The Fallen Demon was massive, a towering amalgamation of corrupted flesh and metal, but on the curved, slick surface of the colossal chain, its size was suddenly its greatest liability.
Cielle held the dark iron tethers completely taut. Her trousers were soaked from the mist, her heels dug so deeply into the rusted grooves of the chain that her toes were bleeding. Her massive white wings beat furiously behind her, functioning as an anchor against the violent, dragging pull of the struggling monster.
The Seraphic Domain, pulsed in the air between her and the beast. She wasn't just pulling physically; she was actively using the spatial manipulation to steal the lift from the beast's desperate attempts to right itself, subtly compressing the distance behind it and stretching the space in front of it.
She was slowly, methodically dragging it backward into the void.
The Fallen Monster roared, a sound of pure, terrified grinding. Its heavy jaw snapped wildly as it teetered on the brink of the chain's sloping edge. It looked up, its sickly orange eyes locking onto Cielle with hatred. It opened its maw, the orange light inside its throat flaring dangerously as it prepared to unleash a devastating torrent of boiling black fluid.
'Not today', Sunny thought.
He didn't run down the chain. He didn't risk slipping. He simply sank into the darkness beneath his own boots and instantly materialized from the elongated shadow cast by the beast's violently thrashing tail.
He appeared standing directly on the monster's massive, rusted back.
He didn't hesitate. He raised the Midnight Shard high, gripping the hilt with both hands, aiming for the narrow, vulnerable gap where the heavy iron plates of the beast's skull separated from the thick armor of its spine, right above the neck.
He drove the sword straight down.
The blade sank to the hilt. It sheared through the corrupted iron wire, pulverized the grinding gears, and severed the massive spinal column in a single, brutal stroke.
The beast let out a gargling, broken screech that was immediately swallowed by the howling wind. Its orange eyes flickered violently, dimmed, and died. The massive, corrupted body went completely, heavily limp.
Without the beast actively fighting against her pull, Cielle immediately released her grip. Her dark chains dissolved into sparks of light.
The sudden lack of tension, combined with the extreme angle of the creature's massive bulk, allowed gravity to finally assert its absolute dominance.
The colossal corpse of the Fallen Monster began to slowly, inexorably slide off the curved edge of the chain link.
Sunny ripped his sword free, jumping backward off the sliding corpse and landing hard on the center of the iron link. He watched as the massive beast tumbled silently over the edge. It fell into the howling wind, its dark silhouette shrinking rapidly until it was completely swallowed by the thick, swirling grey clouds of the Sky Below.
It was gone.
Sunny collapsed backward onto the cold, rusted iron.
He lay there on his back, staring up at the bruised purple sky of the Chained Isles. He was panting so heavily his chest ached, his muscles screaming in protest with every breath. A steady line of hot blood was trickling down his left arm from where the claws had grazed his armor, soaking into his dark sleeve.
They had actually done it. They had killed a Fallen Monster. On a slippery, curved chain. Over a bottomless pit. It was quite an achievement for him, not his best one but surely up there.
He let out a long, shuddering laugh
A moment later, he heard the soft, familiar rustle of feathers. He tilted his head back.
Cielle landed lightly next to him. Her wings folded neatly against her back with a crisp snap. The glowing ring that made up her domain had completely dissolved back into the mist.
She wasn't panting. She didn't look terrified by the near-death experience. Her hands weren't shaking from the adrenaline. In fact, she looked entirely composed, save for a small smear of rust on her cheek.
But as Sunny looked closer, he realized she wasn't perfectly calm.
She was standing near the edge of the massive chain link, looking down into the endless, swirling clouds where the beast had fallen. Her brow was deeply furrowed. Her jaw was set. It was a very rare, incredibly intense expression of profound annoyance.
She turned and walked over to where Sunny was lying on his back.
"Give me your bow," she demanded, holding out her hand, her voice perfectly flat.
Sunny blinked up at her, too exhausted to properly process the request. "My bow?" he rasped, coughing slightly. "Why?"
Cielle didn't answer. She just kept her hand extended, wiggling her fingers impatiently.
Sunny sighed, too tired to argue with her twisted logic. He weakly tapped his core, summoning the dark, long bow from the hands of Saint. It materialized in his grip, and he handed it up to her.
Cielle took the heavy weapon. She didn't test the string. She walked right back to the end of the massive chain link and peered down into the empty, howling abyss.
She calmly raised the bow, her muscles tensing as she drew the string back to her cheek. A long, lethal arrow made of condensed shadow formed on the rest. She aimed straight downward, staring into the thick grey fog where the completely still body of the Fallen Demon had vanished moments ago.
She released the string.
Thwip.
The shadow arrow shot downward, disappearing into the clouds.
She immediately manifested another arrow. Drew. Fired.
Thwip.
She manifested a third. Drew. Fired.
Thwip.
Sunny pushed himself up onto his elbows, wincing as the cut on his arm pulled. He stared at her back in absolute, bewildered disbelief.
"Cielle," Sunny called out over the wind. "What are you doing?"
"I am shooting it," she replied calmly, not taking her eyes off the drop.
She manifested a fourth arrow. Fired.
"I can see that," Sunny wheezed, rubbing his face with his uninjured hand. "But why? It's dead, Cielle. We literally severed its spine. It's currently falling into an infinite void of fiery nothingness. It is as dead as a thing can possibly be."
"I know," she said, knocking a fifth arrow. She adjusted her aim slightly to account for the wind , as if the corpse were still a viable target, and fired again.
"Then why are you wasting your essence to shoot it?!"
Cielle finally lowered the bow. She stood at the edge for another long second, watching the abyss, seemingly satisfied that her barrage of shadow arrows had reached whatever velocity the corpse was currently achieving.
She turned back to Sunny. She walked over, offering him the dark bow with a small, completely unapologetic shrug.
"It tore your armor," she stated simply, pointing at his bleeding arm. "And it hit me with its tail. I didn't like its face."
Sunny stared at the dark bow in her hand. He looked at her completely deadpan expression, the stray lock of orange hair blowing across her dirt-smudged face, and the pristine, divine wings resting calmly on her back.
'Is she being….. petty?'
Sunny started to laugh.
It started as a tired, painful wheeze in his chest, but quickly evolved into an exhausted laugh that echoed loudly over the howling wind of the Chained Isles. It was the laugh of a man who realized the universe was fundamentally absurd, and that the girl standing in front of him was its crowning achievement.
"Right," Sunny gasped, taking the bow back and letting it dissolve into his white sparks. He let his head fall back against the cold iron of the chain, staring up at the bruised sky, a wide grin breaking through his exhaustion. "Okay. Good to know. We don't like its face. That's a perfectly valid assessment."
Cielle tilted her head, slightly confused by his laughter, but she didn't question it. She sat down cross-legged next to him, uncapping a metal canteen she had materialized from gods knew where. She took a sip, then offered it to him.
"Do you want some water?" she asked. "Your essence is probably low, and you are bleeding."
"Yeah," Sunny smiled weakly, closing his eyes and letting the cold mist wash over his face. "Water sounds great. Just... give me a minute before we start walking again. The chain is making me dizzy. Oh, for your information, i dont bleed, its too damn pedestrian"
Cielle nodded, taking the canteen back and settling in beside him. "Take your time... What does pedestrian mean?"