Despite all his misgivings and unease, Sunny had never expected that this hunt was going to change everything. He was just going through the motions, somewhat on edge because of the scale of this joint operation, but also strangely reassured by the large number of hunters surrounding him.
The unusual hunting party left the outer settlement at noon, heading east, to the massive ruin of a collapsed lighthouse that was situated at the edge of the city. There were almost twenty of them gathered together, all carefully making their way through the deadly maze of narrow streets, with Effie serving as the chief pathfinder and Sunny helping her by scouting ahead.
The plan was as straightforward and simple as possible. However, nothing was really ever safe in the Dark City. Everyone was prepared for the worst.
And pretty soon, their fears came true.
Halfway to their destination, a sudden sound made Effie freeze in place. Raising a fist to signal everyone to stop, she peered into the fog, a dark and foreboding expression on her face. Feeling that something bad was about to happen, Sunny commanded his shadow to return and moved closer to Cassie. His hand was ready to grasp the hilt of the Midnight Shard out of the air.
For a few moments, everything was quiet. Then, Effie's pupils suddenly widened.
"Scatter!"
As soon as the word left her mouth, the experienced hunters dashed in different directions. Sunny himself grabbed Cassie and lunged to the side, dragging her along with him.
Then, something large and heavy crashed from above into the cobblestones where the Sleepers had been standing just a second ago. Luckily, most of them were already somewhere else due to Effie's timely warning.
However, a couple of people were a little late to react. Their screams drowned in the sickening sound of tearing flesh.
Sunny cursed.
His shadow was nowhere near yet, leaving him with no choice but to fight without its aid. He spun around, summoning the Midnight Shard… and froze for a fraction of a second, all blood draining from his face.
Out there in the middle of the street, a massive, winged creature was standing on the cracked cobblestones, its pale body and black feather stained by the blood of the unfortunate hunters. Its terrifying beak was open, revealing rows of sharp, needle-like fangs.
A Spire Messenger!
As Sunny watched, momentarily paralyzed by fear, a long red tongue snaked out of the creature's maw to lick the blood off its face.
'Move!'
Shaking off the paralysis, Sunny gripped his sword and prepared to fight for his life.
…His and Cassie's.
After that, everything happened incredibly fast, but also felt like an eternity. The hunters had a simple choice to make: either separate into smaller groups and retreat into the ruins, risking encountering something equally as or even more terrifying, or stand their ground and try to drive the Fallen Beast away. Without having to discuss it, everyone chose the second option.
No matter how dangerous, a familiar enemy was always better than the unknown.
'Unknown…'
The surviving hunters attacked the abomination with all they had. Even though their Memories had no chance of breaking through the skin of the terrible creature, each strike still hurt it. Those who had Aspect Abilities capable of dealing direct damage immediately used them, hoping to at least disorient the beast.
Of course, no Ability of a Sleeper could ever hope to wound a Fallen Beast. However, if their assault was ferocious enough, the Messenger could retreat to search for easier prey.
If it only made the abomination angrier, however, most of them were going to die. More than anything, trying to resist creatures of this rank was nothing but a gamble.
For several seconds, it wasn't clear which way the situation would turn. The Messenger easily shrugged off the rain of attacks and lashed out with its beak, piercing one of the hunters clean through despite the man's mighty build and heavy armor. Another was almost torn apart by terrifying talons, but at the last second, Caster managed to pull the young man away thanks to his incredible speed.
Sunny waited at the back, covering Cassie and praying that his shadow would come back in time to give him a chance of dealing damage to the damned creature.
…But in the end, it was Effie who dealt the decisive blow.
Summoning her weapon, she leaped forward. Sunny could see her lean, powerful muscles moving like wire ropes under the olive skin. As though turning into a spring, her whole body tensed, and then exploded with momentum. There was enough force behind her attack to split a mountain apart.
Miraculously, the tip of her weapon managed to break the pale hide on the Messenger's chest and stab deep, causing a stream of blood to shoot out. The creature screamed, and then lashed out with its powerful paws at the huntress.
A large round shield appeared on Effie's left hand. Digging the soles of her sandals into the ground, she leaned forward and received the terrifying blow. The cobblestones under her feet cracked, but the huntress remained standing.
Spitting a mouthful of blood, she grinned crazily and twisted her weapon, causing more damage and pain to the Messenger.
It seemed as if the Fallen Beast did not expect to meet such fierce resistance from a bunch of ants, not to mention actually being hurt by them. Letting out another scream, it waved its wings to send the Sleepers flying back, picked up the dead hunters, and jumped into the air.
Soon, the abomination turned into a dark spot in the skies. All that remained behind were puddles of blood, broken stones, and the moans of battered humans.
Somehow, they had survived… well, most of them.
Effie straightened, dismissed her shield, and glanced down.
"Damn. I think my arm is broken!"
With blood running down her chin, the huntress laughed and leaned on her weapon, visibly exhausted.
Sunny wanted to congratulate her on that awesome strike, but then, something registered in his mind.
Suddenly cold, he stared at Effie's weapon. He had never seen her fight before, so this was the first time Sunny saw what Memory the huntress used in battle.
It was a spear. An ancient, beautiful spear forged from bronze.
Something clicked in his mind, disparate pieces of information connecting together.
And then, everything exploded.
… Or at least it felt that way.
Because Sunny finally understood the future.
Chapter 160: The Future
"Hey, doofus. You're okay?"
Sunny reacted after a second or two, raising his head and staring at Effie with empty eyes.
"...Y—yeah. I'm fine. Just… thinking about stuff."
Effie gave him a strange look, then shrugged and turned away. Everyone was too busy to pay him any attention. Not that anyone ever did.
Left alone, Sunny staggered and slowly lowered himself to the ground. In his mind, one phrase was repeating itself, over and over, growing louder and louder with each second.
"A woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monster… a woman with a bronze spear..."
This was a part of the vision that Cassie had seen back at the beginning of their journey, on the night they had spent atop the giant statue of a headless knight.
The one that was so harrowing that she had almost jumped into the dark waters of the cursed sea just to run away from her terror.
It was also the key that connected every little piece of information that Sunny knew into one cohesive picture and let him understand the true meaning of that terrifying vision.
He shuddered, remembering what Cassie had told them on that dark night in stark detail:
'I saw the human castle again. Only this time, it was at night. There was a lonely star burning in the black skies, and under its light, the castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls. I saw a corpse in a golden armor sitting on a throne; a woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monsters; an archer trying to pierce the falling sky with his arrows…'
All that time, Sunny was sure, for some reason, that Cassie saw the cataclysm that had devoured this land and turned it into a desolate hell, creating the Forgotten Shore. The first part of the vision was certainly referring to how the curse of the all-consuming darkness had broken free from its seven seals. So he had just assumed that the other parts of the vision spoke about the past, too.
But Effie's spear gave him an epiphany, a terrible revelation that he had been wrong all this time. That the apocalyptic images Cassie had described were not of the past, but of the future.
Their future.
Trembling, Sunny raised his head and glanced at Nephis, who was using her powers to heal the wounded hunters, her ivory face contorted in a painful grimace. His eyes were wide and full of disbelief.
It was all so clear!
She… she was the lonely star that burned in the dark skies above the Bright Castle, bringing with it fire and rivers of blood. After all, her name was Changing Star.
Or, depending on the runes used to write it, Star of Misfortune.
The Star of Ruin.
Sunny spent so much time fearing what Gunlaug was going to do with Nephis, but he should have been scared of what she was going to do to him, instead. A corpse in a golden armor sitting on a throne… why hadn't he realized the truth after seeing the Bright Lord for the first time? It was him. Gunlaug was the corpse in Cassie's vision.
Effie was the woman drowning in the sea of monsters. The archer…Sunny didn't know yet, but he was sure that they would meet soon.
Maybe only to die together.
He had always known that Nephis was guided by some mysterious, overwhelming goal. He didn't know what that goal was, but it was certainly not here, on the Forgotten Shore. To achieve it, Changing Star had to find a way to return to the real world.
That's why she had always been so unwavering and relentless in her ambition to move forward, overcome any obstacle, endure any pain. At times, it even seemed as though her conviction was more akin to an obsession. Nephis was willing to do anything to fulfill her dream.
The comforting words she had told him on their first day in the Dark City suddenly resounded in his mind. Only now, there was another, colder, and much darker meaning hiding beneath their surface:
"We will find a way to return. No matter what has to be done, we will."
No matter what has to be done…
There was only one way to leave the Forgotten Shore, and it lay in the Crimson Spire. No Sleeper could ever hope to reach that Gateway in one piece. They would need an army to even try. Maybe then, walking on corpses, one or two survivors would be able to escape from this cursed place.
But Nephis didn't have an army.
…Yet.
To gather one, she would need to kill Gunlaug, usurp his power and eliminate all opposition, drowning the Bright Castle in blood. Only then would she be able to rally every single Sleeper left in the Dark City and lure them into following her on a suicidal crusade. Knowing all too well that most of them would die because of it.
No sane person would follow her.
'They won't. Right?'
Sunny remembered the faces of the young men and women that had become part of their group in the last few weeks. The strange light of hope, or maybe faith, burning in their eyes. The almost religious reverence they felt toward Nephis… no, not Nephis. Toward Changing Star of the Immortal Flame clan.
Their personal angel.
Were they sane, still?
Finally, he understood every part of Neph's plan.
Looking at the beautiful young woman with silver hair, Sunny shivered.
And then… there was the last part of the prophecy.
***
On their way back, Sunny felt as though he was in a feverish dream. The magnitude of the revelation was too… too much for him. His mind felt weak, unsteady, and on the verge of breaking apart.
He had never experienced such a deep feeling of shock. It was as though the very core of his being was violently shaken. He wasn't equipped with the right tools to cope with it.
It felt as if he was on the verge of losing it.
Sunny was truly horrified.
'Don't… don't waste time trying to deal with your emotions. This is not the right time for feelings. You need to… to figure out how all of this affects you personally, and what you need to do to turn things to your advantage.'
After all… what was there to be scared of? That many people would die? What did their lives and deaths have to do with him?
Yes… yes. As long as he was the one left standing in the end, this whole thing might actually turn out to be beneficial. Hadn't he spent the last weeks being afraid of what Gunalug was going to do to them? Well, now he knew that Gunlaug was going to end up as a corpse. Problem solved.
Wasn't he crushed by the news that he would spend the rest of his life in this odious hell? Well, now that wasn't a certainty anymore. That last part of the prophecy…
Everything was well. Better than ever.
…And yet, no matter how much Sunny was trying to be rational, he just couldn't help but be filled with terror.
***
In the crimson light of sunset, he found a reason to leave the lodge and walked to the edge of the stone platform. No one really cared that much about his whereabouts, so it wasn't hard to disappear for a while.
No one noticed that something was bothering Sunny, either. They were all accustomed to his moody behavior, anyway. Only Cassie seemed to have picked up on something.
...And Caster, who pretended to be carefree, but actually had a habit of watching anyone close to Nephis like a hawk.
The bastard...
Reaching the very end of the stone platform, Sunny turned around and looked at the outer settlement and the magnificent castle towering above it, with hundreds of Sleepers rushing to find shelter before the coming of night. A cold and harrowing feeling gripped his heart.
'All these people… all these people are going to die.'
Neph was going to kill them.
...Was he willing to help her do it?
For some reason, Sunny wanted to laugh. This whole situation was so sick and appalling that it was almost ridiculous. He was never an altruistic type, really. More than that, he always prided himself on being a cynical, selfish, and vicious person. But this... this was too much even for him.
Grabbing his head, Sunny moaned.
'What am I going to do?!'
At that moment, the sound of steps suddenly attracted his attention. A gaunt figure appeared from the slum and walked toward him.
Sunny frowned.
'Oh, right. That guy…I have completely forgotten about him.'
Harper stopped a few paces away and smiled timidly.
"Sunless! Uh… can we talk?"
Chapter 161: Rubicon
Harper stared at him with that pathetic timid smile frozen on his lips. In his eyes, there was fake friendliness, worry, and desperation. For some reason, Sunny felt a violent urge to erase the smile of his face.
'You scum…'
In his rattled state, he was having trouble controlling his emotions. Something must have shown on his face, because Harper suddenly blinked and took a step back. But in the end, the desire to be allowed back into the Bright Castle won over his caution. He forced himself to stay still, hesitated for a few moments, and said:
"I… I wanted to thank you for inviting me into your home this morning."
Sunny looked at the gaunt young man. In the twilight of dusk, his pale face was hidden in deep shadows. Finally, he answered:
"Yeah. We can talk."
'Think, Sunny, think…'
But his mind was refusing to obey. Most of it was drowning in the sea of cold terror that had been summoned by the revelation of the future. What little remained was utterly disoriented.
Sunny raised one hand and rubbed his face.
'He's a spy. He's here to make it easier for Gunlaug to kill us. What should be done?'
In the morning… yes, back before everything changed, Sunny had seen Harper reporting to one of the Guards. He wanted to give the cowardly young man a beating and throw him out of the lodge… but that would be a wrong decision.
The best thing to do was not to expose the unfortuante spy, but to feign ingnorance and feed him false information. Yeah… that was the optimal way to deal with moles. As an aspiring spy himself, Sunny knew these things well.
But would he even able to deceive Harper? By accident, the failed informant had chosen a perfect person as his mark. Sunny knew a lot of secrets and was incapable of lying.
But he was also a master of deception. So…
"Sunless?"
Sunny flinched and glanced at the gaunt young man.
"Sorry. Uh… I'm a bit out of sorts after today's hunt. You wanted to talk?"
Reassured, Harper smiled again.
"You see, I wanted to thank you for everything that you had done for me, and for all the people here in the settlement. When I left the castle, I brought a very special item with me. I thought of sharing it with you!"
Sunny frowned.
"A special item?"
'I should see what his plan is exactly, feed him a couple of little truths along with the lies, and then report to Neph in the morning. R—right?'
Harper, meanwhile, was nodding energetically:
"It's a… a bottle of liquor. Every month, a few are sold by the Artisans working in the garden. Getting one is very hard, but I was lucky. Would you like to come and try? My hut is nearby."
Sunny got distracted for a few moments, but then forced hismeld to concentrate. What was Harper talking about? Artisans, liquor, luck…
'...Why not?'
Giving Harper a nod, he gestured for the young man to lead the way and followed.
As they passed other slum dwellers on their way to Harper's hovel, Sunny couldn't help but feel like they were surrounded by walking corpses.
Most of these people were already dead. They just didn't know it yet.
…But he did.
The weight of this knowledge was slowly crushing him.
Harper's small hut was even more pathetic than the other hovels in the slum. It was crudely constructed out of rotting pieces of wood, with plenty of cracks to let the cold wind in. Inside, there was nothing except for a pile of seaweed thatch that served as a flimsy mattress and a low wooden table. Sunny could understand why the gaunt Sleeper was so desperate to return to the castle.
At least there was a door.
Once inside, Harper looked around with embarrassment and invited Sunny to sit on the floor in front of the table. Then, he dug a glass jar from beneath the seaweed and placed it in front of him like a rare treasure. Producing a crude iron knife from somewhere, Harper then opened the wax seal of the jar, placed the knife on the table, and poured a milky white liquid into a chipped clay cup.
"Here!"
He handed the cup to Sunny and smiled.
Sunny received it and smelled the strange liquor. He remembered many people in the outskirts who had drowned themselves in the bottle or killed themselves with cheap stimulants and drugs. Luckily, he was always too paranoid to allow anything to alter his mental state. Plus, for a long time, he couldn't allow himself to die before accomplishing a certain thing.
That's why Sunny was not too familiar with alcohol.
Bringing the cup to his lips, he held his breath and downed it in one go. A pleasant warmth immediately spread through his body, bringing with it a bit of sweet solace.
'...I can see the appeal.'
It wasn't too bad, really.
Harper hurriedly refilled the cup and asked:
"I heard about the latest hunt. By gods, you have survived an encounter with a Spire Messenger! That must have been horrible…"
Sunny lingered for a bit, then shrugged.
"I just stood at the back."
The gaunt young man shook his head.
"Still. You are incredible! I hear that you have been with Lady Changing Star from the very beginning, surviving more than two months in the Labyrinth. Is this true?"
He was a really bad actor. Even if Sunny didn't know that Harper was a spy already, he would have sensed something strange at this point. But it was easy to pretend not to notice anything.
'Rats like me will tell you everything as long as you show them a tiny bit of respect, huh?'
Flushed because of the liquor, Sunny slowly smiled:
"Oh… yes! In fact, if it wasn't for me, she would have been long dead. Do you know how many times I saved her life?"
This part was entirely planned, aimed to create a false sense that Harper's plan to use pettiness and jealousy to loosen his tongue worked. However, the next words came out of Sunny's mouth on their own.
Gritting his teeth, he suddenly paled and whispered:
"...and for what? Huh? For… for this? This wasn't supposed to happen. How did this happen?!"
Then, Sunny grabbed his head and forced out a dark laugh.
'This is bad… what am I even saying?'
Mistaking his terror for the sign of the liquor doing its job, Harper got a little braver:
"You must have fought side by side with Lady Nephis a lot!"
Sunny lowered his head, then shrugged.
"Yeah."
The gaunt young man hesitated for a few moments, then cautiously asked:
"So… you must have seen her Aspect Ability?"
Learn your enemy's Ability, learn their Flaw, learn their vices… that's how you kill them. Staring at Harper, Sunny suddenly remembered his first battle after meeting Nephis. Back then, she asked him if he had ever dissected a dead carapace scavenger to learn its weaknesses.
That's what the cowardly Sleeper was doing right now. Dissecting them. Even though they weren't dead… yet.
"Sure. It can be used to heal."
Harper eyes gleamed.
"So she's a healer! Of course. Such an Ability suits Lady Changing Star very well. Everyone knows that she's an angel…"
'Good…'
His first goal was achieved. Sunny had successfully created a misunderstanding, leading Harper to believe that Neph's Aspect was limited to healing. There had to be other spies in the slum, of course. With them collaborating on that statement by recounting how she had healed the wounded hunters today, Gunlaug and his people would most likely believe that Changing Star had no offensive Ability.
Who would ever assume that her flames could both heal and destroy?
Harper, meanwhile, was pouring more liquor into the cup.
"By the way, I always wanted to ask. Do you know how Lady Nephis received her True Name?"
Maybe because of his terrible state of mind, or maybe because of the liquor, or maybe simply because of a momentary lapse of judgment, Sunny didn't think his next words through well enough before answering:
"Probably the same way I did."
Then, he froze.
'Curse you!'
He was so preoccupied with creating a false image of Neph in Harper's mind that, for a second, he had forgotten to keep his own true identity a secret.
'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!'
Not letting the panic show on his face, Sunny tried to salvage the situation by throwing his head back and laughing, creating an impression that his last statement was a joke.
Luckily, Harper seemed to believe him. He laughed, too, and then glanced at Sunny with humorous sparks in his eyes.
However, his next words sent Sunny into a cold embrace of horror. It was as though the gates of hell opened right beneath his feet.
Wishing to play along, the gaunt young man grinned and said jokingly:
"Oh! Of course, of course, Lord Sunless! What is your True Name then?"
Sunny stared at him, the smile frozen on his face.
'Think! Think! How do you get out of this?!'
But there was no way out, at least none that he could see. He was caught.
The familiar pressure appeared in his mind. Slowly, Sunny became deathly pale.
Harper was still grinning, waiting for the answer. His face was gaunt, tired, and full of both fear and desperate hope.
He was just a weak, pitiful kid, after all.
The pressure was replaced by blinding pain, sending a tremble running through Sunny's body.
Why, why did he have to ask that question?!
But it was too late. What happened couldn't be changed.
Like a cornered beast, Sunny could think of only one thing...
Harper finally sensed that something was wrong. His eyes widened.
"Sun…"
...how to survive.
Just a second before the pain overwhelmed his limits and forced out an answer, Sunny suddenly leaned forward, picked up the crude iron knife, and stabbed it through the poor young man's heart.
Chapter 162: Lost from Light
Pushing the knife into Harper's weak body, Sunny lunged forward. The flimsy wooden table flew aside and shattered into splinters once it hit the wall. With his other hand, he violently grabbed the young man's face and pressed him onto the floor, making sure that no sound would escape from his lips.
Harper's wide eyes were full of pain and terror, staring at Sunny with a silent, but deafening question.
…Why?
Feeling hot blood streaming down his hand, Sunny finally let the pain of the Flaw overwhelm him.
His whisper was hoarse and barely audible:
"Lost from Light! I am… Lost… Lost from Light…"
Harper's trembling fingers found his face and smeared it with blood, which then mixed with tears. He weakly tried to push Sunny away, but there was no strength in his arms anymore.
Biting his lips hard enough to break the skin, Sunny held the gaunt young man down and twisted the knife, praying for all of this to be over soon.
'Don't look at me… please, don't look at me…'
Finally, Harper's terrified, accusing eyes grew still and lightless. Sunny could feel the beating of his heart stop through the thin fabric of the young man's robe. Making sure that Harper was, indeed, dead, he finally let go of the knife and crawled away.
'Oh, gods…'
As though summoned by these words, the voice of the Spell whispered into his ear:
[You have slain Dreamer Harper.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Contorted in a painful spasm, Sunny bent over and violently threw up. Then he weakly fell on the floor and tried to wipe his face, only to realize that he was spreading blood all over it.
'I killed him. I just killed a real human...'
A strange stillness took hold of Sunny. Sitting on the cold stones, he stared at the corpse of the young man that he had just killed and struggled to form a cohesive thought. After a while, he finally succeeded:
'Too much… oh, this is too much…'
All of this was too much for him. Why did he have to go through all of this? The slave caravan, the Forgotten Shore, Changing Star, and now Harper. What sin had he committed to have to go through this nightmare? Was he actually already dead, and imprisoned in the depths of hell?
'...Bullshit. He deserved it.'
Sunny gritted his teeth and forced himself to concentrate on that thought.
'Why do you even feel guilty? The bastard was going to sell you out to Gunlaug. He knew that he was helping to kill you. And not just you alone. Neph, too. And Cassie.'
But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he had the right to kill Harper, deep down, he could not accept it. There were a million ways to deal with the timid, pitiful spy. No… there was another reason…
'Come on now… there's no one else here. Why don't you be honest with yourself, for once? Just admit it. Don't you dare become a hypocrite.'
Sunny grimaced and ground his teeth against each other.
'Say it!'
Reluctantly, he opened his mouth and whispered:
"I killed him because I wanted to survive. I killed him… because it was easy."
And just like that, he suddenly felt better.
What's the big deal? He was already a murderer, anyway.
He was planning to help Nephis kill hundreds of people.
Affected by the irony of the situation, Sunny barely stopped himself from laughing.
He didn't want to make too much noise. Breaking that table was already a mistake. What if someone comes to check on the commotion?
That would be bad. That would be embarrassing.
Right… what was he going to do with the body?
Instead of coming up with an answer, Sunny leaned forward and threw up again.
…When he sat straight after a while, the door of the hut was open.
And there, in the doorframe, his face pale, stood none other than Caster.
With a stunned expression on his face, the proud Legacy was taking in the sight. The broken table, the smell of alcohol in the air, the bloodied body with a knife sticking out of its chest, and disheveled Sunny kneeling on the floor, his hands and face smeared with fresh blood.
'Oh, no!'
"This… this is not…"
However, no words came to his mind. No matter what he would say, the situation was not going to appear any better.
Looking him straight in the eyes, Caster asked with horror in his voice:
"Sunny… what did you do?"
***
Sunny blinked and stared at the handsome young man. After a few moments, he opened his mouth and said:
"What do you think? I killed the bastard."
His voice was calm and nonchalant. It didn't matter how Sunny felt inside. In front of Caster, he couldn't show any weakness.
He didn't trust the proud scion of the Han Li clan one bit. There had always been something off about him.
So… if there was ever a time for acting, it was now. Especially because, unlike everyone else in the slum, Caster already knew that Sunny wasn't as useless as everyone believed. He had known it ever since that night when the three of them fought a devil together.
"Killed the… why did you kill him?!" Do you want to read more chapters ?
Sunny stood up and shrugged.
"He was asking too many questions."
Caster opened his mind, stunned, then closed it again. After a few moments, he suddenly frowned:
"What kind of questions?"
It seemed as though he had realized something.
…Come to think of it, what was he even doing here?
"Oh, you know. Do I know Nephis well, what her Ability is, how did she get her True Name, stuff like that."
Without giving Caster the ability to react, Sunny wiped his hands with a bit of seaweed and added:
"Actually, this guy, Harper, was sent over to spy on us by Tessai. I caught him making a report to a Castle Guard officer this morning."
Caster remained silent for a while, then asked quietly:
"Do you have any proof of that?"
Sunny glared at him and raised an eyebrow.
"...Is my word not proof enough?"
A wild thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
'Will I have to kill Caster, too?'
Would he even be able to, if it came to that?
Not likely.
"Why, you don't believe me?"
Bad, bad. The situation was really bad. Depending on Caster's next words, Sunny could find himself in a sea of trouble. And he was powerless to do anything about it.
Anxious and uneasy, he stared at Caster.
The proud Legacy lingered. After a while, he came inside and closed the door behind him.
"No, I believe you. Actually, I suspected this kid myself. That's why I came here after hearing that the two of you were seen going somewhere together. But, Sunny… the others… the others might not think the same."
He smelled the air and grimaced.
"I am sorry to say that, but you have a reputation for having a bad temper. With alcohol added into the mix and no proof to connect Harper to the Castle… you can see how this does not look good."
'That piece of crap!'
Sunny scowled, trying to pretend that he was calm. He saw where this was going...
"So? What are you going to do?"
Caster gripped his shoulder. Then, in a serious and grave voice, he said:
"What else? I will help you conceal everything, of course. We are comrades, after all. But, Sunny… no one can ever know what you have done here. Especially Lady Nephis. This will be… this will be our secret. Alright?"
Saying that, he looked Sunny right in the eyes... and smiled.
Chapter 163: The Past
Sunny stared at Caster with a grim expression. Despite the amiable smile and reassuring voice, he knew what the handsome Legacy was doing.
He grew up in the outskirts, after all.
Caster had said "I will help you."
But what he actually meant was "I will own you."
Because there was no better leverage than a gruesome secret. This help of his was going to come at a price.
But what choice did Sunny have, really? Unless he was ready to fight and kill Caster right there and then, thus silencing the only witness of his crime forever, he couldn't refuse.
Plus… what Caster thought was going to happen and what would really happen was not as set in stone as it seemed. As long as Sunny was alive, there was hope of turning things around, somehow.
He just had to get through this, one step at a time.
Sunny forced out a smile.
"Thank you, Caster. I won't… won't forget it."
Then, he glanced at the dead body lying at his feet and took a step back, escaping the quickly growing puddle of blood. His face remained calm, but a small, almost imperceptible shiver ran through his body.
"So… what do we do now?"
The proud Legacy lingered, then said in a solemn tone:
"First things first, we can't let anyone see you like this. Wait here for a while. I'll bring something for you to clean yourself."
Sunny sighed. He didn't really want to stay anywhere near Harper, but Caster was right. Walking around covered in blood was a bad idea.
"And then what?"
Caster hesitated.
"Then we will need to get rid of the body. But… it won't be easy to do without being noticed, if not by slum rats, than by Guards. Don't worry, though… I'll think of something. Just wait for me to return."
Sunny hesitated, wondering if he could trust the Legacy. What was going to stop him from returning with a crowd of people? But no. Having Sunny in his pocket would benefit Caster more than getting rid of him completely.
Still, he sent the shadow to keep an eye on things after the handsome young man went away.
Left alone with the corpse, Sunny sighed and sat on the floor, resting his back against the flimsy wall of the hut. He was so tired.
The night was slowly descending on the ruins, drowning everything in comforting darkness. Of course, he could still see the bloodied body lying motionless on the stones beside him. For the first time, Sunny wished that his eyes weren't able to pierce through the shadows.
Harper's eyes were still open, staring at him accusingly.
'I am… I am stuck with you forever, aren't I?'
Without even looking into the Soul Sea, Sunny knew that a new shadow had joined the silent ranks of every creature he had ever killed.
All he could do was wait.
Time slowly crawled.
It was taking Caster a long time to gather everything needed without raising any suspicion. He had to avoid prying eyes and waste a lot of time conversing with people who constantly wanted to win his attention. At some point, even Cassie talked to him:
"Hey, Caster. Have you seen Sunny?" Do you want to read more chapters ?
Away from their lodge, sitting on the floor near the corpse of a young man he had killed, Sunny smiled darkly and listened to what kind of excuse the Legacy would come up with to account for his absence.
After a while, his thoughts began to wander. He listened to the sound of rain falling on the stones outside and scowled. Rain always put him in a bad mood.
Because of it, Sunny was always reminded of the past.
Unlike Nephis, whose past was clouded in mystery and screamed of tragedy, he came from a simple background. His story was more mundane than tragic. A trivial story of unfortunate people living hard and bitterly in a dying world.
Sunny's parents were both menial workers. They were poor, but not destitute. His dad was employed by one of the numerous maintenance crews that took care of the city's outer barriers. His mom worked in an underground factory that produced air filtration systems. Together, their income was barely enough to afford a small cell in one of the human hives in the outskirts.
Several months after his sister, Rain, was born, when Sunny was around four, his father was killed in a work accident, which was not a rare occurrence among the city maintenance workers. Three years after that, his mother got sick and eventually passed away. Factory workers like her often got sick and died due to the harsh conditions, so it wasn't a rare outcome, either.
Sunny and Rain were sent to a government child care facility. His sister was young and cute, so she was eventually adopted. Sunny, however, was older and had "behavioral problems", which made him pretty much completely undesirable. After enduring a few years in a series of increasingly vile foster homes, he finally managed to run away and learned how to survive on the streets of the outskirts.
Out there on the streets, there were a lot of kids just like him, who had to do all sorts of distasteful things every day just to live to see another sunrise. However, even then, most of them didn't last long. It took a very special kind of creature to survive there.
Sunny was one such creature.
A part of this was pure luck, a part of it was that he was smart. But mostly, it was because he had a goal. Sunny refused to die before finding his sister.
Somehow, he had convinced himself that she was waiting for him to find and save her. One day, they were going live happily again, like a family, together. This misguided goal kept him alive more than anything else.
…Of course, it didn't end well.
Nothing ever did in this damn world.
Sitting just a few centimeters away from a puddle of human blood, Sunny chuckled and rubbed his face.
Was there even such a thing as a happy ending?
'What is taking that bastard so long?'
Granted, he knew exactly where Caster was, and what he was doing.
Currently, he was raising his hand to open the door of Harper's hut.
Sunny tiredly picked himself up from the floor and shook off the weight of reminiscence.
What was the point of remembering the past? He had to survive the future…
Chapter 164: Farewell
Caster brought him water, strips of cloth, and a crude tunic.
While Sunny was washing the blood off his body, the proud Legacy carefully moved Harper's corpse into a corner, buried it under the pile of seaweed thatch, and wiped the blood off the floor as much as he could.
This way, an accidental glance inside the hut would not reveal too much. Of course, even a little bit of scrutiny, and the signs of what had happened here would become apparent.
While doing all this, Caster was speaking:
"The easiest way to get rid of a corpse is to simply toss it off the platform. With luck, it won't land on the road. But even if it does, no one would pay it a lot of attention. People die all the time out here in the Dark City, especially those living in the outer settlement."
He paused, then continued:
"However, we can't do that — because Harper isn't just a random slum rat, but someone who was working for the Bright Lord. The Guards will become interested in his sudden death, and they'll use it to create trouble for you and Lady Nephis. So we need to make him disappear completely. That won't be easy."
Sunny glanced at him and frowned.
"What's the big deal? I can just carry him down the hill and dump the body somewhere in the ruins. It's night outside. No one will see anything."
Caster shook his head.
"Castle Guard has various types of observers watching the road day and night. You will be noticed. Unless someone persuades them to look the other way, of course."
He sighed.
"It won't be cheap, but I can make it happen. Tomorrow after sunset, you will have about an hour to carry the body to the ruins and return. Sorry, but I can't buy you more time… this will wipe what little shards I have left already."
His voice sounded as though the handsome young man was genuinely concerned for his comrade, but in reality, he was just reiterating how much Sunny owed him now.
And if that message was not enough, he could always threaten to reveal the secret of how Harper died in the future.
Caster had him in the palm of his hand.
Sunny smiled darkly.
"And what do I do until then?"
The Legacy shrugged:
"Just act natural and try not to speak to anyone. You're kind of a loner as it is. No one will suspect anything."
After that, he thought for a few moments and added:
"Oh. This... no one should enter this hut for a long while. Harper lived in the castle for these past few months, so people in the slum won't notice his absence yet. Neither will Guards, since he made a report recently. We should be fine."
Sunny stared at him with a strange expression. Do you want to read more chapters?
"What?"
He shook his head.
"No, nothing. I'm just wondering how many bodies did you make disappear already."
Caster frowned.
"This is my first, actually. In the Dark City, it is usually more advantageous to leave the body somewhere where everyone can see."
Made sense. Why kill someone if not to make others think twice before attacking you in the future?
Sunny was a real amateur when it came to murder. He really could not compete with the Legacies.
Just like that, they left the pitiful hut behind and returned to the lodge. With no one paying him any attention, Sunny returned to his room and sat quietly on his narrow cot.
He thought that he wouldn't be able to sleep this night, tormented by both the knowledge of what Nephis was planning and the memories of Harper dying by his hand.
But in the end, his exhausted consciousness slipped into oblivion as soon as his head touched the pillow.
***
In the morning, he woke up with a start, expecting a crowd of furious slum dwellers to be rushing inside, all eager to…
Well, what could they really do? If push came to shove, very few of them could actually harm him.
But no one was there.
After hesitating for a while, he decided to act as he would on any other day. Leaving his room, Sunny walked outside to wash his face.
Neph's little helpers either greeted or ignored him, just like usual. Their smiles were friendly and fleeting.
No one looked at him twice.
Strangely disturbed, Sunny escaped the lodge and looked up at the sky.
Nothing had changed. Everything was the same as it had been yesterday, and every day before that.
How could… how could this be?
He had violently murdered someone, but no one seemed to care. The world had moved on without Harper, indifferent to the pain and horror that were now frozen forever in the dead eyes of the timid, pitiful young man.
Even the Guards did not seem to notice the disappearance of their spy.
Sunny rubbed his face, hiding a pained grimace. His head hurt with a terrible migraine.
'If they don't care, why should I? Forget about that fool.'
But he did care. Irrational as it was, he felt compelled to mourn the death of his victim, even if he was the only one who would. Maybe because this situation was eerily identical to how he had always imagined his own death to happen, utterly unnoticed.
Discarded and forgotten, with not a single soul to care that he had ever existed.
'Pathetic.'
Returning inside, Sunny entered his room and sat on the cot, staring at the wall.
He spent most of the day there, going out only once to pretend to train with the Midnight Shard. While he was repeating the katas, he thought that he caught sight of Nephis observing the movements of his sword with a frown on her face. But a second later, she was distracted and drawn away by the neverending torrent of tasks required of her.
'Good riddance! Go chat with Caster, see if I care!'
His sudden anger surprised Sunny.
Well, at least it was better than the grim apathy that reigned over him this whole day.
'What's wrong with my mind lately? It's like I'm back on the Ashen Barrow.'
Frowning, he dismissed the Midnight Shard and returned to his room.
However, someone was waiting for him there. It was Cassie.
The blind girl stood silently with her back to the door, holding the wooden staff in her hands. Her face was unusually still. It almost looked… bleak.
Sunny's heart skipped a bit.
'Did she… did she find out?'
Forcing out a fake grin, he made his voice sound cheerful and said:
"Oh, hey Cas. Do you want something?"
She turned to him and, after a moment of hesitation, smiled. However, something about her smile was off.
It was almost as though it was as forced as his own.
The blind girl lingered, then said:
"No, nothing in particular."
Sunny blinked a couple of times.
'What's up with her today?'
Meanwhile, Cassie raised her hand and found his shoulder.
"No… actually, I have a present for you."
He raised his eyebrow.
"A… present?"
She nodded. In the next moment, a spark of energy suddenly traveled from her body into his.
Sunny flinched.
[You have received a Memory: Endless Spring.]
Wasn't it… that pretty glass bottle of hers, one that contained an almost endless amount of water?
Why was she giving it to him?
"Why are you gifting me this all of a sudden?"
She was silent for a few moments, then gently shook her head.
"I just wanted to. Why? Can't I give you something, after everything that you have done for us?"
Sunny hesitated.
"I guess you can. I just didn't expect it."
Cassie gripped his shoulder and remained motionless for a weirdly long amount of time. Then, she looked away and said, her voice light and even:
"We'll meet again soon, Sunny."
'Weirdo.'
He patted her hand and said, a little embarrassed.
"Of course we will. Where would I go? This lodge is too small for us not to bump into each other all the time anyway."
She slowly removed her hand and chuckled.
"Yeah. You're right, of course. I'll… I'll go now."
With that, she turned away and headed for the door.
Sunny stared at her back and shrugged.
"Alright. Bye."
'What has gotten into her?'
Reaching the doorway, Cassie froze for a second. Without turning her head and letting him see her face, she lingered for a while, then quietly said:
"...Goodbye, Sunny."
Chapter 165: Power
For the rest of the day, Sunny had nothing to do but count the hours until sunset. When the night descended, he would have to return to the scene of the crime he had committed, retrieve the body of his victim, and carry it into the ruins under the cover of darkness.
'How did it come to this?'
Alone in his tiny room, he stared at the wall and waited. Soon, the fear of going into the Dark City at night overpowered the bleak and hollow feeling that reigned over his soul.
People rarely risked leaving the hill after the dark. In the starless void of the Forgotten Shore, any source of light was bound to attract the attention of creatures that no human would even want to meet. Countless horrors stalked the streets of the city at night.
Only a madman would risk entering the ruins after the sun was gone.
...Of course, there were plenty of madmen in the Dark City.
Sunny, at least didn't need any light. He also knew the area surrounding the Bright Castle well enough to avoid most danger. The weeks he had spent learning from Effie didn't go to waste.
'I should be fine.'
With the shadows hiding his every movement, Sunny was sure of his ability to at least run away should something happen.
Still, with each passing minute, his heart felt colder and colder. When the shadow of the Crimson Spire drowned the world and colored his thoughts with the eerie feeling of dread, he gritted his teeth.
'It's almost time.'
However, before the sun completely disappeared, another unexpected guest appeared at the doorstep of his room.
Looking at Sunny with a scowl, Nephis gestured for him to stand up and said in an even tone:
"Come with me."
Sunny's heart skipped a bit.
'What… what does she want?'
Suppressing the sickly fear of being caught, he lingered for a few moments, then slowly stood up and followed Changing Star out of the lodge.
Together, the two of them walked to a secluded part of the slum. Neph remained silent, not even looking in his direction. She seemed calm, like always.
Sunny, however, struggled to keep himself from panicking. Various thoughts, one darker than the other, found their way into his head.
'Did that bastard, Caster, tell her everything?' Do you want to read more chapters?
Finally, they reached the remote alley where no one would have been able to overhear their conversation. It was filled with nothing but the crimson light of sunset and deep shadows.
Turning around, Changing Star looked at him with a frown. Sunny met her gaze, his face grim. He felt as though he was staring at his judge and executioner.
"I've seen you practicing with the sword today. Your moves were weak and aimless. It was as if you had lost all clarity. What were you thinking about?"
Sunny slowly exhaled.
So, that's what this was about. She didn't know anything. She just picked up on the turmoil raging in his mind.
He should have felt relieved, but for some reason, Sunny felt anger rising in his chest instead.
With a crooked smile, he looked away and answered:
"Murder. I was thinking about murder."
Nephis tilted her head, waiting for an explanation. Sunny remained silent for a few moments, the said, his voice strangely cold:
"You once told me that the essence of combat is murder, didn't you?"
She gave him a nod.
He stared at her, then said:
"Well, how come you know so much about murder, Neph? Huh? I wanted to ask you that since the day you cut off Andel's head without so much as batting an eye. You are out here preaching about how we are all fellow humans, not some beasts. Was Andel not human?"
She scowled.
"Is this what it's all about?"
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"It's a part of it."
Nephis was silent for a long time. At some point, she absentmindedly raised one arm and rubbed her neck. Finally, she said:
"It's not that I have murdered a lot of people. It's that a lot of people have tried to murder me."
Sunny blinked.
"Why would anyone want to kill you?"
She smiled.
"Why? All kinds of reasons, really. My family was really powerful once, don't you remember? But power… it's a dangerous thing, Sunny. You can't reach its peak without creating a lot of enemies. And when your power disappears one day, all those enemies remain."
Turning her face away, she said with her usual indifferent voice:
"I think I was what… five, six years old when someone tried to kill me for the first time? It was my nanny. She led me to an empty room, put her hands around my neck, and tried to strangle me. I thought that it was a game. For the first few seconds, at least."
Neph looked at him with white sparks dancing in her eyes.
"That was how I learned what weakness is. And when my teacher, who happened to walk by, rushed inside and used his Aspect Ability to kill her… that was how I learned what strength is. So yes. I'm not a stranger to severed heads, Sunny. Is that what you wanted to know?"
He stared at her, then slowly shook his head.
How frightened she must have felt, how powerless. Powerlessness… he knew how it felt all too well. Somehow, Sunny had never imagined that proud and indomitable Changing Star had tasted it, too. Was shaped by it.
Just like he was.
Meanwhile, Nephis smiled. But there was no humor in her eyes.
"So then, what did you want to know? Huh, Sunny? What is this all about? Do you think I haven't noticed the way you were staring at me ever since we fought the Spire Messenger? Come clean with it. You owe me at least this much."
He glared at her for a long time, a storm of emotions written on his pale, grim face. Finally making a decision, Sunny gritted his teeth and said:
"I want to know what your real goal is. I want to know if it's all worth it."
Chapter 166: Light and Shadows
Changing Star frowned. There was a hint of surprise visible in her cold, grey eyes.
"My… goal? Isn't it obvious?"
She gestured to the slum that surrounded them and the magnificent castle towering above it.
"I'm trying to help these people. What else?"
Sunny sighed.
Then, turning his face away, he asked:
"Hey, have I ever told you about my sister?"
Nephis blinked.
"No. Why bring this up all of the sudden?"
He smiled wistfully.
"I just was reminded of her recently, so I thought I'd share. You see… our parents died when we were little. She got adopted, but I ended up on the streets. Life wasn't really sweet for me. In fact, it was nothing but unsavory and bitter. So, young as I was, I simply imagined that it was the same for her. That's why I got obsessed with the idea of finding her. I had this fantasy in my head, you know, of saving and protecting her. Becoming a family again."
Sunny grimaced.
"But how could a penniless undesirable like me find anyone? You know how the city databases are. Even if they're functional, unsealing anything requires you to be a citizen, and one of a considerable rank, too. However, I was ready to do anything to accomplish my goal. So, I saved up money. A street kid can't earn much, but even then, I saved up as much as I could."
A dark expression appeared on his face.
"Even if I had almost nothing to eat, I would keep putting away the pathetic amount of credits I had earned through doing all kinds of horrid crap. And after four or five years of this, by the time I was nearly seventeen, I finally had enough to hire a private investigator."
He smiled.
"You see, there was this detective who sometimes hired us nobodies to gather information for him. His services weren't cheap, but I trusted him. Or in him, at least. So I gave all my money to that guy and told him to find my sister. And you know what? He did. One day, about a month after we made the deal, he gave me a piece of paper with an address written on it. So I went there."
Nephis hesitated for a few moments, then asked in a quiet voice:
"So what happened? Did you meet your sister?"
Sunny rubbed his face, glanced at the sky, and said:
"Sort of. I actually met her near the tram terminal. Only at that time, I didn't recognize her. You see, despite my lofty ideas of being her savior, I couldn't even really remember what she looked like. There was this girl, around twelve years old, wearing a tidy school uniform. She was walking in the same direction as me. I only realized that it was her after she entered the house from the address."
He was silent for a while, then continued, his voice strangely emotionless:
"It was already dark. I think it was raining. The house was situated in a really nice district. They actually had the whole house to themselves. Just one family living in it, can you imagine? Well, I guess you can. Anyway… there was even a lawn. And a window… a big window that shined light outside. Watching them through that window was almost like watching a television show."
Sunny remembered the splendor of it, his own embarrassing astonishment, and tried to smile. However, he failed.
"Standing in the shadows just outside the edge of that light, I observed her family for a while. She had parents who loved her and treated her well. She had real food, and enough of it to never go hungry. She had pretty clothes and expensive textbooks. She even had cute younger siblings. They were all smiling, laughing, and having a great time together."
Neph looked at him and asked:
"So what did you do?"
Sunny didn't answer immediately. Instead, he remembered how he just stood there, watching those happy people. How he looked down at his own frail body, his dirty and ragged clothes, the bruises on his bloodied knuckles. And realized how utterly out of place he was in that picture.
After years of dreaming of finding his sister and saving her, he was faced with the simple fact that she… she never really needed him. She probably didn't even remember that he existed. More than that, returning into her life would not bring anything good to her. He didn't have anything pleasant or beneficial to offer. He could only make things worse.
[Do you want to read more chapters ? ] Out there on that dark and rainy night, while Sunny was standing in the shadows, something in his heart was extinguished forever. Something inside him died.
No matter what kind of situation he would find himself in after this, nothing would really compare to the darkness he felt in that single moment.
After remaining motionless for a long time, he slowly backed away, turned around, and walked into the darkness.
…A few days after that, he began showing the first symptoms of being infected by the Nightmare Spell.
And the rest was history.
Shaking off the unpleasant memories, Sunny pretended to be carefree and shrugged.
"I did the only selfless thing that I have ever done. I turned around and went away. Do you know why?"
Nephis slowly shook her head.
Sunny grinned, the anger finally finding its way into his eyes.
"Because even a cretin like me was able to realize that the person he wanted to save didn't need his saving. So please tell me, Neph, why is it that you, with all your intelligence and clarity, can't seem to do the same?"
She stared at him, a deep frown appearing on her face.
"Are you implying that I lied about my intention to help these people? If so, you are wrong."
Sunny clenched his fists. Before he could stop himself, words flew out of his mouth.
…No. To be completely honest with himself, he had to admit that he simply did not want to stop them. He was too exhausted, hurting, and shaken to keep playing this game with Neph. It was time to bring everything to light.
Maybe then, he would be able to regain clarity.
Glaring at Changing Star, Sunny spat:
"...Fuck you, Neph."
She blinked.
"What?"
He smiled crookedly.
"I said go fuck yourself with that bullshit… Saint Nephis. You might have fooled everyone else, but I know you. I know you better than anyone else. So I don't buy your whole savior act even for a second."
Sunny repeated her gesture, pointing at the surrounding hovels.
"Help these people? Please! What are you going to help them with? Help them turn into corpses? You and I both know how this ends. Cassie already told us. Fire and rivers of blood, right? Is this what you're planning?"
Nephis stared at him, a dark expression written on her ivory face. Her cold grey eyes weren't calm anymore. Finally, there was a burning emotion in them. Was it… confusion? Pain? Disappointment?
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Then, Changing Star slowly shook her head.
Finally, she seemed to find the right words. Looking Sunny right in the eyes, she slightly raised her chin and said:
"...Fine. You got me."
Chapter 167: Unforgivable
Sunny stared at Nephis, stunned by her answer. He didn't expect her to admit it so easily.
Meanwhile, she just shrugged.
"What? Was I supposed to deny it? Why should I? You are the one who is obsessed with lies, Sunny, not me."
The corner of Changing Star's mouth twitched.
"Actually, I have to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I would have never learned how to deceive people so easily. I had a very sheltered upbringing, for obvious reasons. Communicating with others had always been something I knew very little about."
She smiled darkly.
"How fortunate it was to meet you, of all people, on this forsaken shore. Lucky me. Right?"
Sunny blinked. What was she talking about? He remembered how, during their journey to the Dark City, Nephis had tried to mimic Cassie in how she spoke to people. Had she been studying him, too?
Neph took a step forward and pierced him with an intense, burning gaze.
"No one survives in the Dream Realm alone. I knew that I won't be an exception to this rule, so I watched Cassie and you and tried my hardest to learn from you both. That's when I noticed that nothing you ever said — or did — was true. Wasn't it?"
'Crap.'
Sunny felt a cold shiver running down his spine.
She scoffed.
"No matter what happened, you somehow always managed to keep your real thoughts, desires, and reasons hidden. I've never seen anyone so adept at deception. Congratulations, Sunny! The mind games you played with us were almost as devious as the mental hex of the Soul Devourer. It was nothing short of inspiring."
Changing Star paused and shook her head.
"You can even easily turn truths into lies. How… brilliant. I never even knew that such a thing was possible. Silly me. I didn't know a lot of things before I met you."
She smiled.
"So, you see… while you were learning how to use a sword from me, I was learning how to use people from you. So please, Sunny, accept my sincere gratitude. I could not have wished for a better teacher. Without you, none of this would have been possible!"
Nephis raised her hand and stabbed a finger at him. Then, with anger in her voice, she spat:
"So where do you get the audacity to blame me for doing the same thing you do to everyone you ever meet?"
Sunny trembled. Was she telling the truth? Did Neph actually learn how to be this manipulative and vile… from him?
'Oh, no…'
Someone that inexperienced couldn't have found a worse role model even if they tried. What a cruel twist of fate, to be sent into the Dream Realm together with a damaged, vicious man like him...
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"That's not the same…"
Changing Star scowled.
"How is what I am doing different? I haven't told a single lie to these people. I gave them just enough truth to make them deceive themselves, just like you taught me. But what, now that it was turned around on you, it is suddenly not fair? Now you won't settle for anything less than the whole truth?"
She smirked.
"Fine. I'll tell you. Yes, you are right. There's going to be fire and rivers of blood. That is my plan. So what? How is it worse than this pathetic, hopeless existence? It isn't. I am going to kill Gunlaug. After he is dead, the Bright Castle will become engulfed in a civil war, with each of the five lieutenants vying for the throne. I am going to kill them, too. And when I am the last one standing…"
Her eyes glistened.
"...I will gather those of us who remain alive and make a road of bones for the lucky few to reach the Gateway. That is my promise. That is the salvation I offer to the people of Dark City — a chance to return to the real world or die like a human should, standing tall and with a sword in their hand, instead of living in fear like a rat! I thought that you, of all people, would understand."
[Do you want to read more chapters ? ] Sunny stared at her in disbelief. How could… how could she be so nonchalant about the idea of causing the deaths of so many people? Had their lives no value in her eyes?
But then he realized that he was looking at it all wrong. He was looking at it from his own perspective, the perspective of someone who was used to surviving at all costs, to putting survival above all else. However, that was how his old self had viewed the world.
After coming to the Forgotten Shore, Sunny had learned that there were things more valuable than staying alive. And he learned it from Neph.
To her, a life that was not worth living was that much worse than a worthy death. Maybe, in her mind, she really was trying to help these people.
But who gave her the right to make that decision on their behalf?
Shaking his head, he whispered:
"Is it really so terrible to live here? Is Gunlaug really so bad that you would rather see all of us die than let us remain under his rule?"
A dark expression appeared on Changing Star's face. With cold contempt ringing in her voice, she said:
"Gunlaug has done many despicable things. But I won't judge him for those. Who knows if any of us would have done any better? Keeping a thousand hopeless people alive in this hell is the kind of task that can turn a saint into a demon. No… there is only one crime he committed that I can never forgive."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"Which one?"
She lowered her chin and gritted her teeth:
"It's that he gave up."
She looked at Sunny and said, her voice full of intensity:
"It's that he never even tried to reach the Gateway. With so many years to prepare and hundreds of powerful fighters under his command… do you really think that there was nothing he could do to enter the Crimson Spire? No… no, he simply changed his mind. Why return if he can live like a king here, in the Dark City? He abandoned his duty as an Awakened and submitted to the Spell."
…And because of how he reigned, destroying people before they grew powerful enough to threaten his rule, Gunalug also prevented anyone else from trying.
However, Sunny glimpsed something else from what Nephis had said. A hint of her true motivation. The words she chose to condemn Gunlaug were just too peculiar.
Despite the fact that the Bright Lord had committed all sorts of atrocious acts and caused the deaths, humiliation, and sorrow of countless people, the thing that enraged Changing Star the most was not his corruption and cruelty, but something entirely different.
The fact that he had submitted to the Spell and failed to complete his trial. Considering which family she hailed from...
Was this the key to her mysterious goal?
Frowning, Sunny asked:
"Don't you think that, maybe, he just wasn't willing to see hundreds of people die? All these young men and women living in the outer settlement and the Bright Castle… how many of them are you ready to sacrifice to achieve your goal?"
He grew silent, afraid that her answer would confirm his suspicion.
Neph straightened her back and glanced at him. Once again, her eyes were firm and calm. Without pausing to think, she said, not a shadow of a doubt in her voice:
"All of them. Of course."
Chapter 168: Outside
Sunny grimaced and turned away, feeling a terrible headache. The sun was almost gone, and the night was following in its footsteps. He didn't have much time left.
With a desperate smile, Sunny looked and Changing Star and asked:
"What can be so damn important? What can be so valuable that you are ready to condemn everyone here to death?!"
He shook his head, guessing that he already knew.
"Don't tell me that it's some stupid crap like bringing the glory of the Immortal Flame clan back. Duty of the Awakened? What, you gave a terrible oath to become the first human to conquer the Fourth Nightmare, like your father conquered the Third, and your grandfather the Second? Or even worse, is it something even more foolish? Are you planning to save the damn world?!"
Nephis stared at him for a few moments, and then grinned. Something dangerous and unfamiliar awakened in her eyes… no, not completely unfamiliar.
It was the same strange, maniacal glimmer he had seen once before, right after saying the three strange words to her.
Aster, Song, Vale.
Back then, for a few moments, Changing Star had turned from a calm and composed young woman into someone he wasn't sure he recognized anymore.
With a soft chuckle, Neph shook her head.
"Save the world? No, I'm not going to save the world, Sunny."
Then, the smile disappeared from her face, and white flames suddenly ignited in the depths of her cold, grey eyes. With dark and frightening conviction, she said:
"I'm going to destroy it."
Her words echoed in the darkness, making Sunny feel an irrational feeling of dread. He stared at her, both failing to comprehend and afraid to believe in what she had just heard.
Destroy... the world? What?
Deeply inhaling the cool air, Changing Star looked up at the sky.
"This world, Sunny. This cursed place. The Dream Realm. No, I won't be the first one to conquer the Fourth Nightmare. I will be the first one to conquer every Nightmare. I'll go through them one after another, destroying anything and anyone who stands in my way. And when I get to the heart of the Nightmare Spell, I'm going to obliterate every part of it, I'm going to rip it to shreds, I'm going to decimate and bring it to ruin."
She looked him in the eyes and said:
"You think Gunlaug can stop me? You think a Fallen Terror can stop me? Those three ghouls can stop me? No, Sunny. Nothing will stop me. Anyone who dares will die. I'll kill them all."
Taking a step back, Sunny stared at her with wide eyes.
He shivered, feeling something cold touch the back of his neck. Then, he grimaced and asked, a hint of anguish in his voice:
"Why? Why do you want to destroy the Spell so much?"
A corner of Changing Star's mouth curled up slightly. After a few moments, she simply said:
"Because I hate it."
Sunny blinked, stunned by the simplicity of that answer. If it was someone else, he would have thought that they were lying.
But Nephis lived in a strange, stark world. She did things simply because she wanted to, and apparently wanted to destroy an eternal, omnipotent existence simply because she hated it.
Why the hell not?
He closed his eyes and whispered.
"You are actually insane."
Neph smiled.
"What does it mean to be insane in a world that has gone mad? I would be wary of anyone who remained perfectly sane in this hell."
Then, she sighed.
"So, are we done here? Or do you have more questions? The sun is almost gone, so you'd better hurry up and ask them."
Sunny shook his head and said, his voice hoarse:
"...Yeah. Yeah, Neph. I'm done."
With that, he slowly turned around and took a step forward.
Left behind, Nephis frowned.
"Where are you going? Come back here."
He waved a hand and said in a suppressed tone, refusing to turn his head:
"Sorry. I have an errand to run. We'll... talk some other time."
Her frown deepened. Looking at his back, Changing Star gritted her teeth and called:
"I said come back, Sunny! This conversation isn't over! Come back here right now!"
But there was no answer.
Sunny had already disappeared into the shadows, leaving her standing alone in the alley that was brightly lit by the last light of the dying sunset.
***
Some time later, Sunny was walking through the ruins, Harper's dead body weighing on his shoulder. The young man was very gaunt back before he had been killed, so it wasn't much of a burden.
…Physically, at least.
It was the early hour of the night.
Surrounded by nothing but darkness, Sunny was left alone with his thoughts and emotions. But, strangely, both his heart and mind were empty. He couldn't be bothered to think or feel anything right now.
It was all just too much and too sudden.
Plus, he would much rather concentrate on not stumbling on some horrific monster. Ending up eaten by a Nightmare Creature right now would be very ironic, but still unpleasant.
He felt guilty about murdering Harper, but not enough to die while trying to dispose of the body. He would much prefer not to die for his sins.
Luckily, the area he was traversing was familiar to Sunny. He knew which streets were comparatively safe, and which he needed to avoid. Where the really horrible monsters lives, and where he could pass without being sensed by anything.
Finally judging that he was far away into the ruins, he found a partially collapsed house, climbed over the rubble, then hesitated for a few moments and threw the corpse inside. Harper's gaunt body rolled down the rocks and disappeared into the interior of the house, where no one would ever see it.
Here, done. That part, at least, was finished.
It was time to go back.
Sunny turned around and stared at the distant silhouette of the tall hill, with the magnificent castle standing on its top.
Right now, hundreds of people were sleeping there, either in the pitiful hovels of the outer settlement or in the safe and warm rooms of the ancient stronghold.
Neph, Cassie, and Effie were there.
Harus, Gemma, and Gunlaug the Bright Lord were there, too.
And many, many others.
And most of them were going to die.
Looking at the white marble walls of the castle, Sunny could see his future vividly. Watching helplessly as Changing Star builds here sect. Helping her defend herself from Gunlaug. Going on hunts, being invisible once he comes back. Afraid to get close to anyone, lest the same thing that happened to Harper repeats itself.
Up until the moment everything ends in bloodshed and terror.
Caster was there, too, waiting to use his leverage over Sunny to make him his obedient minion. Sunny wasn't deceived by the amiable personality of the handsome Legacy. He knew that nothing good was going to come of accepting his help.
...In the end, he just stood in the shadows and looked into the distance, at the tiny human enclave that persevered against all odds in the cursed nightmare of the Forgotten Shore like a lone glimmer of light.
After remaining motionless for a long time, Sunny quietly sighed, turned his back to it, and slowly walked into the darkness.