In one month, the Winter Solstice would pass, with it, the day of the assault on the Crimson Spire would begin.
But Sunless still had unfinished business in the Forgotten Shore.
A damned tree that almost devoured his soul.
And a dark knight that wielded the power that haunted him.
He breathed in as the light of the sun washed his body, it was time. All were in their positions, they were merely waiting for the main group. He needed to get to his place soon.
As Sunless opened the window of the ruins of the cathedral and the darkness welcomed him, chasing away the light.
The darkness was… Familiar, in a bad way, the more he walked forward, the more the shadows were leaving, being replaced by True Darkness, his mind was returning to that week, to that state of mind.
He trembled, the darkness began to cloud his vision, the memories came back. But he breathed in, and walked forward, he couldn't falter, not now.
The shadows that remained reacted, fighting the darkness that oppressed them.
As he moved deeper into the upper levels of the ruins, reaching his companions that were already there, he couldn't help but remember Kai's words before planning all of this…
"Can't you just leave it there? Why kill it?"
The answer? Simple.
"Have you ever felt nothing Kai? And I don't mean emotionally or metaphorically. Physically, feeling nothing. Not being able to see, hear or touch anything?
Not the air you breathe, or the warm light in your skin, the bitter cold, the gruesome pain… Only being able to exist until you starve.
Have you ever felt that?"
All of the cohort and Shadow Watchers remained silent, eyes widened, surprised and terrified of the idea, imagining themselves in such a situation, only Seishan showed no reaction, she felt it too. Nephis gripped the table tight, looking away, as if trying to control herself.
Kai then answered honestly.
"N-No… have you?"
Sunless looked at his sister, and then at the archer, a cold, detached, angered voice spoke, carrying the trauma of a childhood.
"Yes… I felt it, for 7… Days… Straight… And every time I see or think of that Fallen Devil… I remember everything…"
Sunless was the youngest of the children that was trapped in the Dollhouse, and the one with the deepest scars.
"So think of it as a personal need, a meaningless, selfish, need. A Hollow need. I want to kill it… If anyone doesn't want to join me, you are free to leave the room."
...
No one did.
Nephis and Kira entered the dark cathedral followed by Effie, Merlin and Lan, finishing the formation with Lycon and Caster on the rear. Moving until they arrived at the main hall, where the rest of the group were waiting on the upper part of the building, being hidden by Nix's aspect. The only one not present was Cassie, she said she wasn't necessary.
They then waited for the Black Knight to appear, the place they were was the main hall of the cathedral, where the ground floor and the upper floor had no obstruction separating. Meaning the people above could fall to assist anytime they wished, at the same time, people like Kai and Nix could assist with little harm to their lives.
The wait for the arrival of the Knight was silent, chilling, Merlin's eyes kept moving non-stop, analyzing every subtle movement she could, her aspect gave her supernatural perception, letting her react and see much more than others. On the upper floor, Lauma was so focused she couldn't even blink.
A second passed, then another… And another…
Until Nephis moved her longsword forward and activated the [Dawn Shard], augmenting all Memories, Kira grasped his own sword.
The temperature began to rise as white and red flames chased away the Darkness and let light and shadows infiltrate and reveal the great Dark Knight of the cathedral.
The Knight's armor filled its entire body, letting only the slit of the visor reveal the two angry red eyes.
The fiend was startled by the sudden loss of its power, but quickly moved its blade down on the two beings that robbed it of its greatest strength.
But the two moved aside and let Effie block the strike with the great shield, Merlin moving right behind her.
The [Dusk Shard] collided with the sword of the Devil and created a shockwave that reached the entire chamber, creating a crater beneath the huntress' feet. Effie might have been the strongest physical Sleeper in the Forgotten Shore, but the Fallen Devil was still ranks above her, she could only grimace as a great deal of pain surged on her whole body, receiving the backclash of the attack and being launched away like a bug.
Her body would have smashed into Merlin, but the Shadow Watcher's aspect let her perceive what happened. She jumped even before her companion was launched and placed her feet on Effie's back, using it as a springboard to launch herself in the Knight's direction.
But not to attack him, to attack his sword.
Sunless had observed the Black Knight every time he could, its fighting style, strength, the way it dealt with its opponents, and he noticed that the Devil would rather receive damage than to let the sword in the way of a strong attack. Which meant that the sword was its weakness.
As Merlin swonged her longsword at it, her other companion, Lan quickly recovered from the shockwave and dashed to synchronize his attack with the girls. They would attack together, Lan's strike would weaken the sword to maximize Merlin's.
But the Black Knight recovered too fast, it was too fast.
With its free arm, it swapped Lan to the side with ease, not even looking at the brawler as he crashed into Kira, who was maneuvering around the Black Knight, the senior member let his flaming sword go to catch the junior, Kira's feet raised dust as he slid through the ground, Lan's momentum transferring to him.
Merlin couldn't do enough damage alone, the giant sword moved to meet her. Being in mid-air, she couldn't dodge, she saw herself being cut in two in her mind.
The blade moved as fast and as heavy as the Black Knight, slashing Merlin with fury.
Only she wasn't there anymore.
Caster had used his aspect and jumped into the girl, pushing her with him onto the ground, meters away from the Knight.
As the fiend processed why its blade met no resistance, a longsword pierced his chestplate from behind him, white flames burned in its wake.
Nephis had flanked the creature and used the opening created by the others to deal a devastating blow to the Knight.
And although the corrupted being seemed to let out a silent scream, it snapped its burning eyes towards Nephis, not having any slowed movement. As Sunny thought, the sword was the key.
The Black Knight moved its shoulder to hit its elbow to hit Changing Star's body, ignoring the raging white inferno that was slowly being extinguished by the Darkness inside the body.
Nephis pulled her sword out of the taciturn Knight and put her guard up, preparing to block the attack. However, she didn't need to.
Because Shadows suddenly broke through the Darkness of the Knight.
A crack appeared in the black metal of the sword.
Thrown back, the Dark Knight looked up to see a Shadow Knight and a Shadow Wraith.
The taciturn Saint hit her shield with her sword two times, taunting her opponent while looking at it with nothing more than pure disdain.
The shadow wolf bared his fangs towards the Dark Knight, the shadow mist that emitted from him showing an emotion similar to anger.
The Fallen Devil stood up and focused on the new opponents, noticing that the insect with the white flame… Was nowhere to be found, just like the rest of the insects. Not to mention the strange mist that was growing…
----
Sunny observed the battle intently, still trying to control himself even with the Darkness gone.
Nix and Motza were by his side, each unleashing their aspect for different reasons. Nix maintained illusions to protect each member that was incapacitated by the Dark Knight or was no longer fighting, making the Devil not notice anyone preparing an attack. That was how Nephis was able to blindside it.
Motza… He was simply laying the groundwork for his entrance.
"Mei is in position."
Lauma's eyes never left the area, she could see everything, and report everything.
"Alright, Motza, Kin, get ready to enter."
The assassin nodded, now with both arms after Nephis healed him, already having his dagger summoned. The swordsman brandished his weapon.
Kai was aiming his bow, trying to get a good shot.
Sunless took one more look at the battlefield.
Saint and Wraith, both augmented by one shadow each, started their assault on the Black Knight.
Lycon had just helped Effie up and recovered her body. His role in the battle was to support and heal anyone that got down and never engage with the Devil.
Caster and Merlin were crouched not far from the raging duel of the dark beings, waiting for their time to strike.
Kira picked up his sword from the ground and looked at the upper flor, nodding at Sunny, who nodded back, he then motioned to Lan to move forward, but while the brawler advanced, Kira stood still.
Nephis furrowed her brows, dashing forward and, for some reason, switching off her flames.
Sunless breathed in and out.
It was time…
—
Meanwhile, the skirmish between the Shadows and the Devil continued, while the Black Knight was distracted by the disappearance of the other enemies, it had to focus on the Shadows.
Not being able to notice the ever growing mist…
Saint faced the enemy head on, despite her lower rank and class, she was tougher than Wraith, making her draw the main focus of the fiend was fundamental so that the wolf could do damage to it.
And the Shadow did. The Devil took note of this, and made sure to keep its sword away from the wolf, sacrificing its armour and limbs. Even if it lost mobility, it would survive.
But even with the augmentation of a shadow, Saint inevitably fell. The Fallen being was too strong, too fast, and in the middle of the fight, it had found an opening to pierce Wraith.
Fainting a block, the Devil hid its thrusting blade beneath the gauntlet, the Shadow wolf fell for the faint. The Black Knight moved the wrist and made the sword meet the Wraith…
But it met the shield of the Shadow Saint instead, piercing the shield and her, cracking her wrist, and reaching her helmet.
The Black Knight raised her while she was stuck in the blade and threw her to the side. Saint crashed into the wall, her arm and chestplate ruined.
Wraith looked at this and froze… Then charged in anger, phasing through the Devil and biting its leg with force.
The Black Knight would attack the wolf, but it was soon assaulted by more insects.
Effie threw her spear, the [Zenith Shard] at its left shoulder, throwing it off balance. Lan, hidden by the mist that now filled the room, hit the other leg, the difference in rank made his aspect not be as effective as usual, but Merlin made up for that, she quickly joined her comrade to finally hit the blow they were meant to hit before.
The Knight was forced to kneel.
Caster appeared on the Devil's back using his aspect, and impaled his spear down its neck.
A primal anger surged through the Fallen Devil, all its composure was being tested by these insects, if it was with the Darkness, it would have killed them all already, but someone, who he couldn't even see anymore, took it away. It had enough of it all.
It raised the sword, pouring all the Darkness that was inside of it. Planning to unleash it on the insect on its back. There was enough Darkness that the pathetic light wouldn't be able to extinguish.
But before the Black Knight could do anything…
Shadows consumed him.