**Pain** was the first thing Sunless became aware of as consciousness dragged him, unwilling, back into the waking world. It wasn't sharp or sudden—more like a relentless *thrumming*, like someone had replaced his skull with a war drum.
"S…y…"
That sound. That *horrible* sound. He remembered it—not as noise, but as a sensation, as if the entire world had trembled around him and through him.
"Wake up!"
*Slap.*
The sting snapped through him like lightning, and his eyes flew open.
He was instantly met with a sight that would've made anyone scream: Nephis, arm-deep in his abdomen, her gauntlet slick with his blood. The red was jarring against the pristine white of her armor, like a brutal painting done on snow.
Shock dulled the edges of it. Sunless knew the signs—numbness, disconnection, that floating feeling like his body was something he'd left behind. Like he was watching all this happen to someone else.
Apparently, Nephis had found a *very good reason* to detonate his insides. He could see it now—shrapnel, wicked and irregular, being pulled from his body in chunks. Some pieces small, others jagged and mean.
*That must've been what knocked me out,* he realized, almost detached.
He searched around for Cassie, his eyes still swimming with confusion. She was there—alive. That was the first relief. She looked mostly intact, though her right thigh was torn open, glistening red.
*Non-lethal. Will scar if untreated. Danger of blood loss and infection.*
The diagnosis snapped through him like a reflex. Julius had drilled injury assessments into his head until it became muscle memory. His mentor's voice lived in those automatic calculations.
Nephis, for her part, looked… disheveled. Desperate, even. It wasn't like her. It stirred something in him he didn't like.
He glanced around again, scanning for the annoying little gremlin girl and her pocket monster.
Alice. And Puffy.
Nowhere to be seen.
*Did they leave? How? Why?* The questions burned through the fog in his mind.
Then—suddenly—his entire world was swallowed by *silver*. A light, soft and purifying, engulfed him. It wasn't cold. It wasn't harsh. It was warm, radiant. *Healing.* His insides stopped screaming, and for a moment it almost felt like being cradled in the arms of something divine.
That was enough to snap him out of the stupor.
"Neph," he said sharply, voice raw, "what's your status? Cassie's? Where's Alice?"
He needed intel. Right now. No assumptions. No improvising without facts.
Nephis answered as expected—calm, clipped, efficient. "Cassie has a wound on her thigh. Non-critical. I'm uninjured. Alice and Puffy are engaging the Nightmare Creatures below."
*i know you could be relied no, Neph .* Of course she had already analyzed the situation. Of course she was multitasking, healing Cassie even while giving her report.
Sunless's mind was already racing ahead, spinning into strategy.
"There are *more* of them down there?" he asked, tone sharp. "Other than the Carapace Demon? How many? What's the condition?"
He stretched his senses into the Mist that blanketed the island's roots. It was like trying to read a shattered mirror. His shadow sense strained against it—the Mist gave off its own enormous shadow, which helped him map the terrain *somewhat*. But the Mist *moved*, pulsing and shifting like it was alive, and with every change, the shadows changed with it. It was like trying to navigate a room lit by a strobe light that couldn't stop twitching.
"There's one more," Nephis replied. "The one that shattered the demon's shell. The sun wounded it—badly. The Carapace Demon is still alive, but it has no armor left."
Her voice was measured, precise. She was in full command mode, and he trusted her in that.
"I'm going down," Sunless said without hesitation. His voice was steadier now, already shifting into the cold confidence of action. "Protect Cassie."
He had the advantage. His weapon was made for this. And the Mist couldn't touch his mind the same way it did others—he could walk through it without drowning in its poison.
"Don't stay too long in the Mist," Nephis warned. Already planning. Already thinking of contingencies. She'd be ready to tag him out if needed.
Sunless gave the faintest nod. He appreciated that. She didn't waste time trying to stop him.
And neither of them said what they both knew: that Alice was down there. Fighting.
And whether it was madness or bravery, she'd bought him the opening he needed!
————————————-————————————-———————————————————
This was her chance. Her *moment*. Finally, no grumpy Sunless to say no, no Nephis to block her path with that serious big-sword energy.
*Fwip.*
Cassie wasn't combat material. And Neph? Busy elbows-deep in emo boy intestines, trying to keep him from dying *again* or whatever.
*Fwip.*
So that left her. Lady Alice. Mist Lady . Number One Main Character of the Foggy Sparkle Isles. And her trusty sidekick slash emotional support abomination, Puffy.
Together, they would cleanse her domain of these icky, grody demons . For *justice*. For *love*. For *aesthetic harmony*.
Or, you know. That's what she told herself.
*Fwip.*
In truth? She was scared.
Scared for Sunless, because he'd actually looked at her like she was *real* once. Scared she'd mess up and the others would never take her seriously again.
Scared Puffy might get hurt, and she'd break down in front of *everyone*, all tears and mascara and shame.
*Fwip.*
People always said she was dumb. Cute, but dumb.
She wasn't.
She *knew* she wasn't.
She also knew she was no match for a crippled Awakened demon, even half-skinned and drooling. But she didn't need to be strong. She just needed to be *clever*. She had already filled the island with Mist from her beloved lamp—[Essens of Ecstasy]. The demon and its mystery attacker were probably flying high on it right now, wondering if they had arms or if forgot that they existed or both.
*Lowkey relatable.*
*Fwip.*
She kept snapping her fan—[Passion of the Night]—open and closed like it was a nervous tic.
She'd lost count ages ago.
(*Okay, no, she hadn't. She could count. She just didn't want to admit it was almost two hundred.*)
God, she *loved* that fan. Made of jade and soft green leather, elegant and sharp. Pretty and dangerous.
Just like she wanted to be.
It stored wind with every flick, then unleashed it like a slicing kiss. That's what big sis from the song clan said.
But she'd figured out the real secret: her Mist counted as air too. Heavy air.Dense air. Dangerous air.
So when she unleashed that?
It *hurt*.
Her plan was simple. Puffy would be the bait. He was smart. Strong. Immune. Way braver than she felt. While he distracted the crabby demon—if it even remembered it was a crab—she'd sneak in, all ninja-chic, and release her loaded fan into its exposed underbits.
*Easy.*
Except—nope—it wasn't. She nearly *puked in her mouth* when she saw the demon up close.
It looked like someone left seafood in the sun and then *stabbed it a lot*. Blue stuff leaking out everywhere , even some funguses ewww. Its legs didn't even *leg* properly. And it only had *one* scythe left.
She *hated* that it still scared her. That even without its armor, it could still make her feel small. Breakable. Like nothing.
But she had to do it.
For Sunless. For Cassie. For Neph.
For Puffy.
*BOOM.*
The hole island shook as two explosions rocked through it.
She snapped her fan and let it rip—*Mist and air and fury all at once*.
The fan burst its deadly load right into the demon's wounds.
Hehehe. *Busted its load.*
A breathy, shaky laugh escaped her lips—half real, half mask.
Because under the glitter and giggles, she was still that orphan girl they all forgot. Still scared of being useless. Still desperate to *matter*.
But if she could pull this off—
If she could make them see her—
Then maybe… just maybe…
They'd never ignore her again.
Because she had just killed the Carapace Demon!
————————————-————————————-———————————————————
Sunless didn't know how to make heads or tails of the creature in front of him. Literally.
He had a rough idea of what it might have looked like. At one end, it had two twenty-five-meter-long appendages that tapered to a fine point. Its body was long and flat, with two massive fin-like protrusions at the sides—like a sunfish if one switched its orientation from horizontal to lateral.
But what made it impossible to fully grasp was the sight before him: hundreds, if not thousands, of burned holes across the creature's gargantuan body, yellow pus already pooling in some of the larger ones. Its skin was mostly transparent, so its once-clear anatomy was now marred by the grotesque sight of rotting away.
The most disturbing part? The thing was still alive.
Sunless's stomach twisted. This was the creature that shattered the demon's shell—the same one that nearly took his life. He clenched his fists in a silent fury, his anger simmering beneath the surface. That thing almost killed me. It's not getting away with that.
He didn't know where to strike. He understood the creature's anatomy, but that wasn't enough to guarantee a quick death. No, this wasn't just a creature—it was a thing. The kind of thing that didn't just attack with brute force. It tore at the very fabric of his survival, and now it was an affront to everything that stood in his way.
So, he used his shadow to explode it. Not in the normal way, no. He sent Gloomy, his reluctant shadow, to find a way inside.
The shadow crept, winding its way through the beast's open, gaping wounds. He needed something precise—something that wouldn't just kill it, but make it suffer for what it did to him. His mind raced, not just with tactics but with the raw pulse of what this creature represented.
And then it found it. The perfect opening.
He wasn't proud of the plan, but it was the best one he had. He couldn't afford to hesitate. Not now.
The leftover centipede oil and resin—they weren't just chemicals. They were his ticket. A mixture that could ignite with just the right conditions. But he had to make sure it was controlled. No room for error.He knew just how dangerous the situation was thank to the memories of Az. Still he continued.
He needed a dust explosion.
Sunny's hands tightened around the weapon's hilt, steadying himself. He couldn't let himself falter. Every choice now had to be calculated.
Tiny particles—so small they drift in the air like ghosts... He focused on the plan. Ash explosion. It wasn't a fire that spread like wildfire. It was instantaneous. His entire strategy hinged on this precise moment of combustion, the very idea of creating pressure, shockwaves—turning the air itself into a weapon.
His heart raced, and the thought of what would happen—what could happen—if he missed his mark pushed him onward. It'll be fast. It'll be precise. It has to be.
He gave the order to the scavenger, positioning it to stuff the creature's opening with half of the mixture. He couldn't start the fire just yet—not until everything was ready. He needed the conditions perfect. The trail of flammable liquid would lead to another point—a place where he could set it all off with a single, devastating move.
The next part was delicate. He couldn't just rely on any method. Using the scavenger wouldn't work—it wouldn't survive the explosion. That left him with his second option: cutting the centipede oil sacks himself from a safe distance. He needed to be close enough to ensure the reaction, but far enough to avoid the full force of the blast.
He had to make sure it detonated—not just a fire, but a true explosion.
He steadied his breathing, forcing himself to focus. If he was going to do this, he needed to stay calm. There was no room for hesitation. His only choice was to act.
BOOM.
The island shook as two explosions erupted in quick succession, the force of them rattling through the ground, the air searing hot against his skin. The blast sent him flying backward, and the heat clung to his skin like an unforgiving burn. His vision went black, his body battered by the shockwave, but before he lost consciousness, there was a strange sense of satisfaction.
It had worked.
[You have slain a fallen beast, Cave Cloud.] [Your shadow grows stronger.]
[You have slain an awakened demon, Carapace Demon.]
[You have received a Memory: Midnight Shard.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]