Sunny immediately raised the sword in his hand, his eyes flickering as they jumped from place to place, pinning down the location of where the Abomination had laid.
Not daring to move, or even breathe, he quietly stayed still as he heard the Creature screech, and screech, and screech.
When suddenly, the sounds stopped.
And…
The cacoon where 'khan' had laid lit up with flames. Not just any normal flames, but silver ones.
And as the fire travelled downwards, it slowly consumed what was left of the dead corpse — burning it, and effectively showing his location.
However… the fire didn't spread. It stopped after it completed its job. Someone had to be controlling it.
As Sunny slowly lifted his head, a spark of light erupted from within the cave, reflecting upon the caravan.
'Damnation! This must be the work of fated!'
He gulped, and immediately rolled out of the way.
It was the right decision, for in the next second, something heavy crashed onto the floor from above.
'So this creature doesn't just have the power of illusions, but fire, and now destructive power?'
Having no time to finish the thought, the second hit came. The creature skittered across the wall, its eyes locked onto him, and its teeth clicking and clacking, flames burning its body whole — and yet, it wasn't burning, like the cacoon from just now. The fire was revitalizing it.
The abomination then leaped from where it was, taking off and… heading straight towards him.
He leapt away, ignoring how his head hurt from the impact, and how his body groaned.
However, Sunny never let go of the knife in his hand, there had to be some way to turn this around!
A loud crash reverberated throughout the cavern seconds later, making the walls shake and the cacoons swaying under the impact. Smoke rose as the crushed particles had nowhere to go, and yet the creature was ever so clear — there was only one place with that cursed flame.
Forcing his tired body to stand, Sunny's eyes once again locked into the fire, watching cautiously as the smoke slowly cleared, revealing the hunter.
The creature… it was bleeding, red blood shining around its grueling body. Yet, as silver flames blared, the wound was gone.
Healed.
'Huh?' Sunny exclaimed in the depths of his mind, 'This ability is too broken! What am I supposed to do about this? It's basically immortal!'
There was a way though, a crazy maniacal way that had almost no chance of succeeding.
Soul cores were the pillar of every living being, so if he crushed the soul shards within the creature's body… Could it possibly die?
'Wait… that's possible! I just have to stab, and stab, and stab! It needs time to regenerate after all, I'll just have to cut the same place over and over again, until I cut enough to reach its soul, and pull those shards out of it.'
Firm in his decision, Sunny waited. And soon, the creature striked again, its thousands of legs all moving forward, its gigantic teeth clicking and clacking, as if taunting him, telling him that he couldn't possibly escape, that it was the predator hunting its prey.
As its gigantic teeth opened, ready to crush him whole… He jumped forward, raising his knife and stabbing it into the creature's left eye.
It could have won, it could have killed him in a thousand ways.
But…
It had underestimated Sunny. It should have used its tongue to immobilise him while it had the chance. Now, the tables have turned, and Sunny… he'll kill it. Definitely.
Immediately removing the knife from its eye, he raised it above his head, and used all his power to stab it once again.
A screech resounded around the cave.
Flames lit up in the creature's eyes, and soon, they surrounded its eye, attempting to heal it.
Sunny almost leapt away from the pain alone.
'What the hell? Those flames can heal the creature, but it'll hurt anyone else?'
Damn it.
As if knowing his thoughts, the creature's mouth opened, twisting into a sadistic smile, its eyes shining with madness.
You can't win.
It seemed to say.
Sunny wanted to laugh, what did it mean he couldn't win? In its weave of madness, he was the one who was truly sane, he was the one who had experienced suffering where the creature had never done so.
It was a predator — it had never tasted defeat.
He was the prey, even then or now — sweet, sweet victory was always far away.
Besides, he had already burnt himself once, and… the fire wasn't affecting him as much as he would have had expected.
He decided to laugh.
He couldn't let the creature mock him like that.
"That's right!" He screamed out loud, "This can't be as painful as burning alive! It'll all be over soon."
Though, he had to kill it. He couldn't be aflame for too long, he was still human after all.
Sunny raised his knife and stabbed.
The flames surged.
He stabbed again.
And again.
And again.
With all his might.
Always faster than how the flames could heal.
After who knows how long, there was finally a dent in the place its eye socket was — A major milestone if he had to say so himself.
But he couldn't stop.
Raising his knife, he continued the stabbing, continued dealing damage, continued to ignore how the flames dug into his already charred skin, until— the creature thrashed onto the wall.
Unwilling to be flung away, Sunny clutched onto its head, his nails digging into its skin, casting a bloody trail as his body threatened to drop in the face of gravity.
The creature continued to flail around, the flames around it flickering and dying — it couldn't keep them up for that long.
Sunny grinned.
Pulling himself upward, he flew towards where its right eye laid, and… raising his knife, he stabbed as hard as he could, smiling like a maniac as blood flew from its broken eyes.
Yes, he successfully blinded the creature, it was now lost from sight, everything will be easier for him then.
He continued the assault.
And… the creature looked at him with something akin to helplessness.
It made his heart surge. Prey was predator now.
This was starting to be fun.
He had to repay the creature for all it had done to him.
For damned Ivan.
For the months he had lost.
For messing with his mind.
For making him want to know what a family looked like.
For tearing him apart and putting him right again.
For forcing him to set himself aflame.
For himself.
He pierced the knife through the head of the abomination, the sounds of its screams painting a beautiful symphony that made him smile wider and wider.
This was fun.
He continued the stabbing, his aim and precision entirely gone — Sunny's only focus was to make the creature pay — death was a solace for how many cruel deeds it had done.
'You bastard! I'll make you suffer for as long as I can!'
Time passed. He didn't know how long he had taken — the creature was suffering, that's all what mattered.
His assault continued.
The creature couldn't retaliate.
It was ecstacy incarnate.
As the hole in its eyes slowly expanded downwards, it was reaching its core. He had already succeeded. Sunny should have stopped then, should have marvelled how a dormant being could take down an Awakened creature, should have killed it when he could have. But instead… He took his sweet, sweet time, and started cutting elsewhere.
It was his first mistake; it was his last mistake.
…but he realized that too late.
Mesmerizing silver flames appeared from the creature's shining core, pouring out from the gap of its soul, heading towards him.
He leaped back.
It was too late.
Fire cascaded into the cave, destroying everything inside of it — the last burst of desperation from a dying creature.
His eyes darted onto it; A smile, a terrifyingly desperate smile.
If I'm going to die, why don't you die with me?
Sunny screamed.
He should have killed it when he had the chance.
It was too late.
If only Sunny had..
If only he had…
'If only I had…'
…
Silver flames.
Silver flames of destruction.
He burned, and burned, and burned.
Until he took his last breath.
His eyes closed.
'I'm sorry…'
He heard a voice.
A miraculous voice.
[You have slain an Awakened Terror, dream weaver.]
[You have received a memory, dream torch.]
[...You have died.]
[Your soul is being held together by -unknown-]
[...wake up Sunless! Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]