Nightmares

Nobody is born evil, they say. People are formed by their surroundings. That's how it's been forever. The Sin of Guilt is something one has to earn with the actions they take as their life goes on.

And the Mad Prince has lived a long life. Not that he himself has chosen to do so. He was trapped in an endless cycle of suffering and death until he finally managed to solve the impossible puzzle he was fated to solve.

And he did.

Not only that, but he made sure that every single one of his friends would make it out alive from that dreadful tomb. His life was only burdened with one final task: to make it out of there for the sake of being with his loved ones.

Over the years, though, that number of loved ones diminished. He grew tired of trying to save them all. He only wanted one but knew that he ultimately needed them all to survive to make his wish come true.

So he prevailed. He pushed forward with a will that was barely held together by the Sin of Solace for thousands of years, only to be discarded at the end. Deep inside him was still a little bit of humanity left, and that part was hurting like nothing else he had ever experienced before.

He felt betrayed; nothing he did for them seemed to matter because he was no longer a man but an abomination. That much was clear to him from the moment he looked into their eyes. The hate and spite in their eyes broke the last piece of humanity that had been keeping him from really losing it.

Now that it was gone, he wanted nothing more than to kill them all and make them suffer like he did.

Except for one.

As he fought, his mind wandered from madness to love every time Nephis came into view. Her silver hair—he had drowned in her blood thousands of times, painting it a beautiful scarlet red. He couldn't bring himself to hate her.

Not her, not in a million years.

But everyone else was only a matter of time before he would slit their throats and display their bodies on spikes for everyone to see. His fury burned hard as he went after them with only one word echoing in his mind.

'Kill.'

The madness evident in his eyes dominated the battlefield like a storm of death. He made sure to do it slowly, to make them suffer before their deaths. Nothing less would suffice. He wouldn't rest until everyone else was dead and he could stand on the mountain of corpses with his beautiful radiant queen by his side.

'If she has no one to turn to, she will have no other choice but to choose me!'

That was his goal since he was reborn in the body of a shadow. He knew that it was only a matter of time until his former self would lose to the corruption planted inside him and become something that would erase the two worlds for him, to make room for a new world where he and Nephis could rule.

That was the wish he always chased, like a mindless beast following the orders it had been given by its long-dead owner. And soon he found his first victim.

Bloodwave shot forward for once to engage in a battle he didn't feel confident in. The last couple of hours had been a reality check. Until today, he always thought that being a saint meant standing on the same stage as others of the same rank. But today's battle showed him that he was not on par with others just because he was of the same rank.

Naeve was doing no better. He could feel his essence on the edge of collapsing. His whole body ached with pain as cuts continued to drain him of blood. His mind couldn't help but wander to his family—not just the cousin that currently faced the Mad Prince all on his own, but his wife and daughter too.

'I have to get back to them, no matter the cost. I owe my life to them.'

With this thought in mind, he dashed forward to aid his family member in battle. To his horror, it seemed like he was too late. Just a heartbeat later, he watched the arm of his cousin being brutally mauled by a tide of Shadows as screams of agony he had never heard before overshadowed the battlefield.

Moments later, Bloodwave's arm fell to the ground, looking nothing like a limb as it could easily be mistaken for minced meat. Only retreat could save his life now, so that was exactly what he did. If it wasn't for his younger cousin Naeve, he would have had no chance of doing so, but just as the Mad Prince tried to come after the rest of his meal, Naeve blocked his attack.

Naeve felt like vomiting; he couldn't believe it. The person he idolized as a hero had been humiliated in mere seconds of direct combat at the hands of a man he once called a friend. But he couldn't let his thoughts wander to such terrible realms. He knew the Mad Prince wasn't sunny, despite looking eerily similar to him.

"YOU MONSTER!"

He roared with a deafening voice, his tears clearly visible at the edge of his eyes. But he had to stay strong, not falling into despair at the sight of his hero being defeated. Now was the time to direct his anger into something useful: to kill the Mad Prince no matter the cost.

Bloodwave had no strength left. But worse even, he had no hope left. All he could do was save his life by crawling away with the one arm he had left. The bleeding had been stopped by a thin rope tightly wrapped around the stump of his arm as he held on for dear life.

Naeve's sword collided with the shadow blade again. He could feel his body getting weaker by the second as they clashed. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get a hit in. And to make it all worse, the Mad Prince was mocking him for it.

"Oh, you pitiful soul, should I release you from your pain, or do you enjoy suffering? I know I do."

But Naeve didn't listen. He had nothing else in mind but to kill him. His anger flared within him like a radiant sun, fueling the Mad Prince's laughter.

But soon the shadow grew tired of his underwhelming display of strength. He had an ambitious goal and couldn't wait to reach it. So Naeve was quickly pushed into defense. In mere seconds, the tide of the battle switched, and if nothing changed soon, he would die; that much was clear to him.

When the blade of the Mad Prince slit past his defense, he could only watch as it came closer to his heart.

'I'm sorry, you guys. I'll see you on the other side.'

He closed his eyes, not daring to watch his inevitable death. But when a hand grabbed him from behind and threw him out from the line of attack, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. His heart was pounding hard; he opened his eyes in shock to see Effie with a predatory grin on her face. Her spear had stopped the blade of the Mad Prince in an instant, holding firmly against his onslaught.

"YOU GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND GET BLOODWAVE'S AND YOUR WOUNDS HEALED BY NEPH! I WILL HOLD HIM BACK."

She yelled, barely holding her own against the Mad Prince. Naeve only nodded furiously. They had been saved, but for how long would their life still shine until hers would lose all radiance?

Effie had always been a fierce opponent, but she excelled in killing nightmare creatures, not humans. So her experience in battling the ones she normally stood side by side with was sparse. The only advantage she held in this battle was that the Mad Prince had long lost his resemblance to a human. Except for his looks, there was nothing human-like about him, so she was confident in holding her own in that battle.

All until the Mad Prince made sure to show her the reality of her situation.

Her spear chipped at every collision with his black Jian. Her strength, which she prided herself on, faltered after every terrible blow she received. When her breaths became quicker and her heart threatened to break free from her chest, she could feel her end drawing closer.

But when a predator is pushed into a corner, it becomes clear why they hold the top of the food chain. She wasn't a supreme, of course, but her will didn't fade when compared to those monsters. So despite her clear inferiority, she held the line of defense like a lioness defending her cubs.

That is her domain: to protect the things she held dear to her heart with an unbreakable line of defense.

So instead of actively pursuing him, she stood between him and the ones she swore to protect. And for now, that was all that was necessary.

As Naeve arrived at the side of Tyris with his by-now unconscious cousin, his face became more grim as he realized that Tyris was still tending to the unconscious body of Nephis, his eyes watching a beautiful sight of divine flames flickering in her vicinity.

She had fallen to a curse they had not expected.

Hours before, Nephis could slowly feel her consciousness getting assaulted and pushed to sleep. She had an idea of how the Mad Prince did it, but when she had to remove herself from the fight and sleep finally claimed her mind, there was no mistake.

Sunny had once theorized it with her. The Mad Prince had devoured his shadows in the third nightmare in order to get stronger and even claim some of their abilities for himself.

Nightmare had been one of his victims, of course, and now the dreadful power to pull anything into a deep slumber had led to her demise.

Currently, she was living nightmares conjured by the Mad Prince in order to wear her down. Those dreams forced her to use her aspect, and the effect transcended the realms of her own mind, forcing her to burn away her essence faster.

His goal to completely exhaust her essence to make her an easy opponent was working, and at an alarming rate on top of that. The only advantage that came with that was that the others could use her flames to heal themselves.

Just as Naeve was about to heal his wounds, something landed between him and the Saints of the White Feather Clan with a thud.

Kai looked at the object with disbelief; his heart stopped working for a moment as realization hit him.

Effie's bloodied form lay at the brink of death beside them.

Seconds later, the Mad Prince arrived at their sides, wearing a mad grin on his lips, with eyes that would drive a mundane person to insanity.

"She fought well until the last second when I got bored of her. She was determined to defend you all with her life, and she did. But of course, it was not enough. Now you are ne…"

A scythe collided with his armor, causing a white flash to drown the already radiant land in a blinding light. His body flew to the side, colliding with a wall made out of shadows. He had caught himself, but the Soulreaper was upon him in mere moments.

Jet had been busy restricting his shadow step, so he couldn't flee. Unknown to them, that was never his plan. He had no reason to flee the scene because he was superior in every way and determined to crush them all.

When Jet saw Effie fall to the blade of the Mad Prince, it became clear to her that she could no longer stay in her role as a support. Instead, she now engaged in battle with a hardened mind and a clear conscience. Her essence was running low anyway, so she couldn't maintain her transformation any longer.

While the Mad Prince, for once today, had found an opponent that exceeded him in the same things he did, he couldn't help but smile at the Soulreaper. A smile she once cherished, as it was a rare sight for someone from the Outskirts. But that smile belonged to someone else, and she was determined to cut it from his face.

While the two killers engaged in battle, Nephis's flames slowly diminished before completely fading away. Only then did her eyes slowly open. Her mind lay in shambles from the endless nightmares she had to endure.

"How… how is it going?"

She asked but was only met with a bloody scene. When her eyes met the agonized, littered body of Effie, and in the corner of her eye, she could catch the body of Bloodwave with his arm missing, she began to shiver.

"So… so it wasn't a nightmare. He… he really massacred them all!"

Her voice was barely above a whisper as tears cascaded down her cheeks and dropped onto the ancient bone below her.

Her eyes still fixed on the horrific form of Effie, she felt too ashamed to face anyone else.

"It's my fault. If I hadn't allowed myself to fall for his curse, I could have changed that outcome. I'm the worst leader to ever live."

Her voice cleared from the sorrow for a moment as she shot Kai a determined glance.

"You guys leave; there is no need for you to forsake your lives. If you stay, you will die. Go and save yourselves. He only wants me."

She would have loved to curl up into a ball and hide from the shame the two barely alive allies placed upon her, but she had no strength left. She had been forced to completely exhaust her essence.

Kai wanted to retort but was stopped by Tyris placing herself between him and her.

Tyris turned to her while dismissing her bow and summoning a sword instead. Her voice was even as ever, not betraying the rage inside of her, as she spoke.

"Changing Star, you listen to me now. If there is one thing I'm sure of, then it's that we will stop this monster today, no matter the cost. I have vowed to finish this battle, and I will do everything in my power to help Sunny. I owe him my life. We won't leave."

Roan gave his wife a nod, and they both engaged in close combat for the first time today. Now it was left to those three to decide the fate of all of them.