The Host
Indeed, it was as Sunny had thought.
Mordret had learned his secrets from the mirror shard left behind by his Beast. He didn't really know of his Aspect… he only knew of its reflection.
And that reflection was incomplete.
That was why the cunning prince had assumed that he would be able to enslave Sunny by using his True Name. Of course, Mordret would have been careful, taking the possibility that Lost from Light already had a master into account… but Sunny was half a step ahead. He had doused that caution by being ready to pretend to be enslaved…
And then attacked.
...The Cruel Sight shot forward, narrowly avoiding the mirror fiend's saber and sinking deep into his flesh. It cut through the enchanted black tunic, pierced Welthe's body, and emerged from her back.
Mordret's face contorted, his eyes full of shock and pain.
Sunny, of course, couldn't see it, since he was still relying on shadow sense to navigate the world. All he felt was a tremble that went through his enemy's body.
A moment later, the Prince of Nothing groaned, a stream of blood escaping from his mouth.
Then, he lashed out with the saber, forcing Sunny to stagger back. The Cruel Sight slid out of the terrible wound, wrecking more damage on its way back. Sunny was slightly disappointed that he had not been able to end the fight right there and then, but it hardly mattered.
The wound he had delivered was not immediately fatal, but deadly nevertheless. Now, all he had to do was wait for the enemy to bleed out… even a Master's body was not resilient enough to stem the flood of blood he had caused…
Mordret, it seemed, realized the same, and dashed forward in a desperate attempt to kill Sunny before the blood loss made him too weak.
…Or so Sunny thought.
'What…'
Instead of attacking with the saber, the Prince of Nothing used it to push the Cruel Sight aside, and continued to move forward, eventually colliding with Sunny and grabbing him by the throat.
'Is he crazy?!'
At such a close distance, Sunny had all the advantages. Mordret couldn't slash with the saber, but he could easily bring his shortsword back for a killing thrust, long before anyone would have been able to strangle him.
This attack made no sense...
However, in the next moment, he felt that something was wrong.
And then, his chest was pierced by a blinding explosion of pain.
Sunny screamed and staggered back, falling to the floor. Somehow, against all logic, the Prince of Nothing seemed unscathed again, the bloody gash on his torso gone.
Instead, it was as though Sunny had run himself through with a sword. He could feel a deep wound in his chest, even though the surface of the Undying Chain remained unbroken.
'C—curses…'
Fighting through the pain, he rolled away, dodging the descending saber. Luckily for him, Mordret did not pursue, instead choosing to dash toward Cassie and the mirror trap.
'Damned… damned Welthe!'
Although Sunny was not entirely clear on what had happened and how he had ended up with a hole in his chest, he had an inkling. Welthe's Aspect seemed to be all about devoiding the enemy of their power while enhancing your own… almost as if transferring it. A Master had three Aspect Abilities…
Was her third Ability capable of transferring wounds from her body to that of others?
If so… was he going to die by his own sword?
No… no, he wouldn't.
Unlike Mordret, Sunny was not going to bleed to death. In fact, he was barely bleeding at all. His body was pierced and heavily damaged, but fortunately, blood loss was one of the two causes of death he was practically immune to.
The other being broken bones.
The evolved Weaves of his body would not allow such a thing to happen.
"Argh!"
Growling from pain, Sunny stood up and swayed slightly. He didn't feel too well… in fact, he felt pretty terrible. Every breath was torture, and his heartbeat was strange and irregular. Every contraction sent a pulse of suffering rolling through his body.
'It's alright... I've been through worse… I think…'
Sunny willed the Midnight Shard to manifest itself into existence, and tried to assess what was happening around him.
Mordret was already upon Cassie, his saber flashing toward her neck. The blind girl met his attack with a skillful block, the Quiet Dancer ringing clearly as it deflected the enemy's blade. The blind girl survived…
However, she was pushed back, away from the mirror trap.
As soon as her hand left the surface of the wooden box and the flow of soul essence was interrupted, the glow of the engraved pattern shimmered, dimmed, and was then extinguished.
Mordret sighed.
"...Not bad, guys. Truly, a valiant effort."
He glanced at the mirror trap, and then brought the saber down on it, turning the box into a pile of splinters and mangled silver plates.
Sunny shuddered.
'...Crap.'
Released from the burden and back to the full might of his stolen body, the Prince of Nothing inhaled deeply, an expression of delight on his face. Then, he turned to Sunny and smiled amicably.
"Now, who should I deal with first…"
At that moment, the austere tachi finished manifesting itself into existence. The [Unbroken] enchantment activated, filling him with newfound power. Its effect wasn't as incredible as when he had been a mere Sleeper, but still quite pronounced.
Holding the Midnight Shard in one hand and the Cruel Sight in another, Sunny willed the mirror blade to ignite with the incandescent light of the divine flame, and grimaced.
"Come here, your royal highness. I can promise to kill you quickly."
With Sunny in front of him and Cassie behind, Mordret laughed.
"So fun… ah, what a pity. I am really going to miss you, Sunless…"
With that, he blurred and was suddenly just a step away, the slender saber falling down with terrifying speed.
The two of them clashed, with one attacking and the other desperately trying to defend. The ringing of steel merged into one deafening sound. Sunny cursed...
Although it seemed like an eternity, in fact, just a second had passed. The Quiet Dancer had not even had time to reach them from the other end of the hall to help.
…And he really, really needed help.
Perhaps if he had not been wounded and under the debilitating effect of Welthe's Aspect, Sunny would have been able to hold his ground against the deadly prince. With three shadows wrapped around his body and the gift of the [Unbroken], his prowess would not have been much less than that of a Master.
But as things stood currently, fighting against Mordret was like trying to fend off a tornado. He barely managed to deflect the killing blows, but couldn't do anything against the rest of the rain of ruthless strikes. The Prince of Nothing fought with terrifying skill and purpose, not leaving Sunny any chances to retaliate… well, what else did he expect from the heir of War God?
The bastard truly lived up to his lineage...
The Undying Chain held, for now, but Sunny knew that it wouldn't be able to protect him much longer.
Even when the Quiet Dancer joined the fray, things didn't change much.
Sunny thought feverishly, trying to come up with some trick, some way for him to survive and prevail. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything he could do to win this fight.
It all seemed hopeless.
Slowly, a creeping fear settled in his heart. Ignoring it, ignoring the terrible pain nesting in his chest, Sunny gritted his teeth and continued to resist with all his might, all his cunning, and all his will.
And it was then that Cassie's voice suddenly reached his ears:
"Open your eyes!"
He shivered, suddenly experiencing a feeling of a terrifying deja vu.
'What… has she lost her mind?'
"Open your eyes… open them, Sunny!"
Was Cassie hysterical or planning to kill him? Why else would she give him such stupid advice?
Sunny couldn't come up with one logical reason to listen to her.
…In the end, it all came down to a question of blind trust.
He sighed, then strained his singed eyelids and slowly opened his eyes.
Mordret's figure came into focus, a surprised and joyful expression on his stolen face.
Sunny saw his reflection in Welthe's eyes, clad in the bleak steel of the Undying Chain. No… no, it wasn't him. There was another reflection hiding even deeper, almost lost in the darkness…
…And then, it was gone.
Something cold and alien entered him through the reflection, sinking deep into the dark depths of his soul.
A moment later, the world disappeared.
