Chapter 17: Spire Messenger

Third POV:

The force of the impact threw both Sunny and the Spire Messenger back. When it comes to raw strength, the difference between ranks would pretty much widen the gap the more you ascend or the more you descend. But The augmentation of Seven of his Shadows alongside the Dawn Shard has completely bridged the gap between Sunny and the Spire Messenger.

They were equal in brute strength, with Sunny having a slight advantage Thanks to the Feather of Truth.

Their devastating collision had bought the cohort a precious second to regroup and counterattack.

As Kai and Cassie flew in different directions, creating some distance between them and the ferocious abomination, Nephis and Caster attacked from the sides. One sword shined with brilliant white radiance, while the other gleamed with ghostly green light. As Effie joined him on the front with her Shield.

However, the Messenger was still terrifyingly formidable for his Cohort. The Memories wielded by the cohort might have been enhanced, but their masters remained the same. They couldn't compete with a Fallen creature in terms of raw power and speed.

Two of the beast's six front limbs swiped forward, deflecting the swords. Two more shot at the attacking humans, forcing them to retreat while barely staying alive.

...Then, the Messenger twisted its neck and caught Kai in its sight.

Its powerful black wings lashed down, creating a small hurricane that threw Nephis and Caster aside. Using powerful hind legs to throw itself into the air, the abomination lunged at the retreating archer, who twisted his body in a desperate attempt to aim his bow.

...And then, suddenly, a triangular blade cut an arc around one of the legs and tied an invisible string around it.

'Caught you!'

This was exactly what Sunny wanted.

With the Dark Wing turning into a blur behind his back, Sunny used the momentum of the pull to turn his laughably slow levitation into real flight.

In fact, he shot in the direction of the Messenger as though someone had launched him from a cannon.

But not before leaving one of his Shadows on the ground.

The Midnight Shard flashed through the air and bit into the abomination's flesh stabilising Sunny's dangling figure.

Immediately Sunny dismissed both of his Dark Wing and the Midnight Shard, securing his hands in the body of the abomination, he augmented his mantle with Five of his Shadows, as Sunny activated the enchantment [Feather of Truth] to its full extent causing the creature to Suddenly halt midair before plummeting down with a terrifying speed bearing the full weight of the small figure clinging onto his legs.

None of the Cohort managed to make sense of what was happening in front of them. It seemed as if Sunny was holding up a boulder made out of black feathers over his shoulder. The comical difference in size only made it more dreadful.

"Scatter!!"

Effie only managed to yell that word noticing the falling figure of the Spire Messenger with Sunny clinging to its base as if pulling it down.

Soon enough, the cohort dove in all directions avoiding the crushing point of the falling figure. Sunny managed to dissolve into the Shadows the moment his feet touched the ground and before the crushing weight of the Spire Messenger could smash into him from above.

The Shadow he Left behind previously was already under the Shadow of the headless Statue. Sunny's Shadow disappeared from the view and reappeared right beside the statue.

Behind him, things weren't going well for the cohort. The Messenger was too big, too strong, too swift for a group of Sleepers, no matter how talented. It was already a miracle that none of them had been torn to pieces already.

Soon the Spire Messenger shook off his dizziness and found its next target, the terrifying beak came down again... and once again, bounced off Effie's stalwart shield.

However, this time, a wide crack appeared on the surface of the round shield.

Before the huntress could even react, several powerful limbs shot at the cracked shield, each striking it with the force of a cannonball. Finally, the Memory gave in and shattered — along with Effie's arm. Sunny saw fragments of bone piercing her olive skin as it twisted at an unnatural angle.

'Damnation!'

Sunny quickly sent his happy shadow toward the Spire Messenger, he watched the Messenger try to finish the wounded huntress and Caster was far off from anywhere near Effie to even give a helping hand. Nephis was desperately trying to reach for Effie but the Abomination was far faster than her.

His Shadow still wasn't fast enough to reach her in time.

This spot was supposedly covered by Saint, but her absence made a huge difference, even if Sunny was trying his hardest to cover up her space.

It seemed like the things he could do alone had come to an end.

Sunny closed his eyes contemplating his options.

And eventually shook his head.

'Go, buddy.'

At his command, a fierce and Ruthless black steed rose from his Shadow and covered the distance in a single leap arriving just between Effie and the vile abomination.

In front of Effie, stood A beautiful black steed, tall and graceful, with a lustrous jet-black coat and lean muscles rolling under the skin. Even though His body was riddled with wounds and gashes it simply stood there menacingly radiating an aura of death and dread.

The Spire Messenger froze in its tracks.

But it was enough.

Simultaneously, Nephis managed to penetrate the barrier created by the creature's front limbs. Her sword flashed and bit into the pale flesh, leaving a deep gash on the abomination's side. erroneously positioning herself before the stallion facing the abomination.

However, a single Sword couldn't hold back six terrifying limbs each backed with a deadly set of claws.

The spire messenger had delivered a devastating slash with four of its limbs simultaneously. Nephis managed to deflect three of them but the last one managed to slip through and hit Nephis on her left side, almost coasting Nephis her left arm.

His shadow finally reached its desired destination as Sunny re-raised from the Shadows aiming a powerful slash at the base of the Messenger's wing. The blow Sunny had delivered was truly devastating. In fact, it was so forceful that his unbreakable sword had cleanly severed the wing.

Sunny was feeling fortunate that he wasn't the one on the sharp end of the sword.

The Midnight Shard had cleanly severed the wing of the vile abomination, sending rivers of blood streaming down its pale body. As soon as it did, the enchantment of the Blood Blossom awakened, making the blade even sharper. The elegant tachi tore through the barrier of his six legs, almost crippling them too.

The Messenger suddenly lost control of its footing as Nightmare's adamantine horns slammed into its side,  plummeting the abomination to the ground.

'Eat dust, bastard!'

Now the Messenger's momentum was broken, and his movement was restricted. All that remained was to finish off the abomination.

Glancing up, Sunny saw a Blood Arrow piercing the flesh of the Spire Messenger's other wing and shattering a moment later. It wasn't destroyed, just returned to Kai.

Turning his head slightly to the side, Sunny Noticed Caster's figure standing beside the unfinished Statue.

The proud Legacy didn't look all too well. His shiny scale armor was torn by the claws of the terrible beast, leaving four deep wounds on his muscular chest. Blood was streaming from them, leaving the handsome young man pale and disheveled.

He did notice, however, a crystal amulet in the form of an hourglass hanging on a silver chain around his neck.

'That charm...'

Not wasting any time, the Legacy put his bloodied hand on the statue and closed his eyes for a moment.

Opening his eyes a second later, Caster glanced at Sunny with a dark expression and turned into a blur once again, rushing back to rejoin the battle.

Glancing back, Sunny saw another Blood Arrow piercing the flesh of the Spire Messenger and shattering a moment later. It wasn't destroyed just returned to Kai.

Quiet Dancer was zipping around the massive abomination, aiming at its eyes. The elegant rapier was an Echo, and as such did not enjoy the gift of the Dawn Shard, so it was more of a nuisance than a real threat to the beast. Still, it managed to deliver a couple of shallow cuts, causing the bastard to bleed.

His Steed was doing the most damage though. Ramming the Spire with its horns here and there while using his speed and agility to his advantage.

Launching himself forward, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard and held it behind him, and dashed toward the Messenger.

more and more small, but heavily bleeding wounds appeared on the Messenger's massive frame. Its pale body was now half-covered in dark blood. Caster's enchanted sword added one or two, but most came from the Furious Stallion and Changing Star.

Effie was still in the fight, as well. Despite the fact that her arm was severely broken and there was bloody foam on her lips, the beautiful spear broke through the abomination's defenses and left a bloody mark on its skin, too.

But none of these attacks were powerful enough to end the creature once and for all.

Arriving upon the Spire Messenger Sunny Stood under the staggering abomination and slowly raised his sword augmenting it with seven shadows, and swung it upwards.

Piercing the abdomen of the terrible creature, the razor-sharp sword easily cut through skin and muscle, gutting the abomination and causing it to stagger and fall.

Noticing a ghostly green light approaching from afar, The corner of Sunny's mouth curled upward.

[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Cursed Herald.]

[…You have received a Memory.]

The Last Shard Memory was successfully Obtained.

*****

The cohort was in a pathetic state.

Effie was sitting on the black sand, exhausted. She had the bones in her arm shattered into tiny pieces, with sharp splinters tearing through her skin. Her ribs and lungs were wounded, too. Caster was bleeding heavily from the four gashes left on his torso by the Messenger's claws. Kai lost too much blood to the Blood Arrow and was now on the verge of fainting.

Neph's left arm was partially severed and barely attached to her body. The sight of it was ghastly.

Only Sunny and Cassie were more or less in one piece.

It was all worth it, though. The Spire Messenger was actually dead, while they were not.

Lying on the black sand, Effie suddenly laughed. Sunny gave her a look while offering her a hand and asked her in a boisterous voice.

"What are you laughing at?"

The huntress shrugged, then grimaced from pain.

"Oh, it's just… I was thinking whether we are legendary heroes now or just, you know… fools of legendary proportions. All of us in the outer settlement — the Castle too, I guess — heard the stories about the incredible exploits of the first cohort hundreds of times. Killing a Spire Messenger who made its nest in the throne room, and all that. But I never once thought that I would actually do something that impossible as well."

She grew silent, and then added:

"It's weird."

He lightly chuckled.

"You do know how one becomes a mythical hero, right? It's really easy, you just have to do something outlandish and then die. The death part is the key, actually. So I would rather not be a hero, ever."

With that Sunny stood up and walked over to his Steed that almost blended with the background. Standing on the black sand of the cavern not too far away from the cohort, his steed's state was far from ideal. It sure was better than how it was in the unknown temple before his regression but it was no way near to recovering.

Just standing there was obviously taking a toll on his tattered body.

'You have done wonderfully buddy. Sorry to summon you in this state.'

Sunny eyes softened as his hand reached out to his steed's Muzzle. As Sunny patted his muzzle, Nightmare pressed it against the calloused hand and looked at his master with a pale, yet powerful indication of fondness. The crimson glow of his eyes although slightly dim, it ignited with intensity, and the black steed snorted, its voice full of quiet affection.

With that, Nightmare was dismissed and turned back into his soul sea.

With that, he stood up and tiredly dismissed his Midnight Shard and Nightmare. Since only Cassie and he were unscathed, it fell to them to help everyone treat their wounds.

His marble shell returned to its former state as He summoned his tunic.

Well, they just had to make sure that no one died, as Neph summoned her flames and healed everyone. Sunny wasn't sure that she'd be able to remain conscious after that, though.

Walking over to their leader, he sat down, looked at her, and then asked:

"…Are you stupid? Why did you do that?"

She glanced at him with her usual indifferent expression, straightened her back, and said:

"What do you mean?"

Sunny sighed.

"Why did you get between Nightmare and the Messenger? Look at the state you're in."

She looked at him funnily and asked, raising an eyebrow:

"Nightmare?"

Sunny replied:

"My Stallion.'

She looked at him, then shrugged with one shoulder.

"To tell you the truth, I only saw a dark Shadowy silhouette leaping from the Shadows towards the abomination. At first, I thought it was you, but when I realized that it wasn't you but your….echo I was already clashing with the Spire Messenger."

Sunny stared at her strangely. Then his finger poked Neph's left Shoulder blade.

Her indifferent face didn't last long as it crumbled. Her face contorted as a winced gasp escaped her lips.

"Why wo—"

But Sunny cut her off.

"Just because you thought it was me, you decided that it's okay to throw yourself in front of the Spire Messenger without even confirming it?"

Sunny stared at her even more. As if trying to solve a universal paradox.

Nephis just shrugged.

"A simple cut won't kill me though, I can heal myself, remember? You can't."

He shook his head.

"You call that 'a simple cut'? I also remember that my armor is a rank and four whole tiers above yours. Chances are, I wouldn't be even wounded that much."

Nephis was silent for a bit. Then, she simply said:

"…Well, that's new but still….Too risky."

Sunny couldn't help but laugh.

"Gods! I just don't get you. I really don't. You are so morbidly cunning sometimes, but other times, you are so stupidly naive. It doesn't make any sense."

He went silent for a moment then added shaking his head in amusement.

"…I guess that's your Charm."

Changing Star did not respond for a long time and just stared at him sitting closer with a round dark silver hand mirror in his grasp. When she responded, her tone was as flat as usual:

"Right back at you."