Within an instant, the frosty weapons were upon them.
A myriad of diverse blades were launched forward, their edge promising an icy demise. Sunny dove into the shadows, rapidly moving forward as the blades failed to connect with his intangible form.
However, they were too overwhelming for everyone else.
Twirling his spear, Dan Heng skillfully parried the oncoming projectiles, barely withstanding against the endless bombardment. Although he failed to block some of them, they shattered moments before piercing him, blocked by an amber barrier that kept crumbling and reforming.
Meanwhile, March did not have a difficult time avoiding the ice constructs. Due to her Aspect, her physical capabilities were nearly unmatchable within the frigid confines of Jarilo-VI — especially because she was manually lowering the temperature. Not only that, but Bronya had shared her augmentations with everyone.
So, with her bow in hand, March was able to swiftly maneuver around the insidious weaponry. She was even able to take some shots while under fire; an extraordinary feat of dexterity.
Of course, Cocolia easily swatted any arrows aside.
As for Bronya… she wasn't as strong or fast as Dan Heng and March, and she couldn't turn intangible like Sunny. By all means, she should have succumbed to the opening salvo.
However, she had her own advantages in this situation.
First of all, her ability to perceive the world around her was highly superior to others, being able to count the individual hairs on a person's head, or the tastebuds of a person's tongue. Naturally, this ability extended to battle, allowing her to read attacks, and react much faster than most.
Unfortunately, no matter how supreme one's cognitive abilities are, physical abilities will always serve as a limiting factor.
Thankfully, she had another tool.
Cocolia's Flaw: She is easily deceived by those she cherishes.
Over the course of her life, Bronya found that Cocolia had a tendency to believe whatever she said. The girl never had a habit of lying, but there were certainly moments where her words contrasted that of others, and where she sounded less truthful than the other party.
Despite this, Cocolia would immediately assume that Bronya was more trustworthy. Although it was possible that she was simply favorable due to their relation as mother and daughter, it had always struck her as odd.
And so… out of curiosity, Bronya decided to fabricate an inconsequential, but unbelievable lie, and told it to Cocolia straight to her face.
In response, she simply smiled, nodded, and asked no questions.
So, Bronya decided to make use of that Flaw.
Although it was most effective when simply stating lies, what was considered an act of deception was very vague, which meant that there were many ways to exploit it.
Slightly shifting to the side, Bronya stopped moving. Suddenly, a frozen armament flew past the area she was about to head to. However, by feinting her steps in the direction she pretended to move to, she was able to convince Cocolia that she was in a different position than she actually was.
Essentially, Cocolia acted on what she thinks Bronya would do, which is a fabrication created by the gray-haired girl in order to manipulate her attacks.
As Bronya aimed down the sights of her rifle, the frozen weapons collected into a small shield of ice, purposed to defend Cocolia against the bullet she was about to fire… which was an abnormal reaction. After all, she had easily withstood an arrow from March's bow, which was certainly much stronger.
She had been deceived into thinking that Bronya's gun was a threat.
In the end, she didn't fire. That wasn't her goal.
Because in her moment of distraction, Cocolia didn't notice the shadow flanking her.
Leaping out of the shadows with a focused gaze, Sunny stabbed the Lance of Preservation forwards with a one-handed thrust, it's crystal blade flickering amber flames. Cocolia's reaction speed was by no means slow, as she was able to whirl around, manifest a weapon, and parry the relic of Qlipoth out of his hands. As it flew into the air, it faded away into a dying flame.
Despite the opportunity for a follow-up attack, Cocolia shuddered. She looked down.
Buried in her waist was a transparent, ghostly stiletto. Golden liquid seeped out of the wound in a manner similar to blood.
'Wh-where…?'
Cocolia had clearly seen his other hand, which was empty! He shouldn't have been able to summon a Memory fast enough to catch her by surprise!
She had no time to contemplate the mysterious and sudden appearance of the dagger, as a devestating, stone-clad fist crashed into her inhuman face, unleashing a devestating blow. Augmented by three shadows, the Everwinter Night, and Bronya's Aspect, as well as having a more stubborn body and armor due to the Preservation, the force of his blow was powerful enough to stagger Cocolia while pushing her back.
As her legs made contact with the ground after being suspended in the air for so long, a myriad of icy weapons were frantically summoned. At the same time, the Lance of Preservation materialized in Sunny's hand once more. He rushed forwards as Cocolia prepared to fire her weapons.
There was a gunshot.
If Cocolia had eyes, they would have widened. She ignored Sunny, the weapons redirecting to another direction. Whirling around, she saw the perpetrator of the shooting.
Bronya had aimed her gun to the sky, her finger squeezed on the trigger.
Cocolia stared in confusion, before realization dawned upon her. Not having enough time to turn the weapons again, she reached down to the wound marring her waist. Grabbing the stiletto, she twisted her body in an inhuman manner as she threw it at Sunny, who had taken the opportunity to close the distance. The dagger glided through the air with chilling accuracy, along with tremendous speed.
Although the Moonlight Shard threatened to penetrate his throat, he didn't move out of the way. If he did, Cocolia would be given the time to reorganize herself, which would put them in a disadvantageous position. The best way to defeat a more powerful enemy is to disrupt their ability to think. Although power was important, the intelligence to control it was even greater in importance.
Sunny didn't doubt that Cocolia had both, so he had to forcefully take the latter away.
Besides, the Moonlight Shard was his own weapon. It would be ridiculous if it had harmed him.
As it's blade was inches away from his neck, it suddenly disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.
Memory: [Moonlight Shard].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: I.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [When the stars were extinguished and fell, a lonely moon remained in the empty sky. With no sun to shine upon it, the moon grew dim, withered, and died. As the last remnants of moonlight were devoured by darkness, one small shard was forged into this subtle blade.]
Memory Enchantments: [Unseen].
Enchantment Description: [Forged from moonlight, this blade appears in the hand of its wielder without delay.]
Using the [Unseen] enchantment, Sunny was able to stab Cocolia while she had been distracted by the Lance of Preservation.
The inverse was true as well. Memories usually took time to dismiss, which meant that one usually wouldn't have had been able to dismiss their own weapon if it was thrown at them. Cocolia had tried to use this fact against Sunny, forcing him to dodge.
Naturally, she wouldn't know the nature of the Moonlight Shard. No matter how intelligent one was, a lack of information would always cause mistakes.
So, without enough time to turn her weapons to face Sunny, she simply fired them with the blunt edges pointing at him. This worked in his favor, as they would deal less damage to his shields. This meant that he could block multiple at a time before being forced to create a new one. Not only that, but even if the weapons did hit him, her Aspect was less likely to take effect with less open wounds.
Some may question why she didn't simply create double-edged blades instead. The simple answer was that the weight distribution would be off, which would increase the possibility of them veering off course after initially being fired. If Cocolia was able to constantly control her constructs after they exited a certain range, then she would have definitely deigned to use weaponry that had less blunt points.
Plus, she sometimes needed to wield her weapons herself. She didn't want to constantly grip a blade in the midst of battle.
As she sent out weapons to distract Sunny, she instinctively leaned back to avoid a spear swinging above her head. At the same time, she swiftly glided out of the trajectory of a frozen arrow — courtesy of March.
Pressured by the frontal and ranged assault of Dan Heng and March, as well as having a large portion of attention on Bronya while attempting to stay aware of Sunny — who was being bombarded by ice constructs — Cocolia switched her focus to a close-combat offensive. Two ornate spears of ice quickly manifested in her hands as she began to assault Dan Heng.
The twirling of three spears was like a blur as Dan Heng engaged in a dance of blades with Cocolia. Each blow he blocked carried a staggering weight to it, while his own were brushed aside as if they were nothing. He sidestepped to avoid one spear, and almost failed to block the second one, which came down like a guillotiné.
As his spear was preoccupied, her other spear whipped through his guard, aiming to slice into his torso to spill out his guts.
A dull sound resounded as her spear shattered on an illusory shield. After a moment, the amber barrier crumbled as well, failing to sustain itself after such a devestating blow.
During her daze, a gauntlet of pinkish ice swung into her face, breaking her stance. Freed from her crushing might, Dan Heng swerved out from under the insidious weapon, pushing the offensive. March — who had a pair ice gauntlets going up to her elbow — followed his lead as they attempted to shatter Cocolia's offensive.
Bullets harmlessly bounced off of her body as Bronya shot with her rifle. Although deceiving Cocolia was simple due to her Flaw, there were limits on how much it could be exploited; she wouldn't fall for the same trick more than twice.
However, her attention was naturally split between the three of them.
Quickly floating backwards while gaining altitude, she attempted to get into a position to form another salvo of ice constructs. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw a flaming object streak through the sky towards her. Recognizing it as the Lance of Preservation, she created a shield, swatting it away as it dispersed into flames.
Having grown accustomed to the treacherous, scheming nature of Sunny, she wasn't surprised when she saw the Moonlight Shard follow behind the lance, having been hidden behind it's larger form. In fact, she was expecting it. With her free hand, she created a simplistic sword to parry it away as well, watching as it instantly disappeared.
…Then, she felt her thoughts and Soul Essence slow down. If she had any eyes, her pupils would have dilated. Turning her head, she saw a small, jagged, and broken shard of ice digging into her shoulder, causing golden blood to exit her transformed body.
Earlier, while Sunny had been dealing with the weapons she had fired at him, he had taken a broken piece of her ice armaments. Using the Lance of Preservation, he disguised the Moonlight Shard, which disguised the ice. After all, it was hard for someone to notice such a small piece in the midst of a blizzard.
After Cocolia's metamorphosis, Sunny was reminded of when Bronya had explained her mother's Memories' capabilities. In particular, it was the brooch she wore that gave her a resistance to the cold. He had found it strange that she didn't have such a resistance naturally, and had simply thought that removing it would even the playing field within Jarilo-VI's frigid temperature.
However, wasn't freezing the soul and mind another kind of cold? It made him consider the possibility that her Aspect even had the capability to harm her, so she made preparations to counter that.
Once she had transformed, there were no Memories visible on her body. Sunny didn't believe that Cocolia was arrogant enough to abandon her sole protection against her Aspect, so she must have lost the ability to summon Memories after her metamorphosis.
Which meant she was vulnerable to her Aspect once more.
And if she was going to graciously provide him with the means to affect both her mental capacity and soul, why wouldn't he take it?
The visible slow down in activity caused Sunny, March, and Dan Heng to increase their aggressiveness.
Suddenly, something snapped. Another layer of Cocolia's mind shattered, dissolving into the Stellaron's influence.
She felt a distinct change to her soul — her Aspect. It became more volatile, violent, Destructive. It became difficult to grasp control over it, as if it would escape, commanding her instead.
Time seemed to slow down for Cocolia.
Golden streams of energy began to flicker between existence and inexistence, flowing like a river as they traveled through the path Cocolia willed them to. They twisted, spiraled, and coalesced into an orb of energy above her. At the same time, the air itself began to freeze, creating a black-tinted crystal that seemed to contain an overflowing amount of golden energy.
It was a wretched, messy creation. It was like an amalgamation of disorderly spikes, forming a chaotic mass of freezing Destruction.
Along with it, Cocolia rose into the air with frightening speed, approaching the very clouds themself. As she reached the source of the blizzard, the clouds parted, as if they were both afraid and reverent of the mass that seemed to split the very heavens.
Down below, March could only gape.
"…What are we supposed to do against that?!"
Sunny frowned.
'Good question… I'm also wondering about that…'
He looked through his options:
One, he could create a barrier to protect them. However, as his shields were fueled by his soul, they would inevitably succumb to such a powerful attack coming from someone who was between Ascended and Transcendent. Plus, the Destruction was visibly taking effect, meaning that the likelihood of his barriers withstanding anything was very low.
Two, they could run away. Sunny easily disregarded this option due to the fact that whatever Cocolia was going to throw at them was very likely to explode. Not only that, but she could simply aim it at them.
Three… destroy it.
Sunny grinned as he looked down at the Lance of Preservation. Interestingly enough, the relic of Qlipoth seemed to store strength whenever either the shields, the lance, or Sunny himself absorbed a blow. Considering how many times the amber barriers have shattered to Cocolia's blows, the amount of power the weapon had absorbed was tremendous.
The energy could either be expended to create an exceptionally powerful barrier, or to unleash a singular devestating attack. Unfortunately, Sunny didn't believe that any barrier would be able to protect them… but what if the mass of obsidian ice exploded prematurely?
Suddenly, swathes of amber flames came to life, dancing around Sunny. The Lance of Preservation's glow intensified as his surroundings grew hotter. Looking up at the apocalyptic scene of Cocolia readying the cataclysmic attack, Sunny pulled the lance back, preparing to throw it.
He had been doing that a lot lately.
At the same time, he heard Cocolia senselessly rambling from above:
"The power of the Stellaron is with me... you are but cinders of the Old World soon to become ashes!"
Despite the distance, her voice was clear as it echoed through the blizzard. Due to the Stellaron's influence, her voice attempted to seep into their minds…
Only to be halted by an impregnable wall of amber. While wielding the Preservation, Sunny — and anyone he decides to share it's blessing with — gain a degree of mind and soul protection. It wasn't anything major, as while Sunny barely noticed due to the protection provided by the Mantle, the others felt slightly lethargic and dull; a major improvement to when they first got to the top of Everwinter Hill.
He signaled for everyone — including Seele — to gather around him. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to protect them from the aftermath.
Far into the sky, Cocolia spread her arms like a false messiah, her shadow imprinting on the clouds as lightning cast her silhouette, immediately being followed by the roars of thunder.
"Power… translates into hope!"
The world shivered, as if it had finally reacted to the Eternal Freeze after seven centuries.
The moment that the amalgamation of Destruction even threatened to fall from it's perch in the clouds, the muscles in Sunny's body flexed in response to his nerves firing. The Lance of Preservation — which was pointing towards Cocolia's last choir of genesis — was consumed by flames, becoming almost impossible to see through the dancing of amber.
Shadow Essence traveled through Sunny's body, following the optimal route as it was guided by the Soul Serpent. With a grunt, the Lance of Preservation left his hand with inconceivable force. It rose up the sky in a streak of amber, seeming like a falling — or rather, a rising star as the blizzard attempted to swallow the light.
However, it failed to consume the radiance of Preservation.
In the same instant, the golden energy that radiated from within the onyx mass of ice grew more fervent, coating the entire structure with a sunlit hue.
Her hand rose — sleek, obsidian, and utterly unyielding. The massive construct seemed to tremble; as if it was solely made to serve her will. Then, she swung it down, transmitting an authoritative signal. Then, it began to menacingly fall to the earth like a fell star.
The world went silent for a moment as two stars approached eachother; one, amber, stable, and persevering, the other, bright, chaotic, and devestating.
Then, stars collided.
At the moment of contact, there wasn't much of a change. The amber light seemed to be consumed by the golden radiance, making it seem like the Lance of Preservation was destroyed.
That notion was shattered when it came out the opposite side of the ice construct, piercing straight through it.
Immediately, Sunny dismissed and resummoned it, causing the star to disappear as it appeared in his hands with the licking of flames. He stabbed the lance into the snow as he concentrated.
An illusory dome of amber appeared, covering everyone present. Staring up at the approaching construct, he waited with bated breath.
There was a ripple. Then a crash.
The already-unstable energy began to escape the construct through golden cracks, distorting the space around it. Not able to contain the rampant force of Destruction, the ice shattered, then exploded.
A golden supernova occurred in the sky — visible shockwaves split through the sky, tearing apart the clouds and causing snow to roll off of distant mountains. Imperceptible amidst the blinding radiance were blackened shards of ice, raining down from the heavens.
Although the supernova itself didn't make contact with the amber barrier that Sunny had formed, the shockwaves violently slammed into it, threatening to break through. At the same time, ice rained down upon the dome, promising whispers of mental and spiritual agony. Gritting his teeth, Sunny expended torrents of Shadow Essence to allow it to maintain it's form.
Then, in less than a dozen seconds, the chaos died down.
Sunny deeply breathed in as he allowed the barrier to recede. Looking around, he took note of the devestation.
The force displaced the snow on Everwinter Hill, displaying a stone platform hidden underneath. There was a gap in the clouds, revealing light from above. The blizzard seemed to mysteriously halt in it's tracks. The ground was littered with darkened crystals of ice — some of them were small, and were spilled all over the place, while others were large, and had imbedded into the earth like a monument.
Then, a few dozen meters ahead, was Cocolia.
She was kneeling, her humanoid form pierced with numerous black shards, contrasting the pure ice that coated her. Cracks intersected along her, making her seem like a fragile glass sculpture. Golden liquid oozed out of her wounds, staining her body.
She hadn't expected the construct to detonate so early, so she hadn't been able to defend herself when she got caught directly in the blast.
She shivered for a few moments from the freezing sensation assaulting her mind and soul, before stumbling to her feet. The pathetic display brought a pitiful gaze out of Sunny.
However, he knew that they were running out of time. If they dawdled for too long, her Transcendence will be complete. At that point, she may be unstoppable.
'…We need to get her unconscious first, then find a way to sever her connection to the Stellaron. Uh… otherwise, we'll need to keep her unconscious until it's sealed.'
There was also the issue of her injuries, but that could wait until after she became docile.
Silently waving her hand, blackened blades of ice formed behind her. They immediately fired.
Sunny could tell that his shields wouldn't be able to block an attack — her ice was now infected by the Destruction, which happened to be the perfect counter.
Fortunately, he didn't need to do anything.
Illusory butterflies flew through the air as multiple afterimages appeared, each of them positioned to attack one of the constructs. Then, they all shattered.
After a moment, Sunny scowled as he allowed the blessing of Preservation to blanket the area.
Veliona appeared behind Cocolia amidst flutter butterflies, swinging her scythe to divide her into two.
However, it harmlessly bounced off an amber barrier, causing her to become confused.
Cocolia attempted to turn around to react, but her movements were sluggish. By the time she had turned to Veliona's direction, she had already disappeared, returning to where the others stood. Similarly, they all seemed confused as well.
Except for Sunny, who looked between Veliona and the others for a moment.
"Me and Seele are going to try to keep her down. Just in case, the three of you should wait here… uh, Bronya can come, if she wants."
Although the two other passengers of the Express were still confused, Dan Heng spoke tersely as he nodded.
"Be careful of the Stellaron."
March frowned as she pulled out her phone, which luckily didn't get damaged during the conflict.
"If there was some signal here, then I could have asked Mr. Yang to help out…"
As she trailed off, Sunny walked over to the Supreme Guardian.
As Cocolia was slowly turning back around, Veliona stared at him for a few moments, before glaring as she pointed towards the Supreme Guardian.
"What was that about?!"
Sunny shook his head as he hurriedly walked towards Cocolia's impaired form.
"There's no reason to kill her. It's not like she could fight back much in her state."
She became a victim to her own Aspect. Not only was she in no state to think, but creating another construct would take too long for her due to the decreased speed of Soul Essence circulation.
Veliona looked at him in astonishment.
"But… she tried to… she killed you!"
Sunny raised a brow with an amount of haughtiness.
"Didn't you say you wanted to kill me? Like, a lot?"
She rolled her eyes.
"That's different!"
"…I feel like I'm missing something here."
They both turned towards Bronya, who had decided to follow them. Sunny sighed.
"Yeah… I'll make her explain to you later."
He sent her a smug glance as he hurried over to Cocolia. Ignoring the betrayed expression Veliona sent him, he observed the Supreme Guardian's current state. She was barely able to move around, as her mind freezes at a faster rate the longer the shards of ice were lodged into her.
This also applied to her soul.
'Any longer, and she might just die…'
As he grew closer, he began to hear a whisper in his ear.
"…The world will forever try to kill you… destroy it and gain vengeance…"
Sunny froze, a chill running down his spine. The voice sounded eerily like his own, as if it was trying to blend in with his thoughts. At the same time, he knew it wasn't his.
After all, destroying the world — the Universe — would leave him with nowhere to live! Why would he do anything of the sort?!
'The Destruction, eh?'
It seemed the Stellaron was trying to convince him to do it's bidding, using prominent emotions he has towards different things to control him. However, it didn't seem able to read his thoughts directly, so it didn't understand that destroying the world held only downsides to him.
In a sense, it must have convinced Cocolia that destroying Jarilo-VI was equivalent to saving it.
Even if it tried to use a different route, Sunny would have still resisted it. After all, knowing of the Stellaron's existence, he was naturally paranoid to manipulated without his knowledge.
He turned towards Seele and Bronya.
"Did you two hear anything?"
As they shook their head, Sunny confirmed that it was specifically targeting him. It made sense, as he was actually carrying another Stellaron.
However, although that made him unique, it didn't explain why the other Stellaron was specifically calling to him. Did it require the his Stellaron for something?
As the three of them stood directly before Cocolia, who was groveling in agony, Sunny sighed again as he dismissed the Lance of Preservation, his personality reverting back to what it usually was before the… haughtiness.
"Help me get these things out."
Kneeling down, Sunny carefully pulled out a piece of ice from her side. Bronya enthusiastically assisted, while Veliona was scowling as she hesitantly kneeled. With each one they removed, Cocolia's inhuman form seemed to be more coherent.
Looking at a particular one that was stained in golden blood, Sunny grew slightly curious. He dismissed the Mantle of the Underworld, and lightly touched a drop of blood.
Something within him reverberated in response as a newfound understanding was shoved into his mind.
Frozen in place for a moment, Sunny narrowed his eyes.
Cocolia's blood could also be considered the blood of the Stellaron. The only way to seperate the two was to kill Cocolia, which would leave the Stellaron without a vessel.
…At least, that was what the blood had told him, using the Stellaron within him as a medium to connect.
'…Nice try.'
He might have been wrong, but it wouldn't be a stretch that the information was simply a fabrication forged by the Stellaron within Cocolia. Sunny wasn't taking any chances.
'What do I do…?'
After a few moments, he came up with an idea.
After removing all of the ice shards, Cocolia was no longer in danger of dying due to her soul freezing. However, she may still bleed out. Of course, Sunny didn't know how different her current anatomy was, and if she would be fine or not with so much golden blood exiting her body.
Either way, the Stellaron came first.
Summoning the Lance of Preservation; which caused Haughty's personality to return, he drew curious gazes from Veliona and Bronya — the latter sat closely to her mother, while the former was leering at the woman from afar.
As he sent as much protection to her as possible, he tried to sense the effects that were placed on her. There was a shield around her body, a mental barrier that defended against outside influences, and a metaphysical wall protecting her soul.
The physical barrier was the strongest.
Sunny tried to pull the protection centered on her body away, but left the mind and soul alone. Seeing them remain, he attempted to redirect the removed power to her mind and soul, strengthening them.
'How versatile…'
The same couldn't be said for the Destruction. All it did was let him unleash heavier hits. There seemed to be a qualitative difference between the two Paths, but he had no time to ponder it.
Suddenly, Cocolia began to move. Panicking, Sunny quickly moved her mental defenses over to her soul, causing the effects her Aspect had on her mind to not disperse so quickly. Then, seeing that her soul had become almost impenetrable.
Then, Sunny repeated the process on himself, moving some of his defenses to his mind, while putting the rest on his soul. Resummoning the Mantle of the Underworld, he gained an even higher resistance to mind and soul damage. Then, he looked towards Bronya and Veliona.
"You two need to give me some room. Otherwise, you'll get hurt."
Veliona blinked.
"Huh?"
Bronya looked down at Cocolia with worry.
"Is… something going to happen?"
Sunny pridefully upturned his chin.
"I came up with a way to remove the Stellaron!"
Instead of gaining looks of amazement like he expected, he earned skeptic glances instead.
"Do you even know what you're doing?"
"…Maybe you should wait for someone more… knowledgeable to help."
Sunny just looked at them for a moment, before clicking his tongue.
"Do you two have any better ideas then? Because the more time we waste, the closer she'll get to becoming a Saint! What will we do then, huh?!"
Bronya blanched.
"…What?"
Veliona simply stared blankly.
"…Is that a bad thing?"
Sunny sighed.
"Yes, it's a bad thing. Now scram!"
As he shooed them away, Sunny waited until there was a good distance between them. Then, he looked down at the struggling body of Cocolia. Watching her closely, Sunny summoned a Memory.
Then, he felt a piercing pain in his chest as his nose began to bleed. Cocolia trembled slightly, the golden wounds in her body oozing at a quicker rate.
In Sunny's hand was a glistening gem made out of polished crimson coral, the Broken Oath. It inflicted soul damage indiscriminately to anyone within it's range.
He tossed it onto Cocolia as he took a few steps back to lessen the burden. The reason he had to set up protections to their souls was to make sure that they didn't succumb to the ruthless enchantment. He also protected his mind in case the Stellaron tried to look through his mind.
If it knew of what he was attempting to do, it might have changed it's approach.
"…Forget about this woman… Accept me into you, and we can be greater together…"
"…You can attain anything you desire… wealth, power… you just need to listen…"
"…Come… follow THEM… you can become a Lord Ravager…"
Sunny cockily smiled.
The Stellaron seemed to have some form of intelligence, but it wasn't very complex. It only knew how to lure others into it's grasp. However, without the ability to read his truest desires, it simply spoke of vague promises.
In fact, Sunny was convinced that it didn't even recognize the Stellaron within him. This gave him a sense of confidence for what he was going to do next.
Sunny didn't believe that the Stellaron had a soul of it's own. Even if it did, it would probably heal faster than the Broken Oath could break it. Instead, he had another plan in mind. This was only possible because the Stellaron wasn't aware of the one that was already sealed within him, and wasn't able to control him in the same way it did for Cocolia.
Of course, there was a latent risk. He wasn't sure if his body could withstand what he was attempting…
"Alright. What should I do?"
The whispers continued:
"…Place your hand on the Supreme Guardian's chest… then pull me out…"
Although Sunny was curious about how that was going to work, he complied. Approaching Cocolia's slowly-moving body, he flipped her over so that her front was facing up. As Sunny was about to pull the Stellaron out, he paused.
Would it kill Cocolia?
He hadn't really thought of if the removal would trigger irreversible harm…
He stared at her shadow for a moment. He compared it to her shadow back when they had first arrived at Belobog — shadows were all very different, and things like the power of a being were often displayed through them.
Although Sunny could indirectly sense the Stellaron through her shadow, it hadn't replaced or become inseparable from her. This meant that the odds of anything happening to her were quite low.
'Huh… I'm pretty good at this.'
Musing at the oddity, he proceeded with the operation. Holding his hand towards Cocolia's chest, he sensed a mass of condensed energy deep within her.
'Her soul?'
That's what he assumed. His Stellaron wasn't physically in his body, so he guessed that the same could be said for Cocolia.
He then felt a feeling of convergence, as if the Stellaron was automatically attracted to him.
"…Servent of… the Lord…?"
The Stellaron actually seemed confused, as if the process had been completely simplified.
Golden wisps of energy coiled out of the Supreme Guardian's chest, coagulating into a small orb. Sunny instinctively knew that this was the Stellaron, as he felt a similar energy — the Destruction — swell up within him.
He pushed it down. If he switched to it, the shields would disperse. The Broken Oath hadn't served it's purpose yet.
The Stellaron seemed to be subdued, as if it was being restrained by something. At the same time, Sunny imagined an illusive hand, grasped the Stellaron…
And pulled.
"…No… stop… you're not…"
It was resisting, it's whispers having a slightly strengthened effect. As Sunny tried to restrain the Stellaron, it changed tactics, trying to seize control over his mind.
As they were now in direct contact, the barriers he had created were not that useful anymore. It was like trying to protect yourself from something that was already a part of you. It attempted to confuse him, making him believe that he and the Stellaron were one in the same… it was almost successful.
However, one half of him felt pain, while the other did not.
Without a soul, the Stellaron couldn't experience soul damage. Sunny consciously separated himself from the Stellaron's control, pushing it down into the shadows.
***
Standing under three black suns that hung in the sky, Sunny looked around at the legions of shadows. Then, his vision focused on the glowing orb of golden light before him. It floated above the dark sea, it's words having become more coherent.
"You can't seal me away! Sooner or later, your body will not be your own anymore!"
Sunny tilted his head in curiosity, walking around as he looked at the Stellaron from different angles.
"…How basic. Just a glowing orb? I would of thought space cancer would be more… tasteful. Fancy."
He sent it a taunting smile.
"Maybe you should tell your boss to give you a redesign. THEY can do that, right?"
He shook his head in amusement.
"Not like it matters. After all, you won't be seeing the light of day… literally."
The shadows stirred. Slowly, the monuments of the deceased began to turn their heads — both beast and humans.
A legion of abominations and warriors lunged towards the Stellaron, their hands, claws, tentacles, and other indescribable parts of their bodies reached out, enshrouding the golden light under a mass of darkness.
Then, their shadows lost their form, dancing between the material and immaterial as they spiraled into a thin, shadowy hand. It's digits wrapped around the Stellaron, before pulling it downwards.
The creation of Destruction attempted to resist, but it succumbed. As more legions of shadows approached, the more the hand became stable. It pushed the Stellaron down into the dark depths of black water, allowing it to be devoured by an endless abyss.
As it sunk, Sunny began to grow drowsy. Exiting his Soul Sea, he dismissed the Broken Oath. Then, he simply allowed himself to fall asleep as he fell back into the snow.
***
Within the depths of his Sea of Soul, a place where Sunny himself couldn't access, the Stellaron continued to fall endlessly. The space within seemed infinite, empty, and hollow, but the Stellaron knew no fear. It's only desire was to serve the purpose granted to it by THEM.
After an unknown amount of time, expanse ended. The Stellaron found itself still floating within the darkness, but there was nothing pulling it down. It's glow was the only thing illuminating the area…
Until it wasn't.
A violet four-pointed star appeared below — even if there should have been nothing below. After a few moments, another light appeared — one that was identical to the Stellaron.
Another Stellaron.
They converged, approaching each other like magnets. They collided, but nothing occurred. There was now a single Stellaron — one that was slightly brighter than before.
Then, the light went out, leaving only the four-pointed star to aimlessly hang below the even the bottom of the abyss.
After a few sudden flashes, the violet light began to recede, and the darkness decided to…
[End of Volume One: Swallow the Light.]