Sunny closed his eyes for a brief second.
The light Nephis had unleashed moments earlier had been so intense that, had an ordinary person been there, they would have gone blind instantly. Even for him—someone used to living in twilight and utter darkness—the flash had been searing.
The outcome was clear:
The wolf was dead.
The downside... Nephis had fainted.
And as if that wasn't enough, they had just ignited an enormous light in a city that hadn't seen daylight in eons. It was like lighting a torch in the middle of an ocean of shadows—everything that lived in that darkness had noticed.
Sunny didn't waste a second. In less than three heartbeats, his figure vanished with [Shadow Step] and reappeared beside Nephis like a black blur. There was no room for hesitation or elaborate strategies; only one viable option remained: run.
He lifted her carefully into his arms and then shifted her onto his back. From the ground, a shadow rose like a living rope, coiling around her to secure her to him so she wouldn't fall. The darkness clung to their bodies like an improvised harness—firm yet flexible.
Without another moment wasted, he activated his Ascended ability and started moving. The shadows around him stretched and compressed with each step, propelling him forward as if the ground itself were aiding his escape.
Glomy surged ahead, spreading like a living stain across the ruins. It acted as a scout, probing the terrain for threats and safe paths. Sunny trusted its perception as much as his own, though he knew that in this place, no plan was ever completely safe.
It was a massive risk. Some nightmare creatures could destroy shadows—or worse, feed on them. He had never encountered one... and he had no desire to find out what it would feel like to lose that part of himself.
There was another problem, too: the shadow rope keeping Nephis secured to him, though small, consumed essence constantly. It wasn't a huge drain, but over time it could leave him empty at the worst possible moment. He had to move fast.
And so he did.
He ran.
The crumbling buildings rushed past like broken silhouettes. The streets, buried under blackness, opened before him like a living labyrinth. Every step echoed in the absolute silence, broken only by the faint pulse of his own shadows.
For several minutes, he moved without encountering opposition. No growls. No footsteps. No echoes of hidden beasts.
It was too quiet... and that was never a good sign here.
Sunny clenched his jaw. In this place, silence never lasted long.
The air around him began to vibrate.
A high-pitched hum, almost imperceptible at first, spread through the empty streets like a needle piercing the calm. Sunny stopped abruptly, every sense tightening like a drawn bowstring.
Ahead, between two collapsed buildings, a figure emerged... twisted and wrong.
At first, he thought it was a butterfly—because of its wings—but the moment the dim light touched it, he understood there was nothing beautiful about it.
Its wings were black as spilled ink, wide and trembling, covered in eyes that opened and closed unnaturally, staring at him from every angle at once. Each blinked at a different rhythm, as if hundreds of fragmented minds were studying him simultaneously.
Its thin, segmented body writhed in the air like a living shadow.
And in the center of its chest... two cores.
Sunny felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach.
"...A Fallen," he muttered through clenched teeth.
A creature like that was a death sentence for any ordinary Ascended.
Too bad he wasn't ordinary.
The distant roars of other creatures echoed behind him. There was no time for a prolonged fight—if he lingered, the entire dark city would wake.
With a smooth, almost graceful motion, Sunny drew the Sin of Solace. The shadow-forged blade gleamed like a dark lake under the moonlight, reflecting the danger ahead.
The creature dove like lightning, its warped wings beating with a wet sound, like tearing flesh. The air filled with black dust that clouded vision, but Sunny was already moving.
He advanced like a dancing shadow, Nephis still firmly bound to his back.
Every step was calculated; every strike, precise.
His blade traced deadly arcs through the darkness, like a centuries-old dance performed to perfection.
One... two... five... eight strikes.
On the tenth, the blade found the creature's neck.
The butterfly crashed from the sky with a sharp, broken shriek, like glass shattering. Its wings dissolved into a black mist as its body split in two.
Sunny descended after it, the wind whipping his face.
The faint moonlight—a rare, almost mythical glow in this place—fell across his forehead. The Crown of Twilight shone, outlining his silhouette with a dangerous halo, a silent warning to the world.
But he never touched the ground.
Before his feet met the cracked stone, the shadows beneath him surged like a black ocean, and from them rose a massive steed with dark fur and spiraling horns: Nightmare.
The horse didn't need commands.
The instant Sunny and Nephis landed on its back, it neighed—a deep, resonant sound that made the air tremble—and burst forward like a blur toward the east.
The streets became tunnels of shadow around them.
Far behind, in the distance, other eyes began to ignite in the dark... too many.
The invisible clock had started ticking.
Sunny and Nephis galloped atop Nightmare like a black and silver streak cutting through the darkness. The steed moved at a brutal pace, its hooves not touching the ground but flickering in and out of existence with a ghostly rhythm. The frozen wind of the dead city bit at Sunny's face, but what truly kept him on edge were the eyes behind them.
He could feel them.
Dozens of glowing gazes following from rooftops, alleys, and impossible corners. He didn't need to look back to know the nightmare creatures had found them.
He couldn't stop.
A fight here, with Nephis unconscious on his back, would be strategic suicide. He might survive... but leaving her defenseless was not an option.
"I could leave Saint to guard her..." he thought for a heartbeat.
But he discarded the idea as quickly as it came. He couldn't split his forces. If something else appeared—something big—he needed Saint and Nightmare together, not separated.
So he ran.
Nightmare weaved through the broken streets with terrifying precision, avoiding crumbled walls and ruined buildings that loomed like giant corpses. Shadows stretched like tendrils as they advanced, and Sunny leaned close to the steed, guiding the rhythm with minimal, instinctive movements.
But the enemy wasn't far behind.
From a nearby alley, a winged creature launched like a projectile: a massive bat with open rib-like blades and a deformed face riddled with holes that emitted piercing shrieks. Sunny didn't slow.
[Shadow Step].
He vanished mid-air and reappeared to the side, close enough for the beast to slam into a wall with a dull crunch. Fighting wasn't worth it; every second mattered.
No sooner had he regained his seat on Nightmare than another threat surged from below: a swarm of humanoid figures, thin as dry branches, their white eyes glowing like beacons in the dark. They scuttled toward them on all fours, screeching like insects.
Nightmare leapt.
The jump was monumental—the steed flew through the air like an arrow, leaving a wake of stirred shadows behind. The creatures were left below, some jumping futilely to reach them.
But not all threats could be avoided.
On the next turn, a colossal monster blocked the entire avenue. It looked like a cross between a centipede and a wolf, with a dozen legs and a mouth full of needles. There was no room to go around.
Sunny grimaced.
"Damn it..."
He briefly released the reins and, still carrying Nephis, unsheathed the Sin of Solace. Nightmare charged straight toward the creature, and in the exact instant before impact, Sunny vanished.
He appeared before the beast, moving like a black lightning bolt.
One, two, three thrusts. Each strike was clean, surgical, aimed at vital points. The creature shrieked and staggered—too late. In a single spinning motion, Sunny severed its neck and landed neatly atop Nightmare as it thundered beneath him.
The beast collapsed behind them like a snapped branch.
But the blow hadn't been clean: a spur along its flank scraped him as he turned. He felt a deep burning pain in his side, like his flesh had been scorched from within.
He gritted his teeth. There was no time to check it.
More creatures emerged, as if the entire city were waking. Eyes lit up on rooftops, shadows moved across the pavement, guttural roars echoed through the walls.
Sunny lowered his head, tightened his grip on the reins, and pushed Nightmare to its limit.
The steed responded like a living arrow, slicing through the maze of streets in a desperate flight.
At moments, Sunny wasn't sure whether they were heading toward safety or racing into the heart of darkness. The landscape was a labyrinth of ruins; one wrong turn could mean a dead end—and then it would be over.
Still, he pressed on.
Because stopping wasn't an option.
They leapt over a crumbled bridge, passed beneath a fractured arch, tore through an avenue that looked like a tunnel of living shadows. Every meter gained was a victory. Every breath, a risk.
One last obstacle appeared: a winged figure dove from the sky, a demonic bird with a human skull for a face. Sunny couldn't completely dodge it. He beheaded it midair, but one of its hooks raked his left shoulder.
The pain was immediate, sharp.
His arm went numb for a few seconds, but he didn't let the hit throw him off. Nightmare landed heavily, and they kept galloping without looking back.
The chase stretched on for minutes that felt like hours.
Finally, among the maze of buildings, he spotted a dark fissure: a cave formed by the collapse of several structures. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.
Nightmare veered sharply and shot into the darkness like an arrow.
Once inside, Sunny dismissed the steed into the shadows.
The darkness within was dense and silent.
Sunny leaned back against the wall, breathing raggedly. His wounds burned; warm blood trickled down his side and shoulder. Nephis, still unconscious, rested against him—a weight he couldn't, and wouldn't, let go of.
Outside, distant roars and footsteps faded slowly. For now, they were safe.