The flight back to the Sanctuary of Noctis was silent.
They had been gone for about two days now, and the lazy shadow had not noticed anything in the waking world.
'That was much faster than I expected.'
If Sunny had found slight traces of a supposed ritual to retrieve the ivory knife, he would have spent many more days following the traces.
If he had to hide the fact that he had already found the Devil, then he would've.
But luckily, everything worked out. Sunny only had to be away for a couple of days.
Landing on the edge of the island, Sunny and Tyris made their way back into the Sanctuary. Tyris was greeted by Roan who Sunny gave a small wave to before making his way to the Gateway.
"Wait."
Tyris called out to Sunny.
Stopping in his tracks, Sunny turned with a nervous smile.
"Yes?"
"Don't you want compensation for your troubles?"
'Right! I still need to get paid!'
"Well, I'd be fine with some soul shards, Lady Tyris."
The recluse Saint nodded faintly before turning back to Roan.
Turning away, Sunny entered the Gateway uninterrupted this time.
***
Returning to the Waking World, Sunny left his sleeping pod with a yawn.
Hearing slight laughter from upstairs as he clothed himself, Sunny sent one of his shadows upstairs as he summoned the Wanderlust Communion to check if he had any messages.
'A visitor? Is it one of Jet's friends?'
His shadow now right beside them, Sunny listened to pieces of their conversation.
"...so damn scary back then, you know? No warnings or anything! Just boom!"
"That sounds about right."
Slowly emerging from the shadows behind them, Sunny's voice boomed:
"Who's scary?"
"Gah!"
"Hic!"
The two women chatting at the dining table jolted in shock at his voice.
"Sunny!"
Both of them turned to him in annoyance and slight embarrassment.
Sunny looked at their guest curiously.
"Aria. You're out of the Dream Realm?"
Pulling up a chair, Sunny sat next to them.
"That's right! Man, they had me there forever! No consideration at all…"
"…For several months? What were you even doing?"
Aria leaned back in her chair, getting comfortable.
"Ah… Just, you know. Killing stuff. They just conquered a new Citadel there and they wanted me to defend it for a while because there's a lot of nightmare creatures in the area. Didn't think it'd take several months though!"
"I take it your soul core is saturated now then?"
"You know it!"
"Hmph. Not bad, Miss Radiant Dawn."
"Ugh, not you too. Those Valor fools never stop using that damn name!"
Sunny snickered slightly.
Aria had now become a worldwide sensation after her exploits from the Forgotten Shore were revealed. Her fame was not quite as explosive as Changing Star's was, with her humble background and all, but it was still spread far and wide.
"So, what are you doing in my house anyways?"
"Weren't you the one who asked me to gather information? I just… happen to gather some of yours too!"
"Whatever. What did you find?"
"Well, Valor is aggressively expanding as much as they can, conquering Citadel after Citadel. And… They seem to be preparing for a big fight or something of the sort. I also got the names and appearances of their Saints if you need that."
Sunny nodded, impressed with what she had found.
"Have you met Anvil?"
"I have. But, Sunny… Do you know if something happened to him?"
Sunny tilted his head, not knowing what she meant.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, he just seemed so… paranoid."
Sunny felt a bit of trepidation at the fact. What could have a Sovereign so paranoid?
'Is it about Mordret?'
"Hm. I think I know what that's about, don't worry about that and continue as you were."
"Do I have to? That nonsense was such a bo-"
She was unable to finish her sentence however, as all their communicators rang at the same time.
A loud, grating sound echoed throughout Sunny's home as all of them tensed at once.
A Gate!
As they all checked their communicators, the shimmering text read:
EMERGENCY ALERT
EMERGENCY ALERT
GATE ACTIVITY DETECTED IN YOUR SECTOR
ETA: 1 HOUR 51 MINUTES
EVACUATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
"Ah shit…"
"Damnation."
"Seriously?! I just got back!"
And below that text…
ATTENTION ALL AWAKENED
REQUEST IMMEDIATE ACTION
ATTENTION ALL AWAKENED
REQUEST IMMEDIATE ACTION
HIGH PROBABILITY OF CATEGORY 3 DETECTED
Gate Category: 2 (15% probability), 3 (84% probability), HIGHER (undefined).
Strike Force ETA: TBA.
"C-Category 3?! In less than two hours…"
Jet immediately shot up, making her way towards the door as she put on her coat.
"I'll be on my way then."
Sunny nodded and began to make his own preparations.
Aria was currently receiving a call from Valor, being told to report to their compound immediately.
Looking at his communicator, Sunny saw that the gate was quite far from their area. If a Gate was far enough, people normally wouldn't even only receive a simple notification as warning, but as it was a Category 3 one… Everyone within a radius of many kilometers had to be evacuated.
If even one Corrupted nightmare creature got loose, countless lives would be lost.
'Only two hours… Can we make it?'
Sunny then felt a pull at his soul. He was receiving a message from the Wanderlust Communion.
Seeing the symbol that indicated it was a message from Seishan, he immediately read it.
[Have you seen the alert? Mother wants Suming to fight. Come right now.]
'Damnation!'
Looking at Aria who had just gotten up to leave, Sunny gave her a nod.
"I'll see you there. You probably won't see me though."
Aria nodded in return, sprinting out of the door.
Watching his door shut, Sunny began summoning several memories and changing his clothes, donning his disguise.
Looking at himself through his shadows, he shuddered slightly. Thinking of the people he was fighting for, he could only steel his resolve.
'I hope you never have to know of the sacrifices I've made for you.'
***
Appearing within the Song Clan compound, Sunny approached Seishan.
"Suming, you're here."
People were running all over the place as they attempted to gather an elite strike force as fast as they could.
"What's the plan?"
"We are going to assemble some powerful fighters to send to the gate. That includes me and you."
Sunny nodded, expecting as much.
He heard the sound of an airship landing atop the roof, arriving to transport the strike force that was currently forming.
Many of the humans around him had grim or panicked expressions, not one of them expecting a Category Three Gate out of nowhere.
Of course they had protocols to follow, and had done training specifically for this situation, but that was in the case of Category Two Gates. Even though most Category Two Gates were contained by the government, if it was near any of Song's territory, they would deal with it.
Sunny turned as he saw a stern looking man approaching them.
"Lady Seishan, Lady Suming. I am Master Amis and I will be leading our strike force today. Please, come with me."
Sunny glanced at Seishan, as they both nodded at each other. Following behind the bulky man, they made their way to the roof. Waiting for them was a group of about twenty other Awakened, all preparing to board the airship that had come for them.
'Now that I think about it… This is my first time in one of these, isn't it?'
Looking at the steel behemoth the size of a train carriage, Sunny wasn't too impressed. Shrike was far better after all.
As they flew over the city below, Sunny gazed at it intensely. He had never seen the city from such an angle before, and seeing all the people and vehicles fleeing sent deep emotions throughout his body. The sight of tanks and other military vehicles rolling throughout the streets made him shudder slightly.
Seishan turned to him with a slight grimace.
"Nervous?"
Sunny only had to think for a moment to decide what his answer would be.
"...Not at all."
What was the worst that could happen? It was just a Category Three Gate.
***
Jet was strapped to a seat upon an airship, its four propellers roaring loudly just outside.
"I take it you'll be following the Call?"
Seated next to her was Master Cor and his cohort, including Master Thane as well as some other powerful government fighters.
"Most likely."
Jet sighed, turning away.
***
"Aria."
"Yes."
With a dark figure before her, Aria was currently on one knee with her face down.
The figure before her was the current nominal leader of Clan Valor, Saint Whispering Blade.
"Gale will take you and Gilead to face the gate. Prepare anything you need with haste, and call all those under your oath to come."
"Will you not be participating, my lord?"
"I will not. I will be on standby until the Gate Guardian appears, so don't worry too much."
Standing, Aria bowed before turning to leave.
"Understood."
***
Arriving on the scene, Sunny saw the translucent cracks of a Nightmare Gate forming within the middle of a large lot. The place seemed to be one that served as a venue for concerts or events of the like, with a stage in the middle and plenty of room surrounding it.
It was currently about twenty minutes until it opened, and many tanks and airships were approaching, the government bringing out all available forces possible to stall the gate.
Although the legacy clans had also come, its forces were small compared to what the government had prepared as they had only sent elite strike forces.
Nearly half of all the government masters were currently present, as well as hundreds of government Awakened. Not a single independent Awakened was present, as no matter how much they wanted to protect their homes, what could they do against a Category Three Gate? Most barely stood a chance against Corrupted nightmare creatures.
In fact, Sunny was certain that the current forces present were woefully unprepared.
'Just what are they thinking?'
The Great Clans had only sent about twenty people each, with only a couple masters present. The ones that had sent the most Masters, surprisingly, was the House of Night, with old legends like Master Knossos and Typhoan present.
'Do they really have the spare manpower for this?'
While clans like the Song Clan had only risen to power recently, the House of Night had a whole other problem, as the Stormsea was an extremely difficult place to maintain a foothold in. The House of Night itself was only created as an alliance of many clans to combat Valor's catastrophic rise back in the day, while Clan Song only truly became a great clan with the creation of a Sovereign.
Sunny was certain that the House of Night was currently being heavily suppressed by the Sovereigns though. In fact, Nightwalker was likely dead or missing by now, but Sunny could not be certain.
Sunny had always wanted to meet such a figure. He felt that it was a shameful way to go for such a powerful legend, disappearing into obscurity like that.
'Perhaps I'll take a look around Stormsea one of these days.'
Sunny had never been there, but he was certain he'd be able to navigate it somewhat; he had spent nearly two years within Ariel's Tomb after all, which was certainly far more dangerous.
Sighing, Sunny stood beside Seishan, watching the many Awakened around them prepare as he felt numerous glances falling on him from time to time.
This was Suming's debut after all.
While the name had already been announced within the confines of Clan Song, it wasn't made public just yet. Sunny had already specifically requested that he not be made famous, as that would only bring him more trouble. Preferably, he wanted to be a name only known among Awakened as a powerful but rarely seen fighter.
Sunny shut his eyes, lowering his head to mentally prepare.
'Are they really not sending out any Saints?'
The Gate was practically guaranteed to be of the third category, in the later stages of its opening many Corrupted nightmare creatures would come pouring out. Looking at the Ascended present, Sunny seriously doubted they'd be able to completely suppress the gate.
'Who knows, maybe they'll surprise me?'
All sorts of veterans had gathered to suppress a single Category Three Gate, despite the fact that a single Saint like Whispering Blade could most likely do it on their own.
'Surely they're standing by? Then again, Saints are extremely busy…'
Sighing once more, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard. He did not summon any armour as he had no armour Memories to speak of besides the Mantle and Puppeteers Shroud, but both of those could be linked back to Awakened Sunless so he simply stuck wearing mundane clothes and a thick overcoat.
Ki Song had attempted to gift him with an armour memory, but once Sunny saw it he had told her bluntly that he would rather die than wear it. The armour… wasn't dissimilar to the dress that the Queen and Seishan wore, but rather it was much thicker and was coloured with a metallic black sheen.
Sunny already felt that wearing such a disguise crossed the line, but wearing a dress? That was the point of no return. He absolutely would not do it, no matter the cost!
Sunny felt his eyebrows trembling at the thought, and did his best to control his expression.
'Why couldn't they just give me normal armour?! Some thick steel plates or something, you know?'
Seishan glanced at Sunny, her gaze scrutinizing.
Elsewhere, Aria was standing behind the wide back of a Master coated in heavy steel. Silently summoning the Crown of Dawn, a small smile was on her face.
And in the frontlines, Jet stood behind Master Cor, an impassive look on her face. A somber glaive rested in her palm as her eyes gleamed a chilling blue.
…And not much longer later, the Gate opened.
Hordes of awakened abominations rushed outwards, howling madly.
Sunny watched as legions of red furred beasts rushed outwards, each of their eyes giving off a frenzied light as they charged towards the first line of defenders wildly.
The government forces received them as a wave of sorcery and arrows shot outwards, with large blasts of plasma and hails of tungsten following it.
Sunny and the other legacy clans remained at the back, awaiting the next waves of abominations. The plan was for the government to hold back the initial waves before they were reinforced by the Legacy clans when the Fallen and Corrupted nightmare creatures began to appear.
Listening to the litany of explosions and howls, Sunny went over the briefing he'd been given. He was to follow and keep up with the Song formation the best he could, and he would not take center stage.
But… they seemed to have forgotten to mention what formation their strike force would use, so Sunny could only guess.
'Damn Legacies and their stupid tests…'
Sighing, Sunny began to move forward.
The government forces were starting to be pushed back, and the first Corrupted abominations were going to appear soon.
And yet the moment the Legacies arrived, the tides turned.
Immediately, Fallen nightmare creatures began to die left and right, cut apart seamlessly by units that seemed to move as one.
With his mastery over Shadow Dance, Sunny was easily able to keep up with the Song forces formation, cutting apart any nightmare creatures that came near while covering the blindspot of his comrades.
Looking over, Sunny saw the forces of Valor in the middle of the frontlines, leading the fight as all sorts of flashy enchantments and aspects glowed from within their groups. Around the front, Sunny saw Aria, tearing apart the red furred abominations with a massive smile, a red gem gleaming on her forehead.
The Song forces were fighting at Valor's flank, with plenty of space between them as they suppressed the gate with wild ferocity. On the other side, the House of Night was also fighting, their powerful Masters leading the charge with grim determination. And between them all were the forces of the government, with people like Master Cor and Awakened Jet joining the melee.
Endless howls and roars tore through the surrounding area, but the human forces held firm. For every particularly dangerous abomination, there were several Awakened that attacked it. The shout of commanders and strategists could constantly be heard across the battlefield, amplified by memories.
Tearing apart a Fallen, Sunny was a little distracted.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Starved Varmint.]
Sunny was not distracted by the terrible battle before him, but rather…
His shadow had just seen something.
It was not his shadows that he had kept circling the battlefield, nor the shadows he currently had wrapped around him.
It was the lazy shadow that he had left with Nephis.
Nephis, who was currently evacuating alongside her grandmother and their clan's retainers, was being tailed.
A swift figure was jumping along the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the street her PTV was currently driving down.
As he tore apart another Fallen, Sunny focused his mind, watching the stalker closely.
As he dodged to the side of a massive claw, Sunny tore apart an abomination that was nearing Seishan's back.
But then, Sunny's eyes widened.
The one trailing Nephis was an Ascended!
His focus splitting in two, Sunny watched as carefully as he could.
"Suming!"
Even in his somewhat distracted state, Sunny did not need Seishan's warning as he dove down, dodging a mighty clawed swipe, flipping forward with grace. A moment later, the Fallen was stabbed from several angles and killed.
Sunny felt the world around him pulse in intensity.
The first Corrupted had begun leaving the gate, their demented eyes and ruinous power striking fear into the hearts of Awakened. Many Masters began to move further to the front, relying on the forces behind them to clear any Fallen that dared attack them.
But Sunny paid them no mind.
He could feel it. The Ascended was about to strike!
Positioning the lazy shadow on the back of the PTV, Sunny prepared to intercept them with Solvane.
'This… is gonna be messy.'
Sunny felt all of the Ascended's killing intent direct itself towards the PTV as they leapt, brandishing a blade.
On that blade, Sunny saw the crest of Valor on the hilt.
…And in the next moment, it was gone, along with the Ascended.
His body continued mechanically slaughtering all the nightmare creatures before him, but in his mind, Sunny was stunned.
'What… just happened?'
He hadn't even seen the Ascended vanish, but he had felt what happened.
Only for a moment, Sunny felt a calamitous shadow intercept the figure.
And in the next moment, they were gone. Only a few droplets of blood remained in the air before swiftly falling to the ground, splattering on the road.
'...It's him.'
Asterion had struck. It appeared sending an Ascended had crossed the line in his eyes.
Sunny understood now how Nephis had survived all those years with multiple Great Clans targeting her. Any assassin who was above the Awakened rank was slaughtered immediately, not given a single chance.
Sunny grimaced as he continued to move forward, slaughtering nightmare creatures left and right.
'Now Song and Valor can only rely on Awakened assassins, or even mundane ones…'
He was sure that Asterion would send a warning to his former cohort members after this incident. For them, sending Masters or above after Nehpis would only be wasting lives. Not even Saints would be able to get away with it.
'No… Would he warn both of them?'
Because so far… only Valor had sent assassins after Nephis. Out of all the assailants, not a single one had been a member of Clan Song.
His expression growing heavy, Sunny felt a bit of hope in his heart.
'Maybe it's not too late for you, Ki Song.'
She was a mother who cared deeply for her children after all, an orphaned girl like Nephis was surely someone she would pity, especially when it was the child of her deceased friends.
And yet in the future she had tried to kill her anyway.
'Just what went wrong with you lot?'
Sunny did not know the whole story, but from his guesses, their fracture had started with Anvil and Asterion.
Anvil had made a deal with the Dreamspawn, Sunny did not know for what, but it may have involved killing Broken Sword.
'Just what kind of lunatic offers up their children to a creepy bastard like that?'
Butchering another Fallen before him, Sunny looked ahead.
The Gate Guardian was about to appear.
A ripple spread throughout the world as the nightmare creatures turned to greet their lord. Seven hideous paws stomped on the ground, its seven claws digging deep into the concrete. And when its head appeared, Sunny felt it.
A terrible hunger began to gnaw at his mind. It was as if he hadn't eaten in years.
Sunny looked around to see if the others felt it too, only to realise he was alone.
He was surrounded by many, many corpses. He had pushed much further ahead than the other Song Awakened, carving a path to the frontlines for them.
'...Whoops.'
Turning back, Sunny saw the head of the Gate Guardian emerge.
"Urgh!"
Intense pain clawed at his being as he held his stomach in pain.
Hearing a terrible howl echo across the city block, Sunny looked at the Gate Guardian.
'A Corrupted Terror…'
The Terror's eyes glowed as it prepared its attack.
Immediately dashing backwards, Sunny stumbled.
Starvation. He felt like he'd been starving for a thousand years.
His mouth began to water as he looked at the corpses of the nightmare creatures at his feet.
'Snap… out of it!'
Terrible pain and weakness spread throughout his being, his body begging for nourishment.
And just as Sunny was about to bend down to pick up the severed leg of a Fallen Beast…
A horrific wail was heard from the Terror.
A massive vertical slash had appeared on the side of its neck, the abomination only barely avoiding getting itself decapitated.
The hideous creature roared and began to attack wildly, swinging its claws and seemingly snapping its jaws at the air.
Behind Sunny, many of the Awakened had collapsed to the ground and began devouring the corpses of the dead abominations.
Wrapping all six shadows around himself, Sunny felt himself barely resist the urge to start devouring every single thing around him, only thanks to the fact the Terror was currently occupied and couldn't fully focus on its mind attack.
Looking at the wretched abominations rushing towards the numerous humans who were mindlessly feasting on corpses, Sunny immediately dashed forward to stop them. He also felt the Masters who were preparing to face the Gate Guardian rush backwards, intending on doing the same.
Through the shadows, Sunny saw the world seemingly come alive to face the Gate Guardian, hurricanes of winds kicking up as cuts and gashes appeared from seemingly nowhere on the guardians body.
Whispering Blade had come to slay the Terror.
Reaching the human forces, Sunny began to methodically tear apart any nightmare creatures that neared the witless humans, forced into feasting on the disgusting monster meat.
He had to give the battle much more effort than he had anticipated, the hunger clawing at his body weakening him quite severely.
Sunny saw Seishan kneeling on the ground, halfway through her transformation as several tendrils of bloodied saliva dripped from her mouth. She was breathing heavily, staring at a large pool of blood on the ground in front of her.
Sunny paid her struggle no mind, continuing to slaughter the remaining nightmare creatures. Most of them had gathered near the guardian to help in its battle against the invisible Saint, and only the weak Fallen and Awakened ones had come to feast on the indisposed humans.
And after a few minutes, a harrowing cry was heard.
Turning to the Gate Guardian, Sunny saw it falling to the ground in several bloody chunks, completely dead. And a moment later, the rest of the abominations that had surrounded it were cut apart, their bodies dividing cleanly.
Sunny heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the intense hunger that had been tormenting vanish. He then immediately went back to butchering any stragglers that had managed to run past the horrifying battle near the gate.
And less than a minute later, he was done.
As the human forces began to recover after the battle, medics and healers rushed in to tend to the wounded as many injured fighters were carried away on stretchers.
Sunny felt a gaze at the back of his, sending shivers throughout his entire body.
Through his shadows… he thought he saw Saint Madoc looking at him.
But a moment later, he turned away and began walking towards Valor's forces.
Heaving another sigh of relief, Sunny searched the field of corpses until he found Seishan.
He found her crouched over and coughing heavily, her transformation now reverting.
Approaching her with light steps, he asked:
"You alright?"
Seishan coughed some more before turning to him.
"...Mostly."
Sunny did not even flinch at the sight of blood all over her face and the chunks of meat surrounding her lips.
Offering her a hand, Seishan took it with a sigh as she wiped her mouth with a velvet sleeve.
'If her Flaw is what I think it is, then this must have been the worst possible kind of attack for her.'
He did not judge her for her actions, he knew how hard it was to resist one's Flaw after all.
Sunny was distracted from his thoughts when he felt many stares fall on him. Looking around, he was a little confused.
"What's with the stares?"
Seishan laughed slightly, her blood red teeth glistening.
"Suming… You did magnificent! Do you not realise how many abominations you slaughtered during that fight?"
Taking another look, Sunny belatedly realised most of them were looks of awe and astonishment. He even saw the Masters looking at him with an impressed gaze.
Sunny heard several voices muttering in the distance, carried over by the wind.
"So that's Song's new girl…"
"What a ferocious kid…"
"Saint Ki Song has a good eye…"
Sunny felt cold sweat drip down his back.
'Damn it all!'