They are on a cliff. After defeating some more awakened monsters, they decided to rest for today. Because both of them were nonstop fighting without break. So Cassie insisted for them to take a break.
And they agreed to it. They know how much it is important to rest your body and mind, unless you want to break them slowly.
Currently, Nephis is cooking their breakfast, the Carapace Centurion meat. Though she is the one to cook since arriving on Forgotten Shore.
And for the first time since arriving here, she had today insisted Sunny to cook, because clearly, he is the better chef.
Which he said no, saying that he didn't eat Nephis' cooking and food in a long time, and he loved eating her food anyway.
Which she agreed, happy that he loved her cooking that much.
But she saw there was a smirk on his face. First, she was confused, then slowly realized the double meaning in his words.
A small smile appeared on her face, and she then...
pushed him toward Cassie's direction, saying she will take breakfast to them after she finished cooking.
But when he finally walked toward Cassie, Nephis spoke from behind, in a...playful voice, just loud enough for him to hear.
"First we go to Bright Castle, then...we will see~"
Sunny's smirk widened.
...
A little distance away, Sunny and Cassie leaned their backs against a stone wall.
This time Cassie thought herself more useless than last time. Because unlike last time Sunny and Nephis knew what was going to happen and were already prepared for it.
But that didn't affect Cassie this much, because of how much they showed their care about her since last time. This time around they showed much more affection and care for her. Telling her how useful her aspect is.
So Cassie didn't say how useless she was, thinking that was disrespect toward them who had such high hopes for her.
She again thought about how lucky she was to meet them.
"Hey, Sunny."
Sunny turned his head toward Cassie.
"Yes, Cass?"
"...I know it's sudden, but...can you...can you just promise me one thing?"
"That depends on what it is."
The blind girl hesitated before speaking.
"Can you promise that you'll take care of Neph? No matter what?"
"Yes."
The answer came out instantly. Cassie's eyes blinked a few times, clearly she didn't expect to hear this answer.
After several seconds later she composed herself and turned her head from his direction and murmured.
"Well...good to hear."
Sunny sighed.
"You didn't believe what I just said, right?"
Her delicate body tensed.
Of course, she didn't believe it. She thought that he was lying to make her feel better or something like that. Because she understood her vision, who was the shadow and who was the star.
Suddenly she felt disgusted by herself.
Because a few hours ago she was thinking about how lucky she was to meet them and how much they cared for her, and now she was not believing one of them.
She was disgusted.
She hesitated for a bit then nodded.
Sunny took a deep breath.
'This is the best possible moment to tell her, and hope for the best.'
"Do you know my flaw?"
She froze.
'He's not gonna tell...or he is?'
She shook her head.
"No."
His face now was fully emotionless. Even his eyes reflected nothing.
"Then listen."
She swallowed. Her heartbeat fastened.
After a few moments of silence...a smile appeared on his face.
He said in a low voice.
"My flaw is that...I can't lie."
Hearing this, she blurted out in surprise.
"Wha-what do you mean by...you can't lie!?"
Sunny chuckled.
"Well, that's exactly what it means. I can't lie. The most I can do is make the truth sound like a lie or tell half-truths."
After this statement there was...silence. A word not even spoken between them after what Sunny said.
Though...Cassie's mind was in a mess.
She felt extremely guilty and...more disgusted by herself.
'After...everything he's done...for me...I-I still didn't believe him. For me...to believe him, he has to reveal his flaw...even after everything he's done for me. How...can I...I'm...the worst.'
She wanted to cry but somehow held herself.
And Sunny...hoped that, because of this something changed. Like he didn't want her to betray Nephis, even though he knew even if she betrayed Neph nothing would change, he still didn't want that. But...he hoped something changed...something for the better.
In that moment Nephis came with breakfast in her hands. She looked at them, and it was enough for her to guess something had happened.
But she didn't say anything. Thinking that she would ask Sunny later.
...
At night, after Cassie was asleep, and Nephis' face pressed against Sunny's chest and her head rested on his arm. She pulled her face a little from his chest.
Just enough to see his face. Then she finally asked.
"Sunny...what had happened between you and...Cassie back there?"
He turned his head down, toward her. As if he had expected her to notice.
He answered with a bitter voice.
"...She had asked if I would take care of you no matter what and I obviously said yes. But she, of course, didn't believe me. So I revealed my...flaw to her."
Nephis after hearing it tightened her embrace, trying to comfort him. Because she knew that he didn't want Cassie to betray him again.
She knew that he cared for Cassie as much as she cared about her in previous time. So being betrayed by her would have hurt him more than any physical wound.
Though she didn't want the blind seer to betray her instead.
'Cassie chose me last time, so I don't...mind if she chooses him this time. Plus it's not like I'm gonna die or Sunny's gonna kill me.' They should appreciate Unseen from Fate more to be honest.
"I hope...everything turns out to be good." She said.
A warm smile appeared on his face. He also tightened his hold on her.
She then buried her face in his chest, again.
...
After several days of traveling, they had finally arrived at Bone Ridge.
Though it took them more time to arrive than anticipated. Because Sunny and Nephis sought nightmare creatures actively now. They didn't avoid any creature, killing every one they saw.
It didn't matter if they were numerous together or alone, they killed them. They wanted to become as strong as they could before facing the awakened demon.
Now Sunny had over 700 shadow fragments. And Nephis had close to 800 soul fragments. They hated it, but they barely gave any to Cassie, knowing that her physical strength would be no help before awakening.
Sunny had almost reached breakthrough in Shadow Dance, but his body was falling apart every time. Even with the help of Nephis' augment he couldn't help it.
He predicted that he should be able to unlock it after fully forming his core. Plus with the help of Nephis he could multiply himself by 5x.
So Sunny and Nephis decided to form their cores before fighting the demon. Plus they were still twenty days early. It would not hurt to become much stronger before anything.
...
Ashes. As far as eyes can see, there was only a sea of ashes and...lifelessness. Not a single creature in sight. Dead corals everywhere, as if they were drained of life. A wasteland.
And in the middle of the ashes was Ashen Barrow. And at the center of it stood a tree rising into the sky like a tower, its branches wide enough to cover the whole Ashen Barrow in their shade. Its bark was as black as the water of the Dark Sea, while its leaves were as red as blood. The crimson crown of this majestic tree looked incredibly vibrant and magnificent in contrast to the gray sky.
Soul Devouring Tree.
And on the side stood the spine of the skeletal remains of a colossal sea monster laying on an enormous mound of chaotically growing coral, and bones of it.
In there stood three figures.
"Cass."
"Yes, Neph?"
There was a moment of silence before Nephis spoke again.
"I think we need to get out of this area and start hunting in the labyrinth again, before fighting the demon."
Instantly Cassie spoke in a hurry.
"Why?"
"Because currently there is no chance we can fight an awakened demon. So the best option is to go in the labyrinth and hunt until I and Sunny saturate our cores. Plus there's also that tree...an awakened terror."
Cassie nodded at everything, clearly understanding her logic, before stopping on the terror part.
She nearly jumped to her feet, and questioned in a panicked and loud voice.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY AWAKENED TERROR!?"
They calmed her down. Telling her that they felt their minds were getting controlled near the tree and thought that demon was being controlled by the tree's mind hex ability. And it was too much power for just a tyrant, and too weak to be a titan, so it had to be a terror.
Though Cassie thought that it was a bit too much of a stretch to think that it was a terror just by looking at its abilities. What if it was a tyrant with a unique ability?
But she didn't voice her thoughts out. Completely trusting their judgement to be true. They're not stupid.
'Still, why are they not taking this a bit more seriously?'
They were too calm for her to be comfortable. Like there was an awakened demon and terror.
She put all this at the back of her mind. Thinking that it was no use right now.
...
They were in a labyrinth for eighteen days.
Nephis already formed her monster core. While Sunny was close to forming one. But there was a problem.
Because after forming her core she was still absorbing soul shards. Which made Cassie confused, how she was still absorbing shards, even after saturating her core.
So they decided to finally tell her. And her reaction was...
"YO-YOU GUYS...HAVE DIVINE ASPECTS!?"