298 Fire and Blood

The first Guard to follow Tessai's order lunged forward, summoning his weapon… and fell to the ground, a heavy kunai suddenly appearing in his eye.

Due to the everyone's attention being drawn to the bloodied figure on the throne, no one noticed as Sunny moved his hand slightly, letting the Prowling Thorn fly.

He wasn't looking at Gunlaug, though. His eyes were drawn to Nephis, while his shadow watched Caster.

When the Bright Lord died, something strange happened to Changing Star. Her eyes opened wide, losing focus, and then she swayed a little and fell to one knee.

Her body was busy rearranging itself after absorbing a huge amount of soul essence, which made Nephis vulnerable for a few moments.

That was when Tessai had given his order, and that was when Sunny threw his kunai and killed the Guard rushing to attack the slum dwellers.

Someone screamed, and in the next moment, the great hall of the Castle descended into chaos.

Unnoticed by anyone, Caster suddenly turned into a blur.

'Not so fast!'

Sunny was thrown of his feet and awkwardly fell, his wrist screaming in pain. He had achieved his goal, though: even while falling, he saw the proud Legacy rolling on the marble floor, tripped by the invisible string of the Prowling Thorn.

A second later, hundreds of Sleepers clashed against each other, their suppressed rage, bloodlust, and murderous resentment finally exploding into a storm of violence.

The white marble was instantly painted red with blood.

The Guards slaughtered indiscriminately, their powerful Memory armaments and training giving them a vast advantage over the disorganized crowd of slum dwellers. But they weren't killing just those who came from the outer settlement: in the panic and havoc that engulfed the throne room, differentiating friend from foe was not an easy task.

Sunny saw several Artisan assistants fall to their blades, as well as a few unlucky people who had paid a heavy tribute in exchange for the promise of safety.

With Gunlaug gone, that safety was now gone, too.

It almost seemed as though the Guards didn't care who they killed, or were even glad to be let off the chain. Even if there were those among them who had preserved some vestiges of conscience, now, it was utterly gone, devoured by the crowd instinct and the exhilaration of being free from all restraints. Their faces were contorted with ferocious grimaces, and their eyes burned with rage, hatred, and tenebrous joy.

This was perhaps the most disturbing and frightening thing that Sunny had ever seen… and he had seen some of the most chilling horrors the Dream Realm had to offer.

'How can humans do this to other humans?'

But that question was moot, and also hypocritical. Humans were indeed the most adaptable of creatures. When they needed to, they were easily able to devoid their victims of the status of a human being, thus absolving themselves of any guilt or sin. Why feel guilty for slaughtering cattle?

Creatures worse than cattle, even. Hateful pests.

Sunny had practiced that simple mind trick himself in the past.

These thoughts only took him a fraction of a second. Jumping to his feet, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard and dashed toward Nephis.

The slum dwellers, meanwhile, came to their senses and met the assault of the Host with as much fury and bloodlust. Even though they were less experienced, well-fed, and armed, their resolve and exalted fury made up for that.

"Protect Lady Nephis!"

"Kill the bastards!"

"Judgment!"

The two forces clashed, eviscerating anyone who had the misfortune of being stuck between them. Screams of terror and pain filled the great hall. The floor turned slippery with blood, and dead bodies piled on it, staring into emptiness with wide eyes.

Sunny saw the scarred hunter from before dive under the strike of a young Guard and drive the tip of his sword into the enemy's throat. He saw several Hunters of the Host lunge at Effie, who had easily tore the rope that bound her arms and met them with a ferocious grin, the beautiful bronze spear weaving itself from sparks of light in her hands. He saw Tessai crushing a random Sleeper's skull with a heavy mace. The poor youth was only guilty of getting in his way.

He saw people screaming in fear as they tried to flee the hall. Many fell on the floor, and were then crushed under the feet of the panicking crowd…

The problem was, he didn't see Caster.

Arriving near Nephis, Sunny batted someone's sword away and then punched his opponent in the face, causing him to fly back with a pained scream. He looked around, trying to notice the proud Legacy, his mind cold and collected…

And there, he saw him. Caster may have had plans to kill Changing Star at the moment of her weakness, but thanks to Sunny's subtle intervention, he had lost that chance.

Now, the Legacy had bigger problems on his plate. With the enchanted jian in his hand, he was fighting none other than Gemma, the leader of the Hunters. No matter how strong and skilled Caster was, this was not an opponent that would go down easily, if at all. He couldn't extricate himself from that fight without risking being killed.

'...Well. That problem seems to be solved.'

But now, there was another. Much bigger one.

Back at the steps leading up to the white throne, Harus was standing with his back turned to the slaughter below, a strangely disoriented expression frozen on his face.

Sunny could see his face because the shadow never left the darkness of the alcove, watching the dreadful hunchback's every move.

Harus was staring at Gunlaug's dead body, his glassy eyes confused and empty.

But then, slowly, a hint of a dark and deadly emotion appeared in them.

Turning around, he studied the great hall, not disturbed even a little by the bloody chaos, the clangor of steel, and the scores of people dying in front of him.

And then, his gaze fell on Nephis.

'Crap.'

At that moment, both Kai and Cassie appeared by Sunny's side. Turning to them, he gestured to Changing Star and yelled:

"Protect her!"

At the dais, Harus tilted his head, piercing Changing Star with a murderous gaze. Slowly, his face contorted, turning bestial and terrifying. Pure hatred and insanity burned in his eyes, making anyone who accidentally glanced in his direction shudder.

With a low growl, the hunchback took a step forward and outstretched his hand, ready to summon a weapon.

…But in the next moment, someone crashed into him at full speed. Even though Harus had dodged the flying blade at the last moment, the force of the impact was such that both men flew back, into the darkness behind the throne.

Breaking through a wooden hatch that was hidden there, Sunny and Harus rolled down a long flight of stone stairs and left the havoc of the great hall behind.

A few moments later, they landed on the floor of a wide corridor and were thrown away from each other. Sunny twisted his body to regain his balance and used the Midnight Shard to stop himself from sliding even farther away.

Then, he rose to his feet and looked darkly at Harus, who were similarly just standing up.

A cold glint appeared in his eyes.

Just like Sunny had expected… today, one of them was going to die.