Old Friends

The air was dry, and the land around them radiated from the sunshine that the clouds could never fully hold back. There was no night in these deserted lands and not many obstacles for the light to be caught and cast shadows behind them.

That's why they had decided to use the Death Zone known as Godgrave for their battle against the Mad Prince.

Restricting his access to his source element was not the only reason they chose to fight here. If they wanted, they could have fought him in a desert instead. Even one in the waking world would have sufficed.

But they had one more thing to worry about.

Civilians.

They could not know how the Mad Prince would react to the presence of human souls when their alluring stench would assault his senses by the millions.

So the Dream Realm was the only option for them. The desert where the Tomb of Ariel stood was too dangerous to fight in. What if the fight took long enough for the night to arrive? Not only would that greatly enhance the Mad Prince's strength, but it would also drown them all in a battle no human had any business fighting in.

Sunny looked at the group of people who were here to kill the Mad Prince for him one last time before giving them a bright smile.

He turned to Nephis and pulled her into a deep hug. His heart was racing, and so was hers. He had tried to reason with her that her life could be in danger. Not only hers but also that of their baby, of course. But when the words "Because I want to" escaped her lips, he felt like any effort to stop her would be for naught.

And he would be right. He might have forgotten how deep the determination of those words went, but the look in her eyes was everything he needed to be sure.

To be sure that Nephis would keep her promise and return to him victorious. They had not been able to figure out a way to heal him from the corruption, but every second he spent with her could stall the progress of him falling into that bottomless pit of hatred and pain.

For now, that meant that they had bought themselves a couple more weeks. Weeks that would be spent between them all throughout.

"I love you. I want you to know that whatever happens, I will forever be with you. My soul and heart belong to you."

Sunny said calmly while making no attempts to let her out of his grip. Only when she shifted to distance herself from him did he let go of her.

The smile she was giving him showed depths of love he had never dreamed of experiencing in his life. When her lips parted, that love only deepened further.

"My heart and soul belong to you too. We will beat fate once again and rise out of this mess victorious. I want to spend my life with you for eternity, and we will achieve that no matter the cost."

Before either of them could say another word, they caught each other's lips in a deep kiss. They had no time to waste, but this small gesture was to give them the strength they would need to survive this encounter.

When they parted, a thin line of saliva spread between them before both licked their lips to sever the connection. Cold resolve washed over them as the clarity of an incoming battle settled in Nephis's mind.

Sunny could not take part in the battle. He could not even be here when the Mad Prince arrived since it would be too dangerous. They may hold authority over each other, but one command could not be countered instantly, so it was too much of a risk.

In the next moment, Sunny took a step back and vanished into his own shadow. No trace was left of the man, and so everything that was left was to open the gate of the Shadow Lantern he had left with them.

Nephis looked at the Memory of Divine Rank and picked it up. Everyone was ready, and no more words needed to be shared. They all held their breaths when Nephis opened its gate and placed the memory back on the ground.

She quickly dashed to the side of her allies and gripped her longsword tight.

Everyone got themselves ready for battle as they waited patiently for the arrival of the creature they were about to face.

"He is not just a saint, remember that. He's a mad killer who will waste no second to cut us down. A corrupted beast that holds the might of a creature far more powerful than that."

Nephis explained one last time. They could not know exactly what to expect. The fact that the Mad Prince had no shadow to aid him since he is one himself was reassuring.

"At least we won't have to fight multiple of those. Sunny is such a monster, especially because of that ability."

Jet commented; her words might not calm them down, but it was necessary for everyone to digest that information.

In the next moment, an eerie presence emitted from the gate. They could feel a mixture of bloodlust and rage assaulting their bodies. In the next second, the pressure rose as some of them found it hard to keep their feet from shifting.

"He's coming."

Naeve mumbled under his breath, which earned him a slight nod from everyone else. No one dared to shift their gaze from the Shadow Lantern, though, fearing that if they did, a blade would sever their necks.

As the pressure became higher and higher, the air around them seemed to cool down significantly. Now it was only a matter of seconds before the Mad Prince would glide out of his prison, and they all weren't so sure anymore if they could take him in a fight.

"This pressure, it's… it's more than that of a saint. Nothing like the King of Swords, but different."

No one knew what to answer Tyris; none of them had ever felt such a harrowing feeling before. But they could compare it to something all of them knew well.

"It's… it's like Sunny when he loses himself in battle."

Kai commented, but a second later, the pressure seemed to have disappeared. As if the Mad Prince had vanished.

"Ahhhh Neph, it's good to see you again. How have you been?"

The question hung in the air as they all looked sideways from where it came from. What they saw made their stomachs drop.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm your good friend Sunless. It has been a while, but now we are finally together."

His demeanor was nothing like they had anticipated. He was not as filled with rage and madness as they thought, at least in hindsight, but one glance behind the mask he tried to hold up revealed a truth far more sinister than they had hoped it to be.

"You are not Sunny. You are the Mad Prince."

Nephis stated evenly with an authority that demanded attention. Like her words are Law and would not be tolerated to be misjudged. The Mad Prince just laughed at her before his face turned into an ugly grimace.

"How can you say that? I'm more Sunny than that pitiful slave could ever be. After all, I have lived for far longer than he has. Sure, my face is littered with scars, but I know you can fix that. You owe it to me for getting you out of that corpse of an unholy titan."

The weird mixture of spite and love that lingered in his voice put her more on edge than anything she had ever experienced. As the Mad Prince tried to take a step toward her, all he received was a cold stare from Nephis.

"I'm gonna say it one time and one time only. You are going to die here today. You will no longer stain the soul of my love with your corrupted self. You are an abomination that should not be allowed to wander the realms any longer."

Her voice carried a scent of hatred and resolve that was unmistakable. She would never accept his existence, and that filled his corrupted soul with sorrow.

"You will change your mind after I kill that bastard. Then you will only have me left. Who will you turn to when he dies? Not only him but everyone else, especially that disgusting piece of shit Torment."

Without giving him an answer, Nephis charged at him. Her sword aimed at his head and already in position to strike in the most efficient way.

Determination burned in her heart; no doubt was left that the Mad Prince needed to die. That his existence was a stain on the world that shouldn't exist.

But before her sword reached him, a black spike from the shadows collided with it. The Mad Prince chuckled and looked her deep in the eyes, with madness radiating from them.

"You have gotten strong, my love. Good, I wouldn't want to have a weak queen by my side."

Without listening to him any further, the rest of them sprang into action. Some of them assumed their transcendent forms, like Jet, who made sure to cut off any routes so the Mad Prince had no way to escape. Kai and the Saints of the White Feather Clan had assumed their roles as archers, firing through any gap the rest of the vanguard left open.

The battle of titanic proportions had started, and the Death Zone would be reshaped by it.

Far away, Cassie stood on top of the Chainbreaker. She had wrestled with herself, with the choices she made, with the actions she took, and of course, with the results that came from that.

The way she had done bad for a greater good, like she had hurt the people that were dear to her for the hope of a better future. In the end, she had come to a conclusion.

"I can't keep running away. My power comes with greater responsibility than anyone will ever understand. That much I'm sure of. Even if they hate me, even if they distance themselves from me, I have to keep going. Otherwise… this would have all been for nothing."

With all she had left, she sped up the Chainbreaker to its maximum. There was nothing she could do in this titanic battle. Compared to the others, she wasn't much of a fighter.

But she wasn't entirely helpless either. The visions she held told her that her battle was not over. For once in her life, she got a vision that she was sure she could change. And she was determined to do so, even if it meant forsaking her life.

On the battlefield, the situation had become as expected. The Mad Prince, despite all his restrictions to his former power, still held the advantage.

Every cut he performed, every Shadow Step he took, and every shadow he manifested was a piece of art that had been created over thousands of years full of fighting and scheming.

He was a calamity fit to rival the authority of a sovereign. That much had become clear to them.

Breathing heavily, Jet leaned on her scythe to catch her breath for a second. Technically, she didn't have lungs at the moment, but with all the exhaustion trying to claim her, it felt like the most natural thing to do.

The mist surged over the battlefield in a wide radius, denying the Mad Prince the chance to flee into the shadows. But her essence would not hold out forever. And when it ran dry, she would die—not the illusion of death her flaw provided her with, but like a machine that had no fuel left.

Nephis and Effie, along with the Saints of Night, were doing no better themselves. Their bodies had been cut, and the essence they wielded was diminishing every minute the fight went on.

A kick sent Effie flying with incredible speed towards Kai, who, in return, had to stop his onslaught with the bow and catch her. Luckily, he managed to do so in time before both their bodies collided with a deafening sound.

"That bastard is strong. Didn't the Sin of Solace say that he only has one shadow?"

She panted between heavy breaths. Kai looked at her, relieved, knowing that if she had enough energy to hold up a useless conversation, her condition couldn't be so bad.

"I guess since his core is still connected to Sunny, he is able to draw strength from it. Sunny is strong even without his shadows augmenting him, after all."

He said, a little amused. It was a daunting experience to see firsthand what his best friend in every world was capable of doing.

"Hey… would you mind handing me that bow and getting in there yourself for a second? I need a minute."

Kai looked at her, confused, before tilting his head to the side.

"Do you even know how to shoot a bow? I have never seen you use one."

Effie let out a heavy sigh and grabbed her spear with a growl.

"You're right. Let's take down this bastard."

With a single leap, she vanished from his sight and was back into battle. Tyris knocked another arrow on her bow and gave Kai an even look before releasing the arrow.

"Is she always so… so… you know?"

"Childish, weird, happy, unserious—there are many things you could describe her with. But yeah, she's always like that. But that's why we love her so much. We would not be here if it wasn't for her. She can be a real beast with the right motivation, you know?"

Tyris raised an eyebrow, her face perfectly even with only a hint of doubt.

"And what is that motivation?"

Kai sighed before releasing another arrow, that one actually hitting its mark and dislocating the right shoulder of the Mad Prince. Despite all efforts, it could not pierce his skin, though.

"Food, family, and friends."

He answered, amused, which earned him a slight smile from Tyris and her husband, Roan.

"I get why you all love her so much now. Let's hope that motivation kicks in sooner rather than later."