Chapter 36

Nephis studied Sunny's indifferent expression as he silently paced down the long, expansive halls of the underworld. She didn't particularly know where he was going, but from the growing grimace that Sunny fought to hide she could tell it was nowhere pleasant.

Still, Nephis refused to pry. After all, Revel had given her very specific instructions on what to do, and based off her tale about Sunny and Seishan, she intended to kill the woman, in the slowest way possible. But there was a pertinent issue that Nephis still hadn't addressed.

She had never taken a life.

Though she may be able to comfort Sunny after he falls into the pits of despair from his endless myriad of kills, she truly had no way of relating to the feeling of killing somebody. Thus, there was an inexplicable gap between herself and Sunny that she felt unable to bridge.

Turning a corner, Sunny studied his surroundings before slamming his fist on one of the walls. Caving inward, the formerly pristine wall shifted into a metal door using technology that Nephis had never even recognised before, allowing the insides of a dimly lit room to become present.

Within it, were a bed which seemed small enough to only fit one of them, as well as a lantern which appeared to have been kept unlit for a large amount of time. Aside from that, several pieces of clothing which were exactly Sunny's size came into view as he slowly made his way inward.

"We'll stop here for a moment; I'll go find you something to eat." Nephis cocked her head to the side, a protest building in her throat, however her stomach's low rumble quickly silenced her as she turned around with embarrassment.

"I'm not saying this because you won't be of help, lord knows that you could handle all of the things I'm going to face. I just don't want you seeing... never mind." Sunny turned around, slamming his fist against where the door should have been before it slowly began to slide shut. Before it could fully entrap Nephis, a small lighter slid into the room, filled to the brim with fluid as Sunny disappeared from view.

Turning on her phone for some lighting, Nephis fiddled with the lantern before quickly realising it's intricacies and how to operate it. Then, she lit it with a triumphant smile on her face as she studied the small room. "And they say city girls can't get things done!" She silently praised herself, shifting herself across the room to grab one of the shirts.

Raising it to her face, Nephis inhaled the scent of the shirt with an indifferent expression, which quickly morphed into a large grin as a familiar aroma integrated itself into her senses. "This is Sunny's old room, no wonder it's so neat. And his shirts still smell like him, I could get addicted to this."

Continuing to sift through his shirts, she finally made her way to his underwear with an apprehensive expression seated across her face. "We've already gone that far... so he won't mind if I do this, right? Hell, he won't notice anyways!" Raising it to her nose, Nephis took in a deep breathe as her grin widened to stupendous proportions.

"That was worth it. Why am I talking to myself?" Shaking herself out of her stupor, she noticed that beneath his pile of clothing sat a small pocketknife, blood painted across its edge as her smile quickly shifted into a frown. 'Sunny doesn't leave traces of blood on his knives... but that's only when he's fighting.'

Pieces of her suspected puzzle came together quickly as her frown deepened, her mood becoming entirely ruined as she stared down at the blade with a shaking hands. She didn't want to pick it up, she didn't even want to look at it yet her eyes couldn't pry themself from it's indifferent form.

'What did you do to yourself Sunny?'

Meanwhile, Sunny continued his way down the hallways. There was no need to be stealthy, seeing as his presence would be announced in monumental fashion in only a few weeks, yet Sunny still found himself inclined to keep his presence low and unnoticeable.

Suddenly, a tremendous vile yet so familiar stench wafted into Sunny's nostrils. Sunny's expression didn't shift in the slightest, yet his attention shifted, moving toward the site of the smell with an inquisitive expression settled across his face. It was obvious why he recognised the smell; it was one he had become accustomed to throughout his years in the underworld.

It was the smell of violence.

As Sunny grew closer, he slowed his steps yet noticed that the stench of violence was still steadily growing stronger. With a cautious glint painted across his indifferent eyes, Sunny pulled out his blade from his pocket before gripping it tightly in his hands.

Slow, steady steps almost announcing their presence to the world went from dim and unnoticeable to so unbearably loud that Sunny had no choice but to acknowledge their presence. Turning the corner, stood a tall, gaunt man with arms so long they didn't fit his proportion.

The man was tall, not nearly the stupendous heights that Gilead reached yet still sitting at a comfortable 6'2. Yet, that wasn't what worried Sunny. He recognised those features with immediate effect as every muscle in his body tensed and became ready to act.

Onyx black hair, sunken in pitch black eyes and a lean face that looked malnourished yet extremely healthy all in one chaotic symphony. Wielding a sword in his right hand, a wide smile became plastered upon his face, only growing to inhuman proportions as he acknowledged Sunny's presence.

"Lost from Light!"

"Valor's White Ghost."

Mordret stood before him with a wide smile on his face, almost hopping from one foot to another as Sunny gripped his blade and prepared himself for battle. This was it; this was the man who had caused him so much suffering. Without Mordret's rampage on Valor, Sunny may have never needed to endure the suffering he went through, Morgan could have been an entirely different person.

These thoughts brought Sunny to a boiling point, yet his rational mind continued to fight back his anger as he spoke calmly, his voice not betraying even an ounce of his rage. "Why are you here, shouldn't you be preparing for Valor's ball?" Mordret merely scratched his head with the back of his blade in reply, his smile growing wider.

"Well~ I was doing exactly that, until I decided to go pay a visit to my good friend Rivalen. As it turns out, he thought it would be a good idea to compare the two of us, and so I showed him my full power for him to get a better gauge, but he ended up dead before I could ask his opinion!"

Sunny listened to the man's ramble, restraining a sigh as he watched Mordret's expression shift from excitement to mild disappointment upon realising how weak Rivalen was. 'So Rivalen is dead, he could have lived if he ran.' He thought mildly, his eyes remaining focused on Mordret.

"So, what's the reason for stopping to talk to me. Shouldn't we go our separate ways and see each other once more at the ball?" Mordret shook his head rapidly, his head moving at such speeds it appeared it might fly off in mere moments before stopping abruptly.

"You see, I too find myself quite curious about how we compare. You wouldn't mind if I tried to kill you for a little bit, right? Lost from Light." Once cheerful, his voice quickly turned cold and filled with killing intent. Before Sunny could offer a reply, Mordret blurred toward him.

Mordret's sword sliced through the air with a deafening whistle, yet Sunny met him head on. His knife clashed against Mordret's sword with a shower of hot sparks that were sent flying around the desolate hallway. The impact of their initial clash sent shockwaves throughout the floor which cracked the walls lightly as the two stared into each other's eyes.

"Nice! You're amazing Lost from Light! I'll give you my number lets go out one day!" Mordret cackled. With a twist of his wrist, Mordret disarmed Sunny, sending his knife skittering across the ground. 'Ah, and using a weapon was so... convenient. But Neph isn't here to scold me for the aftermath.'

Sunny's response came immediately, dropping low, his body coiled like a spring as he launched himself forward, sending a knee strike at Mordret's ribs. Barely managing to block, Mordret raised his forearm to soften the blow, being sent skidding backward with a smirk on his face.

Not one to let an advantage go to waste, Sunny continued his movement, fluid and relentless as a spinning elbow strike followed, then a flurry of jabs and hooks which Mordret parried and blocked with equal skill.

'He's sitting on the defensive on purpose, and it's not like I haven't offered him the opportunity to attack. Unless he knows it's a trap.' Sunny's analysis proved to be correct as Mordret's sword snaked upward, piercing the space where Sunny's head had once been as he dropped low to the floor.

Grabbing Mordret by the leg, Sunny twisted his arm, and his opponent found himself mid-air, Mordret's expression quickly turned from startled to elated as he gripped his sword tighter. "Lost from light, do you know how fast you need to swing your sword to create a vacuum blade of air? Faster than sound!"

In a split second, a thunderclap radiated throughout the hallway as Mordret's arm disappeared from view. Where Sunny had once stood, lay a deep gash into the floor that Sunny could see no end in. Mordret's swing had shattered the sound barrier like glass to create a ranged attack, covering up the weaknesses of the sword.

Using the space granted by his attacks aftermath to land, Mordret blurred toward Sunny, his sword raised in the air and killing intent radiating from his eyes. Sunny shifted into a low stance, ready to unleash another flurry of blows as their attacks began to converge.

Streaking through the air in a deadly arc, Mordret's sword approached Sunny's throat with deadly intent, ready to cleave off his head. In the same moment, Sunny's fist barrelled toward Mordret's throat, packing enough force to knock his head clean off his body.

Before their attacks could land, the two stopped.

Leaping back from one another, Mordret wore a gigantic grin on his face as he clapped slowly. "You're amazing Lost from Light, tell me, what's your real name?" Sunny stared at him blankly before conjuring a response. "Sunny." Almost unnaturally, Mordret's smile widened as he stared at Sunny with joy radiating from his body.

"Next time Sunny, let's go all out. You're as good as the rumours say, no, better!" As he finished his statement, Mordret walked past Sunny, skipping off into the distance in a matter of moments as Sunny finally had time to recollect on the fight they just had.

'If we continued, we'd both die. Yet... why do I feel so...' Placing a hand on his chest, Sunny felt his heart trying to escape from his body as a smile tore through his face, one that he had never worn before when fighting.

"Why is fighting him so fucking fun?"