Heavy drops of rain fell in a slow rhythm, striking the surface of an endless lake. The sound was hollow, almost artificial, as if the water weren't truly water, but a living extension of the darkness that filled the place.
Before them stretched a bottomless corridor, a liquid, silent hallway where darkness belonged—where light had no right to exist.
At the edge of the lake, two humanoid figures sat around a small campfire whose glow barely managed to carve out a trembling circle of clarity in the surrounding nothingness. The flames flickered as if afraid of being devoured.
The first figure, tall and elegant, had vermilion hair plastered to his skin, soaked by the damp air. His long hair fell like a heavy waterfall over his face, hiding his eyes. But even so, anyone could sense the sharp beauty beneath that veil: a face worthy of a supermodel, expressionless, almost inhuman.
His armor, the same intense shade of red, seemed to merge with him naturally, like a second skin designed to emphasize his presence.
Beside him sat the other figure. Smiling.
A smile far too wide, far too comfortable, far too sincere not to be unsettling. His hair, not very long, fell just below his ears, and his eyes seemed to smile even more than his mouth.
It was a friendly expression... but looking at it sent an immediate chill down the spine.
The one with the smile spoke first.
"Come on, new friend. No need to look at me like that. I'm not going to kill you."
His tone was light, almost playful, as if he were commenting on the weather.
Kai stared at him for a few seconds.
He knew—because his Flaw guaranteed it—that Mordred was telling the truth. Even when he called him new friend. Even when he promised not to kill him.
And yet... not a single ounce of comfort reached him.
He took a breath before answering.
"And why is that, Mordred?"
It took him a while to speak. Every second felt like a thread pulled tight to the breaking point.
Mordred's smile widened, revealing a glint of amusement in his sharp eyes.
"You know..." he said with an almost cheerful calm, "I don't want to become the enemy of two divine Aspect holders. At least not yet.
My good friend Sunless can be very resentful. And the princess... well, from what I've seen, she is too."
Kai felt a cold shiver crawl down his neck.
The fact that his safety depended solely on Mordred not wanting to antagonize Sunny and Nephis—two people who weren't exactly stable either—did absolutely nothing to reassure him. His Flaw said the bastard was being completely honest... but that did not make him feel any better.
After all, he knew the man before him well.
Calling him insane was an insult to the word.
He was the first bearer of a divine Aspect, the oldest, the most unpredictable... even more unpredictable than Sunny, which was an achievement no one should celebrate.
And then there was the little detail that Mordred hadn't said:
"I won't steal your body."
He had only said, "I won't kill you."
And with the ability he had awakened—or whatever his Ascended ability was now—Kai wasn't sure which option was worse.
But there weren't many alternatives.
They were trapped in that impossible hallway, with a demon sitting beside him and a plan that consisted basically in not making a mistake.
So he took a breath, rested his elbows on his knees, and looked toward the dark corridor, trying to ignore the presence next to him.
If Mordred decided that becoming Sunny's enemy once again would be... fun, or interesting, or simply a whim... Kai knew he had to be ready.
Because understanding the Prince of Nothing was impossible.
And surviving him... too.
⸻
The true darkness emanating from the castle walls didn't merely cover the path like a hungry fog: it seemed to thicken the air itself, making it denser, heavier. Each breath tasted of ancient stone, of dust frozen in time, and of something else... something that refused to be named.
Several days had passed since Nephis's blinding explosion. As impossible as it sounded, the light she had unleashed that day—pure, uncontrolled, the kind that nearly blinded him and forced him to flee like a scorched cat—had helped them far more than either of them would ever admit.
Sure, he had been the one to run for his life. And yes, he had almost died. And yes, when he fell into the sea he genuinely believed his shadow had melted like wax. But the end result was that many of the creatures infesting the area had been scattered.
Some, the dumbest ones, had simply stayed wandering where they lost track of her, as if waiting for the light to return so they could finish their hunt. Others fled deeper inland, confused, incapable of processing something so bright and violent. The weakest were eventually devoured by corrupted beasts or starving Fallen that had been waiting for an opportunity.
Sunny sighed.
the thing that truly cleared the path was the corrupted Terror that appeared days later. A creature the size of a building, with too many joints and a hunger almost offended by the existence of other prey. It had literally cleaned the area... by eating everything that moved.
Including him, if it had caught up.
Remembering how that mass of teeth and cracked flesh had chased him for an entire day did nothing to improve his mood.
And then there was Nephis.
Nephis... with her little proud smile and her raised eyebrow. An expression so subtle anyone else would've missed it, but for him it was a silent shout of: See? It was totally part of the plan.
Sunny knew it wasn't. Obviously. She knew it too.
But it was nice seeing her brag, even a little. So he said nothing.
⸻
"Let's go," he murmured, and they began to walk.
The path to the castle was long and stretched like a scar between dark hills. The stones beneath their boots were covered in a thin layer of silver dust that shimmered faintly whenever Nephis passed near it, as if recognizing her. Small fragments of dark mist swirled around them, avoiding him, drawing closer to her... too close... as if trying to smell her. Sunny frowned, and the shadow beneath his feet thickened until strands of darkness drove the mist away.
The sea lay behind them, so still it looked dead. The wind barely managed to move through the twisted trees that jutted from the sides of the path: black trunks, knots of petrified wood that resembled hands emerging from the ground.
Nephis walked silently at his side. Her light, though faint after everything she had spent, kept the smaller creatures lurking beyond the path at bay. He could feel them—shadows the size of dogs, or children—watching from between the rocks, but none dared approach that light.
Sunny couldn't help it: every step they took toward the castle made his stomach sink a bit more. It wasn't fear—or well, it was fear, but a logical, rational, polite kind of fear—rather the sensation that everything they had endured on this cursed island was closing around them like a trap.
"Are you ready?" Nephis asked without looking at him, her voice calm, too calm.
Sunny considered saying something sarcastic, something clever, But he ended up saying the truth:
"No. But I'm going anyway."
She nodded, barely. As if that answer was enough.
The castle loomed larger with each step, its towers wrapped in a darkness even his shadow disliked. It wasn't natural. It wasn't simple absence of light. It felt as if the place had been built using shards of shattered night.
Something old, enormous, waited inside. He felt it. Nephis did too.
Still, going forward was the only option.
Sunny drew in a long breath, let his shadow coil around his legs like a restless serpent, and continued walking. When the castle's entrance finally opened before them like a mouth, he swallowed.
"Well..." he whispered. "Time to finish our lovely sightseeing tour."
Nephis only smiled a little. A smile so small he might have imagined it... but enough to push him forward.
Because now, there was no turning back.
The real battle awaited inside.