Strike.
With a single, precise motion, the first carapace scavenger was slain.
Sunny's blade found its mark, piercing through the back of its head—the weak point these pitiful creatures had. Abyssfang slid through the chitin with practiced ease, mushing the scavenger's brain in one fluid movement.
The beast collapsed, its grotesque limbs twitching for a moment before falling still. The frantic struggle in its body faded into nothingness.
Its life was over.
But it was just one of many.
"Now!"
Sunny's voice rang sharp through the battlefield.
Without hesitation, Nephis dismissed the golden rope—the single culprit responsible for toppling the horde of scavengers into disarray.
There was no time to waste.
The beasts were still floundering, scrambling against one another in their attempt to rise. While they were still tangled and confused, they had to act.
Sunny sprang forward, ordering his shadow to wrap itself around his blade.
He landed behind a scavenger that was struggling to get up, drove his blade into its skull, then ducked—dodging the jagged pincer of another just as it tried to rip him apart. A monstrous pincer whistled past where his head had been, slicing the air with a sharp snap.
Without missing a beat, he pivoted, twisting Abyssfang in his grip, and with one swift movement—slice. Abyssfang flashed. With a swift, merciless arc, he severed the offending limb, sending the twitching pincer tumbling to the ground.
Behind him, Nephis danced through the chaos, like a storm of destruction.
She moved with lethal precision, weaving around the scrambling scavengers, her blade carving through limbs and chitinous joints. Scavengers stumbled, tripped over their own kind, crashing against each other in a desperate attempt to regain balance—only to be struck down before they could.
Sunny and Nephis...
They were among the strongest Sleepers alive. They were weilders of Divine aspects, and their combat skills were second to none. On top of that, they had received boosts - Nephis by absorbing the fragments Sunny gave her, and Sunny by killing abominations in the dark ocean.
But even with that strength, it wasn't nearly enough to overpower an entire, frenzied horde of Awakened beasts.
But strength alone was never the deciding factor.
They had something their mindless foes did not—intelligence.
To win, they needed strategy. A way to turn the sheer numbers of their enemies against them.
Sunny stepped back, his movements deliberate. Every strike was meant to sow chaos, every dodge to lure the creatures into colliding with one another. The mindless creatures clawed, struggled, sometimes even fought each other as they scrambled for balance. In their desperation, they trampled over their fallen kin, pincers snapping wildly in the confusion.
And in that chaos...
It wasn't difficult for two nimble Sleepers to slip through the madness, striking swiftly at the exposed backs of their skulls.
One after another, the scavengers fell. Their numbers dwindled. Their skulls pierced before they even understood what was happening.
The tide began to shift.
What had once seemed like an overwhelming horde of abominations was now reduced to a mere dozen. And it was all because of the trap.
The golden rope had played the most crucial role—an extraordinary Memory of unyielding strength, capable of shifting its length at will. By tying it between two protruding coral masses, they had turned the scavengers' own charge into their downfall. The moment they tripped, the horde collapsed in on itself.
And from that moment on, they had been easy prey.
The beasts who should have torn them apart had instead been slaughtered, one by one, as they struggled against their own instincts.
Until now. Until only ten remained.
[You have slain an awakened...]
[You shadow grows...]
The Spell's whisper curled through Sunny's mind, as pleasant as a breeze. The voice was cold, emotionless... but to him, it sounded like music.
He exhaled, allowing himself a brief moment to relish it.
Then, his gaze shifted.
The remaining scavengers had finally recovered. They stood tall now, no longer flailing, no longer panicked. Their maddening eyes glistened with primal aggression as their pincers clacked together in fury, pointing at the two sleepers who had slain their kin.
Sunny grimaced.
'Now comes the hard part.'
With most of the scavengers slain and the remaining ones finally regaining their composure, the battle was about to enter its true phase.
The advantage of chaos was gone. Now, it would come down to sheer skill and prowess.
To win this, they had to work together.
Sunny's eyes flickered to Nephis. She had already come to the same conclusion. Without a word, she rushed toward him, her blade gleaming with the white light of her flames.
At the same time, the scavengers screeched and charged. Their grotesque limbs scuttled over the coral, their pincers snapping violently as they rushed toward the two Sleepers with terrifying speed.
Sunny sighed.
"Let me test my strength here."
Without hesitation, he dismissed Abyssfang.
Nephis barely hesitated before nodding in understanding. Without waiting, she broke into a sprint, baring her longsword at the incoming enemies.
Sunny exhaled, steadying himself.
He crouched slightly and exerted every ounce of strength he had into lifting a dismembered scavenger's corpse beside him. Its limbs had mostly been severed, ripped apart, and its carapace shell was damaged.
Fighting in the ocean all night, he had slain many abominations—both Fallen and Corrupted. Last he checked, his core held two hundred and thirty-two shadow fragments.
And yet, even now, even with his shadow wrapped around his body, augmenting his strength twofold, it wasn't enough.
Sunny clenched his jaw. The Scavanger's corpse was still too heavy to lift by brute force alone.
But that wasn't the only thing in his arsenal.
He focused, reaching for the small circulation of essence running through his body with serpent's help. It wasn't much, a mere trickle compared to a true Awakened's essence stream, but it was enough.
A familiar sensation washed over him. A brief, fleeting moment of strength.
Sunny's grip tightened.
Now.
With a grunt, he forced the carcass into the air, lifting the scavenger's lifeless body above his head. His arms screamed in protest, pain lancing through his muscles. He ignored it.
Then, with all his might, he hurled the corpse at the incoming horde.
It crashed into them with a sickening impact, sending a wave of momentum through their ranks. The first scavenger stumbled, its claws scrambling against the coral. The ones behind it, still charging forward at full speed, crashed into their fallen kin—tripping, tumbling, collapsing into a disorganized mess.
At that exact moment, Nephis struck.
She had already circled around, her blade flashing as she severed pincers and limbs before the creatures could regain their footing.
Sunny grinned despite the burning pain coursing through his body. He had strained himself far more than he should have, but the result was worth it.
Without wasting another second, he summoned Abyssfang back into his hands and lunged forward.
Five scavengers still remained standing, while the other five scrambled to get back up.
Sunny and Nephis attacked in unison—her from behind, him from the front, trapping the remaining beasts in a brutal pincer attack of their own.
One scavenger lunged at him, its massive pincer swinging down to tear him apart.
Sunny moved.
His body twisted, shifting seamlessly out of the way as his blade lashed out—severing the limb clean off.
Before the dismembered pincer could even hit the ground, he snatched it from the air and used it as a shield, raising it just in time to block another incoming strike from the side. The force rattled his bones, but he held firm.
Then, he ducked.
A third scavenger lunged at him, its jaws snapping shut a hair's breadth from his throat.
Sunny exploded into motion.
His sword whirled in a deadly arc, slicing through chitin and flesh, decapitating the nearest beast before it could lurch forward.
His movements were precise, effortless. His blade flickered like a phantom, parrying attacks, severing limbs, twisting and weaving through the chaos.
Because he knew.
He knew their next move before they even thought of it.
Shadow Dance allowed him to predict his enemies' movements—especially the ones he was already familiar with.
And these scavengers?
He had fought them. He had killed them. Many times. He probably knew them the most among all the other creatures in the forgotten shore.
As a result, the only thing that awaited the scavengers when they raised their pincers—
Was empty air.
Or the bite of Sunny's blade.
By the time the tumbled abominations shrugged off the corpses of their brethren and scrambled back to their feet, the battlefield had changed.
Sunny and Nephis now stood with their backs against each other, bodies poised, weapons gleaming.
Only six scavengers remained.
Sunny smiled. Nephis followed suit. They were enjoying this.
It wasn't often that Sleepers could fight Awakened abominations and live, let alone lose themselves in the joy of battle. But then again, neither of them were ordinary Sleepers.
They wielded divine Aspects. They possessed combat technique far superior than most. Their will was probably the greatest of them all.
If anyone could smile in the face of death—it was them.
The remaining scavengers lunged at once, their jagged limbs slicing through the air, their pincers clashing like a chorus of steel.
Sunny and Nephis moved.
A blade flashed. A limb fell. A pincer snapped shut against nothing but wind.
Their coordination was seamless and they didn't need words to convey their intent — They simply understood. An unspoken language of battle developed through mutual understanding and respect, made proficient by the many duels they had fought.
Sunny's sword cut downward, carving through a scavenger's joint just as Nephis spun behind him, severing a limb aimed for his back.
Nephis sidestepped an incoming blow, trusting that Sunny would be there to cover the opening—and he was, his blade already intercepting the attack before it could reach her.
Their movements flowed together into a single, devastating battle style.
Each strike was calculated. Each motion effortless. Their weapons clashed in a deadly symphony, each clang of steel marking another step in their brutal dance.
One by one, the scavengers fell.
Until only one remained.
It let out a final screech—then collapsed, a longsword embedded in the back of its skull.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Nephis stood still, scanning the area, her blade still raised. Her silver eyes darted across the bloodstained coral, confirming.
Nothing moved.
They had won.
By all means, it wasn't easy. Neither of them could have achieved victory alone. The odds had been impossible. But together, they made them possible.
A small smile crossed her lips—one of quiet, exhausted satisfaction.
"We won."
Her voice was calm, even, as if she had never doubted the outcome.
Then she turned—
And saw Sunny stagger.
His breath was uneven, his legs trembling beneath him. He was moments away from collapsing. Before she could think, before she could hesitate, she moved.
She caught him in her arms just as he started to fall.
His body glowed with a soft, white radiance. A familiar warmth, the rejuvenating flames. His wounds mended, his fatigue melted away—
...And agony tore through her.
Nephis bit her lip, swallowing a scream. A tremor ran through her body as raw, searing pain spread through her veins. Like her entire being burned, her flaw making her suffer for using her flames.
Tears welled in her eyes. But she did not falter. She healed him, pouring everything she had left into restoring his strength.
A hand touched her shoulder.
"That's enough."
Sunny's voice was quiet, but firm.
"I feel good now. You don't need to—"
Before he could finish, Nephis let out a breath.
Then, she smiled. A true, genuine smile.
And then, her legs gave way.
"W-what...?"
Her mind blurred. Her body, exhausted beyond its limit, finally failed her. She fell.
But before she could hit the ground, A pair of arms caught her.
"You idiot. You should have healed yourself first before coming to me."
His voice was sharp. Almost scolding. But beneath it there was something else. Worry.
Nephis blinked.
Healing herself while Sunny was about to collapse right in front of her... the thought could not even cross her mind. She hadn't chosen to prioritize him over herself consciously.
Her body had simply moved. And she didn't regret it.
With a smile, she replied, "I didn't want to."
Sunny sighed. He probably didn't know what to say. Instead, his lips curled into a smile.
Nephis closed her eyes.
Then, agony.
A sharp, searing pain gripped her body as the white radiance engulfed her once again. Her wounds closed. Her fatigue melted away. Strength returned to her limbs.
At the same time, it felt as though she was being burned alive.
The pain clawed at her, tearing through her nerves, wracking her body with searing agony.
But this time, she didn't let her eyes water. She clenched her jaw, suppressing the scream that tried to escape her throat.
She was getting used to it.
Soon, she would be able to heal others without showing even a flicker of pain. Without anyone knowing the true price she paid.
Without Sunny knowing.
For some reason, she felt that if he ever knew the true extent of her suffering, if he truly understood the cost of her power... It would hurt him.
Better that he didn't know. Better that he never knew.
And yet—
Deep down, she had a suspicion. A gnawing, quiet suspicion.
That he already did.
The way he looked at her...
Every time she healed him, his expression would shift—just slightly. His eyes would fill with something unspoken. Empathy. Pain.
As if he felt her agony. As if he understood.
But there was never pity in his gaze.
No.
Instead, there was something else entirely.
Admiration.
He respected her. Her will. Her strength. Her determination. That fact alone made her... glad.
Even if—
Even if, deep inside, a small, stubborn part of her still whispered that he could be an assassin.
Nephis exhaled quietly. Her silver eyes flickered back to his.
Sunny was close. His face mere inches from hers as he gently laid her down. His dark eyes, ever sharp, studied her carefully.
And suddenly—
She wanted to punch herself.
It was more than evident in the recent battle. He had fought with her. He had gone to great lengths to ensure they both survived.
He had more than enough opportunities to kill her if he had wanted to.
Yet despite all of that, despite knowing that simple truth, a tiny, gnawing suspicion still remained, buried deep in her heart.
It made her feel... sick.
She turned away, searching for something—anything—to distract herself.
Her gaze swept across the battlefield.
Corpses.
Scavenger bodies lay strewn across the coral, twisted and lifeless. Their blood painted the ground.
There was still work to do. They had to collect the soul shards. Prepare a camp. Secure the area... Enough to keep her mind from wandering where it shouldn't.
She attempted to sit up.
But before she could, a firm hand gripped her wrist.
Nephis froze.
She turned her head, eyes narrowing in confusion. Sunny wasn't letting go. His hand was wrapped tightly around hers, keeping her still.
She met his gaze. And what she saw in his eyes made her breath hitch. There was something there. Something unfamiliar. Something she had never seen before.
Nephis had no idea what Sunny was thinking.
She gestured for Sunny to release her hand, but he didn't respond. Seconds stretched on like eternity. Neither moved. Finally, she broke the silence.
"Sunny, what—"
"Shhh—"
Before she could speak, Sunny's hand came down on her mouth. The unexpected pressure startled her; her first instinct was to strike his hand away—as if it might be raised to slit her throat.
But she didn't. She overpowered that impulse and forced herself to remain calm. There had to be a reason for his actions. She had to trust him. She wanted to. So she waited.
Seconds bled into minutes. The two of them lay close, almost too close, facing each other. Nephis could feel the warmth of his body and listen to the beating of his heart. She didn't know what to feel about this situation.
To any onlooker, it would have appeared as if they were embracing, reveling in each other's presence under the starless sky. The notion even coaxed a reluctant blush onto her cheeks.
She waited patiently for Sunny to explain. Yet nothing came. He simply stared at her in silence, muscles tense as though any slight movement might spell his end.
AN: Did you enjoy the fight? Do share your thoughts in the comments.