The crowd poured into the castle, their faces contorted with anger and resentment. However, as soon as the slum dwellers passed beneath the swaying skulls that hung above the gates, their fury turned cold.
In the echoing stone halls of the Bright Castle, it was hard to forget that Gunlaug's power was absolute. For as long as any of them remembered, he had ruled over the Dark City with an iron fist, elevating those who bowed to him and destroying those who did not.
Countless men and women had tried to challenge the Bright Lord in the past… great people, terrible people, and everyone in-between. It was their skulls that now stared at the crowd, darkness nesting in their eyes.
Finally, doubt and fear appeared in the hearts of the inhabitants of the outer settlement. Many of them stared at Nephis, their faces turning dim and listless.
Changing Star did not react to this sudden change in one way or another. Looking straight ahead, she calmly walked forward, an indifferent expression on her face. Her usual mask was in its place once again, preventing anyone from knowing her true thoughts.
Trying to remain unnoticed, Sunny made his way to the front of the crowd to be closer to Nephis, Effie, and Caster. No one paid him any attention. In the grand scheme of things, people thought of him as an insignificant piece, if at all.
Just like he wanted them to.
From his point of view, the atmosphere in the Bright Castle seemed to be a bit strange, and not because of the invading horde of slum dwellers. Its halls and corridors were too empty, too lifeless. He didn't see any people hurrying on their daily business, as they always would. Even the opulent desk in the entrance hall was empty, the clerk usually present behind it absent for some reason.
'Where is everyone?'
His question was soon answered.
Entering the throne room, he saw hundreds of Sleepers standing along its walls, waiting to meet them. It seemed as though the whole population of the Bright Castle had gathered here. There were the Guards, the Hunters, the Artisans, the quiet Handmaidens. Even people who paid tribute to remain in the Castle were all there.
Sunny noticed a few familiar faces. Stev, the large man in charge of the Memory Market, stood uncomfortably near the members of the Host. There was also Aiko, the owner of the gambling den, and many others whom he remembered from his brief stay in the Castle.
The air was tense and heavy. It seemed that not all of these people had come to the throne room of their own free will. Many of them had troubled, frightened expressions on their faces. Others were relaxed and joyful, waiting for an entertaining show with dark fascination burning in their eyes.
What disturbed him the most were the several figures of Nightmare Creatures standing among the humans. Those were the Echoes belonging to the inhabitants of the Castle, each one more terrifying that the other.
'...Why are they out of their owners' Soul Seas?'
On the raised dais at the far end of the great hall, illuminated by the false stars that were carved into the wall of the dark alcove, the four lieutenants of the Bright Lord stood. There was Gemma, the leader of the Hunters, Kido, the chief Artisan, and Seishan, who was in charge of the Handmaidens.
…and Harus, of course.
Sunny stared at the dreadful hunchback, who just stood there with his usual bored expression, looking at the wall.
He was pretty sure that today, at least one of them was going to die.
As if feeling his gaze, Harus suddenly turned and glanced at Sunny. This time, however, Sunny did not look away. He stared straight into the hunchback's glassy eyes, a calm and calculating expression on his face.
'I wonder how he killed all those people without being seen even once. With so many victims, somebody had to catch a glimpse of this butcher hard at work. What Aspect Ability does he possess? How do I counter it?'
Harus stared at him for a few moments, then tilted his head and smiled with strange amusement. A second later, he turned away and looked at the wall again, seemingly losing all interest.
Meanwhile, Tessai walked to the middle of the hall and threw Effie down, forcing her to kneel on the floor. Then, he gave Nephis a dark look and joined the other lieutenants on the steps leading to the throne.
The two hundred or so slum dwellers were standing at one end of the throne room, their faces grim and full of dark apprehension. With the exception of those directly serving Changing Star, most of them were dressed in dirty rags, with only a few wearing a proper armor. Some were unarmed, some had Memories or makeshift weapons hanging on their belts, and some even had swords hastily fashioned out of the talons of the slain Spire Messenger.
Opposite them, with their back to the throne, stood the people of the castle. Many of them looked like they didn't want to be here, but more had contempt and indignation in their eyes. Those were mostly the members of the Host, who were more than two hundred people strong. Each of them was clad in a sturdy Memory armor and wielded enchanted weapons. They were strong, well-fed, and experienced in combat.
The hunters, especially, were a formidable presence despite their comparatively small number. They were looking at Nephis with intense hatred, the memory of her killing one of their own in this very hall still fresh in their minds.
Changing Star stood beside Effie in the middle of the empty space between the two groups, looking at the white throne. Her ivory face was cold and indifferent, and her silver hair glinted in the rays of sunshine that fell through tall windows. Sparks of light were dancing in the depths of her calm grey eyes.
She was the focal point of everyone's attention and the target of the dark storm of emotions that raged between the ancient walls of the Castle today.
If it bothered her, she did not show it.
And then, finally, the Bright Lord himself appeared.
Sunny knew that Gunalug entered the great hall even before seeing him. He knew it because of the sudden change in the people that surrounded him. It was as though a wave of invisible pressure had crashed into the crowd, forcing them to groan and bend, almost buckling to the ground. Their legs trembled, their faces paled, and drops of sweat appeared on their skin, as well as fear and panic in their eyes.
The mastermind behind this ghoulish spectacle had finally arrived.
Chapter 292: Just Cause
Gunlaug looked just like the last time Sunny had seen him.
…Like a golden demon born of some harrowing hell.
The Bright Lord was tall and had broad, powerful shoulders. His body was clad in a strange armor that seemed to be made out of molten gold. It was both solid and liquid, flowing over his mightly muscles and covering him from head to toe.
Not even Gunalug's eyes were exposed.
In the place where his face should have been, there was nothing but a smooth and empty expanse of polished gold. The great hall of the Bright Castle reflected in it, and all the people gathered there did, too.
As soon as Sunny saw the golden mask, he felt the oppressive aura that radiated from the Bright Lord. Even knowing what was going to happen, he couldn't help but shake a little and bite his lip.
The mind assault of the golden armor was truly hard to endure. Even with the protection of the Puppeteer's Shroud, he felt it pressing on him, making it hard to breathe. Deep inside, a primal, bestial fear was clawing at his heart.
But this fear did not belong to him. It was fake. With a dark grimace, Sunny strangled it and made it disappear.
Walking out of the darkness of the alcove like a golden apparition, Gunlaug glanced at the mass of people below him and sat on the throne. His pose was relaxed and casual, as though he was here to leisurely resolve a trivial matter, not decide someone's fate.
Hundreds of fates, perhaps.
However, despite his laid-back attitude, everyone gathered in the great hall swayed a little, pressed down to the ground by the incredible force of his presence.
The Bright Lord lingered for a few moments, and then said, his serpentine voice full of mirth:
"Ah, what a sight. All my precious wards gathered here, united in the desire to see justice prevail. This dedication, this fervor for the rule of law… oh, it just makes my blood boil with appreciation. Don't you think it's wonderful?"
He laughed and turned his head slightly, peering directly at Nephis. She lowered her head a bit, an almost imperceptible tremor running through her body. To Sunny, though, it seemed as though the plates of marble beneath her feet were about to crack from the terrifying pressure of Gunlaug's gaze.
Nevertheless, she endured it without showing much of the tremendous strain she was under.
The Bright Lord paused and then echoed his words, a note of some dark emotion finding its way into his voice:
"Don't you think it's wonderful, Changing Star of the Immortal Flame clan?"
Nephis greeted her teeth, struggling to remain steady under the psychic onslaught of the golden armor. When she finally answered, her voice sounded suppressed:
"...Indeed."
Gunalug remained silent for a bit. Although his face was hidden behind the golden mask, Sunny had a feeling that he was smiling.
Finally, he spoke:
"How nice. Somehow, I was under the impression that you would disagree. I've been told by my most loyal aids that you are a disagreeable person. I guess you just can't trust anyone these days."
With that, he glanced at his lieutenants, making them pale and shiver.
Sunny shivered, too. The message hidden in those words was clear: Gunlaug was letting Nephis know that he had known that she had a spy among the highest ranks of his people all along.
And didn't care. Maybe even silently allowed it to happen.
'Damnation…'
How much did he know?
Finally, the Bright Lord looked at Effie. After a few seconds had passed in tense silence, he spoke to her with a hint of sadness:
"We meet again, Effie. What a shame that it is in these tragic circumstances. If only you had listened to me and joined the Host… perhaps then you might not have fallen so low. Such pity…"
He shook his head and sighed.
"I had high hopes for you. But, alas… murdering innocent humans is not something that can be forgiven. Look at yourself! Instead of a noble Hunter, you have turned into a wild beast. But that is what happens when people refuse my grace. They become no better than Nightmare Creatures."
His somber words echoed in the silence of the great hall, making people lower their gazes.
Effie trembled, pressed down by the force of his undivided attention. But then, she grinned and answered, her raspy voice sounding relaxed and carefree.
She only said two words:
"Fuck off."
Gunlaug laughed and raised his hands in a helpless gesture.
"I rest my case. You all see how unrepentant this vile murderer is. There's not a drop of remorse left in her corrupted, rotten soul. That is why, with a heavy heart, I have to sentence this once-promising young woman to death. She has to answer for her crimes, and leaving her alive would put you, my wards, in danger. I am left with no choice."
A hum of voices rose from the crowd. Slum dweller or an inhabitant of the Castle, everyone was affected by his last words:
"Don't you dare, bastard!"
"Kill that murderer!"
"Effie! We're here!"
"Make her pay!"
"Lady Nephis! You can't let them!"
"Kill her!"
"Kill all of them!"
Unaffected by this outburst of boiling emotions, Nephis put a hand on Effie's shoulder and looked at the Bright Lord with a cold expression. Staring directly at the golden mask, she frowned and said, her voice clear and loud:
"I object."
The storm of voices suddenly grew quiet. Everyone turned to her, two kinds of expectation hiding in their eyes.
One was full of hope. The other full of vicious glee.
Gunlaug tilted his head.
"Object? What do you mean? Her guilt has been proven without any room left for doubt. There is nothing you can do to change the outcome."
He paused for a moment and then suddenly leaned forward, his insidious voice washing over the great hall like a wave:
"Well. Unless, of course…"
Changing Star looked at him with dark resolve and lowered her chin stubbornly.
Then, she said:
"I want to invoke the right of challenge."
Chapter 293: The Challenge
An echoing silence fell on the great hall of the ancient castle. The fateful words had been spoken, and now there was no turning back.
For better or for worse.
Gunlaug tilted his head and stayed quiet for a few moments. Then, the sound of his laughter rolled over the crowd.
"The right of challenge? Oh, that old thing. You are awfully fond of that tradition, it seems. Not even a full year since you have arrived under my roof, and I had the pleasure of hearing you say those words twice. Insolent girl…"
He paused for a few moments and then leaned forward. His voice suddenly turned cold, full of dark undertones.
"To be honest, I am very tired of your insolence, Changing Star."
Before Nephis could answer, the Bright Lord suddenly rose from his throne, towering above the crowd like a statue cast from pure gold. Then, he took a leisurely step forward and began descending the stairs of the dais. With each step, the sound of his serpentine voice resounded, growing lower and lower, until it turned into a fiendish, wrathful growl.
"Your little games were fun at first, but the more I observed your clumsy attempts at playing the hero, the more disgusted I became. I couldn't believe how naive, self-righteous, and stupid you turned out to be. It made me sick. It made me want to do things that I promised myself to never do again. Ah, I expected better from the daughter of the Immortal Flame! To disappoint me so thoroughly…"
His growl reverberated through the great hall and then abruptly disappeared. A moment later, Gunlaug suddenly threw his head back and laughed brightly.
"Oh, but then it hit me! I was such a fool. You fooled me so beautifully! Brilliantly done, Changing Star. Please, do accept my compliment! After I saw the real you, ah, it was such a joy to watch your performances."
He left the stairs and stepped on the marble floor of the throne room. The crowd of the Castle inhabitants parted in front of him, people hurrying to get as far away from the oppressive aura of the golden armor as they could.
The Bright Lord sighed.
"It's such a shame that all of this will has to stop now. You see… while I can't help but applaud your effort, in the end, you still turned out to be just another fool."
He glanced at Effie and asked, his voice full of mockery:
"A challenge? I don't think it's your place to demand such a thing. You are not the one accused of the crime, after all. If someone has to invoke the right of challenge, it should be Effie herself. Don't you think?"
Nephis gritted her teeth, struggling to remain poised under the assault of the psychic pressure. Refusing to turn away from the polished mirror of the Bright Lord's face, she said:
"...It's just like one of your minions said. I am responsible for the actions of my people. Any crime they commit… is my crime."
Gunlaug watched her, his expression hidden. Neph's pale face was reflected in his mask, staring back at her with merciless grey eyes. After a while, he spoke:
"Sound logic. Who are you going to challenge, then?"
She hesitated for a few moments, then said steadily:
"Whoever it was that passed the guilty verdict."
The Bright Lord chuckled.
"Oh? But by the same logic... that would be me."
She smiled darkly and glared at him, white flames dancing in her eyes.
"Then you are the one I challenge!"
Her words resounded in the great hall, sending hundreds of people gathered there into a state of stunned shock.
***
'So, this is it.'
Sunny looked at the crowd of stunned people, mentally separating them into two groups. Those who were going to be a threat and those who were not.
Regardless of how the fight between Nephis and Gunlaug ended, the small enclave of humans living in the Dark City was going to descend into utter chaos. If Changing Star was killed, her followers would make her into a martyr and go insane. The Host would not just let them off, either. If the Bright Lord fell…
No matter how much of a bastard Gunlaug was, he was also the glue that held this whole place together. Without a tyrant enforcing some semblance of order, no matter how ghoulish, things would get really ugly really fast. Who was going to stop the Nightmare Creatures from wiping the humans out then?
In any case, there was going to be a bloodbath.
But he was done worrying about these matters. In the upcoming mayhem, Sunny's goals were very simple.
Remain alive. Protect Nephis. Make sure that she becomes the new tyrant of the Dark City.
...So that she could carve the way back to reality for a few lucky survivors. If she doesn't die right here and now, of course.
In the silence that enveloped the great hall, the Bright Lord laughed and tilted his head, staring at Changing Star from behind his golden mask. Then, he said:
"How audacious! I wonder what gives you the confidence to dare challenge me. Various people have tried to kill me, you know. I have a little hobby, actually — collecting their skulls. Come to think of it, your pretty head would look really well in my collection."
Suddenly, he raised a hand and gestured to his forehead:
"Don't tell me… don't tell me that it's all because of that little toy that you took off the First Lord's corpse? Oh, no! That would be terrible. You didn't really think that one powerful Memory would be enough to defeat me?"
Nephis lingered for a while, glaring at Gunlaug. Then, she said evenly:
"My bare hands would be enough to defeat a worm like you. The Memory is just to make it quicker."
Gunlaug stared at her for a moment, and then chuckled.
"Great! This is great! Such spirit! I will really enjoy breaking you, Changing Star. When this done."
He flexed his shoulders and said, his voice sending shivers into the hearts of hundreds of people gathered in the hall:
"Alright. I accept your challenge."
Chapter 294: Song of Steel
The great hall of the Bright Castle grew silent and still. However, that stillness was not tranquil, but like a predator that fell low to the ground, ready to explode into a violent lunge to tear its prey apart.
The Sleepers pressed themselves against the walls, giving Changing Star and the Bright Lord space for their battle. Effie was dragged away from the middle of the hall by two Guards, and now, there was nothing but emptiness separating the two fighters.
From one side of the hall, the five lieutenants — Gemma, Tessai, Kido, Seishan, and Harus — were looking at their master with complicated emotions. On the other side of it, Kai, Caster, and the leaders of the outer settlement hunting parties were doing the same. Cassie was also there, her hand resting on the hilt of the Quiet Dancer. There was a grim, somber expression on her beautiful face.
Sunny glanced at the blind girl, and then turned to the center of the throne room.
Two people were standing opposite each other there. One was a tall man encased in a strange golden carapace that followed the lines of his mighty body. The other was a young woman in an elegant plate armor forged of white metal.
There was a subtle similarity between them. Both were emanating a striking, compelling sense of power and confidence that very few people ever possessed. Both were fearsome and deadly. Both were at the apex of their kind.
However, this was where the similarity ended.
'This… doesn't not look good,' Sunny thought, evaluating the two fighters.
He knew better than anyone what Nephis was capable of, but even then, the sight of her facing Gunlaug made a deep scowl appear on her face.
The Bright Lord was much taller than her and weighed probably twice as much as Changing Star. He was stronger, had longer reach, and much more experience in slaughtering people.
That was not even considering that damned golden armor of his.
Even with the miraculous augmentation of the Dawn Shard, Neph's silver sword could barely be considered at the same power level as an Ascended weapon would have been. That was still a whole rank below Gunlaug's strange Echo.
Trying to break through that armor was going to be as hard as cracking the shell of a carapace centurion with a sword forged from mundane steel. Incredibly hard, if not impossible. And unlike the carapace of a scavenger, the golden Echo did not seem to have a weak spot.
At that moment, sparks of light appeared in the air in front of Changing Star. The silver longsword appeared in her hand, and she pointed it to the ground… for now.
'What weapon is that bastard going to use?'
That would decide a lot. Sunny was sure that Gunlaug possessed an arsenal of powerful Memory weapons... but how powerful were they exactly?
He glanced at the Bright Lord, expecting to see the same sparks swirling around his hands. However, there was none.
Instead, the liquid gold flowed forward and assumed the shape of a heavy battle axe, which Gunlaug then grasped and leisurely put on his shoulder. The polished mirror of his mask reflected the slight frown that appeared on Neph's face.
'Dammit.'
The weapon the Bright Lord was going to use was also a part of his Echo, and as such, possessed the quality of a Transcended weapon. It was going to cut through the Starlight Legion Armor without much effort.
'This is even worse than I imagined…'
As Sunny gritted his teeth, Gunlaug said in a serpentine, insidious voice:
"Any last words, Changing Star?"
Nephis tilted her head a little and remained silent for a while. Her helmet weaved itself from strings of light, hiding her face completely, with only calm grey eyes visible through the crack of the visor. Finally, she answered with only one word, her usually even voice full of furious contempt:
"...Traitor."
A wave of whispers spread through the crowd. People were guessing what exactly she meant by that, but Sunny suspected that he was the only one who knew.
Neph wasn't accusing Gunlaug of betraying his fellow humans or causing the deaths of numerous young men and women. She was accusing him of betraying the true duty of the Awakened and submitting to the Nightmare Spell instead of fighting it to the bitter end.
In her mind, that was a far greater crime.
The only crime, even.
The Bright Lord laughed.
"That's too bad. I heard that one before…"
And then, without wasting even a fraction of a second, he suddenly exploded forward in a terrifying, lightning-fast lunge.
The shift between peace and violence was so instant and swift that most people gathered in the great hall did not even realize what was happening until a few moments later.
With each of Gunlaug's strides, the floor of the throne room shook a little. He flew at Nephis like a furious giant made of gold, swinging his battle axe with both incredible agility and horrible force.
She barely reacted in time, shifting her body and raising the sword to deflect the killing blow to the side. However, then something unexpected happened.
The shaft of the battle axe suddenly elongated, the liquid gold comprising it flowing forward to assume a new shape. As a result, her deflection ended up being almost useless.
With an awkward stagger, Changing Star reeled back. The very edge of the battle axe's blade bit into the helmet of the Starlight Legion Armor and effortlessly cleaved through it, leaving a shallow cut on her cheek. In the next moment, Gunlaug's foot crashed into her ribs, sending the young woman flying through the air.
Nephis landed in a roll and used one hand to stop herself from sliding on the marble floor. As drops of blood fell from beneath her helmet, merciless white flames ignited in her eyes.
A moment later, she jumped forward and met the onslaught of the Bright Lord with an equal amount of fury.
The deadly song of clashing steel resounded in the ancient hall...
Like a promise of much greater bloodshed yet to come.
Chapter 295: The Duel
The breastplate of Neph's armor cracked from the force of Gunlaug's blow and there was blood streaming from beneath her helmet, but that didn't slow Changing Star one bit.
Jumping forward to meet the Bright Lord's assault, she dodged the blade of the battle axe, twisted, and tried to deliver a strike of her own. A furious clangor of metal exploded in the silence of the great hall, both fighters moving with incredible speed, precision, and skill.
In a span of several seconds, they exchanged numerous blows, but each was either deflected, dodged, or blocked. This terrifying clash was not at all like Sunny had imagined. There was nothing elegant, graceful, or elevated about it — all there was was barbarous violence and cruel brutality, each of the fighters doing everything in their power to break, cripple and kill their opponent.
Their voices sounded like that of wild beasts, partially from the incredible strain of the duel, but also to let out the suffocating bloodlust and murderous intent that were drowning their minds.
That was not to say that any one of them had lost control of their thoughts and actions. Both were cold-blooded killers and knew how to remain calm in the throes of the most terrible rage.
A few seconds later, Gunlaug and Nephis disengaged and staggered away from each other, letting the spectators draw in shaky breaths.
The Bright Lord's golden armor was pristine and unscathed. Nephis, however, had several bloody cuts on her body, the black material encompassing it torn and ripped. Another crack appeared on one of her pauldrons. She glanced at it briefly and then indifferently turned back to watch her enemy.
Everyone in the throne room, in one way or another, was thinking about the same thing, a cold and sickening feeling slowly spreading through their chests. How would they fare in such a fight themselves? The answer was simple — they would have been long dead, eviscerated in mere seconds by one of these awesome fighters.
Everyone felt death breathing down their necks.
Among all the people watching their fight, however, there were two who observed Changing Star's every move with a special kind of attention. They were Sunny and Caster.
Their reasons were studying how Nephis fought were entirely different, but also almost the same.
…Just a second of rest, and the two fighters lunged at each other once again. This time, however, their behavior was different.
The first clash was just a test to gauge what the enemy was capable of. Now, they were not holding anything back, throwing everything they had at the enemy.
At least that was how it seemed.
Changing Star's sword suddenly flashed with brilliant radiance. Removing one hand from the hilt, she grasped the incandescent blade with her armored gauntlet at the middle to better control its tip and raised it to shoulder level. With Gunlaug's ability to change the length of his weapon at will and almost impregnable armor, this grip was more advantageous.
The Bright Lord absorbed the battle axe back into his armor. Then, two straight blades grew out of his forearms, creating weapons that resembled long, heavy punching daggers.
They clashed once again, this time with even more fury. The people pressing themselves into the walls of the throne room trembled.
Nephis seemed to abandon a lot of her defense, willing to take much bigger risks to obliterate the enemy. The reach of her sword was much shorter now, but the silver blade also grew much more agile and unpredictable. Gunlaug's daggers were a true menace to resist, however. They flew at her from all sides, either in tandem or in a staggered rhythm, making it hard for the young woman to predict and deflect each blow.
But she wasn't trying to.
Changing Star seemed willing to receive many shallow wounds to get a chance to land a strike on her opponent. More bloody lacerations appeared on her body, the Starlight Legion Armor barely holding together.
But she achieved her goal, in the end.
Catching one of Gunlaug's daggers between the blade of her sword and her body, she forcefully twisted the sword sideways and caused him to turn his torso. Then, Nephis sidestepped and suddenly appeared behind the Bright Lord, with a fraction of a second left before he could turn around and defend himself.
Her incandescent sword finished its arc high above her head, and, changing back to the standard grip, she brought it down with all her strength on Gunlaug's shoulder.
The radiant white blade flashed through the air and bit into the golden armor.
...And then, it slid fruitlessly off its bright surface, not leaving even a scratch on it.
'Damn it all!'
In the next moment, Gunlaug threw the sword to the side with one arm and delivered a terrifying blow with the other, his dagger aimed at Neph's face. She managed to turn her head at the last moment, avoiding instant death, but was still caught by the enemy's fist.
The impact was so strong that Changing Star was thrown backward several meters. The helmet had shattered completely, revealing a pale, bloodied face, with bits of metal piercing the skin. She rolled several times and came to a stop, then rose to her feet with some effort. The white flames dimmed a little, and there was a dark, disoriented emotion in her eyes.
The gem of the Dawn Shard shone gently right above them, illuminating Neph's wounded face.
A moment later, she dismissed what little remained of the helmet and stared at Gunlaug with resentment, blood running from the cuts on her cheeks.
The Bright Lord laughed and made a step toward Changing Star, his voice echoing under the roof of the great hall like a death sentence.
"What? That was all?"
Nephis did not answer. Instead, she placed both hands on the blade of her sword, holding it with its hilt and crossguard up, like a makeshift mace.
The radiance of the silver sword spread to encompass all of it.
But it didn't stop there.
Sunny opened his eyes wide.
'What?!'
The furious white flames spread from the sword to Changing Star's hands, her arms, and then devoured her figure completely.
But they weren't burning in the white, cracked metal of the Starlight Legion Armor.
Instead, the brilliant radiance was emanating from her skin.
Chapter 296: Creature of Light
Sunny stared at the shining figure in front of him, a myriad of thoughts appearing in his mind.
With her skin emanating blinding white radiance, Nephis looked beautiful and pure, as though untouched by the imperfections of the mundane world. Wreathed in light, she was like a heavenly angel that descended into the mortal realm.
The sight of it was both breathtaking and terrifying.
…It was also eerily similar to the image of the radiant creature he had seen on the walls of the ancient mine. Especially with the gem of the Dawn Shard burning on Neph's forehead like a third eye.
But that wasn't what gave Sunny pause.
'How is possible?!'
But then, why wouldn't it be possible?
At the start of their journey, he had guessed that Changing Star's Aspect was of the Divine rank, just like his. Her powers seemed to be able to either augment Memories or heal, while his own could be used to scout, enhance Memories, or augment Sunny himself. Because Nephis had never used the white flames to achieve that last effect, he had assumed that she was incapable of doing so, and thus her Aspect, while powerful, was less versatile.
But augmenting herself was exactly what Neph was doing right now. Sunny knew it instantly — she wrapped her body in light just like he had wrapped his own body in the shadow countless times. With this enhancement, her physical prowess had to grow exponentially.
Had she always been capable of doing so and hid that facet of her Aspect intentionally, or was this something she learned how to do only after growing more powerful and absorbing hundreds upon hundreds of soul shards in the Labyrinth?
That question was going to remain unanswered, at least for now. Because the battle between Changing Star and the Bright Lord was far from over.
Just like Sunny suspected, with her body wreathed in light, Nephis suddenly became much stronger and faster. If before she was visibly weaker and slower than Gunlaug, even if not by much, now, it seemed the other way around. She dashed toward the enemy, batted away one of the daggers, and delivered a crushing blow right to the polished mirror mask.
This time, there was a slight mark left on the surface of the golden armor by her sword.
The two of them became locked in a ferocious battle, dozens of attacks flying at each fighter. The clangor of metal grew in volume, turning into an almost deafening cacophony. Changing Star was fighting with abandon, more and more wounds accumulating on her radiant body. However, she also managed to land several more blows, each striking at the golden mirror of the Bright Lord's face.
Slowly, a hint of a crack started to appear on its surface.
Sunny also noticed that her wounds weren't healing. It seemed as if Nephis was only capable to support two effects at the same time — one augmenting her sword, the other her body. To summon the healing power of the white flame, she had to sacrifice one or the other.
But she was unwilling to.
A few moments later, it seemed as though Gunlaug was slowly starting to lose ground. His enemy was just too fast, powerful, and ferocious. More and more strikes landed on the golden armor, and although it seemed to hold, for now, it was clear that the continuous blows were taking a toll on both the Bright Lord and his Echo.
…However, the Golden Serpent had a few tricks up his sleeve, too.
When the momentum of the fight began to favor Nephis, he suddenly chuckled and turned his face to catch her reflection in the mirror mask.
A second later, the sound of muffled groans could be heard escaping from the mouths of hundreds of people. The psychic pressure emanated by the Bright Lord suddenly increased manyfold, throwing some people to the ground and making others stagger. Sunny saw blood flowing from people's noses, eyes, and mouths.
He himself also felt it and greeted his teeth, struggling to remain standing. He almost failed.
Changing Star, who was at the center and the true target of the mental assault, let out a pained yelp and staggered.
…That was the moment when Gunlaug stepped forward and stabbed her through the chest with one of his daggers.
As the long blade pierced the lithe body of the young woman and exited from her back, he said in a calm and friendly voice:
"There, there. That's enough. Go die now, stupid girl."
Then, he twisted the dagger, making her scream once again.
Nephis stared at him, blood flowing from her mouth. Then, she raised her sword and hit him in the face with the pommel, again and again, until a small crack finally appeared on the surface of the mirror mask.
But the crushing wave of mental pressure did not go away. Instead, it only increased.
Gunalug laughed.
"Are you done? No? Well, let me help you then…"
His second daughter flashed through the air, slashing Nephis across the wrist. With the tendons cut, the silver sword fell from her hand, its radiance dimming.
Nephis used her other hand to push the Bright Lord away and slid off the blade of the dagger, then staggered away, eventually falling to her knees. The white radiance emanated from her body grew brighter, and the wound on her body began to heal. A low groan escaped from her lips.
Gunalug approached the kneeling young woman, laughing.
"Did you think I wouldn't know about that little trick of yours? Go ahead and heal. See where it gets you."
With that, he grabbed her by the neck and stabbed her again, reopening the terrible wound that had just closed once again.
"How's that? Come one, heal it again!"
With a ferocious growl, he continued stabbing her, over and over, his hand quickly becoming painted red with blood.
"Oh, this is really fun! But a bit tiring. How about I just cut off your pretty head right now and end this?"
Nephis spat some blood and turned her head to face him.
And then she… closed her eyes.
Back when they had first arrived in the Dark City, Sunny had noticed that Cassie wasn't affected by the psychic pressure of the golden armor at all. From that, he deduced that the source of the mental assault was not the armor itself, but the golden mirror of its face — or, to be exact, seeing your reflection in it. After returning from the Castle, he had shared that insight with Nephis.
It seemed that she remembered it.
With her eyes closed, Changing Star raised her hands and grabbed the Bright Lord that was strangling her by the shoulders. Then, she used her whole body to deliver a devastating blow to his face, the gem of the Crown of Dawn hitting Gunalug right where his nose should have been.
Finally, the surface of the golden mirror cracked and shattered. Through the small breah, a blue eye full of murderous joy was revealed. Shocked by the sudden blow, Gunlaug staggered away.
"You bitch!"
The daggers were instantly absorbed into the golden armor, replaced by the heavy battle axe again.
…But he didn't get the chance to use it.
With her eyes still closed, Nephis swiftly turn to the sound of his voice. Then, she raised her hand, opened her fist… and blew on it.
In the next moment, a cloud of red sand shot from her palm and enveloped Gunlaug.
Sunny stared at it in shock, an expression of sudden recognition appearing on his face.
He knew the look at that cloud all too well. It wasn't sand.
It was the Blood Flower pollen.
Chapter 297: Red Flower
The red cloud enveloped Gunlaug, seeping through the crack in his helmet. A second too late to react, the Bright Lord reeled away… but not before inhaling the pollen of the nightmarish flower.
Sunny didn't know when and how Nephis had gotten it, but he knew that he wasn't mistaken — this was the pollen of the Blood Flower, the grisly parasitic blossom that he himself had the misfortune of inhaling once, a long time ago.
The memory of the bloodthirsty red flowers growing through his lungs sent shivers through Sunny's entire body. Back then, the only reason for why he had not become a host for the insidious Nightmare Creature was because of the Blood Weave. Without it, he would have been devoured from the inside in mere minutes.
…And now, the Bright Lord was going to fall to the same fate.
'She… she really did it…'
The rest of the Sleepers gathered in the great hall did not know that Gunlaug was already as good as dead, however. Including the tyrant himself.
Bending over in a fit of violent coughing, he growled:
"What? What have you done to me, bitch?!"
Nephis was still where he had dropped her, kneeling on the floor. Her armor was shattered and torn, with rivers of blood streaming down the cracked white metal. The brilliant radiance of her skin had been extinguished, but there were incandescent flames burning under it.
The horrible wounds on her chest were slowly closing, and the lacerations on her face were already gone, leaving it just as perfect as it had been before. That face, however, was bloodied and pale, contorted in an expression of terrible agony.
In her eyes, however, there was dark malice.
A chorus of whispers rolled through the crowd when they witnessed the ghastly wounds healing themselves. Be it the members of the Host or the slum dwellers, all of them had two words on their lips:
"Immortal Flame!"
"Immortal Flame!"
And then someone shouted, their voice full of stunned awe:
"This… this is the blessing of the fire!"
Deaf to all of it, Changing Star moaned and slowly rose to her feet. Then, she struggled to look at the Bright Lord and said, her voice shaking from pain:
"I... I killed you."
Through the crack in the golden mask, Sunny saw Gunlaug's blue eye first narrow, and then suddenly open wide. In the next moment, the Bright Lord began coughing again.
This time, a suppressed scream escaped from his lips.
'...It's about to start.'
Sunny shifted a little, subtly positioning himself closer to Caster.
Gunlaug, meanwhile, staggered and groaned. There was blood dripping from beneath his broken mask.
Then, a shaky laugh resounded in the throne room of the ancient castle.
"Ah… did you really? What a… surprise…"
He dropped his battle axe, which then turned into a puddle of liquid gold and merged with the strange armor. He took a step toward Nephis, but then swayed and fell to one knee.
For a few moments, the Bright Lord remained motionless. Then, his body convulsed, more blood spilling through the cracks in the visor of his golden helmet. A muffled scream could be heard once again, full of torturous pain.
Hundreds of people were watching him, stunned, their eyes full of disbelief, anger, and terror.
The Bright Lord raised his head and glanced at Nephis, then hissed:
"What a… joke! I can't… can't die like this!"
Changing Star looked down on him, her face cold and motionless. There was no triumph or gloating in her eyes.
But there was also no mercy.
Turning away, she hesitated for a moment and then said, her voice strangely gentle:
"...Rest easy now. Your nightmare is over."
Gunlaug stared at her in disbelief, and then suddenly laughed. There was a disturbing, gurgling sound coming from somewhere deep in his throat, as though he was drowning in blood.
"Good… this is too good. Yours is… only starting, though…"
With that, he slowly rose and then turned away. Swaying, the Bright Lord took one step forward, then another.
The crowd watched silently as he arduously made his way to the steps that led to the throne of white marble and climbed them, blood spilling from the cracks in his helmet, his golden armor flowing and swirling around his body in a state that resembled panic.
Finally, Gunlaug reached the dais and fell on his throne, looking down on the great hall of the ancient castle with a strange, wistful expression. Then, he strained to say something, but became twisted in a violent coughing fit instead.
In the end, he just whispered a few almost inaudible words and leaned on the back of the throne, his body relaxing. Sunny was perhaps the only one who had heard him, due to the fact that his shadow was hiding in the darkness of the alcove all along.
"I... tried. In the beginning… I really did…"
This was what Gunlaug had whispered.
And then, he grew still.
The Bright Lord of the Dark City was dead.
Sunny knew it instantly because of the fact that the terrible psychic aura pressing him to the ground suddenly disappeared, letting all the people around him move and breathe free.
Knowing what was about to come, he glanced at the far end of the great hall one last time.
A corpse in golden armor was sitting on the throne, a beautiful red blossom appearing from the crack in his polished mask.
A few moments later, the armor suddenly shined with white light and then disintegrated into countless sparks, revealing the man who had ruled this cursed place for many years with an iron fist.
Gunlaug was surprisingly handsome. Even though his face was covered in blood, it was easy to tell. He had a short beard and long blond hair. One of his eyes was gone, eaten through by the Blood Flower, and the other was quickly turning glassy.
What surprised Sunny the most, though, was how young he looked. It was hard to imagine the Bright Lord as anything but powerful and ageless, but in fact, he was no older than twenty-seven. Somehow, Sunny had forgotten that fact.
'...Kids. All of us here are just lost kids.'
He didn't waste too much time thinking about that, though.
Because in the next few moment, Tessai, who had been staring at his dead lord with his usual morose expression, turned around and looked at the crowd of slum dwellers, then at the members of the Host.
The giant lingered for a second and then said, his deep, dark voice reverberating through the ancient hall:
"...What are you waiting for? Kill them all."
And then, everything descended into madness.
Chapter 298: Fire and Blood
The first Guard to follow Tessai's order lunged forward, summoning his weapon… and fell to the ground, a heavy kunai suddenly appearing in his eye.
Due to the everyone's attention being drawn to the bloodied figure on the throne, no one noticed as Sunny moved his hand slightly, letting the Prowling Thorn fly.
He wasn't looking at Gunlaug, though. His eyes were drawn to Nephis, while his shadow watched Caster.
When the Bright Lord died, something strange happened to Changing Star. Her eyes opened wide, losing focus, and then she swayed a little and fell to one knee.
Her body was busy rearranging itself after absorbing a huge amount of soul essence, which made Nephis vulnerable for a few moments.
That was when Tessai had given his order, and that was when Sunny threw his kunai and killed the Guard rushing to attack the slum dwellers.
Someone screamed, and in the next moment, the great hall of the Castle descended into chaos.
Unnoticed by anyone, Caster suddenly turned into a blur.
'Not so fast!'
Sunny was thrown of his feet and awkwardly fell, his wrist screaming in pain. He had achieved his goal, though: even while falling, he saw the proud Legacy rolling on the marble floor, tripped by the invisible string of the Prowling Thorn.
A second later, hundreds of Sleepers clashed against each other, their suppressed rage, bloodlust, and murderous resentment finally exploding into a storm of violence.
The white marble was instantly painted red with blood.
The Guards slaughtered indiscriminately, their powerful Memory armaments and training giving them a vast advantage over the disorganized crowd of slum dwellers. But they weren't killing just those who came from the outer settlement: in the panic and havoc that engulfed the throne room, differentiating friend from foe was not an easy task.
Sunny saw several Artisan assistants fall to their blades, as well as a few unlucky people who had paid a heavy tribute in exchange for the promise of safety.
With Gunlaug gone, that safety was now gone, too.
It almost seemed as though the Guards didn't care who they killed, or were even glad to be let off the chain. Even if there were those among them who had preserved some vestiges of conscience, now, it was utterly gone, devoured by the crowd instinct and the exhilaration of being free from all restraints. Their faces were contorted with ferocious grimaces, and their eyes burned with rage, hatred, and tenebrous joy.
This was perhaps the most disturbing and frightening thing that Sunny had ever seen… and he had seen some of the most chilling horrors the Dream Realm had to offer.
'How can humans do this to other humans?'
But that question was moot, and also hypocritical. Humans were indeed the most adaptable of creatures. When they needed to, they were easily able to devoid their victims of the status of a human being, thus absolving themselves of any guilt or sin. Why feel guilty for slaughtering cattle?
Creatures worse than cattle, even. Hateful pests.
Sunny had practiced that simple mind trick himself in the past.
These thoughts only took him a fraction of a second. Jumping to his feet, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard and dashed toward Nephis.
The slum dwellers, meanwhile, came to their senses and met the assault of the Host with as much fury and bloodlust. Even though they were less experienced, well-fed, and armed, their resolve and exalted fury made up for that.
"Protect Lady Nephis!"
"Kill the bastards!"
"Judgment!"
The two forces clashed, eviscerating anyone who had the misfortune of being stuck between them. Screams of terror and pain filled the great hall. The floor turned slippery with blood, and dead bodies piled on it, staring into emptiness with wide eyes.
Sunny saw the scarred hunter from before dive under the strike of a young Guard and drive the tip of his sword into the enemy's throat. He saw several Hunters of the Host lunge at Effie, who had easily tore the rope that bound her arms and met them with a ferocious grin, the beautiful bronze spear weaving itself from sparks of light in her hands. He saw Tessai crushing a random Sleeper's skull with a heavy mace. The poor youth was only guilty of getting in his way.
He saw people screaming in fear as they tried to flee the hall. Many fell on the floor, and were then crushed under the feet of the panicking crowd…
The problem was, he didn't see Caster.
Arriving near Nephis, Sunny batted someone's sword away and then punched his opponent in the face, causing him to fly back with a pained scream. He looked around, trying to notice the proud Legacy, his mind cold and collected…
And there, he saw him. Caster may have had plans to kill Changing Star at the moment of her weakness, but thanks to Sunny's subtle intervention, he had lost that chance.
Now, the Legacy had bigger problems on his plate. With the enchanted jian in his hand, he was fighting none other than Gemma, the leader of the Hunters. No matter how strong and skilled Caster was, this was not an opponent that would go down easily, if at all. He couldn't extricate himself from that fight without risking being killed.
'...Well. That problem seems to be solved.'
But now, there was another. Much bigger one.
Back at the steps leading up to the white throne, Harus was standing with his back turned to the slaughter below, a strangely disoriented expression frozen on his face.
Sunny could see his face because the shadow never left the darkness of the alcove, watching the dreadful hunchback's every move.
Harus was staring at Gunlaug's dead body, his glassy eyes confused and empty.
But then, slowly, a hint of a dark and deadly emotion appeared in them.
Turning around, he studied the great hall, not disturbed even a little by the bloody chaos, the clangor of steel, and the scores of people dying in front of him.
And then, his gaze fell on Nephis.
'Crap.'
At that moment, both Kai and Cassie appeared by Sunny's side. Turning to them, he gestured to Changing Star and yelled:
"Protect her!"
At the dais, Harus tilted his head, piercing Changing Star with a murderous gaze. Slowly, his face contorted, turning bestial and terrifying. Pure hatred and insanity burned in his eyes, making anyone who accidentally glanced in his direction shudder.
With a low growl, the hunchback took a step forward and outstretched his hand, ready to summon a weapon.
…But in the next moment, someone crashed into him at full speed. Even though Harus had dodged the flying blade at the last moment, the force of the impact was such that both men flew back, into the darkness behind the throne.
Breaking through a wooden hatch that was hidden there, Sunny and Harus rolled down a long flight of stone stairs and left the havoc of the great hall behind.
A few moments later, they landed on the floor of a wide corridor and were thrown away from each other. Sunny twisted his body to regain his balance and used the Midnight Shard to stop himself from sliding even farther away.
Then, he rose to his feet and looked darkly at Harus, who were similarly just standing up.
A cold glint appeared in his eyes.
Just like Sunny had expected… today, one of them was going to die.
Chapter 299: Twisted Reflection
Out in the great hall of the ancient castle, the air was full of screams and clangor of steel, with rivers of blood being spilled on the white marble floor. But in the wide corridor Sunny and Harus had found themselves in, the havoc that reigned above seemed muffled and distant. It was just the two of them here.
Picking up the Midnight Shard from the cold stones, Sunny flexed his shoulders and looked at the hunchback. There was a dark, icy fire burning deep within his eyes.
"...How wonderful. We are finally alone."
The hunchback tilted his head and stared at him with his glassy eyes, not saying anything. A slight smile appeared on Sunny's lips.
"What, no reaction? Well, fair enough. Allow me to introduce myself, then. My name is Sunny… and I've been craving to kill you for a long, long time."
Harus remained motionless, looking at him with the same indifferent, bored expression. A hint of anger appeared on Sunny's face.
Taking a subtle step sideways and slightly turning his torso, he said in a casual tone:
"To tell you the truth, Harus, I have killed many monsters. Some of them were Nightmare Creatures, and some were men. I killed a person or two, as well. But I have never done it out of malice. I've never enjoyed it… too much."
He paused and then spat, his voice shaking:
"But I will enjoy killing you."
Sunny grasped the hilt of the Midnight Shard with both hands and took a step forward, piercing the hunchback with a furious gaze.
"You embody everything that I despise. The mere fact of your existence offends me. You sicken me, and for that reason alone I am going to end you. You don't deserve to live."
Harus blinked and continued staring at him, motionless. Sunny stopped a few meters away and snarled, frustrated at the lack of response.
"Do you have any idea what I had to do, what I had to sacrifice, how many things I had to let go of to save myself from becoming someone's slave? And here you are... living as one of your own free will… bastard, what gives you the right? Who gave you the idea that you can breathe the same air as I do?!"
The hunchback finally showed a sign that he had heard Sunny. With a slightly irritated expression, he shook his head and said:
"Talk, talk, talk. You talk too much, little worm."
Sunny grinned. A dangerous spark appeared in his eyes:
"Yeah? Well, what are you going to do about it?"
Harus smiled, too.
His smile was cold, unnatural, and frightening.
"Break you. Apart. You will have to die, anyway. All of you will."
Sunny raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, really? Why is that?"
The hunchback shrugged and outstretched his hand. Weaved from the sparks of light, a heavy chain appeared from the air, wrapped around his arm from wrist to elbow. Then, he grimaced and straightened his back as much as his deformity allowed him.
Before, he seemed to be of the same height as Sunny. But now, Harus towered above him almost as much as Tessai had, his twisted figure radiating a sense of vicious, bestial power. As two menacing lights ignited in his pale eyes, he growled:
"Because this is the will of the Lord."
Sunny laughed.
"Lord? The Bright Lord? I don't want to disappoint you, fool, but your lord is dead."
Harus stared at him with sincere confusion. Then, a corner of his lips curled upward. With something that almost resembled pity, he said:
"Poor worm. You don't even understand what loyalty means, do you? Alive or dead… it doesn't matter."
Sunny snarled.
"You're right! I don't understand."
Finally, he raised his sword and prepared to attack.
"You know… I spent so much time trying to learn what your Aspect Ability and Flaw are. But now, I am glad that I don't know. I don't want to kill you using a trick. I just want to obliterate you…"
Harus listened to him. A mocking grin appeared on his lips.
…And then, Sunny suddenly became blind.
***
A moment before, Sunny was looking at the hateful figure of the fearsome hunchback. Then, suddenly, his sight was gone, replaced by nothing except for boundless darkness.
'Wh…'
Almost immediately, a monstrous blow sent him flying back. Sunny hit the wall of the corridor and then fell to the floor, leaving a trail of blood on the cold stones. His bones groaned, but held together, if barely.
Harus, who had hit him in the chest with a fist, the heavy chain wrapped around his knuckles, lunged forward with terrible speed, aiming to crush the enemy's skull under his boot. His movements were swift and utterly silent.
To his surprise, though, the little wretch somehow managed to roll away and jump back, avoiding death by a hair's breadth.
Sunny slid backward and rose to his feet, blindly swinging the Midnight Shard in a wide arc in front of him. The blade of the tachi missed the murderous hunchback entirely, but bought him a second to gather himself.
Not that it was going to help.
He was still blind.
'Of course… it all makes sense now.'
Sunny finally unraveled the mystery surrounding Harus. He understood why so many Sleepers, no matter how skilled and with no regard to the might of their Aspect Abilities, had been somehow rendered powerless and easily slaughtered by Gunalug's executioner.
He also understood why there were no witnesses to the countless murders that Harus had committed. No one had ever seen him killing his victims — their bodies were always found only after the slaughter was over.
It was not because the terrifying hunchback was able to move like a ghost or possessed such great power that no one could even try to resist it.
…It was because his Aspect Ability could literally make people not see him.
Or anything, for that matter.
It didn't matter how skilled or mighty his opponents were. Once they were blind, all their technique and Abilities were made useless. Killing a blind person was an easy task.
It also did not matter if someone was there to see Harus kill — as long as he wanted, he would remain unseen for as long as he wished.
That's how the legend of the horrifying butcher was born. People were always more afraid of things that they couldn't see, after all.
Sunny spat a mouthful of blood and grimaced.
It was nice to reveal another secret.
The question was… would he be able to survive knowing the truth?
Chapter 300: Bright Lord's Slave
By a twist of fate, today, Harus was facing possibly the worst opponent he could have faced on the Forgotten Shore… among the Sleepers, at least.
However, Sunny wasn't surprised.
He had always felt that he and the murderous hunchback were destined to end up fighting each other to the bitter end. Before, he had thought that this was just intuition, but now he knew that his occasional and subtle premonitions were anything but random.
All that time ago, he had already sensed that the two of them were connected by a string of fate.
Was it such a surprise, then, that his Aspect happened to counter that of Harus to large extent?
And it did counter it, although not completely.
If anyone else was in Sunny's place, they would have been already dead. Robbed of their sight, very few people — if anyone at all — could have resisted the furious assault of the terrifyingly strong hunchback. But Sunny wasn't just anyone.
Even while blind, he had Shadow Sense on his side. While it wasn't the same as being able to see Harus, by sensing the movements of his shadow, Sunny was able to predict his attacks with at least some level of precision.
It wasn't perfect, though. At least he had not reached the level where this form of perception could fully replace vision.
So, now, Sunny had a choice to make.
While his shadow was wrapped around his body, it gave him an incredible boost in strength, speed, and endurance. It wasn't able to provide him with a second pair of eyes, however.
So he could either continue to rely solely on Shadow Sense and keep this boost, or let the shadow go and fight Harus with just his own strength while being able to see.
'Decisions, decisions…'
Sensing the hunched shadow of the murderous butcher lunge forward, Sunny dodged left and heard something whistle past his temple with terrible speed. A fraction of a second later, and his skull would have been crushed by the links of the iron chain wrapped around his enemy's fist.
He missed the hunchback's other hand, though.
His wrist was suddenly caught in an iron grip and twisted, forcing Sunny to yelp and let go of the Midnight Shard. Another second, and his bones were going to shatter…
Following the direction of the twist, Sunny performed an aerial cartwheel to save his arm and reluctantly ordered the shadow to slip off his body.
As he landed on the stones, Sunny was finally able to see again.
Harus was holding him by the wrist with one hand, his other raising to deliver a crushing blow. Sunny doubted that there would be anything left of his face if he were to allow that blow to land.
…He still held the Midnight Shard in his free hand.
Turning the tachi upward, Sunny thrust it in the direction of the hunchbacks' throat. As a hint of surprise appeared in his enemy's eyes, Harus changed the direction of his strike, turning it into a block instead.
The razor-sharp blade bit into the links of the heavy chain wrapped tightly around his forearm and bounced off.
However, that gave Sunny the opportunity to wrestle his wrist free and jump back. Despite the fact that his bruised hand was shaking, he put it back on the hilt of the Midnight Shard and faced Harus once again.
The hunchback titled his head and stared at Sunny with an amused expression.
"Slippery worm... how are you doing that?"
Sunny grinned.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Then, he grimaced and added after a few moments of pained silence.
"...I can still see you thanks to my Aspect."
Harus grinned.
"Oh? Good… it is nice of you to tell me…"
With that, he suddenly threw his hand forward.
'What is he doing?'
The distance between them was too large to land a punch…
But in the next moment, Sunny realized his mistake. It was too late, however.
The chain suddenly flew off the hunchback arm and instantly covered the distance between them. Before Sunny could react, it was tightly wrapped around the blade of the Midnight Shard.
Then, Harus pulled it back with tremendous force.
Sunny could either allow himself to be thrown to the floor right in front of the cruel executioner or let go of his sword. He chose the second option.
The Midnight Shard flew far away and fell on the marble floor with a melodious ringing. There was little hope of retrieving it… and Sunny doubted that Harus was going to give him enough time to dismiss and summon the tachi again.
Indeed, almost instantly, the fearsome hunchback was already lunging at him, the iron hammers of his fists ready to break every bone in Sunny's body.
'Go die, bastard!'
Sunny growled and dashed forward. Dodging a deadly, strike, he twisted his body and delivered a ferocious blow of his own. His fist connected to the hunchback's chin, making Harus reel back.
Sunny might have been lean and not as tall as most men, but he wasn't a weak outskirt kid anymore.
The power of nine hundred shadow fragments, each earned in a deadly fight against unimaginable horrors, coursed through his veins. He was much stronger than he looked.
Strong enough to shatter stones with his bare hands.
…And yet, he wasn't nearly as strong as Harus. While shaken by the blow to the face, the hunchback didn't look seriously hurt. But his next strike almost made Sunny buckle.
For a few short moments, the two of them became entwined in violent, barbarous combat. Using their fists, legs, and even teeth, they did anything in their power to destroy the enemy. Harus fought with the measured skill of an experienced killer, while Sunny fought with the desperate, feral cunning that his cruel upbringing had taught him.
The hunchback was at a dire advantage in that fight. With his tremendous might and much larger weight and reach, all he had to do to win it was to wrestle Sunny to the ground. Knowing that, Sunny had done everything in his power to avoid being grappled. He twisted and moved, dodging the hunchback's large hands and delivering strike after strike.
Soon, Harus was bleeding from a half-dozen cuts on his angular face. Sunny, however, was in much worse shape. The hunchback's fists, and especially that damned chain of his, had left terrible marks on his body. The skin on his forehead was split open, and a stream of blood was flowing down his face.
Usually, that would have blinded a person. But both of his eyes were already blind; he was using his shadow to see.
'...How ironic.'
Still, it was just a matter of time before Sunny made a mistake. And very soon, he did.
Sunny was only a fraction of a second late, but it was all Harus needed to land one of his wide palms on his shoulder. Then, he gripped it with enough strength to make Sunny's bones groan, thus robbing the enemy of his only advantage — mobility.
As Sunny's eyes opened wide, the hunchback grinned.
"...Time to die, little worm."
With that, he threw him against the wall, making a net of cracks streak through its stone surface. Hurt and disoriented, Sunny felt something cold and inevitable grip his neck.
Looking his victim right in the eyes, Harus squeezed Sunny's neck and smiled.
"Good. It's good that you can see. Usually, they don't. Such a pity…"
Sunny raised his fist and hit the hunchback in the face, but to no result. He couldn't find the proper purchase or move his torso to deliver a proper blow.
Regardless, he tried again, then again, then again.
The skin on the face of his strangler split, letting more blood flow, but Harus just continued smiling, looking at him with fascination.
"Good. Good. This is so good… so, so good..."
Sunny weakly raised his hand again, but lingered, hesitating before trying to hit the hunchback again.
With what little air remained in his lungs, he wheezed:
"Hey, bastard… do you remember… how I told you… that I didn't want to use a trick… to kill you?"
Harus simply grinned.
"...well… that… that was a trick…"
At the same time, he struck the hunchback in the face again. Knowing that these punches were not strong enough to change anything, Harus didn't react.
But this time, a ghostly blade suddenly appeared in Sunny's hand at the last moment. Unlike normal Memories, this one weaved itself from nothing and almost instantaneously.
Then, it pierced Harus's temple and sunk deep into his brain, killing him on the spot.
The grin froze on the hunchback's lips. His eyes widened, then slowly turned glassy. His terrible grip on Sunny's throat weakened.
Then, he crumpled to the ground like a broken mannequin, his empty eyes still open and staring into nothingness.
Sunny fell to his knees and drew a hoarse breath.
"Die... you bastard. Die, die, die…"
A wicked, furious grin appeared on his face.
"Die and go keep your lord company in hell!"
Shaking, he used the wall to stand up and looked at the dead butcher with a strange mix of hatred, triumph, and contempt.
After a while, he said:
"Don't want to doesn't mean I won't, you fool."