Sunny was on top of a cliff, nearby the outer settlement. He was swinging his sword, practicing different katas and sword strikes.
The strikes were clean, muscle memory by now. That was the problem — they didn't require him to think, which meant his mind kept wandering back to things he didn't want to think about.
He was frustrated by how suddenly Nephis had taken leadership. After Leon... he had grown quite distant to Nephis and Cassie. He would mostly stay quiet, trying to avoid unnecessary attention.
But recently, it felt as though he was completely invisible. Like he was being ignored. Everywhere he went, people would ask him who he was, and the ones who knew him, didn't think much of him.
The only people who still sought him out daily were Nephis, Cassie, Effie, and Caster. Everyone else orbited Changing Star.
The outer settlement was brimming with life recently, as the great Changing Star was changing their lives.
He did not know what her goal was, or why she was doing any of this in the first place. Nephis never seemed like the charitable one.
Even though he came to trust her through their long journey through the crimson labyrinth, deep down, he questioned everything.
Cassie was more like his younger sister, he cared for her like family, but he tried avoiding her too because of the recent events.
Exhaling deeply, he wiped the sweat off of his brow as he stared onto the distant wall.
'Just where is this bastard?'
As soon as he thought that, a huge explosion caught his eye.
Sunny widened his eyes in horror as he saw the explosion.
His breath got caught in his mouth as he froze.
The explosion was so big, it covered the entire sky. It was far away from him, beyond the wall itself, but he could still see the explosion clearly.
He gripped his sword tightly. What if a possibly Fallen Titan tried invading the wall?
He rushed over to the building as he wanted to confirm with the others. The building, was none other than the headquarters for Changing Star.
But right then he stopped.
'Crown of Ember...'
It was a possibility considering the amount of charge it could hold. But what possible nightmare creature would Leon need to use it against?
Such a huge explosion would mean that the crown was possibly completely charged.
Shaking his head he rushed into the building and toward Changing Star's office.
He passed through many people who were panicking. Some were still oblivious to the huge noise, while others were restless.
In just a mere month, Nephis had already gathered such a huge fanbase. After storming the castle and killing one of Tessai's men, Nephis had become quite popular.
***
Nephis was in her office going through some documents, when a huge sound attracted her attention.
The entire room shook violently, while everything on the table clattered.
Immediately standing up, she rushed over toward the window and climbed onto the roof. After climbing up, she saw a huge dust cloud in the distance.
Nephis frowned. A Nightmare Creature could have tried invading the dark city. Her face paled as she watched the size of the explosion.
Gritting her teeth, she rushed back into her office. As soon as she got inside, Sunny and Cassie burst through the door.
Following them, Caster and Effie had also entered.
Caster locked the door behind them, then glanced at Sunny, before locking eyes with Nephis.
Nephis exhaled softly.
"Effie. Any idea of a creature that can cause that?"
Effie seemed to have lost her cheerful nature. Normally, she would joke around and lighten the room — but today, she had a dark expression on her face.
"I don't know of any nightmare creature that can cause that. However..."
She hesitated as everyone's attention turned toward Effie.
"There is a Fallen Tyrant in that very direction. The explosion may have originated from there."
She said as she clenched her fist.
Sunny frowned.
'Only that idiot would try killing a Fallen Tyrant...'
Nephis slowly nodded.
"We have to leave for a hunt soon. Effie, you go investigate that explosion."
Effie grinned.
"With pleasure."
She was more than happy to go and investigate that explosion, as she had a history the with the lord of the dead.
Sunny intervened in a low voice.
"It will be dangerous, I think I should join her. My shadows—"
He was interrupted by Caster.
"Lady Nephis. It might be too dangerous to send her alone."
Sunny's eyes twitched.
Nephis shook her head.
"Effie knows the dark city best. She is a pathfinder after all. The rest of us should focus on the hunt. If a nightmare creature truly caused that, we will need to have supplies."
Sunny wanted to retort, but before he could, many people burst through the door of Changing Star's office.
They began chanting her name, talking about the huge mushroom cloud in the distance.
Sunny clenched his fists and left the office with hurried footsteps.
Right as he was about to leave the building, a voice sounded behind him.
"Sunny."
He looked back to find Cassie, seemingly tired. Her hair looked disheveled, she looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"Was it him?"
She asked in a serious tone.
Sunny stared at Cassie's fragile body. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Go ask Changing Star, maybe she'll know."
Without waiting for a reply, he rushed out the building.
Cassie stood there, as a small tears slipped out of her eyes.
***
Effie was nervous. She wanted to desperately find out what happened to the lord of the dead, and yet she was scared to find out. Afterall, that very monster was responsible for the death of her master.
What if there was a bigger monster now?
She shook off her worries as she packed her bag full of food for the travel. Going alone was dangerous — but at the same time, it would be faster.
If Effie had found any sort of danger when she was there, then using her knowledge about the dark city, she could easily slip through and run away. Anyone else accompanying her would simply slow her down.
After preparing, Effie walked toward Nephis's office again. Opening the door, she saw Cassie talking with Nephis.
As soon as Effie entered, they stopped talking and stared at her.
"Uhh... am I interrupting something, princess?"
Nephis shook her head.
"Be careful Effie."
Effie nodded and left the room.
***
As Effie left the room, Cassie turned back to Nephis.
"What do you think?"
Nephis sighed.
"I don't know Cassie. He said his innate ability lets him cause explosions... But..."
Cassie nodded.
"It's probably a lie."
"Probably." Nephis pressed her fingers to her temple. "But I don't know what's happened to him. Or what he's capable of now."
She remembered that unfortunate day. Grimacing, she looked at Cassie who showed a tired look.
"Get some rest, Cas. After the hunt, I'll try to search for him."
Cassie slowly nodded as she got up to leave.
She reached for the door and right before opening it, she paused.
"Sunny, seems a bit..."
Her words died as they got out of her mouth.
The three of them had not talked a lot after Leon had been taken away by the tentacle monster. Nephis had been busy with the outer settlement. Sunny had always been the silent type, but without Leon constantly talking to the three of them, he had grown quiet distant.
Cassie herself had been too weak to affect anything. So she simply watched from the sidelines, with a few visions here and there.
Nephis frowned as she looked out the window.
"I'll talk to him."
Cassie nodded and left the room.
***
Inside the Bright Castle.
"L-Lord Gunlaug. There has been a huge explosion near the walls." One of his henchmen spoke to him, shivering constantly due to Gunlaug's oppressive aura.
Gunlaug sighed.
He was clad in his usual golden armor, from head to toe.
"Was it that woman?" Gunlaug asked, in his usual oppressive tone.
Harus suddenly entered the room. Gunlaug's most strongest lieutenant, and also his executioner.
"I doubt that wench is capable of something like that. It's probably a Nightmare Creature."
Gunlaug slowly shifted his gaze to Harus.
"Then it is going to be troublesome."
Harus shrugged.
"I'd say now is a great time to get rid of her."
A sudden laughter echoed through the room. It was Gunlaug's.
The henchmen from earlier was shuddering all over. He struggled to remain standing, while his gaze was stuck to the floor.
"If it is a Nightmare Creature, I'm sure Saint Nephis will be more than willing to get rid of it for us."
Saint Nephis had been the nickname the outer settlement had given her.
"But this new Nightmare Creature has given me a nice idea."
"If she perishes to it, better for us. If she doesn't..."
Gunlaug paused, as he slowly looked out the window.
"Call Kido. Tell her, I need memories that can be used for explosions."
Harus raised an eyebrow.
"Would it really be a good idea to blow up the outer settlement? People will lash out."
The air in the room suddenly grew cold. Gunlaug slowly turned toward Harus, who had already lowered his gaze.
"Not the settlement," Gunlaug said. "Their supplies. Food. Medicine. Whatever Changing Star has given them that they've stopped being able to imagine living without."
He paused. "Once you show people a better life, they become very fragile. All you have to do is take pieces of it away."
Harus let out a shaky breath.
"I'll inform her."
"Whenever this Nightmare Creature invades, they will run of resources eventually. Let us watch how much longer they adore Saint Nephis."
Harus bowed his head slightly.
"I understand, my lord."
Gunlaug nodded.
"The spy?"
"We have just sent someone recently. Although he isn't very skilled, he claims to be close friends with one of the members of Changing Star's personal cohort."
"And which one is that?"
Harus slowly looked at the henchmen beside him. The henchmen was still trembling. Harus punched the henchmen, causing him to fall down.
"A s-scout my lord! A scout!"
Gunlaug sighed.
"Tessai better bring me results with this one."
Then, Gunlaug slowly moved toward the door.
"Contact the lieutenants. Meet in the Bright Hall."
Harus bowed.
"Of course, my lord."
***
The huntress went through the complex maze of wide and narrow streets following a strange, convoluted path that only she knew.
Often, she would have to stop and hide, waiting for some unseen danger to pass.
Sometimes she walked under the empty sky, sometimes she dove into the weathered buildings and spent some time crawling through the piles of rubble inside.
Other times, Effie went straight through half-collapsed houses to emerge into secluded alleyways on the other side.
As she skillfully crossed the dark city, she approached one of the walls.
Using the joints between the granite slabs that were barely wide enough to insert a narrow blade, she began climbing the wall.
Climbing the wet granite was not an easy task, but she somehow managed. Effie's grip was monstrous however, combined with her aspect, she had no trouble scaling the wall.
She reached the top and observed the dark city below her. Looking at the gloomy place, she turned her head around and began walking.
The tall city wall she was standing on was as wide as a road. It stretched endlessly in both directions, enclosing the vast ruins into a strangely perfect circle.
Every so often, there were towers built into its impenetrable granite body, serving as bastions against potential enemies.
Effie's stomach began growling as she flinched. As much as she wanted to go and check out that pile of bones, she needed to conserve her strength.
Sighing, she began walking again.
Soon, she was closing in on one of the mighty towers built into the wall. The structure was round in shape, rising above the main embankment by a good dozen meters.
There was a wide wooden gate leading inside the tower, which was broken a long time ago, with only a few splinters remaining on the ancient iron hinges.
Entering the doorway, Effie was greeted to the sight of her old base.
'This is where I first met doofus and princess.'
She thought while smiling.
'And our cute little seer.'
She began rummaging through her bag as she opened several pieces of meat, and lit a fire.
Humming, she stretched, smelling the aroma of the cooked meat. She piled on layers and layers of meat, as the plate slowly turned into a mountain.
"Dinner time!"
She exclaimed, wanting to dig into that mountain as soon as possible.
"So much?"
Effie froze. She heard a voice that was not hers. Immediately, she summoned her spear and turned back.
Nothing.
She tried looking around, but saw absolutely nothing. Effie remained completely still as she readied to throw her spear.
Out of nowhere, she then noticed a young man with pale white hair standing directly in front of her, removing his hood. She saw that he wore an eyepatch, made of white silky material.
It was as though he had appeared out of thin air.
"Greetings."
But before he could finish his sentence, Effie threw her spear at him. To her dismay, the young man simply caught the spear in his hand.
For a moment, the young man's shadow seemed to disappear and reappear.
Blood dripped down from his hand slowly, as he lowered the spear and tossed it to the ground.
"These things are dangerous you know. You shouldn't be playing around with them."
He said in a calm voice.
He slowly locked eyes with her.
"You might get hurt."
Effie was stunned. She did not throw the spear at full strength, but even her normal throw was supposed to surpass any regular Sleeper. Yet the man in front of her simply caught it in his hand.
The spear vanished into white sparks.
"Who are you?"
Effie asked in a serious tone.
Normally, she would introduce herself to any sort of human that stumbled onto her. But this man felt too dangerous, it was as though he was radiating a sick kind of aura.
Effie's eyes twitched, it was as if her mind was being continuously eroded the moment she threw her spear.
The young man simply smiled.
"It's common courtesy to introduce themselves first, before asking someone else."
Effie did not listen to this words, she was simply trying to buy time before her spear had reappeared in her hand.
The fact that there was someone here, meant that either one of Gunlaug's men had followed her, or this was some Nightmare Creature.
Lunging forward, Effie slashed at the person in front of her.
The young man simply dodged her blow as he summoned a scythe.
Effie looked at the scythe and shuddered, it looked black in color with a red blade, a sort of fog continuously emanating from it.
The scythe shot at her as Effie parried it with her spear. She put all her strength into one blow and shot her spear forward.
It was blocked by his scythe, but he was shot outside the tower at a great speed.
Effie rushed outside, wanting to end it. But before she could, the young man had disappeared once again.
Looking around Effie swung her spear randomly, because she simply couldn't sense his presence at all.
Right then, a scythe shot at her spear. Effie lost the grip on the spear, and was shot out of her hand.
Gritting her teeth, she finally noticed the young man. Putting all her strength into her fist, she shot her hand to his face.
The young man grinned as he lunged at her, letting the fist slide beside his face. He then rotated his body and grabbed her punching arm.
Before Effie could even realize what had happened, she was lifted from the ground and tossed over the wall.
'Huh...'
The sequence was so fast her brain couldn't even process what had happened. Effie was falling down the wall.
She frowned and tried to summon her spear. It would take too long however as Effie gained more and more momentum.
Even with the spear now, she would not escape unscathed.
For a moment, Effie thought that she had lost her life.
Right before she hit the ground however, a large pair of claws caught her mid-air.
Effie grimaced in pain as the talons had scratched her, and yet that scratch felt like a knife wound.
She was then thrown onto the ground. Before she could get up, her entire body was pinned down by the same large talons.
Effie looked up to find a large, black bird staring down at her with crimson eyes. She lost all strength in her body as she stared at the bird.
It was simply huge. Effie had faced a lot of things on the Forgotten Shore. She had faced them loudly and with significant enthusiasm.
In this moment, however, looking up at those eyes, she found she had nothing to say.
"Let's start again shall we?"
She heard the same voice again.
Effie saw the young man, slowly approaching her.
"Greetings."
The young man leaned down and smiled.