One Step Forward
Sunny opened his eyes, disoriented. The orange glow of the fire and the dancing shadows on the shattered walls, the smell of blood, the tearing pain in his chest… he had escaped the Soul Sea and returned to the scorched heart of the Night Temple.
He had prevailed… but what was going on?
It felt as if he was falling…
Why was he falling?
Sunny crashed onto the cracked stone plates of the floor and heard Welthe's body falling somewhere nearby. A tortured groan escaped from his lips, and then a stifled curse.
'What the hell…'
Although his battle with Mordret had lasted for a while, it seemed that just a single moment passed in the real world. That time had not even been enough for Sunny to properly fall down.
The Quiet Dancer was still in the same position, and Cassie was still rushing over, dagger in hand.
'I... survived?'
However, why did it feel like he was forgetting something?
Sunny strained his wounded body, trying to sit up. He felt exhausted and weak — both from his physical injuries and the damage his soul had sustained in the harrowing battle against Prince of Nothing.
What… what was it?
Cassie was already by his side, reaching out to help him sit. Her rapier hovered in the air, and then turned, the tip of its blade aiming at Welthe's unmoving form.
'Oh, right… where did Mordret disappear to?'
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
Sunny raised his head, pointing at Welthe.
"K—kill her!"
The Quiet Dancer was already flashing through the air, reacting faster than its master. Cassie frowned.
"What? Isn't he d…"
But it was too late.
Welthe suddenly moved, her hand shooting forward to catch the flying rapier by the blade. The sharp point stopped just a few centimeters away from her throat.
…No, Mordret wasn't dead. He had simply run away, retreating from a fight that he knew he wouldn't be able to win.
Back to his previous vessel.
Cassie stared at the Prince of Nothing in shock, and then shrieked when thin cracks appeared on the blade of the graceful rapier. She hurriedly dismissed the Echo, saving it from the crushing grip, and pulled Sunny to his feet.
"What… what do we do now?!"
Sunny saw the body of the Ascended knight stirring, as if slowly coming back to life. Her hollow eyes suddenly glistened, becoming full of dark will and lethal intelligence once again.
His heart skipped a beat.
Now that Mordret had failed to both enslave and possess Sunny, there was only one use for him left. Torture the Weaver's Mask out of him, and then dispose of what was left.
With that fiend wearing a Master's body… what were they supposed to do, indeed?
Actually, Sunny had a perfect answer.
He glanced at Cassie with a determined expression, and then screamed:
"What else?! Run!"
…Mordret wasn't the only one who knew when to remove himself from a hopeless situation.
Pushing the blind girl toward the large hole in the wall of the former stronghold of the Valor forces, Sunny turned his back on Welthe, who was slowly rising to her feet, and sprinted away as fast as he could. His eyes were tightly shut, so that the bastard couldn't spy on them through the reflections.
The Night Temple was a large place. With some luck, they would be able to play cat and mouse… or rather, mice and tiger… with the damned prince for a few days.
Hopefully, Saint Cormac would arrive soon.
As he was diving through the breach in the wall, a mocking voice assaulted him from behind:
"...What, leaving so soon?"
Feeling Mordret taking a step forward, Sunny dismissed the Heavenly Burden. Pierce's corpse, which was still pressed against the ceiling, suddenly plunged down and crashed right in front of the mirror fiend, forcing him to jump back and slow down a little.
Without turning his head, Sunny threw the Broken Oath behind him, then sent the Ordinary Rock flying into the depths of a random corridor, and ran in the opposite direction with Cassie.
As they rushed away, the Rock ricochetted off the walls and screamed loudly in Sunny's voice:
"Run! Run! Run!"
***
Sunny didn't expect his tricks to slow down Mordret for long, but with enough of a head start, they were bound to be able to disappear into the confusing labyrinth of the great cathedral. They just had to get out of the inner sanctum in time… once outside, catching them would be much harder.
He might not have been a match for the Prince of Nothing in direct combat… for now… but when it came to stealth and traversal, Sunny had a decisive advantage. Not only could he use Shadow Step to jump across large distances, but he could also use his shadows and senses to scout, spy on the enemy, and navigate in the darkness.
Mordret, meanwhile, was only able to see through reflections, which were few and far between in the Night Temple. Hiding from him was not an impossible task.
Especially with the help of Cassie and her uncanny intuition — the blind girl was going to slow Sunny down somewhat, but at the same time, having her with him was a boon.
Just as he thought that, Cassie suddenly pulled him into a barely visible mouth of a narrow corridor, which then led them to a small staircase. They ascended it and ran through a circular hall, sliding down the domed floor and then climbing back up.
As they did, an echo of a deafening crash reached their ears, announcing that the Prince of Nothing was not too far behind.
What was the bastard doing, breaking through stone walls instead of searching for a path?!
The interior of the Citadel was bizarre and confusing, so Sunny quickly lost his sense of direction. All he knew was that they weren't moving toward the familiar exit out of the inner sanctum, nor were they approaching the central bell tower.
His doubts were dispelled, however, when Cassie opened a narrow wooden door, and cold wind hit him in the face.
Somehow, they had reached the grand hall of the cathedral, where the broken Gateway stood in the center of the vast basin of the craterous dome. Instead of entering it through the tall gates of the inner sanctum, Sunny and Cassie appeared on a hidden gallery circling the hall's perimeter high above.
Almost at the same time, a familiar figure emerged from the gates far below.
