Effie moved back and forth on her feet, frowning.
"So, what are we doing here? I know you said the Devil inside never goes out of the temple's perimetry, but aren't we a little too near?"
Sunny smiled.
"Well, you are here to watch. You'll be safe, just don't do anything else and stay out of it."
Caster rose from the ground. He had been sitting there with his back against a battered wall, occasionally throwing subtle- from his perspective, at least- hateful glances at Sunny. Why couldn't they just go to the camp and have a shower?
"Watch what?"
Sunny pointed at himself. "Me."
Cassie coughed behind him. "What am I supposed to see, Sunny? I don't think I've got that memo yet."
Sunny froze, a cold shiver down his spine.
"You, uh, can rest a bit, Cassie." He awkwardly said.
Always the most tactful, Sunny.
He ignored Nephis.
"So, watch and learn!" Sunny exclaimed as he entered the temple.
As soon as his foot touched the ground of the yard, the Darkness nestling behind the columns trembled.
Then, faster than lightning, it reached for the intruder. It was the guardian of the Temple. Nothing could enter the Temple. Nobody could enter the Temple.
If anything tried, It would rip it apart and spill its blood.
A flash of light erased the Darkness. Changing Star was standing behind Sunny, her sword a beacon of fire. Her light pierced the Darkness that no light had dared pierce in thousands of years, leaving only a fierce Black Knight in its place.
Its black armour had weathered the passage of time well, but the creature, with its two burning fires in the darkness of his helmet, where its eyes should've been, still seemed a wraith that had possessed a fallen soldier from the blood-soaked ground of a terrible battlefield.
The greatsword it was wielding passed just above Sunny's head as the Fallen Devil attacked.
Behind them, Effie and Caster were watching, pale and wide-eyed.
Sunny put his hand in the small sack hanging from his waist- a storage Memory he was borrowing from Effie- and pulled out a short bone, its edges sharpened into dangerous tips.
The Black Knight, a Fallen Devil, was stronger, faster, sturdier.
But Sunny knew how it would move. Its every movement were predicted. And so he dodged everything, making it look effortless. In reality, any small slip could end his life.
Sunny plunged the bone into its armpit.
Then another in its torso. And another. And Another. Left armpit. Right Knee. Left Shoulder. Left Wrist. Right armpit. Left Elbow. Right Shoulder. Right Elbow. Left Knee.
The Black Knight fell to its knees. Sunny summoned his black odachi, and brought it down in an arch.
The greatsword- along with the hand holding it- fell to the ground. Sunny kicked it far from the restrained Devil.
The Forsaken Knight stared at Sunny with hate in its red eyes. Should I put a bone there, too?, Sunny wondered, as Saint emerged from his shadow.
The Fallen Devil was straining to move, and failing. The bones, each embedded into the weaknesses of the armour that the wraith needed for movement, stopped him. However, they would eventually give in, as, even if Sunny had fashioned them from the body of the Lord of the Dead, they were far from indestructible.
Saint glanced at the kneeling warrior with disdain, then, empowered by four shadows, she lifted her foot. Both the sword and the ground cracked. The black greatsword shattered with a deafening rang.
The darkness boiled, but it couldn't manage to break free of Changing Star's light.
A web of crack ran through the bones restraining the Black Knight as its armour became rusty and brown, like time had finally caught up with the dying creature. Suddenly, the dimming light in his eyes exploded into furious red flames, and the corroded armour came apart. The darkness within took a ghastly form, that resembled that of a human due to the parts of armour that still hang onto it.
A flaming mouth appeared and a chilling roar shook the temple, then the eerie apparition launched itself at Saint, aiming to strangle her.
The taciturn Shadow was faster. Her fist collided with the brittle breastplate and sank in the depths of the living Darkness, right where a human heart would've been. The red lights disappeared.
Changing Star let her flame die, as instructed by Sunny, and the Darkness that had been boiling in the temple reached for Saint, flowing into her eyes. It rotated around her figure like a vortex, obscuring her form view.
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Forsaken Knight.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
[Your shadow is overflowing with power…]
Sunny grimaced and sat on the ground as he watched the swirling Darkness, the agony from having his soul tore apart and rebuilt rampaging through his body.
Finally, the Darkness seeped into the Shadow, revealing Saint, still motionless, her raised fist holding a black, glassy gem. The hall became darker, painted by an ominous red. Saint swallowed it, and Sunny dismissed her. Then, as the Spell whispered in his ears, Sunny let out a sigh of relief.
[Your shadow is complete.]
Sunny rose from the ground as realization dawned on him. He was a Tyrant. It had been… easy. In his previous life, he had had to put himself through hell to gain Shadow Fragment. He had only managed ot become a Tyrant after wandering the bloodied battlefields of Antarctica for months.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?"
Sunny turned towards the entrance. Caster, Kai, Effie and Cassie- she must have perceived what had happened- were looking at Saint with wide eyes, mouths agape. It had taken a minute for the huntress to find the strength to speak.
"Is something bothering you, Effie?"
She looked at him, her mouth closing and opening.
"You- a Fallen Devil." It seemed she couldn't choose the words to express her thoughts.
Sunny smirked. "Yes, my roommate. I told you about it, didn't I?"
He glanced at Nephis, who smiled back and approached him. She looked so stunning, Sunny grabbed her neck and kissed her without thinking. She froze for a moment, not expecting it, the kissed him back.
The sound of metal against stone made them break the kiss and turn towards it.
Effie had dropped her spear.
Oh. Oh no.
Kai was smiling, not at all fazed by the -not- unexpected development. He winked, raised his fists and showed him his thumbs. If these gestures had been directed at any of his fan, they would've fainted immediately.
Caster was scowling, a rare display of his true colours. He was muttering under his breath, so quietly Sunny wouldn't have heard him if not for Glumy at the scion's feet.
"Dirty rotten outskirt rat with the daughter of the Immortal Flame."
He would pay soon enough.
Effie's expression morphed from disbelief, to acceptance, and then to deviousness.
"Ooooooooo, so I was right…"Her smile was the most terrifying thing Sunny'd ever seen. You should trust him, for he was the most honest person in the world, and had seen a great deal of harrowing beings.
"I wonder what you two were up to when we left you-"
"Behind you!" Sunny shouted, interrupting her before she could finish her question.
Athena startled and rolled to side to retrieve her weapon. Effie got up in a moment, spear in hand, ready to face whatever monstrosity had attacked them.
She shouldn't have been so careless. They were still in the Dark City, where all kinds of horrors dwelled. How could she make such a mistake?
Effie steeled herself, ready to deal with… nothing? Effie blinked. There, on the ground, just a little behind where she'd been standing, a human shadow was waving his arm. As fast as lightning, she looked at where Sunny had been standing. Exactly, had been. The bastard had escaped.