Some time later, Sunny found the time to dove into the Soul Sea and take a look at the new Memory he had gotten.
It was a heavy round shield forged from dull, lusterless, dark steel. Inside of it, visible only to him, a complex weave of ethereal strings shone with stark radiance.
Memory: [Dusk Shard].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: II.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Forged from a shard of a fallen star, this shield contains the weight of the heavens. Depending on the heart of its wielder, it can be light as a feather or heavy as regret.]
Memory Enchantments: [Indomitable].
Enchantment Description: [Following the will of its master, the Dusk Shard can change its weight.]
Sunny frowned.
This enchantment… at first glance, it seemed very unassuming. People usually thought about the weight of their weapons only when they considered how much endurance they would need to wield them. In that regard, the lighter the weapon was, the better — a light weapon could allow a person to fight longer without growing tired, which often meant the difference between victory and defeat.
However, things changed when it came to the Awakened, who often possessed inhuman strength and endurance. Light weapons had their role to play, but more often than not, what you really needed was force. And the more mass something had, the more force it could produce.
In the past, Sunny had only considered shields as a defensive tool. But after watching Effie and Stone Saint use them in battle, he realized that in the hands of a trained warrior, a shield could be as destructive and deadly as a sword. Sometimes much more so.
Just imagining Effie bashing someone with a shield that weighed a few hundred kilograms sent shivers running down his spine. Not to mention that the weight could be changed on the fly, making it light to maneuver faster, then turning it into an improvised siege ram at the right moment.
But even in terms of pure defense, a shield that could be turned into a literal wall was priceless. He could see a monster such as the Spire Messenger colliding with it… and simply bouncing off in the chorus of shattering bones.
...Maybe.
Granted, Sunny never trained with a shield, and the sword he used demanded two hands to be wielded properly. But where there was a will, there would be a way.
With a slight smile, Sunny summoned the Dusk Shard. The sparks of light appeared in a whirlwind around his arm. A few long seconds later, the silhouette of a large round shield weaved itself into reality. After a few more seconds, and the Memory was fully formed.
'How ni… oh crap!'
With a surprised yelp, Sunny staggered and toppled over. Luckily, he fell on top of the dull iron shield — otherwise, he might have been crushed under its weight.
'This... is so heavy!'
The damn thing was heavier than he had ever expected. In fact, it was probably too heavy for him to even lift, let alone carry around.
The members of the cohort glanced at Sunny, who was struggling to stand up, with perplexed expressions.
Gritting his teeth, Sunny rose to one knee and awkwardly tried to lift the shield off the ground. However, no matter how hard he tried, he only managed to drag it by a few centimeters.
"Curses!"
'Alright, I admit it. It's too damn heavy! Let's reduce the weight a little…'
But a few seconds later, his face froze.
'...This can't be. No way!'
However, the truth was hard to deny.
He... couldn't change the Dusk Shard's weight at all.
The enchantment that was supposed to allow Sunny to do that was there, but it required him to actively manipulate the soul essence — shadow essence, in his case — to access it.
The most powerful enchantments were all like that. And the higher a Memory rank, the more probable it was for the enchantments it possessed to be really powerful.
The problem was that Sleepers had no way to control and manipulate their soul essence.
Sunny didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What were the chances of him coming to possess not one, not two, but three whole Ascended Memories… only to find out that two of them were completely unusable, while the third one required him to somehow become a master marksman to avoid dying from blood loss?
'Damn it! Damn it all! But especially damn that damned Fated attribute!'
While Sunny was grinding his teeth in outrage, Effie approached him and glanced down from her considerable height. Then, she leaned forward, took the Dusk Shard by the rim, and lifted it — along with Sunny — from the ground, seemingly without too much strain.
"That's it, then? The Memory you got from the pale bastard?"
Finally standing up with the help of the huntress, he stared at her for a long time, his expression unreadable. Then, he suddenly smiled:
"Yes. By the way, Effie. We're friends, aren't we? See, I couldn't help but notice that your shield Memory was destroyed in that last fight. How about…"
She rolled her eyes.
"Wait, don't tell me... Sunny's Shady Emporium is open for business again?"
He blinked a couple of times, then grinned:
"Why yes! How did you know?"
The huntress glanced down at the heavy shield, squinted, and said in a cautious tone:
"Well… what do you want in exchange?"
Sunny thought for a bit.
"That bottomless bag of yours. And two other Awakened Memories."
Before Effie could come to a decision, though, Nephis interrupted their conversation. Coming closer, she glanced at the huntress first, then at Sunny, and finally at the shield.
Finally, she asked:
"How about giving it to Effie in exchange for another Ascended Memory? One more suited to your technique. "
Sunny dismissed the Dusk Shard and hesitated for a bit, looking at Changing Star with doubt. Was this her ploy to get the Shard Memory from him?
If she had an Ascended Memory all this time, why had she been hiding it? And where could she have gotten one, to begin with?
After a while, he said:
"I don't know. Show me the Memory, and then we'll decide."
Nephis silently stepped closer and took his hand. Then, a spark of energy traveled from her body to his.
The Spell whispered:
[You have received a Memory.]
Throwing a dubious glance at Nephis, Sunny summoned the runes and found the name of the Memory he had received. His shadow tilted its head, surprised.
Shimmering in the air in front of him, a string of runes read:
Memory: [Moon Shard].
Chapter 262: Path to Damnation
'Another Shard Memory?'
Sunny raised an eyebrow, glanced at Nephis, and turned back to the runes. His eyes glistened.
Memory: [Moon Shard].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: I.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [When the stars were extinguished and fell, a lonely moon remained in the empty sky. With no sun to shine upon it, the moon grew dim, withered, and died. As the last remnants of moonlight were devoured by darkness, one small shard was forged into this subtle blade.]
Memory Enchantments: [Unseen].
Enchantment Description: [Forged from moonlight, this blade appears in the hand of its wielder without delay.]
Sunny's pupils widened slightly. With a tense frown, he summoned the Moon Shard.
A graceful dagger with a long and slender blade appeared in his hand. It tapered to a needle-like point and had a simple cross-guard, with a handle made from glossy black wood. The most striking feature of the dagger was that it seemed to be forged out of clear, misty glass. That glass, however, appeared to be as strong as steel… and much, much sharper.
In the darkness of the underground cavern, the ghostly stiletto was nearly invisible.
What really stunned Sunny, though, was not its look or its rank, but the fact that the moonlight blade had appeared in his had instantaneously. There had been no sparks of light, no process of weaving itself into existence from nothingness. The dagger was simply suddenly there, as if it had always been that way.
This… this was an incredible enchantment. It might not have seemed that powerful, but Sunny instantly understood that there was a lot more to this simple trait than most people would assume.
Once summoned, Memories took time to form. The Dusk Shard had weaved itself into existence in about six to eight seconds. But even if it was just a single second, like the time it took Neph's silver sword to appear, the process was still not instantaneous. What's more, the appearance of a Memory was telegraphed in advance by the dancing sparks of light.
In short, it was very hard to take the enemy by surprise by suddenly summoning a Memory. A skilled opponent would always have enough time to notice it and react accordingly — unless they were lured into a cunning trap by a sword savant like Changing Star. But even then, it wasn't easy to plan and execute such a move.
Yet all of that didn't apply to the Moon Shard. The slender blade of the ghostly dagger could appear out of nowhere in an instant and immediately strike at the target.
'...What an insidious little thing.'
It was uniquely suited to Sunny's preferred method of engaging the enemy, indeed. He liked to strike from the shadows and kill with one strike. With the ghostly blade in his arsenal, though, he would not even have to hide in the darkness in order to deliver an unexpected and deadly blow.
No one would see it coming.
Not to mention that it was an Ascended Memory. Armed with the Moon Shard, Sunny would finally be able to wound and kill Fallen creatures — even without the miraculous enhancement of the Crown of Dawn.
His own shadow would be more than enough.
Granted, he would have to get really close and personal to a monster in order to use the dagger. But still, at least with it, he stood a chance.
Suppressing a satisfied smile from appearing on his lips, Sunny turned to Nephis and asked in an incredulous tone:
"Where did you get this thing?"
She lingered for a few moments, then said:
"North of the Dark City."
Sunny nodded. That made sense. There was another red cross on her map, about a week's worth of traveling time north of the ruins. It was drawn near a symbol resembling a grotesque, misshapen skull.
Changing Star had indeed been busy in the three months that he had spent hunting monsters on the dark streets of the cursed city.
Now, five of the Shard Memories were accounted for: Dawn Shard, Zenith Shard, Dusk Shard, Midnight Shard, and Moon Shards. Only two remained.
Sunny wondered which statue they were tied to, and whether someone out there already held them in their hands.
…It didn't matter that much for now, though.
With a sigh, he dismissed the ghostly dagger and said:
"I have to warn you that the enchantment on that shield requires an Awakened to activate it. It is supposed to be able to change its weight and mass freely, but actually, it's just stuck being stupidly heavy."
Nephis glanced at Effie, who just shrugged.
"I'm fine with it as is."
Sunny finally allowed himself to smile.
"...Ah, that's great then. We have a deal."
***
In the end, they had to spend a couple of days in the vast underground cavern. Nephis had to recover from her ghastly wound and the strain of healing the rest of the cohort, while all of them had not liked the idea of venturing back into the mist with their Memories damaged.
Eventually, though, they were ready to head back.
Sunny used this short moment of respite to rest and practice Shadow Dance, slowly moving toward his goal of mastering its first step.
He knew that there was nothing but bloodshed ahead of them. First, they would have to fight their way through the untold horrors of the Labyrinth. And once they reached the Dark City…
The last act of this messed-up play would begin.
Looking back, he couldn't believe how far he had come in these past eight months.
When Sunny arrived on the Forgotten Shore, he was weak and inexperienced.
His first fight against a single carapace scavenger almost cost him his life.
And now, here he was, standing near the corpse of a Fallen Monster he had killed with his own two hands.
From barely killing a single carapace scavenger, to almost losing his life in a fight against a carapace centurion, to summoning a horror of the depths and finishing off the Carapace Demon.
From entering the Dark City not knowing anything about it to hunting down dozens of Nightmare Creatures on its cursed streets, to fighting against a horde of undead monsters in the catacombs beneath it.
From venturing back into the Labyrinth of his own free will and waging war against the tribe of monstrous spiders to riding on the shoulder of an ancient giant and battling Fallen abominations and hordes of Awakened creatures.
From finding a nameless grave in the foothills of the Hollow Mountains to witnessing the last resting place of the First Lord in their depths.
He had lived through so much, endured so much, and accomplished so much.
Of course, there had not been only victories. He had tasted defeat, too... a lot of it. Both in battle and in his tentative attempts to build human relationships with other prisoners of this desolate hell.
He had experienced pain, sorrow, and despair.
...And he was going to taste even more of it soon.
Turning his head slightly, Sunny looked at his companions. Nephis, Cassie, Kai, Effie, and Caster were busy with final preparations for their long return journey.
How many of them would be alive by the end of all of this?
Closing his eyes, he sighed.
It was not going to be easy to survive the finale.
But Sunny was determined to show the rest of the world what he was really made of.
He was going to win. He was going to be the last one standing.
No matter what he had to do.
…Even if doing it would break him.
Chapter 263: The Beginning of the End
Three months later, a group of six battered humans appeared from the sea of crimson coral and approached a magnificent white arch. Moving with the precision of experienced predators, they swiftly slaughtered a few transient creatures that hid in the deep shadow cast by the ancient structure, stripped them down for meat, and swiftly climbed up.
Against all odds, the cohort had survived the journey back to the Dark City.
…If only barely.
Looking north from the top of the marble arch, Sunny saw the distant grey wall. His gaze lingered on it, full of exhaustion, triumph, and dark apprehension.
Finally, they had returned.
The past three months had been an endless bloody nightmare, with countless horrors and battles leaving their marks on him. And yet, they had also been an anvil against which he was tested, tempered, and made stronger as the result.
Sunny didn't have a mirror, but was sure that his appearance changed a lot. He could tell just by looking at other members of the cohort.
Changing Star's white armor was now covered by numerous scratches and tears that even the restorative effect of the Soul Sea couldn't heal. Her silver hair was longer, reaching to the middle of her back. The ivory face of their leader had grown thin, with dark circles visible under her striking, burning grey eyes.
Caster changed even more. The neat and dignified young scion was nowhere to be seen: instead, a man with disheveled hair and a short scruffy beard stood in his place, his face dark and grim. Sometimes, Sunny thought that he could even see a grey hair or two in his luscious mane.
Kai was still beautiful and elegant, but most of his charm was hidden under layers and layers of dirt, dust, and dried blood. The stylish armor he had worn was now long gone, destroyed in one of the vicious battles they had fought, and replaced by a rather unflattering garment that seemed to be woven out of bluish seaweed.
The archer also wielded a new bow, this one long a powerful, fashioned out of two curved horns that had belonged to a creature that Sunny would rather not think about. Suffice it to say, this Memory was of the fifth tier and truly deadly.
Effie was much the same, except for the fact that she had become even leaner, her robust musculature not covered even by a gram of fat. The huntress wielded two Shard Memories, both responsible for sending dozens upon dozens of Nightmare Creature to their deaths. Her archaic bronze armor was dented all over, but somehow still held together
Cassie was the youngest of them, so the changes that had happened to her were perhaps the most pronounced. By now, she had lost most of her childish softness and had turned into a beautiful young woman that looked to be on the cusp of adulthood. She had three Echoes tied to her core now, one given to her by Nephis, the other one by Kai.
With the help of her Echoes and the Dark Wing, Cassie was now able to move and participate in battles almost as if she was not blind.
…Almost.
And then there was Sunny himself. He was perhaps even more beaten and battered than the rest of them, the Puppeteer's Shroud almost coming apart at the seams. His hair was long, messy, and in desperate need of a good wash.
Sadly, his skin was still as pale as that of a corpse. He was also unable to grow even a bit of scruff, let alone a real beard.
But, oh well… why care about the little things?
Summoning the runes, Sunny found a particular cluster and glanced at it.
The runes shimmered in the twilight of the approaching night.
Shadow Fragments: [938/1000].
A dark smile appeared on his lips.
'Almost.'
***
In the past three months, Sunny had participated in countless battles. His main responsibility was that of a scout, and as such, he was not a part of the cohort's main strike force. But even then, he had faced and slain more than a hundred Nightmare Creatures.
Closer to two hundred, in fact.
Among them were beasts, monsters, as well as a few demons and even a devil or two. Sunny absorbed the remnants of their shadows and used his share of the soul shards to trade for Memories with other members of the cohort, which he then fed to the Stone Saint.
And now, he was so close to reaching full saturation of his Shadow Core.
His prowess and physique were considerably enhanced, too. Somewhere along the way, Sunny had crossed the line of humanly possible and was now firmly in the realm of inhuman ability. He was faster, stronger, and more enduring than any mundane human could ever hope to be.
His shadow had grown much more potent, too, since its enhancement increased proportionally to his own power.
…Or was it the other way around?
In any case, Sunny felt that when the shadow was wrapped around his body, he was now almost at the level of an actual Awakened. Very few Sleepers on the Forgotten Shore could challenge him in terms of raw power.
Of course, all of them had deadly Aspect Abilities of their own.
…And several of the most deadly Sleepers among them were all right here, with him, setting up camp and getting ready to cook him food.
Sunny wasn't sure, but guessed that Effie and Caster had already fully saturated their Soul Cores, beating him to it — the huntress because of the years she had spent hunting monsters on the streets of the Dark City, and the Legacy because of the soul shards his clan must have provided him before his first journey into the Dream Realm.
Nephis… Sunny wasn't sure. Logic dictated that she should have reached the point of saturation before Sunny did, but he still saw her absorbing shards after each battle. So either she did not, or her Aspect had other uses for the excess soul essence.
Or she was just putting on an expensive show.
Kai and Cassie were behind him in terms of the amount of accumulated essence, but not by much. Each of them was now a powerhouse, just like the rest of the cohort.
Looking at the people busying themselves with mundane tasks of setting up the camp, Sunny inhaled deeply and smiled.
"Ah. Aren't we a sight to behold?"
Chapter 264: First Things First
They truly were.
When leaving the Dark City behind, Sunny had known how powerful the members of the cohort were. However, he had not quite realized just how well-rounded and perfectly suited to face various challenges presented by the Labyrinth their group was.
With Nephis, Effie and Caster leading the charge, most Nightmare Creatures populating the forest of crimson coral had little chance to survive, not with the Crown of Dawn pouring raw power into the armor and weapons of the cohort, at least. Each of the three was a deadly and versatile fighter, with their own unique approach to combat and strengths that complemented each other.
With the three slayers holding off the opponents while being supported by Kai from above, very few things could stand in their way.
Night himself had turned out to be an astonishingly deadly presence on the battlefield, as well. With the Blood Arrow providing him with a conditionally endless supply of arrows, he could just stay in the air, out of reach of the abominations that had no way to attack at range — which was most of them — and pick them out with well-aimed shots.
With the addition of the formidable horn bow, the distance at which he could hit the target had increased tremendously, allowing him to eliminate some of the enemies long before they had gotten close enough to the cohort for an effective attack. His opening salvo had made a lot of battles much less problematic.
Of course, Kai couldn't fly above the Labyrinth with impunity. The grey sky was full of danger, too, and by separating himself from his companions, he risked being attacked and torn apart by the abominations that populated it. He had to maintain a fragile balance.
But the flying Nightmare Creatures were a threat to the cohort regardless of whether or not the charming archer rose into the air or not. Actually, this was the type of enemy they were equipped to fight the least. That's why Kai's ability to fly had turned out to be priceless.
Especially because he was usually able to fly faster or at least maneuver better than most of the creatures that dwelled in the sky. More than once, they had survived only because the archer was able to draw the fury of the aerial abominations and dodge their attack long enough to either fell them with a perfectly aimed arrow or give his companions a chance to join the fight.
Sunny and Cassie usually protected the rear of the cohort to prevent anything from attacking their companions from the back — which happened more often than one would hope. With the help of the Stone Saint and the Quiet Dancer, and later the other two Echoes belonging to the blind girls, they were able to hold off anything until the main force was done with their share of the opponents and joined the fray.
That was not to say that their role in the cohort was less important.
If anything, Sunny was convinced that what they did was more vital to the survival of each member of the cohort than what the fighters were doing.
It was true that, with the help of the Dawn Shard, the cohort was well equipped to handle most monsters of the Labyrinth. What they truly had to fear were the creatures that defied all logic, the perils that the human mind could not even comprehend, and the Labyrinth itself — as well as the dark waters of the cursed sea and the ancient horrors that dwelled beneath them.
That was what Sunny and Cassie had to protect the group from.
As Sunny absorbed more and more shadow fragments, the range at which he could control his shadow grew exponentially. By now, the shadow could move almost as far as a whole kilometer ahead of the cohort, scouting for any potential threat and giving them plenty of time to decide if they wanted to fight or change course and avoid the danger entirely.
If anything, it had become a little feral and now preferred to wander around aimlessly and far away, returning to Sunny only when specifically commanded to do so.
But regardless of that, the value of being able to see and identify their enemies in advance was impossible to overestimate. It was just too valuable. In battle, the tiniest advantage could decide the difference between life and death, and the advantages of knowledge and the first strike were possibly the most important.
However, there were things on the Forgotten Shore that even Sunny could not see, predict, or escape from.
That was where Cassie's affinity to revelations and miraculous intuition came into play. She was responsible for preventing the cohort from stumbling into anything that would destroy their very souls before anyone could even understand what was happening, or something that simply could not be defeated.
If not for Cassie, a sudden storm or a creature aking to the Soul Devourer — or something even more terrifying — would have ended their lives long before they returned back to the Dark City.
But even with all that, every day in the Labyrinth brought them to the very verge of death. No matter how strong, well-rounded, and well-equipped the cohort was, the nightmares of the Forgotten Shore were always more powerful, unpredictable, and bizarre, making any and all preparations useless.
In the end, the only reason that none of them had died from grievous wounds, sickness, or infection was because of Changing Star's healing flames.
In the three months that they had spent traveling through the Labyrinth, Sunny fully understood why healers were so sought after among the Awakened. He knew it before, in theory, but only after being subjected to the daily terror of their journey had he realized how life-changing — literary — the presence of a healer in the cohort truly was.
And so, just like that, they had done the unthinkable and managed to travel all the way from the edges of the Forgotten Shore back to its center — thanks to their power and resolve, their foresight, their strength, and their ability to rely on and help each other.
As well as, in large part, pure dumb luck.
And now that they were about to return to the cursed haven of the Dark City, their luck was about to be tested as it had never been tested before.
…But that was for later.
First, the members of the cohort had to fulfill their obligation to Sunny.
He had joined this expedition on a certain condition, after all.
Glancing once again at the distant grey wall, Sunny clenched his fists. The corner of his mouth curled up in a vicious grin.
'...Wait a bit more, bastard. Your day of reckoning is coming.'
In two days, they were going to kill the Black Knight.
Chapter 265: Hateful Shadow
Turning away from the distant wall of the Dark City, Sunny closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and let go of his anger.
He had to keep his head cool, for now. Killing a Fallen Devil was not going to be an easy task. It might even turn out to be his undoing.
...But he was determined to see it done. The debt of blood he owed that creature had to be repaid, no matter what.
Walking over to the fire, Sunny sat down and tried to remember the details of their previous stay on this old, weathered marble arch. What a fun couple of days that had been.
Rather pleasing on the eye, too...
His shadow shook its head dejectedly and turned away.
Soon, Nephis handed him his share of the food. Her culinary skills had improved a lot during these months — despite the fact that there had not been a large variety of ingredients at their disposal. Still, being able to turn the most repulsive of monsters into a delicious meal was something that not everyone was capable of.
'This should be a separate course at the Academy.'
Teacher Julius had taught him how to consume various things in the Dream Realm without ending up poisoned to death, but he had neglected to go in-depth on how to actually make them taste good.
Sinking his teeth into a juicy piece of meat, Sunny forgot about his troubles for a bit and simply enjoyed this rare moment of bliss. Disposing of the meat, he smiled in satisfaction and wiped his hands on the soft fabric of the Puppeteer's Shroud. Then, he glanced at Nephis and asked:
"We should be able to reach the city tomorrow, yes?"
She gave him a nod.
"...If nothing happens."
Sunny thought for a bit, then said in a curious tone:
"Do you think Gunlaug knows that we are coming back?"
Nephis thought for a few moments before replying. Her voice was calm and indifferent.
"Definitely."
Sunny sighed. This was his conclusion as well: back when he had first entered the Bright Castle, he had learned from Caster about a certain Artisan that could track the general location of anyone a person had ever met. This was how Caster knew how many Sleepers of their crop had been sent to the Forgotten Shore.
Even if Gunlaug possessed no other method to learn of their approach, all he had to do was ask that woman.
Sunny shifted a little and asked:
"Should we expect a welcoming party?"
Changing Star shook her head.
"I don't think so. There's no need for him to do anything. Gunlaug knows that we will come to him of our own free will… simply because there's nowhere else for us to go."
She fell silent for a while, and then added:
"But most of all, this has never been about killing me or my people. It was always about destroying the ideas I represent. What's the point of crushing me if no one is there to see it? Gunlaug won't do anything without an audience. He had sent Harus to stop us from escaping the stage, but now that we are back on it, there is no need for him to rush the inevitable."
Everyone listened to the conversation with dark expressions. Sunny glanced at them, hesitated for a bit, and asked:
"Are you confident that you can defeat him?"
Nephis stared at the fire. After a while, she simply said:
"Yes."
Hearing that, Sunny smiled sweetly.
"Well, good for you, but I am not. So let's finish our deal before the lot of you get killed by that maniac. Alright?"
A corner of Neph's mouth curled upward.
"You are talking about the Fallen Devil?"
He nodded.
"Yes. The bastard. You promised to help me kill him, remember?"
Meanwhile, Kai was looking at him with a complicated expression. Finally, not able to hold back, he asked:
"Sunny… are you really not going to join us? Don't… don't you see that we only have one chance to escape this place? Not to mention all the lives we can save!"
Sunny shrugged. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure on that point himself. On one hand, he had no desire of helping Nephis achieve her insane goal. On the other hand, things that she had set in motion were going to happen with or without him.
What was he going to do, hide in his cathedral and wait until there was no one else left alive on the Forgotten Shore?
Some fate that would be…
"Maybe I'll join you, and maybe I won't. Who knows what will happen?"
He fell silent and cast a sideways glance at Cassie.
Actually, at least three people here knew what would happen… more or less.
'It's hard to escape fate.'
"That's not the point though, is it? The point is that you should conclude our deal first and do whatever it is you wish to do later..."
Changing Star faced the two of them and calmly ended that conversation:
"Sure. No problem. We'll go to the cathedral first. A deal is a deal, after all."
Sunny smiled with satisfaction.
Nephis glanced at him and added:
"But, Sunny… how exactly are we supposed to kill a Fallen Devil?"
His smile widened.
"Oh! I'm glad that you asked…"
***
Sunny had been making plans on how exactly to kill the Black Knight for more than half a year now. Prior to leaving the Dark City, he had spent two entire months observing the terrifying fiend and trying to learn everything there was to know about him.
Needless to say, the task of slaying a creature that powerful was not going to be trivial. In fact, it was going to be the hardest battle they had fought yet.
It almost seemed impossible.
But was it, really?
The fight against the Spire Messenger, who had turned to be a Fallen Monster, nearly cost several members of the cohort their lives. They had barely been able to hold off against the creature of its class, and a devil was ten times more dreadful.
However, there was a big difference between the Messenger they had faced and the Black Knight.
That difference was, basically, very simple.
It was that Sunny did not hate the Messenger with all his dark, vindictive heart.
And now, that hate was going to tip the scales in their favor.
Chapter 266: The Devil You Know
At the core of it, things were indeed rather simple. Sunny hated the Black Knight enough to do his due diligence and thus spent an incredible amount of time studying it. He was so motivated to kill the creature that had hurt him that he had even gone so far as to settle in the same old cathedral as the devil.
As a result, Sunny had become a singular expert on everything having to do with the Black Knight. He knew his strengths, he knew his weaknesses, the patterns of his behavior…
And, most importantly, he knew what type of unnatural powers the devil possessed.
Unlike Nightmare Creatures of lower ranks, devils had access to bizarre and harrowing powers that were akin to the Aspect Abilities of the Awakened. That was what made them so dangerous, and that was why the fact that Sunny had learned the Black Knight's power was so vital.
Unlike the Spire Messenger, whom they had to fight blind, the cohort was going to go into battle with the Fallen Devil fully aware of what they would face. As such, they could plan, come up with strategies, and make preparations.
Knowing your enemy was half the victory.
The second half was knowing yourself.
The smile disappeared from Sunny's face. Leaning forward, he said:
"The Black Knight is truly a living nightmare. He is as strong, fast, and indestructible as you would imagine a Fallen Devil to be. I've seen countless creatures fall to his sword — no matter their shape, size, rank, or class. He is just too powerful."
Effie giggled.
"You're not really making your case, Sunny. You know that, right?"
He glanced at her and grinned.
"That's not even the worst part. What really makes him an incarnation of death is not his astonishing might, but the darkness that lives in the grand hall of the cathedral and seems to obey him. When wrapped in that darkness, the Black Knight can move fast, unseen, and without making a single sound. His physical traits are vastly enhanced, turning him into an unstoppable engine of slaughter."
Sunny grimaced.
"What's more, any damage done to him is instantly repaired as long as he is surrounded by the darkness. Inside of it, he is basically immortal."
The members of the cohort glanced at each other with dubious expressions. Only Changing Star remained indifferent.
A tentative smile appeared on Sunny's face. Turning to Nephis, he said:
"But that is where you come in, Neph. With your radiant light, that darkness will vanish. Your flames can strip the bastard of his greatest weapon. Without his dark power, the Black Knight is nothing more than a powerful abomination. He will be only slightly more dangerous than a demon of the same rank."
Caster stared at him and said, his voice flat:
"You say it as though a Fallen Demon is an easy enemy to face."
Sunny shook his head.
"No, I am not saying that. I fully understand how hard that fight will be. In fact, I understand it better than any of you. The truth of the matter is that even with the Dawn Shard, our weapons won't be able to wound him. Not because his flesh is too tough, but because he is covered in heavy armor from head to toe. I am not even sure that there is any flesh beneath it, to be honest. There is only one chink in his armor, and that is the visor of the helmet."
The Black Knight had two burning red embers instead of eyes, so Sunny didn't even know if the bastard had a face.
Kai shifted a little and said with uncertainty:
"So the only way to kill him is to hit the crack of the visor? I am… I am not sure that this is possible. On a fixed target, sure. But on a moving one, especially one that fast and deadly… I can't promise that I'll manage that."
The others nodded, expressing their agreement.
Sunny smiled.
"Ah, yes. That would indeed be tough. Luckily, we don't have to."
He paused for a moment, and then revealed the secret that had taken him a long, long time to uncover:
"The truth is, the visor is a trap. It seems like a weak spot, but it's not. The real weakness of the Black Knight is not even protected by the armor."
A dark expression appeared on his face.
"It's his sword."
Indeed, after observing the devil for months, Sunny had come to the conclusion that the secret to destroying the damned thing hid not in finding a way to pierce the bastard's armor, but in destroying his terrifying greatsword.
By watching the Black Knight fight against countless Nightmare Creatures, Sunny had been able to notice a curious pattern. Just like the members of the cohort, the abominations who wandered into the cathedral tended to instinctively go for the eyes of its guardian. But the bastard didn't care about those attacks at all.
He did, however, tend to protect his sword against most powerful blows, going so far as to receive them with his body instead of blocking or deflecting them with the obliterating black blade. As if wary of any damage being done to it.
By focusing on this pattern, Sunny had confirmed that the sword was indeed the only thing that the Fallen Devil seemed to be reluctant to put in harm's way.
It was his true weakness.
Nephis tilted her head slightly and echoes his words:
"...His sword?"
Sunny nodded.
"Yes. If we want to kill the Black Knight, we will have to destroy his greatsword. That is the only way."
Effie blinked a couple of times, then glared at him in outrage.
"Is that what you call not being protected by the armor? Of course it's not protected by the armor! Because it's even tougher than the armor, you doofus!"
She shook her head.
"How are we supposed to break a sword fit to be wielded by a Fallen Devil? Huh?"
Sunny smiled.
"Oh, you don't have to. In fact, I insist that you don't. You are there to help me, but no one can kill that bastard except for me. No one, you understand? So, your task will be to hold that fiend off. Leave the sword to me."
The huntress scoffed.
"That's not really an answer. If none of us is strong enough to even come close to breaking such a powerful armament, how are you going to destroy it?"
Sunny stared at her for a bit, then shrugged.
"I am not going to destroy it. Do I look like someone who can destroy it? No, I don't. And I can't."
A dark grin appeared on his lips.
"...But the Stone Saint? I am willing to bet that she can."
She was able to slaughter two Fallen Beasts before even becoming his Shadow. Not that Sunny's own shadow had grown strong with almost a thousand fragments fueling it with power, there were very few things in the Dark City that the Saint couldn't destroy with its help.
So yes, he was willing to bet that she would be able to break the sword of the Black Knight.
In fact, he was going to bet his life on it.
Chapter 267: Let There Be Light
Two days later, they entered the Dark City once again.
Nephis was right — no one from the Castle was there to ambush them. Gunlaug seemed to be content letting them come to him instead, so his Hunters and the dreadful hunchback were nowhere to be seen.
Just as well.
The cohort scaled the impregnable grey wall late in the evening and spent the night in one of its towers — almost like how Sunny, Neph, and Cassie had done all that time ago.
When the morning came, they headed toward the ruined cathedral.
The ruined streets of the cursed city surrounded them once more. After months spent in the Labyrinth, their monotone colors seemed strange and bizarre. There was nothing but dark stone and dust around, with rare islands of crimson leaves and moss growing through the rubble.
And swarms of terrifying Fallen Creatures, of course.
…It was nice to be home.
Sunny caught himself thinking that and blinked. He had never thought that one day he would feel sentimental about returning to this cursed, ancient prison. And yet, there was a strange feeling of comfort deep in his heart now. It had been there ever since they had crested the city wall.
'What weird creatures we humans are. Truly, there is nothing we can't get used to.'
Glancing at his companions, he noticed that they were feeling the same way — especially Effie, who had spent years surviving, hunting, and even thriving on the streets of the Dark City.
She even called it a paradise once.
…The only kind that humans deserved.
Sunny sighed. Regardless of the strange ideas the huntress had, he believed that humans weren't meant to live in a paradise.
If they were to ever find one, they would quickly turn it into hell.
…Just like what the humans trapped on the Forgotten Shore were doing right now.
***
Soon, the ruins of the magnificent cathedral were in front of them. The members of the cohort stopped some distance away, looking at the ancient temple with dark expressions. The journey through the Dark City had turned out to be uneventful thanks to Effie's masterful guidance and the shadow scouting ahead to help her learn of any dangers ahead of time.
But the real danger hid at the end of the path, and now, they had reached it.
Sunny had spent the last two days teaching the rest of the group everything that he knew about how the Black Devil fought, what his habits were, and how they had to approach the upcoming battle. They were as ready as they were ever going to be.
Turning to them, he lingered for a few moments, and then said:
"...Remember — I must be the one to deal the final blow. It is very important to me."
Looking at him with a complicated expression, Kai sighed.
"Why are you so obsessed with killing this devil, Sunny? Won't it be better to leave that creature be? I just don't understand this whole endeavor."
Sunny smiled.
"Have you ever been gutted, Kai? And I don't mean emotionally. I mean literally, with a sharp piece of metal?
The charming archer shivered.
"Uh… no. Were you?"
The smile disappeared from Sunny's face.
"Yes. I was. That bastard over there cut me open with his big sharp sword and left me bleeding to death in a ditch. So… it's only fair that I do something similar to him, is it not? I don't know how it works with you citizen folks, but out in the outskirts, you don't let things like that go. Simple as that."
The day you let a person who hurt you walk free was the day you announced to the world that anyone could stomp on you with impunity. After that, it was a short road to the grave… or worse.
So people in the outskirts were very serious about their grudges.
Granted, the Black Knight was not really a person. But the same principle applied.
Kai stared at him with a complicated expression, then asked in a strange voice:
"Really? Then… how did you survive?"
Sunny turned away and moved his shoulders slightly.
"A combination of good Attributes and powerful Memories. That's how I survived. Well… most of me did."
With that, he shook his head and gritted his teeth in anger.
"Enough talk. You all know the plan… so let's get it over with."
Today, Sunny was going to reach the pinnacle of his hunter career.
He was going to hunt the devil.
***
Inside the tenebrous grand hall of the majestic cathedral, darkness reigned unopposed. It drowned the vast hall, clinging to its walls and tall columns. The rare beams of light falling through the narrow windows only served to make it seem deeper.
Six humans entered the temple, the light of their lantern Memories failing to pierce the veil of darkness even slightly.
For a moment, there was utter silence. And then, a sudden yell broke it apart:
"Now!"
A tall young woman with silver hair and calm, striking grey eyes raised her sword. Then, a wave of brilliant white light shone from it, reaching far and wide. The darkness was instantly torn apart and obliterated, vanishing into the deepest, darkest corners of the cathedral.
…And there, right in front of them, a giant clad in black steel armor was revealed, his sword already on its way to reap the lives of unfortunate fools who had dared to desecrate the silence of the ancient temple.
The greatsword he wielded seemed as heavy as the stone pillars that supported the roof of the temple. Falling from above, it looked like a vertical tear in reality that revealed the impenetrable darkness hiding beneath.
What could stop such a monstrous blow?
...Perhaps the shield that contained the weight of the heavens themselves could.
Effie dashed forward, raising the Dusk Shard. The heavy shield received the terrible impact of the devil's unstoppable attack. A deafening sound of steel clashing against steel rolled across the grand hall like a sound shockwave, growing louder as it reflected from the stone walls.
The shield held.
The floor beneath Effie's feet, however, did not. It cracked and shattered, sending the huntress reeling back. A pained yelp escaped from her lips.
The Black Knight lingered for a moment, seemingly surprised by the obliteration of the darkness that had shrouded him.
However, his hesitation lasted only for a fraction of a second — not nearly enough for the humans to prepare themselves for his next attack.
…And it was already coming.
Without paying any attention to Effie, who was flying back, the devil turned with astonishing swiftness and aimed his sword at Nephis.
But before he could perform his second strike, a massive piece of rubble the size of an adult human suddenly flew through the air and crashed into the armored giant at full speed. All the Black Knight could do was lean forward and meet it with his shoulder.
The boulder exploded into a thousand pieces, leaving the devil unscathed.
The creature that threw it walked through the dust with utter indifference, two ruby flames burning behind the visor of her helmet.
The Stone Saint had arrived to face the Black Knight.
Chapter 268: Clash
The Stone Saint walked toward the Black Knight with stalwart indifference. Her body shone with dark radiance, and there were wisps of ghostly grey fog dancing on her elegant armor. The ruby eyes of the taciturn monster burned with menacing crimson flames.
The darkness that served the devil had been vanquished by Changing Star's incandescent light, but the shadows populating the ancient temple only grew deeper because of it. Now, they were shifting, as if reaching toward the Saint to fall upon her shoulders like a mantle.
Without slowing down, the Shadow raised her shield and hit its rim twice with the edge of her sword, as though challenging the Black Knight to a battle.
With the two creatures finally facing each other, it became even more apparent that there was a mysterious connection between the two of them. Despite the fact that the Black Knight towered above the graceful living statue, their general appearance and the design of their armaments were eerily similar.
It was just that in front of the intricate stonelike armor of the Shadow, the devil's own formidable full plate, which had been masterfully forged from indestructible black steel, seemed almost… crude.
Facing the original masterpiece, he looked like a clumsy imposter.
Sunny knew that his intuition was right when he caught a hint of the same dim, nascent emotion that the Shadow had shown toward the walking colossus.
Despite the fact that the Fallen Devil was vastly more powerful than her and both outclassed and outranked her, witnessing him, the Stone Saint felt nothing but disdain.
Contempt, even.
All of these observations had not taken Sunny more than half a second. In the next moment, both creatures dashed forward and collided in a furious clangor of metal.
The battle had begun!
Now that his core was close to being saturated to the brim by the shadow fragments Sunny had collected from hundreds of Nightmare Creatures — and a few humans — the augmentation provided by the shadow was able to make him powerful enough to almost reach the level of an actual Awakened.
By the same logic, the Stone Saint should have been brought very close to the power level of a Fallen abomination. Sunny even suspected that she was enhanced by the shadow even more than he would be himself. The Shadow and the shadow seemed to intertwine perfectly, almost as if this was the true purpose of the augmenting facet of his Aspect.
The Saint had slaughtered two Fallen Beasts even before becoming a Shadow, although it had been at the cost of her life. What would she be able to do now, reborn and reinforced by the mystical power of his divine Aspect?
…Kill a deadly bastard of a Fallen Devil, hopefully.
But still, the gap between the two of them was just too vast. Even with the help of the shadow, the Stone Saint was clearly not a match for the Black Knight in terms of sheer power.
Luckily, she was not alone.
As the two creatures collided and turned into a whirlwind of steel, the humans joined the fight to support their monster.
Caster appeared at a terrible speed, striking at the giant black sword with his elegant jian. The ghostly green blade slid off the surface of the greatsword without any result, but the impact of his strike managed to slow the Black Knight by a fraction of a second.
That was all the Stone Saint needed to deliver a blow of her own. Closing the distance to the giant fiend in order to turn his size and reach superiority against him, she struck upward at the pommel of the greatsword with her shield. The hands of the Black Knight were thrown above his head, and using that opening, she bulldozed into his abdomen with her shoulder, sending the giant reeling.
The violence of the impact was so fierce that several fractures appeared on the surface of her stonelike pauldron. As the dull metal sound rang across the grand hall, shards of stone flew into the air.
But it was not in vain. The momentary gap in the defense of the devil allowed Nephis to deliver a devastating thrust with her silver longsword.
Enhanced by the annihilating white flame and the miraculous enchantment of the Dawn Shard, the sword hit against the breastplate of the Black Knight's armor…
And broke through, sinking deep into the body of the fiend.
For a moment, everyone froze, stunned at the ease with which they were able to pierce the seemingly impregnable armor of the Fallen Devil. Just a moment before, Caster's jian didn't even leave a scratch on the black steel of the fiend's greatsword…
But then, things took a sharp turn for the worse.
The Black Knight did not seem to care about several inches of incandescent steel penetrating his chest at all. Regaining his balance, he indifferently swiped his sword down, forcing both Nephis and the Stone Saint to stagger back. The black blade hit the marble floor, causing the ground to shake and throwing Neph to the ground.
Before anyone could react, the devil let go of the hilt of his sword with one hand and delivered a shattering backhanded blow to the Shadow. The strength of that strike would have been enough to pulverize any human, but the Stone Saint was made of a far more enduring material than flesh. Still, the living statue was thrown back like a broken doll.
Almost instantly, the Black Knight turned to Nephis once more. The terrifying sword flew into the air, ready to split her apart.
'I was right!'
A savage smile appeared on Sunny's face. Brandishing the Midnight Shard, he dashed forward and screamed:
"...Plan C!"
Plan C was very simple. It was born out of the prediction Sunny had made when discussing how they were going to kill the devil. He had suspected all along that since Neph was a perfect counter to the Black Knight's most dreadful power, he would concentrate all his attention on dealing with her first.
In short, the devil was going to make killing Changing Star his number one priority.
Nephis was indeed a perfect counter against the living darkness, but even better than that…
She was the perfect bait.
Chapter 269: Incarnation of Death
The black blade fell down, missing Nephis only by a hair's breadth. She rolled back and performed an impossible handspring, launching herself into the air from the ground. Landing on the marble floor with an effortless grace of a trained acrobat, Changing Star slid back a few meters and came to a stop some distance away from the devil.
But he was just as fast... no, much faster. The giant was already lunging forward to skewer her on the tip of his terrible greatsword. She shifted slightly, dodging the deadly attack, a dashed forward along the vast length of the black blade. Her sword flashed through the air and impacted against the vambrace of the menacing armor, leaving a deep scratch on its dark surface.
…Everything was happening so fast that other members of the cohort were having trouble joining the fight. The Stone Saint had just landed on the marble floor a moment ago and was currently rising back to her feet. Effie had recovered from receiving the full brunt of the Black Knight's first attack and was rushing forward, but she was still a few meters away.
Kai had drawn his bow, but couldn't send an arrow flying without the risk of hitting one of his companions. With how potent the enchantment of the Blood Arrow was, this was something he could not allow to happen.
Cassie mostly relied on Echoes to fight, and since they were not enhanced by the Dawn Shard, their utility in this battle would not have been high. More than that, they risked being destroyed by a single strike from the devil. As such, she was relegated to holding back for now, and would only join the fight if things really went south.
So for now, it was up to Sunny and Caster to slow the fiend down.
Their only saving grace, and the point that Sunny had explained in detail, was that the terrifying greatsword, while deadly and utterly unstoppable — well, almost — was ultimately an unwieldy weapon.
The Black Knight was strong enough to throw it around as though the giant blade weighed no more than a feather and skilled enough to turn momentum and inertia into useful tools as opposed to obstacles, but he still had to obey the laws of physics. Even more importantly, the damn thing was very long.
Which meant that they had to stick to the Fallen Devil like glue in order to use its long reach against him.
As the steel giant sidestepped and pulled his greatsword into a vicious horizontal swipe aimed at Changing Star, Sunny closed the distance between them and approached the devil from the opposite side. The Midnight Shard flashed, striking at the elbow joint of the plate armor.
All Sunny achieved was leave a small scratch on it, but he also pushed the Black Knight's hand down and closer to his body a bit, changing the angle of the swipe slightly. At the same time, Caster dove under the terrible blade and suddenly appeared right in front of the devil, thrusting his jian at the steel helmet.
The Black Knight just turned his head slightly, causing the ghostly green blade to slide off the helmet without doing any damage. At the same time, he let go of the sword with one hand and threw his elbow back, almost smashing Sunny's skull in.
…All the while continuing his deadly strike at Nephis.
Nevertheless, their tandem attack helped Changing Star avoid being cut in half. Taking a swift step forward, she raised her own sword and received the blow on its blade. Since she had time to close the distance and was now mere centimeters away from the devil, the part of the greatsword that hit her was close to the cross-guard, and as such, did not carry too much destructive force.
Still, it was enough to send her crashing onto the ground, the sword sliding from her hand.
Even with the three of them fighting together, they couldn't slow the cursed creature for more than a moment.
But then, a moment was all they needed. Because it gave Effie enough time to rejoin the fight.
It also gave Kai the opportunity to take a shot.
A black arrow streaked through the air… and plunged right into the crack of the devil's visor.
Sunny noticed a startled expression on the charming archer's face. He himself was stunned, too: no one had expected Kai to actually hit the bastard right in the only chink in his armor, least of all Kai himself.
The head of the Black Knight was violently jerked backward.
…But in the next moment, Kai staggered and groaned.
'Curse it! Why am I always right?!'
Sunny had anticipated that result, too. He had guessed a long time ago that there was no flesh beneath the menacing black armor. Rather, the armor itself was the Nightmare Creature, or at least the vessel for the evil soul of a powerful revenant. As such, there was no blood for the ghastly arrow to drink. That's why Kai had been affected by the backlash of his Fallen Memory despite hitting his target.
Just in case something like that happened, Sunny had tasked the charming archer with fashioning a few mundane arrows out of splinters of bone that was everywhere on the Forgotten Shore.
So Kai wasn't entirely out of the fight, yet. However, the amount of damage he would be able to do to the terrifying devil was not extremely low.
'Damnation!'
But Sunny had no time to lament this turn of events. The battle was only growing more chaotic and fierce…
Thanks to the incredible precision of Kai's shot, the Black Knight was disoriented for a moment. Effie arrived just at the right time to use it to their advantage. Leaning low, the used the momentum of her lunge and the bone-breaking weight of the Dusk Shard to deliver a devastating blow to the thigh of the steel giant. As another shockwave of sound rolled through the grand hall, the fiend staggered.
But a fraction of a second later, he brought his armored fist down on the mighty huntress, causing her to reel away with a pained scream. The pommel of the black sword lurched forward, catching Caster in the chest despite how fast the proud Legacy was moving. He crumbled to the floor like a broken mannequin.
Lastly, the Black Knight turned his blade to Sunny, causing him to retreat.
The damn bastard was simply unstoppable. None of their attacks had achieved anything except for annoying him a little.
'Not good, not good...'
…Pushing herself off the ground, Nephis looked at the Fallen Devil that towered above her like a bastion of darkness. Her face was pale, and there was blood flowing from her mouth.
What's worse, the silver sword had slid far away and was now out of her reach. The incandescent radiance disappeared from its blade, allowing for the darkness that hid in the corners of the grand call to slowly begin crawling back.
Nothing stood between her and the Black Knight anymore.
Suddenly opening his eyes wide, Sunny glanced into the depths of the cathedral.
And then, a simple scream escaped from his lips:
"Neth! Run!"
Chapter 270: Runaway
As the silver sword was extinguished, Changing Star lingered for a moment. White flames ignited in her eyes, and suddenly, the pristine white breastplate of the Starlight Legion Armor was enveloped in blinding white light.
The darkness that had begun to seep back into the grand hall of the ancient temple reeled away once more. It appeared as though Nephis changed the target of her miraculous Aspect Ability and used her armor as its conduit instead of the sword.
But from the side, it simply looked like there was a furious white star burning in her chest.
…That momentary delay almost cost her her life.
As soon as Sunny's scream echoed through the cathedral, the terrifying black blade came down once again. This time, Nephis seemingly had no chance to escape.
But, somehow, she did.
Pushing herself off the marble floor, she twisted her body and barely avoided the falling guillotine of the Black Knight's greatsword, then swiftly rolled away. The next moment, she was already on her feet.
As the devil lunged forward to crush her, Changing Star did something that no one would ever expect the proud daughter of the Immortal Flame Clan to do.
She turned her back to the enemy… and ran.
From their early days in the Labyrinth, Sunny knew that Nephis could be incredibly fast when she wanted to. And indeed, just a second later, she was already far away. Cursing under his breath, he followed.
No matter how fast Nephis was, the Black Knight was faster.
The devil was already pursuing his runaway prey, moving with a celerity that seemed strange for a creature of his size, especially one clad in an incredibly heavy suit of steel armor. With each moment, he drew closer and closer to Changing Star, his sword ready to reap her life.
Straining his muscles to their limit, Sunny ran as fast as he could, too, desperately trying to catch up to them. With Effie and Caster temporary put out of commission and Cassie and Kai sidelined, he was the only one left. He had to make it in time, no matter what.
If he didn't…
'Come on!'
Gritting his teeth, Sunny somehow managed to accelerate even more.
Nephis was already halfway through the grand hall of the cathedral. The statue of the nameless goddess on the far side of it must have appeared in her sight.
It was then when she suddenly stopped and turned around, sliding on the marble floor a few meters because of the momentum. The silver sword had already been dismissed and summoned back from her Soul Sea.
It seemed as though out of desperation, Nephis decided to mount one last, suicidal attack on the swiftly approaching steel giant. Or maybe she had just gone crazy.
But it only seemed that way.
…The corners of Sunny's mouth curled upward.
'That's my girl!'
Plan C was about to come to fruition. Changing Star had performed her role perfectly.
Well, what else did Sunny expect from her?
All that remained was to stall the Black Knight for a few seconds.
The devil descended upon the silver-haired girl in a fury of obliterating black steel. Nephis met him with her usual calm resolve, dodging strike after strike with incredible skill. Just like a lifetime ago, when she had been facing Caster at the dojo of the Academy, she used her understanding and control of the flow of combat to breach the gap in speed between her and her opponent.
She wasn't as much reacting to the deadly blows delivered by the devil as predicting them, moving to evade the strikes of the black greatsword before they could even happen.
Of course, this deadly dance could not last. The tiniest of mistakes would have been her last. And even if she didn't make any, Nephis was not going to be able to keep this level of concentration for long, not to mention the insane toll this fearsome clash took on her stamina and endurance.
But she didn't have to. All she needed to do was to keep the bastard busy for a couple of seconds.
And when those seconds ran out…
A sudden crack of breaking stone resounded in the darkness of the ancient temple.
***
In all the commotion, the Stone Saint had strangely disappeared. After Sunny had confirmed that the Fallen Devil was targeting Nephis above everyone else, their strongest combatant — his Shadow — was nowhere to be seen.
That, of course, was on purpose. She was laying the groundwork for the plan to work while the rest of them kept the Black Knight distracted.
The plan, however, could only happen in a certain spot in the grand hall. That was where Changing Star had to lure the Black Knight in case he fixated on her. Following the descriptions provided to her by Sunny, she led the devil deeper into the cathedral and stopped just in the right place.
And then, she engaged him in a fierce battle to give the Sait time to close the trap.
…Which she did by taking a running start and crashing with all her weight into one of the tall, magnificent pillars supporting the roof of the cathedral.
This pillar, in particular, was damaged at the base, making it uniquely unstable. Sunny knew every corner of the ruined temple like the palm of his hand, so he knew about this flaw of the pillar as well.
That had been what he based Plan C on.
As Sunny ran, he could see everything that followed in all its majestic brutality.
The breaking of stone resounded in the vast hall of the ancient temple. A net of cracks appeared on the massive, incredibly tall column and quickly spread to a deep gash in its base. Shards of stone flew in every direction, and the column began to topple.
It seemed slow at first. But in fact, it wasn't.
In the center of the hall, the Black Knight paused his relentless onslaught for a moment and turned his head, following the sound of cracking stone.
…He was a second too late.
As Nephis dashed away, the pillar fell on the devil, crushing him under countless tons of hard stone.