When Cassie was preparing for the Second Nightmare. Sunny and Nephis was making their way through the labyrinth
"Damn it!" Sunny grunted and dodged a swipe by ducking under it
They were fighting a Carapace Centurion, which was unlucky sine they were at the end of the labyrinth but [Fated] never misses a chance to fuck with Sunny. But they were here for another reason
"Over here you ugly bastard!" Sunny smiled weakly as he dodges another claw aiming straight for his chest
Sunny was acting as bait since he was the fastest out of all of them. Saint was on its back, trying to hack away its tough carapace. Nephis was waiting for an opening to stab one of its joints
The Carapace Centurion tried to crush Saint with it's upper arms while using it's lower arms to smash Sunny into mush
'At least it would be a quick death' Sunny thought as he jump towards it chest
Sunny had all of his shadows wrapped around him since he would have died if not for the speed boost
The Demon tried to slam both of its hands together to instantly kill Sunny, but Sunny was slightly more faster
Sunny turned mid-air to land on its chest with his legs as he push off its chest to get more distance
Sliding on the ground, he stared at its uncanny human like face with disgust
"Come on! Can't you kill a cockroach like me?!"
The Carapace Centurion shrieked and gave up on trying to tear Saint apart and instead it tried to rush at Sunny
'I overdid this time didn't I?' Sunny thought before needing to dash under its body
Sunny prayed to whatever that it didn't try to crush him under its weight as he slid under it. Sunny saw a chance to stab one of its joints but didn't try
And its a good thing he did, the leg moved up and slammed back down at the exact moment he would have stabbed it
Sunny gritted his teeth as he came out under it. The thing turned around almost instantly as he saw Saint grabbing onto it back, trying not to fly off
The thing stared at Sunny with rage in its eyes. Sunny grinned and yelled
"Did I tell you that your breath stinks! Like god, I barely even got close and yet I still smelt it!" Sunny tried to taunt it even though it didn't seemed to understand language
Both of them stared at each other before the thing let out another ear deafening shriek as it finally fell
Nephis appeared and slashed at its one last joint. Without wasting a moment, Sunny rushed forward. The thing still tried to crush him but Saint finally broke through its carapace as it let's out another shriek
It's limbs twitched and fell to its side. Sunny would have assumed it had died if not for the fact that he didn't receive any Shadow Fragments and Nephis still making a focused expression
'You are one tough bastard' Sunny grinned as he kept running at it
Sunny reached its lowered chest and he jumped with all his might, he would have never jumped in a battle but the damn thing was the size of a house for crying out loud
Sunny held the odachi made out of Soul Serpent since Midnight Shard was with Saint. Sunny positioned his odachi to pierce its skull
He infused all the spare essence he could use and stuck its skull. It went straight through until the blade stopped at it tsuba
Sunny didn't rest because he didn't receive any Shadow Fragments
'Why can't you just die?!' Sunny gritted his teeth as he tried to pull the odachi out
Sunny felt its arms move towards him through his shadows. Sunny would have let go if he didn't see its limb go limp
Sunny heard a rumble go through its throat and jaw, but his odachi seems to be in the jaw
[You have slain an Awakened Demon, Carapace Centurion]
[Your Shadow grows stronger!]
Sunny grinned as he felt a sudden pain go through his body. Sunny grunted and fell to the ground, but before he could collide to the ground, Nephis slid and caught him in her arms
Nephis gently laid him down on his back as he dealt with the pain echoing through his body
Sunny grunted as his body slowly stop aching
[You have form a new Shadow Core!]
'Aha!' Sunny laughed internally as he felt a bit sore as the adrenaline leave his body
After resting awhile, Sunny sat up and groaned
"Yeah, it's done" Sunny massaged his shoulders
Nephis nodded then stood up, watching Saint butcher the Carapace Centurion for food
Nephis stared at her before turning to another spot where a Carapace Scavenger slowly walk out of the labyrinth
It walked up to the and sat down, since it was Nephis Echo, they had used it like how they used it last time
Sunny stood up with a grumble and made Soul Serpent turn into a tattoo again
He watched Saint butcher the Carapace Centurion as Nephis tried to fish out the Soul Shards
He looked down to see a shadow that refused to look at him
'Ah whatever'
Sunny rolled his eyes and checked his runes
[Name:Sunless
True Name:Lost From Light
Rank:Dormant
Shadow Cores:4
Class:Devil
Memories: [Endless Spring], [Midnight Shard], [Moonlight Shard], [Ordinary Rock] (The GOAT)
Echoes: - -
Shadows:Stone Saint]
Sunny stared at his runes before sighing. Turning to look at the new shadow who still refused to look at him, he let the rest of the shadows unwrap around him
"Teach the new guy the rules and if he doesn't listen, just get Gloomy to discipline him" Sunny waved his hand dismissively and walked away
The shadows looked at him before beginning to try and talk with the new guy
Sunny ignored them and walked towards Nephis
Nephis crushed the last of the Soul Shards in her hands. After she was done absorbing the essence, she turned to look at Sunny with a frown
"You're thinking about something dumb again aren't you" Nephis narrowed her eyes
Sunny laughed before saying
"I just a bit salty that you are already a Tyrant, while I just now turned into a Devil. Anyway, we reached the end of the labyrinth as you can see" Sunny pointed everywhere around them
Nephis frowned a bit harder before sighing
"There's still quite a long way to go, I'm sure of it" Nephis stared around then before approaching Sunny
Sunny didn't react as he knew what was going to happen
Neohis stood a few inches away from him as she reached out for his chest. A faint glow started in Nephis, but it slowly transferred into Sunny
Surpressing an grimace, Nephis continued healing him until Sunny grabbed her wrist gently
"That's enough" Sunny sighed at Nephis state
Nephis nodded before saying
"I'm a bit tired, could I rest for awhile?" Nephis faltered a little as Sunny gently held her shoulders
"Sure" Sunny nodded
Nephis smiled before collapsing in Sunny's arms. Sunny sighed as he carried her over to the Scavenger Echo
Sunny climbed on top of it and laid Nephis on top of it. He tried to get off so he could help Saint but Nephis gripped him tighter and mumbled something he didn't even think was words
Sunny sighed and laid his back on the upper back of the Scavenger to rest for awhile
Nephis head laid on Sunny's lap as she slept soundly, Sunny unconsciously petted Nephis head as she made a strange vibration noise that could only be described as purring from a cat
'... What's a cat?' Sunny thought before shaking the thoughts of his head
Sunny closed his eyes, intending to use his shadows to scout the surrounding area besides the Hollow Mountains, they tried last time but gave up on it
After a hour or two of scouting, he found only one way, towards a strange desert
He heard Saint approaching so he gently shook Nephis awake
Nephis grumbled and held him tighter, Sunny shook her again and she finally woke up
Nephis groaned and stared at Sunny's face-mostly his lips-before blushing a little and turning around
"Did I sleep on you again?" Nephis mumbled
Sunny scratched the back of his neck before nodding
"Yeah you did. Anyway, dinner's here"
Nephis nodded and stood up, Sunny followed as both of them jump off the Scavenger
Saint stared at them before taking few bits of meat and handing it to Sunny. Nephis went to make a fire as Sunny grabbed a few sticks to stick the meat on
After making a fire and cooking some of the meat on the fire, they sat next to each other
The silence was broken by Saint ripping the metal like carapace of the Carapace Centurion
Sunny sighed before pushing his essence outwards from his finger, making Shadow Strings
Sunny has been training his essence for some time and accidentally made Shadow Strings out of boredom while in the journey through the labyrinth
Nephis looked at him before asking
"Are you doing sorcery again?" Nephis tilted her head slightly
Sunny nodded which Nephis nodded back as she took a piece of meat from the fire
Nephis ate in silence even though she wanted water but she didn't want to bother Sunny
Nephis forced the feeling of thirst back down and continued eating until a cool bottle was right next to her cheek
"Drink, you should ask me when you need to drink" Sunny sighed and opened the cap
Nephis nodded and took multiple mouthful of water before giving it back to Sunny
Sunny sighed and grabbed the bottle
"I don't understand you Neph, you should just ask me"
Nephis didn't reply so Sunny just assumed she didn't want to say anything. Until she said something
"You were focusing on something, I didn't want to disturb you" a bit of shame was in her voice
Sunny stared at her before standing up and patting her head to tease her
"Neph, you should just ask, no matter what's happening, just ask if you need water" Sunny grinned before turning around at the exact moment Nephis shower her blush
"Anyway, I'm just going to eat a bit then sleep" Sunny took a few sticks of meat then went to somewhere else on the small camp they had
Nephis just stared at the fire before sighing and eating the rest of the meat
Sunny walked back to see Nephis sleeping near the fire, the warm orange glow managed to contrast against all of the perfect curls of her bod-
'Pure thought!' Sunny shook his head and walked towards Nephis
He gently picked her up and put out the fire. He held her and walked to the Scavenger and placed her near it, making her sit upright on a rock
Sunny sat down next to Nephis, deciding to sleep as well. Nephis head hung a little but Sunny couldn't tell because he's sleeping
Saint walked over and was about to help Nephis lay her head on Sunny's shoulder. But the Scavenger gently pushed Nephis head onto Sunny's shoulder anyway
Saint stared at the Scavenger before turning back to the two. Saint made Sunny rest his head on Nephis head as both of them slept quite comfortably