There was only a day remaining before the siege on the spire.
Everyone was tense and smiles had become something very rare amongst the people. It was to be expected - after all, many of them would never see each other again.
Sunny stood in the doorway of his room waiting patiently for the arrival of his people.
Nephis was already there naturally, and she was sitting at the table, her expression was as tense as everyone one else
"You, okay?"
"... Yeah, I guess"
Sunny stopped his search outside the door and walked towards Nephis, he walked behind her chair and hugged her.
"Everything will be fine"
"How can you be sure"
"Well aside from literally knowing the future. You have a divine aspect, you can heal and harm, you're a tyrant, we have everything planned out thoroughly - if I'm being quite frank survival is almost guaranteed"
Sunny stopped as he felt the shadows approaching.
Before Kai could knock on the door Sunny had already moved to and opened it greeting them with a smile
"Welcome to my humble bed chambers"
Effie whistled and walked in first stopping shortly as she saw the ruffled bed and then that God Dammed smirk appeared on her face - "Rough night"
Sunny turned to the bed and shrugged - "Nephis doesn't sleep still like I do"
He turned to her with a smirk of his own - "If we did what you're insinuating the bed would be broken"
He turned away ignoring the choke Kai and Cassie had as well as the shocked expression Effie had
He even ignored the pale blush Nephis had as he moved back and sat on his chair.
"Come and sit - we still have about 3 people left to arrive"
That was true - Caster had yet to arrive and Sienna was sent to go get Seishan.
And soon they joined too
"Star of Darkness why have you asked me here" - Seishan questioned while taking her seat
" Well because you're the leader of the handmaidens, no?"
She pondered his response and nodded.
Sunny whipped out his storage memory and left 8 plates on the table - ones that he carved himself and nothing as disgustingly crude as the castle's ones. On them were meals he prepared himself to the best of his ability given the limited ingredients
Caster looked at him with a confused gaze and questioned - "I don't think you brought us here for a meal"
Sunny smiled kindly
'Of course I didn't you dim wit'
"Of course not, I brought you all here to discuss war strategies"
He said sitting down beginning to eat his own meal
"War strategies?"
He turned his head slightly and already saw that Effie had devoured her piece of meat and so he put more on her plate. About 10 times more than anyone else had and that naturally caused a smile
"Well yeah, we are technically waging a war on the spire tomorrow so naturally I wanted to tell you my plans and if you see any issues get some input"
"Seems like you have everything sorted out to me" - Seishan raised a brow
"Well, my observation skills give me an edge in making plans"
He said summoning another ornate looking glass filled with red liquid similar to the one that he once gave her. He slid the glass towards her - "Sorry I cooked the meat to thoroughly"
She looked into his eyes and paused for a second. Then her hand raised and she took the glass and raised it to her lips
"You have a habit of hunting fallen?"
"Their shards are with more than awakened"
Sunny stopped and put his plate down after everyone was done - "I asked you here because you have all been of help and if something happens tomorrow, I don't want any regrets on my conscious"
"That and the strategy"
Everyone straightened and became serious, well aside from Effie
"Naturally the back line has to be capable of dealing with and saving the injured"
Sienna raised her hand which caused Sunny to let out a laugh - "You can just interrupt I don't mind"
"Okay" - She agreed to his suggestion and then placed her point out there - "We don't have any healers in the dark city we'll aside from Lady Nephis but she definitely won't be in the background"
"True. That is where my echo comes in"
"Echo?"
"My echo has somewhat of a healing ability - it's a fallen tyrant called Flesh Binder. And it does exactly what it says"
"It binds flesh?" - Effie commented from the side
"How astute of you. Anyway, as I said it can mend flesh provided there are no injuries to any vital organs. And it's definitely not as effective or powerful as Nephis. The moment someone's arm is removed the best it could do is prevent someone from bleeding out or infection and also it has no way to lessen pain so those hurt will feel the full pain of having their bodies basically stitched together "
"And you got this how?" - Kai questioned
"Ah when I was out in the dark sea the bastard brought his little gathering up onto the statue I was sleeping on. So, I killed them"
"You killed a fallen tyrant alone..." - Caster questioned in shock
"Yeah, this one in particular wasn't too bad. Though it was about 2 meters tall with 3 arms and that disgusting mouth that opens into 3 parts..." - Sunny let out a mock shiver.
"So, it's ugly" - Cassie asked
"Very. But we're getting of course"
"I want those with long range abilities and people skilled in archery or other long-range attacks in front of that back line"
"Yes, that's for the best" - Seishan added.
"Yes but mixed amongst them I want anyone with great speed to be there to. If someone is hurt but alive they can be mended and rest for a few seconds, then join again"
Everyone agreed with that too
"I'm front of the archers I want those with defensive aspects to hold a line"
"A force to protect the range attackers... It's smart but it's a risk too" - she paused until Sunny gestured for her to continue"
"With most defenders in front of the Rangers there won't be any to break the front line if Nightmare creatures"
"That's where the actual close combat formation comes in"
"You gave a separate formation for attackers?" - Cassie questioned clearly interested
"From what Sienna has told me a majority of the pure combat-based aspect holders are roughly divided into 3 sections. Those with longer ranged weapons like spears" - He pointed to Effie
"Those who have shorter range weapons or themselves like Seishan"
He paused again and then gestured to Nephis and himself - "And the majority of us in the middle using weapons within the range of a Sword like weapon"
"And those will be arranged how?" - Caster inquired
"Naturally those who use short, ranged weapons are more likely to be harmed so they also have to be the closest to the Binder. So, they will be able to retreat."
"Now honestly speaking the front line should consist of the long-range weapon holders but the thing is we have 1 proper monster in the long rangers, but we have 3 in the short rangers"
"Huh?" - Kai was confused as everyone was
"Nephis and I already possess a strength and the abilities to be compared to... Well for politeness let's say we can kill enough ours share and then some"
This was the trickier part - Then who's the third? "
Sunny smiled already rehearsed how this was going to be said -" I have an odd extension of my aspect that gave me some called a child of darkness"
He turned his eyes to Effie - "No I did not make a child already"
"Any way. This being is a dormant titan and won't die unless I do"
Naturally the child of darkness being spoke about was Nyx or Knighty - Sunny had not decided what to call him yet
"I've never even heard of a dormant titan before" - Seishan expressed intrigue
"And he won't die unless you do" - Caster added
"Yes. But as you know for the latter half of the battle I need to go and seal the dark sea - so he and Nephis will hold the front lines along with others. This is why spear weilders, and such will be the row behind us"
"Well, it's not a bad plan given the limited time we had" - Seishan said honestly surprised at how well thought out the strategy was
That was only a given though since Sunny would soon... Well not so soon command thousands of Shades in his legion
"But you still haven't clarified how you're going to seal the dark sea"
"Well let's finish that bit now, shall we?"
He looked at Seishan - "Can you transfer me the shard memory that Neph gave you"
And she did with confusion, but she did non the less.
"Effie, the zenith shard your master gave you, can you give it to me please"
She did to, slightly creeper out that Sunny knew about her master.
"And Neph could you give me the moonlight shard"
She did too.
Once all the shards were together Sunny felt them combine and form the Oath Keys once more.
And so, he summoned them - "These are the oath keys. There are 7 locks in the spire base that need to be locked when that happens the dark sea will be sealed"
"But there's another issue and this one is a really shitty one"
"It always is, isn't it" - Cassie sighed
"Once the locks are well... Locked. The Sun will be forced to rise"
"I mean yeah that's when the sea retreats anyway"
"Yeah, the only problem is the Sun will be put into death mode and release a soul attack that will kill everything"
Sunny said that fact as if it were nothing, but it caused a cold shiver to run up their spine
Kai was the first to respond - "... Then what do we do"
"See I thought about it for a long long while. Because we'll if the wounded and are in the back how do they make it..."
Nephis spoke for the first time in the conversation - "We could move everything closer towards the spire"
"That seemed like the best option but then the formation becomes cramped, and attacks are harder to dodge"
"Then what's the plan" - Sienna spoke this time
"It's simple really. We use the echo"
"The echo?" - Caster asked confused as was everyone honestly except maybe Sienna and Neph who realized
"Once I kill the things in the spire guarding the locks, yes there are things guarding the locks. I will dismiss the echo the moment that I insert the first key that way you all know to move towards the spire"
"Wait but there isn't a guarantee we kill all the nightmare creatures in fact it's completely impossible" - Caster again
"That's true but you aren't going to be fighting then once I give the signal. You're simply running - out enemies are great yes but not actually that powerful on the scale compared to others. So, running away from them will be a lot easier than actively engaging in combat and the best part is"
Nephis spoke again - "When we're in the safety of the spire the Sun will kill them all"
"Bingo"
"And we can get to the gateway and finally get out of thus hell hole" - Sienna spoke softly
But everyone saw Sunny's face drop and didn't want to ask the question, so Cassie did - "What is it"
"Well, the easy part to deal with is the hundreds of golems that will be there attacking as soon as we start moving towards the gateway"
"Golems?" - Seishan inquired
"Easy?" - Kai sounded exasperated
"Yeah... The annoying bit is going to be the Fallen Terror on the top"
Everyone stopped and their eyes widened
"Don't worry about that one. I'll take care of it"
"... Okay then what exactly is the problem" - Effie asked
"Well, the problem is that the Terror will reign down attacks while we are trying to barrel through hundreds of beings with great strength"
Effie looked away - "Ah"
"That's also the reason I don't want defenders and shields in the front of the formation. We need the attackers to slash down those obstacles too"
Sunny stood from his chair and looked outside his windows - "There's about 13 hours left before we leave i suggest you all go get some rest and then wake up and warm up"
He turned back to them with a smile - "My therapist once said that sleep is a very very Important thing"