together with the monstrosity, the Palace distorted for a moment, one second, it was pristine and normal as it was before Sunny's arrival, the next, it was covered in blood.
Bodies of the Sleepers killed in the Fallen Demon's attack and of the siege of the Crimson Spire appeared suddenly on the floor, all of their eyes stared at Sunless, accusing him.
"Who is responsible, Sunless Song?!"
...
"I am."
Sunless answered without any emotion in his voice, just an empty expression that revealed just how much his hollow eyes showed who he was.
What he did still affected him.
But the remnants of his regret didn't care how he felt.
Gunlaug gripped his axe even harder.
"You are the one who should have died!"
"You think so? I disagree."
Sunny got up, raising his arm as a dark mist created by his Shadow extended, shaping into a long line. Then, it recoiled, and revealed a crimson odachi.
Nightmare gained a little more control…
Sunny looked onto Gunlaug, his wounds already healing thanks to the blood of his mother flowing inside him.
"All who decide to bear the weight of a throne have blood on their hands, it is how this world works. Those who lead will inevitably kill, they will lead countless into the slaughter, and will eventually bear the consequences of the actions that they did in order for their people to survive, knowing they cannot save all of the ones who follow them."
He flicked his sword towards Gunlaug.
"We both deserve to die, Gunlaug, my time just hasn't arrived yet. But I will do all that I can to make sure none that follows me will have a meaningless death."
"Hypocrite, you say that yet you killed hundreds without batting an eye!"
Sunless chuckled.
"Yeah… I did, but I think they all had meaning, Harper, the Castle's guards, the spies and assassins of Valor, the Night Temple, even the ones in the Fortress. Some wanted to hurt my family, others, my friends, the ones I love… They were against me, wanted my death, or were willing to die for a King that went mad a long time ago…
In the end, they all taught me something, and I will carry them all in my soul sea, I will bear the responsibility, just like my mother… And one day, I may die for it."
Gunlaug and the wards stared at Sunless with unreadable expressions, even the Fallen Demon seemed to stare…
Before it roared with animosity.
Gunlaug and the wards seemed even angrier.
"Enough of your grandstanding!"
They dashed to meet Sunless.
He had little time to think. Carefully considering his options, he analyzed all that he knew about the Dream domain of the warden.
First, people and things were as strong as the warden wanted and as he could make them, that was the reason Gunlaug's Transcendent armor couldn't pierce him, it wasn't Transcendent at all, it was somewhere in the Ascended Rank, same went to the simulacrums of the Sleepers, they had been strengthened, close to the level of a Master, but not quite there. That meant the Fallen Demon would probably not be as strong as the real thing.
Second, Nightmare was getting more control, he had already empowered Sunny with his Aspect, and created a replica of [BloodRaven], it wasn't as strong as the real thing, but it was enough, he would be able to do more and more as time went on.
Third, his win condition was between Nightmare dominating the Dream and him figuring out the warden's weakness.
Then save Nephis… Only after that will Sunless torture that bastard until the world ends.
So, Sunny had some options…
Before any could reach him, he activated his [Stone Shell]. Making the attribute reincarnate in his body in the form of the familiar armor that he wore for the Forgotten Shore, implemented on his whole body, that made the protection stronger.
Now in his dark armor, he would be more protected, next, he empowered himself with his shadows, putting Gloomy on himself, Naughty on his sword, and let Crazy be his eyes now that the bastard Harus was blinding him.
By then, his enemies arrived.
Gamma got there first, now wielding his kukris instead of his bow and arrow, he first slashed with his right, which was promptly parried, then with his left.
Sunless deflected the second strike with his armor, causing shallow damage to it, but leaving a minor opening on Gamma's guard, an opening very few could exploit, one of them was Sunless.
He quickly grabbed Gamma's neck using the gap in the hunter's opening and threw him aside, already bringing his odachi back to parry the chains of the Hunckback. But Gunlaug was able to get closer due to Harus' attack, forcing Sunless to block his strike.
The block made the two into a bind, one where both stared into one another, not saying anything else. Sunny softened his gaze.
'I wished this was not the last time I would see you, old Lord…'
Shaking the thought away, Sunless focused on the battle, Gamma was getting up, Harrus and Tessai were advancing, and Kido was about to finish something, not to mention the Fallen Demon approaching.
Seeing all of this, he found his target. He would cripple them one by one.
Sunny delved into the shadows, realising himself from the bind and went to the weakest link.
'There is no way the warden knows any of these people, so this is based on my memories. He is creating this simulation based on my perception and ideas, and since I'm not under his control, he can't put the same life-like simulations that he puts Nephis through… If that's the case, then I always considered you the weakest.'
He appeared behind Tessai, the leader of the guards. He was the one Sunny always considered the least threatening if he put Kido aside since he knew nothing about her.
Gunlaug was a leader and a warrior, Gamma was a hunter, Harus was a monster, but Tessai was a brute that would rather put people down than challenge them head on.
The dream simulacrum of Tessai turned rapidly, swinging an axe coated in ice created by his Aspect, aimed straight at Sunny's head.
Milliseconds before the ice struck his helmet, darkness once again extended, and a dagger appeared in his hand, [Moonlight Shard], allowing him to block the attack. Upon this, Sunless flashed his odachi and thrusted forward.
However, Tessai wasn't as weak as he expected.
The ward grabbed the tip of the odachi with his bare hand with his hand full of ice and stopped the blade.
'Not so easy… I need to be more elusive…'
But he couldn't absorb what happened, a giant shadow fell on him.
The Fallen Demon assaulted Sunny's position, jumping onto him and using his four of its giant arms to claw at the Prince. The floor was destroyed and a cloud of dust was raised as the dozens of arms searched for him.
Only for the cloud to disperse, with only Tessai remaining, seemingly receiving no damage from the Demon's attacks despite being right beside Sunless.
The wards looked around incessantly in search of their enemy.
"I'm sorry Kido…"
Rather than finding him, they only saw one of their own grasping her own neck, dying as a result. The culprit going into the shadows once again.
"I never really knew you."
Gunlaug attempted to reach Sunless, but he was too late, the shadow had already disappeared. He was only able to reach the shadow's arm.
The Bright Lord's attack was ruthless, filled with anger, so much so the axe embedded itself on the ground as he cursed in frustration.
"Killing us again? It was not enough the first time?!"
The simulacrum of Gamma seemed to bear a similar resentment, his eyes sharpening and beginning to search more erratically.
Darkness swelled underneath him. The hunter immediately turned towards it and flicked his kukri, holding it in a reverse grip before preventively attacking his own shadow.
But as the blade hit the ground, the simulacrum only felt the reverberation of it through his body, with the darkness revealing to be absolutely nothing.
Gamma understood that he made a mistake as he saw his own blood on the floor, a dark armored being on his side, wielding a crimson odachi.
The hunter raised himself a moment later, immediately turning around, and swinging his blades to Sunless, his torso regenerated already.
Only for his attack to be parried and reflected, his torso got slashed once again, this time going from his shoulder to his hip.
Once again, Gamma began to regenerate, but this time, Sunless didn't miss the chance and plummeted the simulacrum in a flurry of slashes that created red afterglows from all the blood that flashed.
The blood didn't linger on the air, in fact, it didn't even travel through it. [BloodRaven] was absorbing everything, every drop of blood, making the blade sharper and deadlier, even if it was a replica created by Nightmare, it still had the enchantments.
Sunless was using Gamma's body and Aspect to make his sword stronger, his objective was clear. But even as using Gamma like a tool, and knowing this was just a simulacrum…
"I'm sorry Gamma…"
Harus and the Fallen Demon rushed at him from both sides, preparing attacks to destroy their opponent, carrying little if their companion was damaged in the process.
The hunter dropped to his knees, having reached the limit of his Aspect.
Moments before the attacks of the two abominations reached them, Sunless gave the image of Gamma one last respectful gaze.
"You've done enough."
Before sinking into the shadows and escaping, the attacks of the Demon and Harus only found their companion, destroying what was left of his body.
Sunless appeared far from his opponents, his odachi was now full of blood, sharper than ever, but it wasn't without the consequences.
"Agh… Damnation."
Harus was able to hit him, slashing his shoulder with his damn chains, somehow piercing the armor, not to mention how Gunlaug grazed his arm, even if it was very little.
But he was able to disable two threats, and [The Blood's Shadow] was already regenerating him; now, his targets were the Demon and Tessai.
The more he fought, the more Nightmare gained control, the warden must have noticed this as well, no matter how much control he has, this is just a simulation based on a dream, and Nightmare… He was the lord of dreams.
Gunlaug and Tessai rushed towards him, the ward of the guards now having an ice barrier throughout his whole body. The monstrosity that was the Fallen Demon right behind them. But Harus? He stayed behind, smiling.
'No matter what version, you are still a pathetic little sh*t.'
Sunless ignored Harus, the warden probably thought he would attack the Hunckback since he was alone, some sort of trap, one that Sunless wouldn't fall for.
Instead, he gambled on the strength of his Shadow. Normally he wouldn't do that, but he was taking too long, and Nephis had already suffered enough as it is…
Knowing full well he might be vulnerable for some time, he took the shadow out of his odachi and ordered to augment Nightmare.
After that, he ordered Nightmare to eliminate the Fallen Demon.
The tenebrous steed warped itself out of his master's body and galloped towards the enemies. An eerie, terrifying mist followed it as the ruby eyes glowed through the hall.
Both Tessai and Gunlaug stopped dead in their tracks, startled by the sudden appearance of the steed. But that didn't matter, they were not Nightmare's target.
The steed advanced, passing through the ward and the Bright Lord and jumping to the Fallen Demon, sinking the wolf-like fangs into the flesh of the distorted abomination.
After a second, the Fallen Demon was engulfed by darkness, the same one that constantly surrounded the steed, the next, both the Shadow and the Demon disappeared from the hall.
The moment left all baffled and in shock so much so one of them left their guard open.
Tessai felt his chest be pierced by the blood odachi of the Divine Shadow, it instantly broke through the ice barrier like it was nothing, tearing through his heart.
Sunless took his sword away and let the body of Tessai drop, not paying any attention to it as he now turned to Gunlaug, already feeling his mind being assaulted by the insidious mind-hex.
He grasped his head, frowning. Now that Nightmare was dealing with the Demon, the warden was free to try and affect his mind, including wrapping his perspective.
The ground was suddenly filled with dead bodies once more, all the victims of the Forgotten Shore, all staring at him with dead eyes…
Gunlaug swinged at him once again, beginning an exchange of skill and technique, once where Sunless was facing his very own perspective of the Bright Lord.
Someone experienced, skilled, powerful and overbearing.
And Sunless himself was at a disadvantage, because now that Nightmare's protection was gone, his mind was being played with by the warden.
Suddenly, he was no longer at the Bright Castle, now facing Gunlaug in a snowy mountain that made it harder to breathe. The mountains of Ravenheart.
The shift made him pause and stagger, giving Gunlaug a prime opportunity to push away the odachi and give a full, powerful front kick to Sunless' ribs. Launching him to the ground.
Crashing into the snow, he knew he couldn't stay there, quickly delving into the shadows and correcting himself. After that, he reemerged to meet Gunlaug.
But this time, the snow was gone, and he was at the top of the Soul-Devouring Tree, in the middle of the Ashen Barrow.
The weapons clashed once again, and as the sparks flew, they were at the Sanctuary of Noctis.
A roundhouse kick from Sunless later and they were at the Crimson Labilinth.
One punch from Gunlaug and they were at the Blightlands.
The process continued, the warden constantly swiching locations to keep Sunless off his feet, not let him get used to anything. Unfortunately, Sunless was a pratictioner of Shadow Dance, there was nothing he couldn't adapt to, the more the battle went, the more he could adapt.
And he had adapted to it already.
They were finally at the top of the cursed Crimson Spire, where the Crimson Terror had rained for so many years…
Sunless forced his odachi into a bind with Gunlaug's axe and forced into the ground, just like Nephis had done in the past, but this time, he didn't aim for the head.
Letting go of the bind, the odachi flashed through the air and suddenly changed directions, cutting off the arm of the past Bright Lord, the odachi easily cleaving through the fake golden armor.
But Gunlaug didn't give up as time seemed to slow down…
His other hand was extended, another axe began to be formed, one that was aimed directly at Sunless' head.
Before being shattered. Pierced through by the same odachi…
Using the position, Sunless brought his odachi down, the strike would pass through the armor, tear flesh, bone, and finally reach Gunlaug's heart.
In the last few moments, Sunny looked at the golden helmet that reflected the world around it…
"I'm sorry Gunlaug…"
A red glow flashed as the golden armor was defiled by the Divine Shadow's attack.
"But I will always respect your final choice."
Gunlaug's body fell, splattering on the ground with its arms open.
Sunless stared at him for what felt like a long time, remembering the events of the Forgotten Shore.
Gunlaug was a good person, he tried, really tried, to do the right thing… At least what he thought was right, but became a demon in the process, he realized that after the Fallen abomination attacked.
'That's why you went to face the Crimson Terror right? You wanted to face the very thing that tormented you for so long… And understood that after everything you did, you couldn't go back, you needed to pay for your sins…'
Sunless dismissed his helmet, letting his solemn expression show.
'I wouldn't commit the same mistakes, and one day, I may find you on the other side, and I will properly explain everything.'
He sighed, then turned, all the sorrow in his face replaced by anger to the one that made him relieve all of this.
"Well you wrecht? Have you had enough?"
Silence was the answer.
"What's next huh? Will you–"
A sharp pain ignited on his back. A blade of a weapon had pierced his armor and almost reached his right lung.
Sunless cursed himself, he let his guard down and fell for a simple trick.
He put his foot forward and used the ground as footing to take an impulse to take the blade out of his body.
Sliding through the ground, he turned around, expecting to meet the simulacrum of the Hunchback that killed his friend…
Only to meet the image of that very friend.
Sunny stood frozen, almost turning into a statue as a young man with tan skin, brown hair, and wearing tattered armor that protected his vital organs, all the while permitting him to be agile and lethal, wielding a teal spear that was clearly powerful. But the most striking feature was his green eyes that glowed on the dark altar of the Crimson Spire, displaying burning hate.
Sunny gritted his teeth, being forced to relieve his greatest failure.
The image of his friend, Caster Han Li, the most meaningless death that could have been avoided.
"To think I once called you a friend, my father was right, the Song Clan are scum."
Sunny looked down, clearly distressed and angered, grasping his right shoulder that was slowly healing…
"For the so-called Heir of Shadows, you sure didn't notice when one was about to kill me."
Sunless gave a mental command to Nightmare, his rage was so intense the steer even got surprised.
"I should have killed you and that bitch as soon as I–"
"SHUT UP! DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK!"
For a moment, silence ruled, before the image of Caster grew a twisted, impossible smile from ear to ear, his hatred replaced with amusement.
"Oh, but why? I'm having so much fun! Despite that damn horse trying to spoil it!"
His voice was all wrong, distorted and nothing like Caster.
"Did your cold facade finally break? I thought torturing your girlfriend for decades would be enough to make you an irrational madman, but I guess now you are!"
Sunless looked up with hollow, shadow eyes that were not deep enough to show how much he hated the bastard right at that moment.
"Oohhh… Scary! What's next? Should I make your sisters kill each other in front of you? Or your mother torturing your girlfriend! Well, to be fair I can only really do all of that once you are completely under the hex… And now, without the horse… You are slowly falling to it…"
Despite wanting to prove him wrong, Sunless couldn't deny that a mind-hex was beginning to settle at him, the proof was how his perspective was changing and the fact the warden was manipulating the scenario repeatedly.
Soon, the bastard may be able to manipulate things to the point he wouldn't even need to defeat Sunless.
'Nightmare, be FASTER!'
The mental command came in loud and clear, and the steed doubled his efforts.
Now, all Sunny could do was distract the warden, by battling his friend…
Together with his killer.
He heard chains rattling behind him rapidly, twisting through the air, forcing Sunless to delve into the shadows and rush backward, to the origin of the sound.
Harus continued to smile psychoticly as Sunless emerged beside him, an exchange began between chains and an odachi.
But Sunless was different now, he was done, he had to watch his friend and allies image being defiled by an inhuman bastard. Forced to fight them and face his biggest regrets…
Most importantly, he had to see only a fraction of what Nephis went through in the last two months… The pain and torture inflicted on her, the amount of times he saw an image of himself killing her…
And yet she still…
He was furious, he rushed through Harus, his anger fueling every strike, and they began piercing the Hunckback's defences. As the Aspect of making people blind was already being used, and was promptly useless, he could only use his skill.
Scratches began to appear on his skin, yet no blood dropped, as all were absorbed by the crimson odachi, the only thing left was a poison that would slowly consume him.
But as Sunless finally cut through the heavy chains, his blade inches away from cutting his opponent in two… He felt a presence behind him, and a weapon a second away from puncturing his head.
He delved into the shadows.
Underneath, he saw the simulacrum of Caster, having already finished the thrust that would take his head.
Instead of running, he reemerged from the darkness, appearing between the two. The action surprised both of his enemies as he started facing both.
The exchange was like a work of art, Sunless was pressuring Caster at the same time as he was parrying every chain that attempted to claw at him. After all, Harus was growing weaker and weaker, so deflecting the attacks of the rest of his chains was relatively easy.
Sunless moved like he was dancing, analyzing every inch of the fight like a book, cold wrath clouding his mind to everything else.
Until the chains stopped moving, Harus kneeled, the poison overcame him. Which let Sunless finally see with his normal eyes again without leaning on one of his shadows.
That gave Sunless everything he needed.
Dashing to the simulacrum of Caster, he slashed at him…
But he disappeared in a flash.
Sunless gritted his teeth as he raised his fist to deflect an attack that would have pierced his eye.
He rolled forward to dodge a devastating attack that destroyed the ground beneath it.
He raised his odachi, and a bind occurred, with the spear meeting the crimson blade.
Sunless stared at the now cold green eyes of Caster, not recognizing his past friend…
The next second, he felt the ground change, the scene change.
He was now at the training arena of the Awakened Academy, where he first sparred with Caster…
Where he really met his first friend…
Sunless sighed, looking at his friend again.
"I'm sorry Caster. I failed you…"
He headbutted Caster, then pushed into the bind, making him go backwards into a daze. Since Sunless' skin had been reinforced by his soul-bound Memory, only Caster received the real damage.
Once the simulacrum recovered, he looked up, only to see nothing.
A metal sound echoed behind Caster.
He immediately turned around, searching for his enemy, the one that had failed to be his friend…
Only to see the horrific figure of a tenebrous steed standing, metal hoofs crushing the ground, blood flowing out of its mouth, a terrifying gaze bearing on him…
The simulacrum froze for a moment, not understanding why the steed was there.
That cost him.
Because a crystal white blade pierced his heart.
Caster's green eyes widened as he understood that he had died. Soon life was extinguished from them, falling to the ground and revealing the culprit of the deed…
Sunless Song, the Hollow Death, gazing at the dead body of his first real friend for the second time, a hollow expression on his gaze…
Sunny fell to his knees, a sharp emotion flowing out of him as he felt an indescribable pain.
His gaze lingered on the body, soon, the image was distorted, the warden playing with him once more.
He saw Revel, dead on the floor.
He saw Eunbin, dead on the floor.
He saw Caera, dead on the floor.
He saw Hel, dead on the floor.
He saw Terra, dead on the floor.
He saw Moon, dead on the floor.
He saw Seishan, dead on the floor.
He saw Rain, dead on the floor.
He saw his mother, dead on the floor.
He saw all the people he cared about… His teachers, Effie, Cassie, Kira, Motza, Nix, Mei…
He saw Nephis, dead on the floor…
All of them stared at him with an accusing dead gaze, as if it was his fault, because he brought death to all of them.
He looked up to see Nightmare, the steed had finished his work.
But before doing anything, a distorted voice pierced his ears again.
"Now… How will you react to feeling powerless again?!"
The scene once again shifted, now there was nothing.
He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, touch, smell, he didn't feel anything.
He was back at the Dollhouse, fated to be stuck in there until he starved…
"No… Enough."
Sunless somehow stood up. He somehow was able to speak.
"Nightmare, end this."
The Shadow hoofed, and with a simple stomp on the ground, the reality shaked, and deformed.
In the nothingness, a scenario started to appear, a place, a Palace, somewhere Sunless held in an important place…
The Jade Palace, his home. More precisely, the throne room, and Sunless walked to the stairs going up the grand chair of his mother, looking at it intently…
Suddenly, the figure of a middle-aged man appeared in the middle of the hall. He was scared and deformed, and surprised, because he couldn't control anything.
"What… How?! I had you in my grasp!"
The warden let out curses as he began breaking down at the loss of his domain.
"The horse was too weak compared to the current me! It was mad beyond repair, how?! You destroyed my-!!"
"Enough."
Sunless' voice pierced the man like a dagger, immediately interrupting his infantile rant.
"Nightmare will keep you company while I take care of Nephis…"
Turning to the steed, he asked in a small, tired voice.
"Take me to her… And make sure this bastard suffers."
His Shadow looked deep into his master's eyes.
Soon, Sunless and Nephis were transported into a pleasant dream…
Meanwhile, the Nightmare turned to the warden, who made so many suffer.
The man smiled weakly.
"Damn you… You won't break me–!"
The place changed, and with it, the warden that tormented so many dreams…
Was about to understand a true nightmare.
— — —
Sunless opened his eyes to see a tranquil sea, blue and pristine, like a mirror was in the water.
He was no longer wearing his armor, once again using his uniform, all wounds had been healed. He felt… At peace.
The Sun began rising in a wonderful scene.
He couldn't help but stare in awe, it was truly beautiful, it reminded him of someone that…
'Nephis!'
He turned, looking around for her, only to find her right beside him, kneeling, still seemingly lost, but she was much better, now wearing the [Starlight Legion armor], her hair returned to the normal length, and all the scars were gone.
Sunny immediately crouched down, putting one knee down and calling for her in a hesitant voice.
"Neph…?"
She had been trapped under endless nightmarish simulations for two months, decades for her, she was bound to be affected.
Nephis shifted a little upon hearing him, then, she slowly looked up.
Her face was empty and numb, with her eyes lost, lacking humanity…
Until she saw him.
White sparks began flickering on her eyes, and she uttered a single word.
"S-u-nny…?"
He nodded.
"Yes, it's me, no longer a simulation. It's the real me Neph."
She didn't seem to believe him for a moment… But as her brows raised ever so slightly, she raised her hand weakly towards him.
He let her, not moving an inch as her fingers reached his heart…
And she felt something.
"Sunny…"
"Yes… I'm here, sorry for taking so long."
Her eyes ignited in white flames, feeling her Connection with him tell her everything she needed to know.
She raised her other hand and touched his shoulder, trailing towards his neck…
Then she pulled him into a hug.
She leaned on him, hugging him tightly, like he was the only anchor she had to the world.
He hugged her back, the hug was so strong Sunny fell on his… Well, ass.
But he didn't mind, trying to keep her comfortable, holding the back of her hair and her back.
Nephis was resting her face on his neck, the familiar warmth she felt when she was close to her was finally back.
After decades of being lost in dreadful dreams… She was free, and holding the one she cared about the most.
"I… Took you long enough…"
Sunny chuckled weakly…
"I know… But I promise, I won't ever leave you."
Nephis hesitated before moving away only enough to see his face.
"You promise?"
"With all my heart… I know now… I need you."
Nephis widened her eyes slightly, leaning on him, resting her head on his shoulder. Reaching her hand to his neck and caressing it.
"... I need you too."
Sunny hesitated for a moment, and gazed at her eyes. A well of hollow darkness met the fountain of white flames…
And after they faced their greatest nightmares… Both souls found comfort in each other…
They got closer, somehow understanding what the other wanted… Until their lips slowly met in a slow kiss.
The Spell whispered in Sunny's ears.
[Your Light Connection has Deepened.]
[Your Light Connection has Deepened.]
----------------
Sunny and Nephis in the mindspace->