'A…A Corrupted Titan.'
Although it wasn't Sunny's first time facing a Corrupted Titan, this one sent shivers down his spine.
The Nameless Sun had been a newly evolved Titan, and its power was nowhere near the level of the monstrosity Sunny was looking at. If anything, this one's power might even rival the Winter Beast's.
The thought sent a flash of memories throughout Sunny's mind, causing him to grit his teeth.
"Let's go, come on!"
Sunny no longer cared whether or not the other people made it out. He needed to leave. Immediately.
Letting go of Seishan's forearm, he beckoned for her to run.
He had wanted to Shadow Step away, but he wasn't willing to leave Seishan here. Who knew what the Titans first move would be? Perhaps it would ignore the Saints entirely, choosing to terrorize the world instead.
Sunny was not going to wait and find out.
The two of them dashed straight through the barrier leading to the outside world.
"...-ll everyone! Call Hearth! Hurry!"
He could hear the panicked yells of the people guarding the barrier. Nobody had expected a Titan to emerge.
'You should've seen this coming, fools!'
One always had to prepare for the worst!
And luckily… it seemed that at least someone had.
He could feel some kind of sorcery running through the ground, focusing towards the grand hall. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of runes lit up, bathing the world in red light.
Of course, whatever the runes were trying to do likely wouldn't be enough. But every bit of power counted.
Sunny continued to run, only looking back when necessary.
Back at the Gate, Tyris had assumed her Transcendent form, taking the battle to the skies so the Awakened below could escape.
…But it was clear she was losing. Quite badly.
Despite the fact that Saint Tyris was most powerful when in the sky, it did not help. The Titan also seemed to hold an advantage in the air, the winds around were seemingly alive with malevolent will.
Sunny could not see where Whispering Blade was, while Saint Jest had already left, ensuring the safety of Valor's heiress. A moment later, he also spotted Saint Mara. She stood atop a floating Echo made from stone, aiming a colossal warbow at the Titan.
It was clear that they had been severely underprepared for the Titan.
Sure, they had expected something powerful, but… a Titan was a Titan. If it had been a Devil, Tyrant, or even Terror, they would have been able to deal with it with some effort. But it was a Titan.
Their reinforcements no longer mattered. Anything weaker than an Ascended would be mere ants compared to the Titan. Even if they tried to help, they'd only be getting in the way.
'Do… Do I help?'
He was potentially giving himself away right in front of all of his most dangerous enemies.
Sunny clicked his tongue.
A shadow silently slipped away from his feet, making its way up one of the taller buildings surrounding the stronghold.
'I'll help if it's truly necessary.'
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
[Your…]
Within Sunny's soul, he began to feed all of his accumulated memories to Shrike.
Awakened began pouring out of where Sunny and Seishan had just escaped from, running like hell.
BOOM!
A terrifying bolt of lightning struck near them, sending debris in all directions and knocking many Awakened off their feet.
So far, the Saints had managed to contain the worst of it, with Sky Tide suppressing the Titan as best she could. But she was only a newly ascended Transcendent at this point, her battle art was sure to be incomplete.
The humans were at a severe disadvantage.
Several Echoes courtesy of Valor were flying around the Titan, helping out as best they could.
And just then, a dark streak shot through the air.
An arrow pierced one of the Titans wings, causing it to release a petrifying screech.
Immediately, the Saints froze, something akin to a sonic attack halting them in their tracks.
The humans watched in horror as the massive hole in the Titans wing healed rapidly as if it were never even there.
The Titan had regenerative abilities as well! It would either have to be overwhelmed, or killed with a single massively lethal attack.
'What… What is Asterion doing?!'
Was he seriously just going to let a Titan wreak havoc like this? Was he waiting for the Great Clans to show their hand? Was he waiting for a hidden power to reveal itself?
Or perhaps he knew the humans could take it down?
…Or perhaps he didn't care at all. Who knew what that monster was thinking?
His shadows had already spotted Aria and her cohort, and they were fine. So were the rest of the Awakened, in fact. It was as if some sort of invisible force was protecting them.
Sunny gritted his teeth and continued to run.
***
Madoc gritted his teeth, the harsh winds around him cutting into his soul.
'Damned thing!'
Of all the things that could've come out of the Gate, it just had to be a Titan!
Today simply couldn't be worse.
The ball had been moved to today for the express purpose of displaying Valor's might. It had not been his idea, but the idiot elders had decided it was brilliant.
'I should kill the bastard who came up with this.'
He had already tried to tell them. Something like this would only strike fear into the hearts of the people, not display their prestige! But unfortunately, his brother had still gone through with it.
Plus, one too many things had gone wrong with their plan.
The Gate had opened too early, its location was completely off, and it was meant to be a far less dangerous one!
Fate seemed to be playing a vicious prank on them today.
But it did not matter.
Because the Titan was going to die, no matter what.
Madoc continued to pour his essence into the runic circle his brother had left in case of emergencies.
'You better be ready.'
"Tyris! Do it!"
The steel-winged thunderbird flapped her wings, the clouds far above swirling with ferocity. Winds and lightning snapped towards the Soul Harvesting Titan.
For a moment, the world was illuminated.
…And so was the spell on the ground.
Red runes all over the grand hall ignited, and a wave of pressure washed over the world. The laws of the realm warped and weakened ever so slightly.
And in that single moment, a colossal slash made its way into the world.
Red energy sliced towards the sky, as if delivered by a giant's blade. The roof of the grand hall was cut open, revealing the Titan hovering above, momentarily locked in place by Tyris' power.
The red slash continued upwards straight towards it.
"HIIIIIIIIIIIEKKKK!"
A deafening screech silenced everything as the Titan freed itself from the paralysis, desperately attempting to dodge.
…And dodge it did.
It only had enough time to shift its body to the side. But that was enough.
The red slash passed through its body as if it were water, but instead of cutting the Titan in half, it only managed to slice off a large portion of its body alongside two of its four wings.
'Shit!'
The red slash continued upwards, parting the clouds and lighting up the sky before dissipating.
Madoc stood still, paralysed from the sonic attack.
The Titan flapped its remaining wings, barely able to stay afloat, a waterfall of steaming blood dropping from its body. This time, it was barely able to heal, its flesh only squirming slightly.
Its demented gaze washed over the Saints surrounding it.
And with a flap of its remaining wings, the Titan fled.
'No!'
…It was flying towards where the civilians and Awakened had just escaped to.
***
'Damn it! Damnation! Damn everything!'
Sunny had just watched the terrifying red slash cut through the world, severing everything. The attack had managed to severely wound the Titan, but…
It wasn't dead! And it was flying straight towards them!
"S-Sunny…"
Seishan gripped his arm, sweat lining her face.
"I know."
The Titan seemed to be unable to heal itself after being struck by the red slash, so it instead pursued the fleeing Awakened, aiming to harvest their souls.
Sky Tide desperately pursued the Titan, attempting to stop it.
'Damn it!'
Sunny was no longer sure if Shrike would even be able to do anything. He had not finished his weaving yet, so it was still a Transcendent Devil rather than a Supreme one.
'If only… If only…'
[Shadow Fragments: 201/250.]
If he hadn't been constantly interrupted, his weaving would have been done by now. But instead, a gods damned half-dead Corrupted Titan was flying straight towards him!
'I don't have a choice, it seems.'
Anvil was seemingly unable to enter the world completely, only able to deliver a single attack. Perhaps the Saints had other trump cards up their sleeves, but they wouldn't be able to use them before the Titan reached them.
If he stood still, the Titan would start reaping the lives of the fleeing Awakened.
Sunny took a deep breath.
…And somewhere underground, within a crowd of terrified civilians, an older gentleman in a sharp business suit smiled eerily.
***
The Soul Harvesting Titan soared across the sky, vile power emanating from its maimed body.
An invisible figure sprinted across the ground, aiming to intercept it, each footstep leaving clouds of dust in their wake.
A steel-winged thunderbird shot through the sky behind it, crackling with golden lightning.
A sublime black haired woman aimed a colossal warbow at the fleeing Titan.
…And an old man holding onto a black cane looked towards the sky, a grim expression on his face.
The thunderbird screeched, streams of obliterating golden lightning shot towards the Titan, carried by the winds. At the same time, a black arrow forged from stone streaked across the sky.
The Titans eye flashed white for a single moment, causing the winds to die down, the golden lightning to slow, and the arrow swerved.
The Titan had successfully defended itself.
But a moment later, the golden lightning began to be pulled upwards.
The black haired woman lowered her bow, a confused look on her face, and the steel-winged thunderbird's golden eyes widened.
The lightning disappeared into the clouds, vanishing entirely. And for a moment, the Saints thought they saw a flash of silver illuminating the figure of a raven forged of lusterless black steel.
The Titan raised its head.
…And a moment later, a colossal bolt of lightning shot from the clouds.
BOOOOOM!
The silver lightning struck the exposed wounds of the fleeing Titan, engulfing it entirely.
The night sky lit up as a massive explosion rocked the world. The clouds parted and the winds split, a massive shockwave traversing the area.
The fleeing Awakened were immediately thrown off their feet as buildings crumbled and windows shattered.
The lightning continued for several seconds, arcs of white hot electricity spreading outwards like branches of a magnificent tree.
The shrill screech of the Titan could not be heard within the terrifying shockwaves.
And a few seconds later, the lightning faded.
The darkness of night had returned, and within the sky…
The charred body of the Titan was falling.
…Ahead of the crowd of fleeing Awakened, a radiant woman with auburn hair and hazel eyes grinned ever-so-slightly.
***
'G-Goddamn.'
Shrike had once more impressed him with its incredible firepower.
…But it had come at a cost.
Sunny spotted the figure of Shrike falling through the air. Its power was completely spent.
He had commanded it to give the Titan everything it could possibly give, and his Shadow had obeyed.
Through the five shadows Sunny had wrapped around it, he could see the damage.
Shrike was done for, its soul severely damaged, and its body melting in on itself. The normally pitch black steel was glowing red. After absorbing Tyris' lightning into its own body and using all of its energy in a single attack, even its impenetrable steel carapace could not hold.
Sunny dismissed it a moment later, allowing dark flames of his soul to heal it. His five shadows glided away a second later, all of them moving in different directions just in case anyone could track them.
'So this is your weakness…'
Despite being an aspect of lightning, Shrike was still susceptible to heat. If it unleashed too much of its power, it was in danger of overheating on the inside, and the steel on the outside didn't seem to fare against heat any better either.
But still, Sunny was not disappointed.
Shrike had just killed a Titan after all!
Even if had been at the peak of its power while also being augmented by most of his shadows, a Titan was a Titan!
Sunny had to make sure the attack was perfectly timed as well, as the Titan had already shown its ability to stop Tyris' lightning using its terrifying winds. He had only chosen to attack right when it had spent its energy deflecting Tyris'. Sunny was also certain that if the Titan wasn't already mortally wounded, it most certainly wouldn't have died from that attack.
But who cared? It was dead!
'No, wait…'
If it was dead, why hasn't he heard the Spell announce his kill?
Despite being struck by the obliterating lightning, the Titan was still flying towards them.
Not because it could still fly, but because the momentum it was carrying earlier still remained!
And judging its trajectory, the Titan was going…
'Damnation!!!'
…straight towards Sunny and Seishan.
He only had a few seconds before it crashed into them, and with the size of the Titans body there was no chance they were going to dodge on time.
Faint traces of the terrifying black winds still hovered around the Titans body like a malefic coat.
"It's still alive-"
But before Sunny could react, he was suddenly pulled downwards.
'Huh?'
Seishan stood above him in her transformed state, preparing to shield him with her body.
Sunny was stunned at the sight.
Feeling a massive shadow fall over him, he prepared to summon Solvane or Serpent to block it. But a moment later, he relaxed.
Because an invisible figure shot towards the falling Titan, their blade whipping forward and splitting the vulture's body apart with an unseen sword.
Whispering Blade had come to their rescue.
The Titans severed body landed around them as a shower of blood and guts landed all over the pair. Plumes of dust and debris were kicked up as the road below them nearly crumbled in on itself. One final wail echoed across the world, the Titan still squirming around in an attempt to take more lives.
Raising its head for the final time, the Titan screeched mournfully at the sight of the moon. A second later, the remnant energy left behind by Shrike's earlier attack surged, causing it to seize and collapse.
[You have slain a Corrupted Titan, Great Spirit Gatherer.]
'H-Holy shit…'
Seishan's eyes were closed and her teeth were grit as she covered Sunny. Feeling the impact, she realised she didn't feel herself get crushed by the body of the Titan, so she looked around in confusion.
Sunny laughed.
"Heheh, looks like we've been saved."
Seishan's head snapped towards him, her transformation reverting.
She shot backwards, pushing herself off of him while she coughed slightly.
"Are you… alright, Suming? It seems Saint Madoc has saved us."
Sunny stood up, brushing himself off. The action did not help at all, considering he was completely covered in wet blood.
"I am… but my poor outfit, it's completely ruined!"
Sunny did not show it, but he was inwardly panicking.
Not because of what just happened, but because he felt a terrifying gaze on him.
Whispering Blade was looking at him!
'He's… he's not going to use this chance to get rid of me, is he?'
Madoc seemed to have a strange interest in Song Suming. Did he view Sunny as a threat?
The Soul Serpent had already silently slid into hand, becoming a stiletto hidden within his sleeve. Solvane was also on standby, waiting for the moment she was summoned.
But that moment never came.
"Seishan! Are you alright?"
An anxious voice called out to them from above.
Sunny recognized the owner of the voice immediately. It was Saint Mara, a Saint of Song.
Sunny felt Whispering Blade's gaze leave him, the invisible figure retreating.
"Mara… We're fine… Down here…"
Seishan spoke tiredly, the exhaustion of the prior events finally catching up with her.
Sunny heard a soft squelch in front of them as a figure landed before them.
Saint Mara looked as breathtaking as ever, her dress now replaced with black arcane robes.
"Suming… You're here too."
Putting a hand on each of their shoulders, she smiled.
"You did well to survive. Now, let's get out of here."
Sunny suddenly felt a strange pulling sensation as they both sunk into the ground.
He felt slightly dizzy, feeling the shadows around him shift at incredible speeds. A few seconds later, they emerged from the ground in front of the Song Compound.
Sunny breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his knees shake slightly.
"That was…."
"...Yeah."
Sunny felt a pat on his back, courtesy of the Saint.
"I'll see you two later. I need to assist with the cleanup."
"Okay…"
"Bye…"
Saint Mara sunk into the ground again a moment later.
Sunny and Seishan tiredly entered the Compound, leaving bloody footprints behind.
Seishan elbowed his side softly, whispering under her breath.
"...Thank you."
A moment later, the receptionist rushed towards them.
"M-Miss! Are you alright?!"
Many heads turned to them as they entered. A sizable group of people were gathered around a large screen, displaying updates on the gate situation at Valor's Annual Ball.
From where he was standing, Sunny could make out some of the words that were being spoken.
"...ve received word that the Titan has been killed! Lady Sky Tide of White Feather has managed to slay the Titan! Dear viewers…"
Sunny paid no more attention to the screen, having heard what he needed.
"Ugh, can someone please point me to a shower?"
***
Tyris inspected the charred corpse of the dead Titan.
'Strange… What happened back there?'
She had been attempting to halt the Titan's flight, but then… something happened. After the Titan had used its soul winds to halt her lightning, it had been carried up to a dark figure within the clouds. Tyris had only seen it for a moment, but its appearance was unmistakable.
It was the Echo of the person Madoc was searching for. Aria's hidden helper from the Forgotten Shore. The steel raven.
She did not know much about the Forgotten Shore, having only read a few reports on it after meeting a reliable scout who had hailed from there out of pure curiosity. It was quite an interesting surprise when she learned one of the top scouts of the Chained Isles was also a well respected researcher and already had several famous reports to his name — not that the reports were actually credited to him, but she had her ways around that.
But aside from that, Madoc had told all the top brass of Valor to search for a person with that Echo. It was quite a tall task though, as the only description of that person was that they sounded like a man. She had not been specifically tasked to look for them, only to watch out for the Echo. But surely there was no need to tell him about what she had seen just now, as he was sure to have seen it too.
'At least they seem like a good person.'
After all, their only known appearances were just now, and back on the Forgotten Shore when they had helped Aria during the Siege of the Crimson Spire.
'I hope I get to meet them one day…'
Someone who remained anonymous despite their incredible achievements… They were sure to be a kind person who simply didn't expect anything in return. A true Awakened warrior, perhaps.
***
'Damnation… Damn it! Why didn't it give me a damn Memory?!'
Sunny was quite proud of himself. He had managed to slay a Corrupted Titan! Sort of.
It was his Shadow who had killed it, but his Shadow was a part of him, so it may as well be him!
It had been just over a week since the disaster at the annual ball, and Sunny was relaxing on his sofa as he weaved.
He was going to enter his Second Nightmare soon.
'A Transcendent Memory of the seventh tier… it could've been mine!'
But the Spell didn't seem to want to reward him. He hadn't even received any shadow fragments, as his core was long saturated courtesy of the Noctis Coins.
All he had gotten was the shadow of a humongous and not to mention super ugly vulture in his soul sea.
'At least Serpent can use it…'
Sunny sighed in great sadness.
The Spell was simply too unkind! He deserved a Memory or two, or even an Echo! But…
'Whatever! That Titan was a weakling anyway!'
Despite it's terrifying might, it had died quite fast for a Titan. Judging from its name, Sunny assumed it was due to the fact that it didn't have sufficient souls or spirits gathered, rendering it unable to unleash its full power.
'Lucky me...'
Sunny sighed, staring at his list of Memories as he reminisced on what he used to have.
He shook his, laughing slightly.
He'd definitely be gaining some good Memories soon anyways. The Chain Lords were sure to give him some interesting armours.
Sunny hummed in thought.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?"
Jet was sprawled out on the sofa beside him, yawning as she lazily scratched her stomach.
"Killing people."
Sunny heard Jet snicker softly.
"Ah… I've been wanting to do that myself lately. Those Valor clowns, what were they thinking?"
Jet had been swamped with work after the disaster, and had barely returned home since. In fact, her only saving grace had been the fact that Master Cor had returned from his Third Nightmare a couple days ago, becoming Saint Wake of Ruin.
His timing was impeccable, as the people were already questioning Valor's validity. The birth of three new government Saints had only further diminished Valor's integrity.
Saint Cor, Saint Thane, and Saint Lyra.
Sunny had never heard of Saint Lyra in either of his lives. He wasn't sure whether she was someone who had gone against the Great Clans in the future and had been silenced, or whether the changing of fate had somehow caused her to survive the Nightmare.
The thought made Sunny realise that perhaps the butterfly effect he had caused could also have positive changes rather than just negative ones. But at the same time, he tried his best not to think too much about it.
Sunny sighed.
"Perhaps they were thinking: 'Let's show the world our shiny new Saint! Surely nothing could go wrong, right? Nightmare Gates are perfectly predictable and the Obel Scale can definitely be relied on 100% of the time!'"
Jet laughed.
"Maybe they would think like that."
Sunny turned his head slightly.
"How's Saint Cor doing anyways?"
"Ugh… That guy."
Jet glowered slightly.
"The moment he got back, you know what he does? He starts working again! Two members of his cohort died, and the moment he got back, he immediately went to his office and took over the cleanup of the Gate!"
"...I see."
Sunny was stunned into silence.
Saint Cor was truly a maniac… Or perhaps that was his way of dealing with grief, to throw himself into his work to distract himself from his thoughts.
…Perhaps Sunny wasn't so different in that aspect.
"I-"
Sunny was distracted before he could continue speaking. In his mind, he felt a slight tug. The feeling was akin to hearing someone yell your name from really far away.
Sunny thought for a moment, before realising it was Aria. It seemed that she wanted to speak with him.
"Sunny?"
Jet eyed him curiously, seeing as he had paused mid sentence.
"...Seems Aria wants to speak with me."
A shadow detached itself from his feet, moving towards the door before sliding under it.
Sunny was quite busy currently, so he'd send a shadow to speak with her instead. He could already feel the general direction of where Aria was anyways. It would take a while for his shadow to reach her, but at least he wouldn't have to travel there himself.
"About what?"
"Well, have you heard the report of how the Titan was killed?"
"Yeah? It was Sky Tide, wasn't it?"
"Heheh, so they say. I don't think the Saints present would agree though."
Jet's eyes widened.
"You mean-"
"Indeed."
She then leaned back, sinking into the soft cushions of the sofa.
"Goddamn…"
She then flicked her head towards him, realising the implications.
"Did you get a Memory?! An Echo?! Surely you got something amazing, right? Right?"
Sunny sighed.
"Thats what I thought as well."
Jet's excitement dimmed immediately.
"Damn… Seriously?"
"Seriously. All I got was its name."
Jet sunk further into the cushions, sighing.
"Lame…"
He inwardly agreed.
How could the Spell be so cruel?