1194 Battle of the Black Skull (8)
Sunny let out a terse breath.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got my throat ripped out… no big deal…"
He lowered his bloodied hand, revealing the wound that had already disappeared thanks to the [Death Wish] enchantment. There was a lot of blood on his neck and the black silk of the Shroud of Dusk, but under it, his skin and flesh were perfectly fine.
A corner of Neph's mouth curled upward.
"I see."
Then, she looked at Dire Fang with a severity that seemed cold enough to freeze a person to death and said calmly:
"In that case… Lady Sky Tide, please fall back with Song of the Fallen. Master Sunless and I will remain to cover your retreat."
Saint Tyris was in no condition to face Dire Fang in battle. Even if she wanted to stay, her presence would only slow the two of them down… she seemed to have understood that, as well. Even if she didn't, Sunny was not sure that Sky Tide was in a position to refuse Neph's orders — she was a vassal of Clan Valor, after all, and Nephis was technically of the same status as Morgan.
"Cassie, take her!"
There was nowhere really safe on the battlefield, but getting closer to the main body of Valor's force — and away from the most dangerous enemies — would increase Sky Tide's chances of survival by a lot.
Cassie was facing two Masters of Clan Song. Her rapier did not seem to move very swiftly, but somehow, it was always where it needed to be to deflect their attacks. The blind girl moved with measured cadence, always half a step ahead of her enemies. Although her face remained calm, the two Ascended seemed… shaken.
Shaken enough to make a mistake.
Just at that moment, one of them summoned his Aspect Ability to turn the ground under Cassie's feet into treacherous mud, while the other committed to a powerful thrust of his sword.
However, the blind girl lightly jumped just a split second before her footing would have been lost in wet sludge, avoiding being momentarily immobilized. Her rapier shot forward, piercing the neck of the swordsman who had been counting on his partner's Aspect to stall the enemy.
At the same time, something flashed through the air, and the Quiet Dancer came to a halt above her shoulder, its blade marred by blood.
Both Masters silently fell down.
Their bodies crumbled to the ground almost at the same exact moment as Cassie landed from her jump, one rapier in hand and another hovering above her shoulder.
She swiftly moved, evading a frenzied attack of a Corrupted thrall, and appeared next to Saint Tyris. Without saying a word, the blind girl grabbed Sky Tide by the shoulder and pulled her away.
…Dire Fang, surprisingly, allowed all of that to happen without moving a muscle. He simply stared at Nephis from above as the white flames died down on his fur, motionless, with an indifferent expression on his bestial face.
Sunny was curious about what the gloomy Saint was thinking, but at the same time, he didn't really care to know.
Soon enough, the three of them were left facing each other — the towering monstrosity on one side, Sunny and Nephis standing shoulder to shoulder on the other.
'Ah… it brings back memories.'
The situation was entirely different, and the enemy was entirely different… the two of them were entirely different, as well. So much had changed, and yet, he couldn't help but feel as if they were back under the branches of the Soul Devourer, looking up at the Carapace Demon and preparing to bring the enormous abomination down.
Dire Fang's snout moved, and suddenly, a deep, reverberating voice escaped from it, making Sunny's bones tremble:
"You are… Broken Sword's daughter…"
Nephis tilted her head a little, then answered calmly:
"I am."
Red sparks swirled around her head, forming into a helmet.
The monstrous beast grinned.
"Shame…"
With that, he roared and lunged forward.
Somewhere else on the battlefield, piles of corpses were moving, coming back to life. Constant shockwaves from the distant clash between the titan Echo and the four Reflections were shaking the ground, making it seem as if the world was on the verge of crumbling to dust.
There were Awakened, Echoes, and enthralled abominations tearing each other apart. The soil was soaked with blood, and more bodies fell into the red sludge every moment.
A bolt of lightning flashed, and a thunderclap rolled across the desolate plain, soon drowning in the clangor of the battle.
The first drops of heavy rain fell down.
In the midst of all this chaos, covered in blood, a young man in battered armor coldly pulled his sword from the body of an Awakened warrior, threw the corpse aside, and turned around.
A slender young woman clad in a suit of black armor, with a red cape draped around her shoulders, reflected in his strange, mirror-like eyes.
The two of them looked so much alike that they could be mistaken for twins.
Morgan calmly dismissed her cape, allowing it to disintegrate into a rain of scarlet sparks. Raising her sword and pointing it at Mordret, she pierced him with a sharp gaze and smiled:
"Let's get it over with, monster. Play whatever dirty tricks you have left, and then we can settle it once and for all with our swords."
Mordret stared at her for a moment, then glanced at the distant shape of the gargantuan worm.
"...Dirty tricks, huh? Ah, but I don't have any of those left."
His sister smirked with contempt.
"Please forgive me if I don't believe you."
Mordret shook his head and took a step forward, his face devoid of the usual lightness.
"Don't get me wrong… I could have prepared a few. But that would be so unsatisfying, don't you think? Dear sister… you shouldn't assume that I want to kill you with my own two hands any less than you want to kill me. What's the point of killing you with a trick? Then, you'll just die thinking — there he goes, doing something contemptible again. No, no, no… I want to kill you, all of you, with what you pride yourself on most. I want to crush you all."
Morgan grinned.
"So, what? You are really going to fight me with a sword? Have you lost the last bits of your broken mind, creature? You don't stand a chance."
Mordret took another step back and gritted his teeth.
"...We'll see."
His usually calm voice was suddenly distorted by a vast, dark, incinerating hatred.
A hatred so hot it could melt the abyss.
Morgan stopped smiling and walked toward him with a calm expression.
"Do you still think that you can escape? I'll have to disappoint you… when this body of yours is destroyed, there will be no escape. You have already spent… what was it, six, seven years?... locked in a box. This time, we've built a better one. This time, you'll stay locked forever."
Finally, a mad smile appeared on Mordret's face.
"We'll see about that, too…"
A split second later, the clangor of two clashing swords drowned out the cacophony of the battle.
***
Somewhere else on the battlefield, a taciturn Shadow was fighting a blindingly radiant Reflection. And somewhere else, the legendary Whispering Blade was fighting the beautiful demoness, Beastmaster.
A giant Black Panther was tearing a figure woven out of sunlight into shreds with her claws. Her Reflection was furiously trying to shake off a small figure of black steel from its hide, while the small figure stubbornly held on.
Soul Reaper Jet had aimed her glaive at a monstrous visage of Song Seishan, her leather armor riddled with holes. The monster facing her wiped the blood off her lips and spat, as if tasting something disgusting.
A blind girl was fighting through a mass of enthralled Nightmare Creatures to guide a battered Saint to safety.
A revolting creature made out of countless grey worms was being slowly destroyed by four cracked Reflections.
As the grey sky broke with a torrent of rain, the ruinous battle exploded into a nightmare of violence.
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