Faster…Faster…
That was the only thought running through Nephis's mind as she slaughtered one nightmare creature after another.
With every swing of her sword, more blood was spilt, and with each wound she gave, she received one. That didn't stop her. Nephis pushed through the pain of her Aspect and became a killing machine.
She could hear battle behind her as her cohort and Modtret tried to catch up to her furious rush. But even working together, they couldn't match her frenzy, almost desperate, energy that had consumed her once Cassie where Sunny had gone.
To be completely honest, she wasn't surprised at his choice. Sunny was nothing if not vocal about how much he disliked being a slave. So even if the cost was severing his ties with everyone, she could see him doing it with no regrets.
What did surprise her was her choice.
She refused to let him go. It wasn't a matter of him being her slave, she couldn't care less about that. But she wouldn't let him throw away their bond, which spanned six years.
So when Cassie told her what Sunny's goal was, she rushed towards the end, trying to finish the nightmare before he could save their bond.
Nephis wasn't naive; she knew the strain this would put on them. She was going against his will. And even though it wasn't her main goal, as a result, he would continue being her slave. Despite knowing how much he wished for it, she was going to selfishly keep him chained to her. She didn't want to lose him, so she slaughtered everything in her way.
By this point, the pain of her Aspect had burned away all of her emotions. Even then, she moved forward with single-minded determination.
Time lost its meaning before she finally caught sight of the main target. She didn't even look at the human-turned-abomination. As soon as she was close enough, she destroyed three of her soul cores. As her body began to glow with an overbearing heat Modret took the rest of the cohort away as the blast evaporated everything near her without restraint.
Before the shock wave had finished, she heard the voice of the Spell tell her that the Third Nightmare was ending. In a panic, she looked at her status as the Nightmare vanished around her. The pain and the emptiness that normally lingered from her Aspect disappeared as her body was guided closer to perfection.
She let out a sigh of relief as she saw the familiar runes.
Slave: Lost from Light
Her relief caused her to miss the rest of what the Spell said. Her relief was short-lived as dread set in at having to face Sunny.
He told her. That if she in any way used Shadow Bond again, only one of them would live through it. And while she technically didn't, she knew Sunny wouldn't see it that way. This wasn't going to be the same as their fight at the Crimson Spire. That time was a fight for survival, this would be a fight for hatred. Not to mention, they were stronger than they were before.
She could use Shadow Bond to stop and explain, but that would destroy their bond without a doubt. What would she say anyway?
'Sorry for getting in your way for the thing you wanted the most. But I need you by my side, and I can't forget you.'
Nephis was a bit awkward but she wasn't stupid, especially where Sunny was concerned. She knew of his feelings towards her that she mirrored. But this might ruin everything.
Despite wanting more time she felt the pull of her tether dragging her into the real world. She opened her eyes only to see rubble. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that the city where she set her tether was damaged.
She had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Like the subtle difference she felt in the world. She felt more connected, and there was a presence that she could sense at the edge of her mind.
Ignoring this, she instinctively turned into her transcendent form. As she rose, she destroyed the rubble on top of her and broke free to the surface. Once clear, she returned to her human form and looked around.
She was trying to get a grasp of the situation, but before she could, that presence she felt in the distance arrived. There was no need for her to panic; she knew who it was.
It was sunless, as she glanced over to where Sunny emerged from the shadows. Neither said anything at first, which was fine by Nephis, it gave her time to gather her thoughts.
Her first thought was that Shadow Bond must have leveled up. Now she could sense where Sunny was, and there might even be more. But her second thought distracted her from thinking deeply about it.
'He's….hot?'
She, of course, knew that the more one ascended, the more attractive one became. And despite Sunny's jokes about how unattractive he was she had always appreciated his looks. She had troubles keeping her eyes off of him during their little vacation in the Third Nightmare. With his lean muscular physique and fair skin, he was secretly her type. And though she never told him, she loved the way he let his hair grow out.
But he couldn't even compare to how he looked now. Even though he already had dirt on his face, he was undoubtedly more handsome. His face was more angular, losing the last vestige of youth. She could hardly believe that this was the same boy she had met all those years ago on the Forgotten Shore.
As she continued looking at him closer she felt something off about him was it his handsome face, no it was is soul. As Nephis continued observing it she finally noticed what was wrong. Within his soul replaced by the familiar feelings of longing and love it showed new and terrible emotions insideof him
As she continued observing his soul her concentration broke when sunless suddenly took a step towards her. Startled she aimed her eyes towards his figure in front of her, and then he took another step and another and another.
But before she realized it sunless had began burling towards her tackling and swiftly mounting her. Once she noticed what had happened she immediately tried lift her body off of the ground, butbefore she could another part of arms wrapped themselves around one of her arms and across her neck putting her in a headlock.
Surprised Nephis turned her head around to see another sunless right behind her. 'what the hell?' she thought whereing a dumfounded expression on her face . 'Is this his transformation ability? It was common knowledge to know that after one ascended to becoming a saint they gained a transformation ability, usually as some form of animal or mystical creature of some sorts but never something like this.'
Quickly shaking away the thought she turned back to the original sunless that had put her in this position in the first place. But as she turned her head towards him she noticed the look on his face. It was one of complete and utter rage but not only that but also betrayal mixed in with it too.
As this happened Nephis decided to slowly let her body relax under the weight of the two sunless's.When she looked onto his face his onyx like eyes locked into hers growing darker and deeper with every second they looked at one another.
Then nephis's breathed slowly in and out as if to calm and prepare herself for the coming storm that was the conversation they where about to have. When suddenly sunless's enraged face contorted into a snarl and in that moment he took a breath that sounded more so as a low hiss of a serpent than actual breathing then he slowly opened his mouth as to say something.
As he was opening his mouth nephis's body tensed awaiting a flurry of insults death threats and other abhorrent words coming to her but instead in a shaky and grief striken tone a simple but hard to answer word was delivered.
"W-wh-wHy?"