On the last day they would spend in the Dark City, Nephis led a small group of her most powerful warriors on one last hunt.
The members of her cohort were all following behind her. Sunny, who stubbornly refused to accept his status as one of them, walked apart from the group, idly looking around and observing the ruins.
Gemma and Seishan were also with them, as well as ten or so of the most experienced hunters — some of them formerly from the Host, some formerly from the outer settlement. There was no difference between the two anymore.
All of them were simply Changing Star's people now.
As they were walking, Gemma approached Sunny and glanced at him with curiosity.
After Tessai had fallen to Neph's blade, the tall man seemed to have found some measure of peace. Somewhere deep in his eyes, however, there always was a hint of sorrow.
Sunny stared at him and raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
The hunter smiled slightly and asked in a friendly tone:
"You're Sunless, right?"
Sunny shrugged.
"Yeah, that's me."
Gemma silently measured him and then asked with interest:
"I've heard that you lived for months alone in the city. Is that true?"
'Ah, makes sense.'
The tall man was perhaps the most experienced hunter on the Forgotten Shore. He had survived countless battles on the streets of the cursed city. It was natural for him to be curious about this matter…
Sunny gave him a nod.
"Sure. A little over three months, I guess."
Gemma rubbed his chin, then asked bluntly:
"How did you survive?"
Sunny grinned.
How had he managed that, indeed?
A modicum of madness,
him for a
about right, I
while, he glanced forward at Changing Star and asked in
what we are
looked at him with
"She didn't tell you?"
tall man hesitated, then
I'm just not sure
and
lost
a few moments of silence,
how can
'Poor guy…'
lingered for a
guess is correct, you know
just like that, their conversation
and climbed the imposing monolith of the great wall. Standing on top of it, they saw the colossal crater and the headless statue that stood not too
prey was hiding in a vast underground chamber beneath that
hunt the Lord of the
***
of the statue, the second arm of the Priestess lay in the mud. Thousands of years ago, it had broken off and fell, crashing through the dome of the underground chamber. Now, there
that breach to escape from the catacombs. Now, they were going
for them below. Sunny wasn't really surprised that Nephis had chosen to return to this place. After all, the mountainous abomination was most likely guarding the last of the seven
was really curious about how exactly she
gathered around the hole in the mud, Changing Star glanced
your shadow take a look at
a shrug, he sent the shadow into the breach. It slid on the mud and entered the dark hole, then hid in
human bones was still there, in the middle of the vast
very different from how it had
comparatively thin, others as thick as a human body. They weren't growing just between the ancient remains: the vines were bursting through
More brittle. As though it was sick, sapped
commanded his shadow to look closer, and finally noticed the thing
the floor of the underground chamber, open and empty. The exact same box Nephis had mysteriously entrusted to Caster as soon as they were back in
had been written by Changing Star's spy — Seishan. And the contents of the box
had been the leader of the Artisans. Her Aspect Ability allowed her to control
bone-eating vine, as it turned out, was her last creation and
for a moment and then spoke,
is heavily infected by Kido's
nodded and remained silent for a few moments. Then, she
the help of the Dawn Shard, we should be able to survive the
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