A slightly muted long exhale escaped the throat of the person sitting in the luxurious throne-like chair behind the vast marble table in a spacious and most extravagant room of the whole City, as he was listening to the lengthy report of his faithful subordinate.
His head was leaning on his raised right hand, the elbow of which rested on the tabletop, his gaze, hidden behind a golden, absolutely flat helmet, directed downwards as his metal-clad pointer finger tapped out a monotonous tune.
Gunlaug, the most powerful person of the Dark City and the sole ruler of the Bright Castle, was tired, thoughtful and fairly irritated at the same time.
“… and thus from the reports of our agents in the ranks of the Changing Star’s ragdoll army we can conclude that some serious internal dispute must have happened in the higher echelon of command.” Seishan finished her speech and bowed slowly, taking a step back.
The Bright Lord stayed silent for a few seconds, as he mused on the information provided by his lieutenant and the main administrator of the Castle’s affairs, manager of their spy network among a lot of other roles that he had been forced to place on her.
A small, satisfied smile played on his lips as he looked over her graceful figure several times.
Despite the fact that she was heavily overworked with her responsibilities along with her genuine care for her Handmaidens she never refused either loads of work or any new role he put on her.
And in the last few months he was forced to do that too many times to count, if he was honest.
Not only was she resourceful, hardworking and precise, but also she had one key character trait that placed her value in his eyes below only that of his most loyal — Harus — though these days, he was starting to doubt even that notion… And that was something his other followers and lieutenants seemingly lacked, as it turned out.
Seishan knew her place.
And she was a Princess before coming to this forgotten Hell, for Spell’s sake!
Why did this bunch of nobodies get the notion that they were his equals or irreplaceable in some sense?
That they could do whatever they wanted and there wouldn’t be any consequences whatsoever?
He might be a lenient and wise ruler, but even he had his own limits!
Especially for such frequent and despicable shows of disrespect directed at Gunlaug himself.
He could close his eyes to some inner power struggles within the factions under his wing.
However, it turned out his most trusted ended up turning more and more incompetent with each passing day, he mused as he threw a short glance at his other lieutenants.
He was actually contemplating for the past few weeks whether he should execute Tessai quietly and replace him with someone more competent and less stupid.
Or with an ego that was not on the scale of the Grand Crater itself at least.
The gigantic fool could neither control his own subordinates nor keep his own mouth shut, it seemed.
And the thoughts he was spewing aloud from time to time — as it was reported to the Bright Lord repeatedly — were becoming more traitorous the longer he ignored them.
He would have to address this problem soon.
But not today, though.
The tapping stopped suddenly, as he straightened his back and lifted his gaze towards the ceiling with an amused huff.
“So the Devil has some fangs, huh?” he giggled, fairly amused by the situation.
It seemed that he wasn’t the only one who was having problems with unruly subjects and subordinates in his ranks, to his delight.
“Is there any news where the madman disappeared to?”
The Song’s ex-princess shook her head slowly before explaining.
“None. At least, we haven’t managed to figure it out yet,” she answered simply, before slightly furrowing her brows.
“There are some movements happening inside his faction, though. But everybody there is either absolutely tight-lipped or does not have any up-to-date knowledge about what’s happening. From our understanding only members of his cohort possess actual information about his whereabouts or plans in general.”
Gemma threw her a short look and then voiced his opinion, his tone mostly flat, but with an easily decipherable edge to it.
“Didn’t you report that he was seen being dragged through the streets barely alive? And then the very next day, he just jumps back on his horse and rans out of the City to who knows where… Doesn’t something sound strange to you all?”
Gunlaug irritatedly raised a hand and shut the incoming argument, too tired to listen to it.
“You forget to take the Changing Star’s Aspect into account,” the Bright Lord pointed out.
“And from everything we know, their quarrel happened sometime after he was brought back. So I see no contradiction here.” He finished, his tone indicating that he didn’t want to hear anything more on that topic.
“The circumstances that put him in that state however… are rather concerning.”
Gunlaug wasn’t a fool and he was also fully aware of where the madman had traveled to before coming back on the doorstep of death.
He knew very little about his Aspect, as he rarely ever used it in fights and from what he knew it had something to do with shadows or scouting in general.
He knew for a fact that the Devil was one of the strongest fighters inside the City walls, but coming back from that hell alive only strengthened that opinion of him.
It was actually sad that he was a half-mad lunatic and seemingly of the same ideas as that bitch Changing Star.
“What of the Immortal Flame whore? Anything new there?” the hoarse and loud voice of Tessai rang arrogantly from the left of Seishan.
The giant stood behind the other lieutenants, at the very exit of his room, leaning his back against the wall, and paying little to no attention to the meeting.
Gunlaug gritted his teeth under the mirror-like helmet, fighting the urge to split the bastard in two where he stood.
‘Who does he think he is?’
“If you had ears on that empty casket you call a head,” Seishan said flatly, not turning around to address him, “then you would already be aware that she and her faction are preparing to leave the city in the next week or two.”
He could see the fool clenching his fists tightly and grinding his teeth audibly enough for everyone inside the room to hear, however, he wasn’t crazy enough to rebuke that in his presence and was forced to simply nod to that, and turn his head to the side, seemingly losing interest once again.
“Hoh,” Gunlaug chuckled as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, laying chin of his helmet on the interlaced fingers of his hands.
“It seems those fools had decided to finally go on that expedition of theirs…” he muttered with a noticeable amusement in his tone.
“Though, losing the Devil and the heaviest hitters inside the group with him must have been a heavy blow. Thus the ridiculous numbers you reported…” he drawled thoughtfully.
“Quality versus quantity, huh? All of us know the answer to that question, don’t we?” he chuckled again and shook his head.
Harus grumbled with irritation from the corner of the room and took a step forward with a silent bow.
‘That is how you should address your betters, you bunch of morons!’
“I still do not understand why we are playing this charade. Just give me a command, my Lord, and no later than this evening the heads of foolish wretches will decorate the entrance to your Castle.”
Oh the ever faithful, sometimes even fanatical in his loyalty Harus.
While his resolve was commendable, he should learn to enjoy the most of mortal forms of pleasure sometime…
“No need. Let the stupid girl play her little conspiracy,” he drawled, his tone betraying his amusement as a wide predatory smile spread across his face.
“She would die anyway. Either by some monster’s fangs on her delusional journey… or by my own blade after it. It is a shame, though — she and that blind companion of hers have a rare kind of beauty…”
Seishan strained slightly as those words left his lips.
Yeah, that was the only downside the Princess had — she continued to refuse to become his even after all these years.
Either too prudish, having some delusional desire for monogamy in a relationship, or simply preferring the other sex… It was a shame, though — she would have made a perfect queen for him.
Where had she even seen a king without any concubines anyways?
Harus however slowly bowed and took a step back, clearly unsatisfied with his decision, but he knew better than to argue with his master.
“There is one more thing that I’d like to address, my Lord,” Seishan’s voice sounded once again as she stepped forward.
He directed his attention back to her and motioned for her to continue.
“There are… some disgusting rumors that started to circulate recently in the Castle,” she said, her expression twisting momentarily in repulsion.
“Some claim that you had become weak in your rule, that you might even be sick, or that you had been replaced altogether.” He straightened his back and clenched his still interlaced hands with an audible screech of metallic armor and cracks coming from his fingers.
“We have yet to find the source of it. My personal belief, however, is that the Immortal Flame girl must have planted agents of her own inside the Castle…” The pure disgust and hatred in her tone made his heart flutter with delight.
He was right in putting his trust into the fallen Princess, after all!
Irritation, however, quickly replaced the joy in his chest as he nodded slowly.
But it was all it was — irritation.
What was the stupid child trying to achieve with it?
To undermine his authority?
With that?!
As if, he chuckled quietly.
“So, my solution is simple in its efficiency,” Seishan continued confidently.
“I believe all you have to do is simply show up at a dinner or breakfast once or twice, while we’re searching and getting rid of traitors. Maybe execute some undesirables in the process too. That would show the masses that their Lord is well and as powerful as ever and how strong his rule inside the Castle and City in general is.” She finished and bowed once again, growing silent.
Gunlaug smiled, once again being glad that he had at least a few truly trustworthy and competent people to have his back inside these walls.
Sometimes it seemed as if she could even read his mind, with how similar their thoughts were.
It was a real shame, indeed…
“The ungrateful fools should be glad that they could stay under the benevolent Lord’s protection!” Harus shouted, almost jumping up, enraged.
“And why should our master lower himself to the worm’s presence just to satisfy their curiosity? Preposterous!” he shouted with a growl.
Gunlaug lifted his hand, stopping Harus in his rightful fury and then let out a pleased sound as he nodded to her.
“Seishan is right, of course. It has been a while since I dined in the presence of my subjects anyways. It is not only the Lord’s duty, but is also his right to be seen and adored by his people,” he said with a chuckle, fully aware of how hated he was by the City’s residents in reality.
“Prepare for my arrival this evening,” he said with finality, as everyone nodded silently, acknowledging his desire.
After that his other lieutenants gave their short reports, not nearly as structured nor helpful as Seishan was.
There were some new breakthroughs in some of the artisans’ research subjects, and the Gambling Den — which the woman named Aiko held — reported much higher taxes this month, increasing its revenue even compared to the phenomenal numbers of last month.
There was also some inner turmoil inside the ranks of Gemma’s Hunters and Pathfinders — a topic that he chose to avoid once again in his report — but in general there was nothing new in his report.
Tessai — being the one in the worst position of them all — wasn’t worried about his continued existence and gave only a few short sentences like usual, to Gunlaug’s irritation.
And thus the meeting had come to an end and he gave them permission to leave.
“Oh, Seishan!” he said suddenly, as she made her way towards the exit, being among the last together with Harus, he noted.
“The amulet you gave me worked wonders, thank you. The last two nights were the best sleep I had in more than a month,” he said with gratitude in his voice.
To which she smiled silently and bowed, her eyes glittering in the lighting of his chamber.
“I’m glad to be of service, my Lord,” she said delightfully as she met his gaze, that was hidden behind the terror-inducing helmet, without flinching even slightly.
“After all… all of us need a strong leader to survive this hell,” she finished confidently and turned to leave once again.
The way she said those words, however, left him feeling heavily disturbed for reasons unknown for the rest of the day.
And only towards the end of it, he could finally understand why.
***
The evening and the dinner that followed were rather uneventful in their entirety and if he was honest, Gunlaug was bored out of his mind.
The only entertainment he had was the terrified faces of those who gathered there.
The fear his faithful Echo emanated was deeply familiar to him, as he felt it once a long time ago — and would remember for the rest of his life probably — right before he got himself together and put his knife into the dying monster’s flesh.
‘And some say that one decision couldn’t change a person’s entire life’, he mused with reminiscence.
A sudden bang echoed from the entrance of the Castle, followed by a few shouts that grew silent the moment after.
And then quickly approaching, loud footsteps rang out, coming towards the Hall all of them occupied.
Gunlaug straightened in his seat as his eyebrow rose upwards and a smile touched the corner of his lips as he noticed a dark figure of a fairly modest height walking in confidently being followed by a group of limping guards behind him.
‘Finally something interesting’, he chuckled as he stood up.
“My Lord, we tried to stop him, but he just wouldn’t listen! The madman says that he… has an appointment with you,” someone shouted from behind the young man, as Gunlaug threw a short glance towards them, with disgust.
‘What is the point of having guards watching an entrance if anybody could just go in and out whenever they feel like it?
Though I can’t really blame them for not being able to hold this particular monster back, I guess…’
Yes, it seemed that the lost battle-maniac — the Devil of the Shore himself — had finally decided to show his face in front of the king.
For what reason, however, was yet to be seen.
He shifted his gaze behind them slowly as he noted the Devil’s cohort approaching confidently too, and chuckled.
‘Oh, so that’s how it is… Okay, I guess I asked for some fun, just a minute ago!’
“Ho-ho-ho! Look who we have here with us, this wonderful evening!” Gunlaug’s voice reverberated through the spacious Castle’s Hall, gaining the attention of everyone occupying it.
“Sunless… The famous Devil of the Shore, decided to pay us a visit! I thought that you had rejected my invitation a few months prior? Did you finally decide to change your mind?”
Amusement, which he wasn’t even trying to hide, slipped into his tone.
He was overplaying it, he knew, but he loved it — loved doing this ridiculous performance every single time!
His body longed for some action and it seemed that he would get what he wanted soon enough.
“I hadn’t received any invitations, though?” The Devil’s puzzled tone echoed through space, as the crazy guy inclined his head slightly.
“And how could I reject something that I haven’t ever received?” he said nonchalantly as he stopped suddenly at the very center of the vast chamber and gave him a measuring gaze.
Gunlaug’s brow twitched as he looked at the Devil.
Well, he was right of course that he hadn’t outright rejected him, however… How could one even approach a madman who lived in the most monster-infested part of the city, showing up in the outer settlement randomly and then fading away once again.
After the first month, though, there was no point in it, anyways…
Besides, after you come into someone’s City, shouldn’t you show yourself before the Lord by your own volition?
Failing to do that was a grave show of disrespect in ancient times.
And now… Well, now it wasn’t far from the only grievance the person in front of him held.
Just as he was about to make an offer to join him under his benevolent wing — a pure formality, as he was sure the madman would reject it immediately, already knowing full well his intention — Sunless was already talking once again.
“I brought news, Gunlaug. Terrible and terrifying news,” he said as his expression turned serious the very next moment as he took a step forwards, folding his hands behind his back.
“Any information you hold about the Damocles’ Sword under our necks — the Crimson Spire and the Terror occupying it — is severely outdated.”
He blinked as he carefully observed the pacing young man.
From what Gunlaug knew about him, Sunless was a person who actually liked plays such as this one, so it was a surprise for him to see him barely acknowledging it this time.
Now that he looked at him, he actually seemed as though he had come right out of a battle, or at the very least from a long journey: armor and face covered with dried blood — and even a pretty fresh one too —hair disheveled and skin smeared with grime.
It was far from the image this particular madman usually presented.
It seemed that the first thing he did after returning from whatever journey he had gone on was meeting the Bright Lord himself in person.
And the topic he started… was a point of concern on its own.
“Oh, do tell,” Gunlaug said cheerfully and raised his hand, seemingly humoring him, his tone betraying neither his inner thoughts nor his apparent apprehension.
Sunless stopped suddenly and looked around himself, sliding his gaze over the countless faces occupying the Hall at the moment.
He raised his fist in the air and shouted.
“Sleepers of the Dark City! The doom is waiting for us just beyond our doorstep!” Everyone went still after those words rang through the space.
Shameful as it was to admit it, Gunlaug himself stopped in his tracks.
Sunless, however, continued unperturbed.
“The Crimson Terror — the creature that stopped all of us for uncountable years from gaining our freedom and going back home had evolved!”
A loud gasp sounded from all sides surrounding him, even his own lieutenants looked slightly concerned, looking around with concerned faces and muttering quietly.
Even Harus’s stoic facade cracked slightly and Tessai’s arrogant smirk vanished from his face.
All of them looked fairly disturbed by the news.
Well, all but one…
Gunlaug narrowed his eyes, as the feeling of nervousness, for the first time in a while, tingled slightly at the edge of his consciousness before he squeezed it like a bug and looked at the man in front of him once again.
“Now… It had not only become a Corrupted Terror,” he chuckled humorlessly.
“No , its much, much worse. The Terror this very instant continues to evolve… into a Titan!” he screamed the last word into the air.
This time no one could even muster a gasp.
Everyone went completely silent, shock and fear freezing them in place.
“And no more than two months from now — probably even less — after it finishes its profane evolution… It will come for all of our lives and there won’t be a single living soul on the whole Forgotten Shore left.” He finished simply and then looked at Gunlaug challengingly.
For all of his experience and stoic character, the Bright Lord couldn’t muster a single word for a while.
The news was simply too much even for him.
And now, not only the crazy Devil but every single person inside the Castle was looking at him expectantly, seemingly waiting for him to fix their harrowing situation.
Wasn’t he the one who called himself their king?
Wasn’t he the strongest and nearly unkillable?
Wasn’t he the one who demanded a tribute for protecting them?
He… He didn’t know what to do.
His mind simply went blank.
The sudden weight of a thousand souls almost made him drop to his knees, and only his will, his faithful Echo, and the sudden shock freezing him in place let him stand his ground and not collapse.
A motion in the background snapped him out of his stupor.
It seemed that the esteemed heiress of the Immortal Flame had arrived too, standing reluctantly near the Devil’s cohort with that usually blank face of hers.
“How do we know that anything you just said is not a lie or a simple delusion? Everyone is aware that you’re known as a madman, after all,” he managed to say, though everyone could easily hear by the tone of his voice how shaken he truly was.
The Devil chuckled humorlessly, though.
“Are you ready to wager on that?” he said as he raised his brow.
“Are you ready to bet the lives of more than a thousand people on the thought that I might have imagined everything? Ready to hide your head in the sand like you always did and wait for the situation to magically resolve itself?”
Gunlaug was astonished.
Because of the catastrophy that was about to drop on all of their head out of nowhere.
And then… at the arrogance and conviction with which the cockroach in front of him spoke.
“Then what do you suggest? What does the wise and all-knowing Devil of the Shore have in mind to fix all of our problems? Storm the Crimson Spire? Against the disaster that awaits us there?! Don’t make me laugh, you fool!”
Sunless, on the other hand, did just exactly that.
He laughed at him as he took a challenging step forward, his smile widening dangerously, ember sparks flying behind his eyes.
“I have only one offer for the coward like you, Gunlaug,” he said as he connected their gazes.
The way he looked at him and the pressure he emanated with his simple presence put to shame even his own famous armor.
He shivered.
If he survived this day, then he would probably never admit it, but… at that moment, for the first time in a while, Gunlaug — the Bright Lord of the Dark City — felt fear.
“Renounce your rule and come under my banner and I promise that I will lead, if not all, then at least most of the residents of the City back home to their families and their lives. Or I will die trying, that is. And if I say something than that is the truth! I’m the most honest person in the world, after all. Two worlds even…” he finished with a small smile, still looking at Gunlaug defiantly as he waited for his reaction.
The Lord, however, finally took a step forward, his expression twisting ugly behind his helmet.
The little bastard knew exactly where to push, it seemed; what words to say; how to phrase his sentences… All of which to enrage and agitate him as much as he could.
If he had chosen his words differently… Gunlaug might have even agreed to that offer in the end…
Sunless, however, never intended for him to simply give up his position.
No… It was a calculated performance from the very beginning.
‘And here I thought he didn’t want to play with me… It was I who was dancing to his tune, altogether!’
Everything must end in a fight.
There was no other way to go about it.
“And what if I refuse?” Gunlaug asked nonchalantly as he approached his opponent, everybody around giving them way as they moved closer to the walls, predicting correctly how this confrontation would end.
Sunless’s smile widened, already expecting him to say that.
“Then I will kill you. Simple as that,” he said, tilting his head innocently, as he summoned a black tachi in his right hand and an obsidian-black wooden mask with two horns on each side of it in his left one.
Gunlaug’s eyes widened in recognition as his golden Echo produced an axe for him to use.
‘Is that?..’
The Devil’s smile turned slightly mischievous as he put it on his face, his figure instantly distorting, turning into a human-shaped cloud of darkness shifting from side to side in space.
If he didn’t see him a moment ago, then he wouldn’t be able to say with certainty either how tall he truly was or where exactly he was standing…
But that wasn’t what truly enraged him then… No, oh no…
It was the fact that this exact figure had poisoned his mind and occupied his dreams every single night for the past two months, slowly turning him insane!
Not letting him have a moment of peace until…
‘Until just a few days ago…’
The Devil, however, was away for the last week, and thus couldn’t be the one to send him nightmares at night.
There was another person, however, who could…
He shifted his gaze to his left, turning his head slightly, and met Seishan’s gaze.
Even though she couldn’t see his face behind his helmet, she could absolutely feel the raw emotion his eyes were sending her way.
And then… she simply smiled.
Gunlaug wanted to scream at the betrayal.
“Well then,” the Devil’s voice echoed suddenly, bringing the Lord’s attention back to him.
“Come at me, oh the coward-king! Face your nightmare… in reality.”
***
Gunlaug shot forward at him with a scream of rage, swinging his weapon in a wide arc, threatening to slice Sunny in two.
He grinned at him behind his mask and simply took a step back, sliding on his shadow a little bit to the side as the axe’s head flew a bit more than a meter from him — the [Devil’s Smile] and [Forgotten Repentance] enchantments made him a very difficult target to attack, after all.
In his rage the tyrannical Lord forsook his guard for a second and in that moment Sunny could have already ended the fight, slicing his throat.
He however chose not to.
He needed to destroy the bastard.
To make him wail, cry and beg!
To make him pay: for all the ruined lives; for all the destroyed possibilities; for simply giving up!
His tachi whistled through the air — in the same direction where the axe was moving — and connected with Gunlaug’s weapon’s head from the inside.
Sunny’s Awakened strength and three shadows wrapped around his body in that moment added significant impulse to the Lord’s axe, which in turn sent him stumbling forward.
Sunny dived behind him and jumped a bit, raising his right leg upwards and twisting his body in the air, as he wrapped his fourth shadow around himself too.
The next moment his instep connected with Gunlaug’s back of the head, making the surface of his golden armor wobble and be painted with a web of cracks, and threw him like a ragdoll rolling on the floor.
‘Damn, that kinda hurts…’ he mused as he registered a slight pain on the top of his foot.
‘I should probably decrease the amount of dramatics…’
But then he looked at the Bright Lord, trying to stand up on his shaky legs and chuckled.
‘Or maybe not…’
He approached the golden tyrant slowly as the person in question was seemingly struggling to regain his footing.
Then suddenly, however, he was forced to duck to the side as the thick blade of Gunlaug’s axe flew over his head, cutting a few stray strands of his hair in the process.
The weapon then turned instantly into a warhammer and then shot downwards, threatening to turn Sunny’s head into a bloody pulp.
He reacted promptly, as he twisted his body; bent both of his legs, almost sitting on the heel of his left one; and then straightened his right one, repelling himself back and thus avoiding the lethal strike.
Sunny giggled quietly as he rolled on the ground and jumped back on his legs, effortlessly avoiding a series of Gunlaug’s carefully calculated strikes.
The Lord’s golden Echo changed its shape once again, turning into a long naginata — as the Devil was avoiding the strike of his hammer — missing Sunny’s neck by a hair’s breadth.
The subsequent strike he was forced to parry, redirecting it to the ground and then diving towards the side of the Lord that was seemingly left unprotected.
It was a trap, of course.
The golden metal wobbled and turned into a pair of short daggers as Gunlaug shifted his balance forward and ducked a bit to the ground, twisting his body impressively fast and aiming to strike Sunny’s face, where he believed his eyes were located.
Gunlaug was a master of many weapons, it seemed.
Well, master was a strong word, of course.
And he was fast indeed… For a Sleeper, that is.
Sunny pulled his body back, letting both daggers fly by safely, and then as the Lord started to recoil too, he moved forward suddenly, shooting his knee upwards, prudently protecting it from the impact by wrapping two of his shadows over his armor.
His strike connected, making Gunlaug stumble back.
Now, it was Sunny’s turn to attack.
[Forgotten Repentance] turned into a small ice storm in his hands as it slid its — empowered by three of his shadows — blade under the tyrant’s wrists.
Gunlaug hissed both from pain and cold, as well as subsequent loss of control of his fingers caused by his flexor tendons being severed on both hands.
Sunny’s sword twisted in its movement suddenly and then its hilt connected with Gunlaug’s helmet, making a loud metallic ring.
The Lord took a step back.
After that everything turned into a blur: a slice into the abdomen; a cut under the left calf; a slash to the inner side of Gunlaug’s left thigh; and so on.
In a matter of seconds the Bright Lord — a person that was considered untouchable and unkillable — was turned into a bleeding mannequin barely standing on his two legs, by a dark, crazy gremlin that was giggling crazily behind his terrifying mask.
He chuckled, as he looked at the pathetic image in front of him and then leaned forward with a grin hidden behind his mask.
“By the way, do you remember your sorry ass being robbed dry a few months ago? That was me actually! Oh, the good old days…” he whispered quietly for only two of them to hear and moved to the side as the Lord lunged at him, roaring in rage.
In one beautifully long and continuous movement, Sunny slit another tendon under the tyrant’s left armpit, circled around him like a vortex, leaving a single uninterrupted diagonal cut on his back, and then, in a reverse motion, lowered his body a little and severed both tendons under the self-proclaimed king’s knees.
Gunlaug fell to the ground with a painful moan.
Sunny stood behind him, staring at him with disgust and vindication.
That was a man that once instilled terror in him and now… Now he was reduced to a mere bloody broken doll.
Within less than two minutes of this underwhelming fight, that is.
Even his seemingly impenetrable golden armor was covered in cuts, cracks, blood and frost left by his tachi.
He looked… pathetic.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, as he felt the shadow on the other side of the room shifting and lunging urgently towards him.
His vision left him the very next second.
He stepped to the side, as where he was standing just a moment ago a heavy chain dropped with a bang, breaking the surface and raising a small cloud of dust in the air.
The owner of it growled with vindication as he swung his weapon in all directions at him.
“You disgusting wretch! I will turn you into a mash!” the hunchback screamed, swinging his weapon with rage.
Sunny’s smile widened behind his mask.
The final piece of this show had finally arrived to the scene!
“Oh, the faithful dog came to help his troubled master! How commendable. How… disgusting… Come on doggy, play with me, too!” he mocked as he danced around him with a laugh.
Harus did exactly that, as the heavy chain whistled around them with increased fervor, aiming to smash its target into a bloody pulp.
However, after a few seconds, when none of his strikes found its target, he started to suspect that something wasn’t right…
“What? Didn’t expect your prey to fight back? Too accustomed to torment your blinded victims? I don’t need my sight to turn you into a piece of bloody meat, you disgusting grovelling creature!”
Then suddenly he did what no one had expected him to do — he lodged the blade of [Forgotten Repentance] deeply into the floor, leaving himself weaponless, and shot forward.
As the chain flew over his head and continued its way past him, he caught it suddenly — when its wielder was attempting to change its direction, thus having its momentum and the force on its end being severely reduced — and wound it around his forearm.
Harus’s eyes widened comically as Sunny pulled him towards himself with all of his strength.
The hunchback flew forward, when suddenly Sunny’s heavy boot met his face, breaking his nose to a pulp and leaving a bloody footprint.
His hand became disconnected from his weapon.
Sunny chuckled.
“That was a mistake bringing a chain to a fight,” Sunny said simply with a smile, as he walked slowly towards his new prey.
“Neither can you properly wield it, nor… Well, a chain? Against fucking me? Really? Hahaha,” he laughed heartily, as his stance changed suddenly.
“Let me show you how you really swing a chain!”
The strike that connected with Harus threw him like a ragdoll to the side with a painful cry.
Sunny turned on the spot, as his left elbow shot upwards, diving under the weapon’s inner side.
He twisted his body slightly as he pushed the chain down and straightened his arm, wrapping it around the weapon, and then he finished his turn.
The chain’s other end cut the distance instantly with a loud bang and met the despicable hunchback from his other side, sending him rolling on the ground and vomiting bloody foam in the process.
He turned the chain around himself, ready to finish the murderous bastard off, when he suddenly felt a movement from behind.
He grimaced and cursed under his mask.
“Who the fuck allowed you to stand up, you worm?” he shouted as he jumped from one leg to another with a turn — a move that looks almost playful — redirecting both ends of the chain behind his back and then over himself, bringing them down on top of Gunlaug’s head with a terrifying impact, embedding him into the floor’s surface.
The Lord growled painfully from the place, indicating that he was still alive, thanks to his armor…
The chain in his hands turned into motes of light the very next moment, as he tsk-ed in irritation and turned around, observing the broken body of Harus through his shadow, crawling towards his fallen master.
‘What did this golden bastard do to deserve such loyalty?’ he thought with disgust as he approached him.
Sunny hit the Lord’s assassin on the back of his head with his boot, stomping him onto the ground and then stepped on his back, as he bent towards him, getting a hold of his unkempt hair with disgust, and pulling him upwards.
“You know, I once saw you tearing an innocent man apart…” he said nonchalantly as he shifted his left foot to the base of Harus’s neck.
“Don’t you think it would be a fitting end for a disgusting bug such as yourself too?”
He tilted his head to the side innocently, wrapping all of his four shadows around himself with a smile, and then, with one powerful motion, tore the hunchback’s head off its body.
His sight returned the very next second as he turned away in disgust at the blood that was flowing from the mutilated body beneath him and the head he was holding in his hand, over his feet.
“Hey you, the king of fuckers! Catch!” he shouted as he threw the head of Gunlaug’s most trusted follower to his feet, right after the Lord somehow managed to sit up on his knees in the end.
His body started to shake as the head of his faithful companinon rolled on the floor and touched his knee with its open mouth, glassy eyes frozen with horror.
The Bright Lord’s famous golden helmet dissolved as he instantly vomited.
‘Duh, what disgusting creatures, both of them… Don’t you think?’ he mused as he pulled out his sword and walked lazily to the bent figure of the most feared person of the City… well until recently he was.
“Do you know why I really hate your guts, eh?” he asked as he squatted in front of him, staring the kneeling man down.
“Not because of all the disgusting things you’ve done; not because of the stupid idea that you had failed in your duty; and not because you gave up too. Well, I actually hate you for all of those things of course, however, what disgusts me the most about you… is that you had never even fucking tried!” he hissed so loud that probably every single soul inside the Hall heard him.
Gunlaug stared at him with his greyish-green bloodshot eyes, his pupils widening, and coughed bloodily.
“Do you really… think so?” he asked with a painful chuckle, his handsome face twisting in anger.
“What do… you even know… you fool? What… do you know about… my struggle?”
Sunny raised his eyebrow at him and shook his head with irritation.
“Are you really about to tell me that excuse? That you tried? You? I know enough about your history and your path, Gunlaug. I know what you did and what you didn’t do. I really, really wanted to empathize with you, you know? And that is why I know that you didn’t in fact try. You gave up the very same instant you came into power.”
Sunny sighed as he quickly slid his gaze all over all those present inside the Hall, stopping for a moment on his cohort, then connecting his gaze with Nephis for a second and finally with Seishan.
She nodded, almost imperceptibly.
Everything was in place.
“You had more than a thousand people under your wing! Your rule killed dozens of strong young Sleepers — directly or indirectly — who could have led your forces. You could have searched the region for other Citadels. You could have tried to move into another one. You had time, people, and resources to build fucking war machines, train an army and conquer the damned Spire in the end! Yet, you did none of that! And now you fucking dare to look me in the eyes and mumble that you tried? That you struggled?! Don’t make me fucking laugh!” he screamed at him with all the air left in his lungs and breathed in slowly, controlling himself.
He looked at the last Lord of the Bright Castle for a few seconds, silently, observing how his expression fell, his pupils fluctuating.
Whether his previous life choices caught up with him or realization of the impending death dawned on him, Sunny wasn’t sure.
Not did he really care.
“And thus,” he muttered quietly as he suddenly pierced his chest with the [Forgotten Repentance].
Gunlaug’s eyes widened and a painful sigh escaped his lips; however, Sunny wasn’t finished.
“…set your rotten heart ablaze, you bastard.”
The next moment he activated the [Burning Grudge], scorching the Bright Lord from the inside.
Gunlaug let out a short but loud scream of pain, then gurgled, spitting out black boiling blood and smoke, and finally with one last sigh dropped on his back.
The body’s muscles were still convulsing slightly, however, its owner was clearly dead.
Sunny threw one last — unreadable behind his mask — look at what was left of the Tyrant and turned his body suddenly.
“What are y…” Tessai’s voice shouted for all to hear.
However, he hadn’t managed to finish what he wanted to say, as the Devil, like a battering train, shot towards him, leaving behind screams, blood and severed limbs.
His subordinates started to drop dead with painful shouts all around him too, as he turned to see the handmaidens, who had somehow surrounded all of them in the chaos, were slaughtering all of his unsuspecting guards.
He growled with rage, as he was about to shout something or move into the fight himself, but was interrupted in whatever he was planning to do the very next instant as the inferno had finally reached him.
He tried to activate his Aspect.
He really did.
However, he wasn’t even remotely fast enough as just within a moment instead of one whole body… he now had two halves, cleanly separated from shoulder to groin.
He let out a gurgling sound as he dropped to the ground.
It took a few seconds before the sounds of the short battle and betrayed shouts of pain finally grew silent.
Sunny nodded to Seishan thankfully as he dismissed his mask, gaining back his human shape in the eyes of observers, and let out a short tired sigh.
He looked look around slowly.
Everyone present, except for a select few, was watching him warily, either out of fear for his gruesome display or the impending doom that he notified them about, he wasn’t sure.
Nor did he really care.
It was for the better anyways — fear kept you alive.
“If any of you has a stupid notion that there will be a power struggle for the Lord’s position, then you’re terribly wrong. You can struggle, but there will be no power behind it, be aware.” He motioned his hand toward his handiwork, left everywhere in the Hall.
“There won’t be any Lords or Kings or anything similar from this moment on. All I need is to return home. Alive,” he said as he wiped his forehead tiredly and smiled at his approaching cohort, who had seemingly finished their small part of the plan too.
“Thus, I don’t need your loyalty, neither do I need your support — you can do whatever you want with your newfound freedom: follow me; stay here and pray for a disaster not to come; or go search for the other way out of this ass. It’s your choice!” he said as he raised his hand.
He waited silently as his cohort reached him, and more and more people stood behind him or to his side supportively.
Some clapping him on his shoulder; some coming silently; some making a joke; or simply congratulating him.
“However, if you were to join me in the I end… As I said earlier, I will do my best to bring you all back alive to the Waking World. That… I can promise,” he spoke for everyone to hear as a small crowd started to form around him.
After just a mere couple of minutes, more than twenty other Sleepers surrounded him.
Seishan and a few of her Handmaidens were the first ones to join him, with Kai and Effie following.
Then came a few hunters and pathfinders from the settlement — Jubei and Sid were two most notable.
Aiko, Stev and a few artisans he managed to recruit at some point joined afterwards.
Cassie, who had been hesitating for a while, in the end decided to follow him too.
As the people continued to approach, he finally turned his head and connected his gaze with Changing Star, both of them staring flatly at each other, not betraying any emotion behind their eyes.
Caster, the simp he was, was standing behind her as usual, staring at him with apparent rage and apprehension, but he ignored the fool, not paying him any attention.
Nephis threw a short look around, and closed her eyes for a second, composing herself.
When she opened them next, he already knew her answer as she gave him a curt nod, and followed to stand beside him too.
He smiled at her brightly.
They had finished their last conversation not on the best note, but as he knew from his last time that was just their usual dynamic.
Though, there will most likely be a heavy talk later.
After Changing Star joined his ranks, everything was already decided.
It was simple really — either join the strongest faction there was, with lots of competent people managing it, or go and die somewhere else.
There was no question whether the Terror would come — the signs were already there long before Sunny pointed it out.
And so, he would have to prepare thoroughly from now on — as if he ever did otherwise: work out several plans and contingencies, build countless tools and Memories, design some siege machines, finish the Domain Canceler and also… do one very important thing too, that he was afraid he would be forced to use.
Overall, he would be very busy for the next month, not unlike everyone else — he knew.
However, just for today — for the first time in who knows how long… Sunny would allow himself to finally rest.
Hello everyone!
As was promised, I managed to finish this chapter in just one single day (though its two 2 a.m once again… on Monday… bruh)!
And it turned out to be on a longer side and even had a bit of Gunlaug’s thoughts in the first half.
Was my take on the golden bastard’s character to your liking, btw?
Write your thoughts, would really like to read those!
You should also expect two more chapters until Friday or one at the very least if things wouldn’t go according to plan.
That is probably all that I wanted to say besides the usual.
And soo-o…
Write your thoughts if you have any.
Criticism is appreciated too, so don’t be shy!
Thank you all for reading my ramblings and see you guys very soon.
Bye!