579 First Victim

The Lost crowded near the entrance, staring at the grisly scene with grim expressions. Welthe was in the corridor. She was standing in the middle of the pool of blood, her fists clenched.

Sunny wasn't clear on who had discovered the bodies, since he only woke up due to the noise of everyone rushing to the door and the shine of the sparks of light as they summoned their weapons. He remained at the back of the crowd, using one of the shadows to study the corpses, and another to observe the surviving sentinels.

There was a thoughtful expression on his face.

'I wonder…'

Before he could finish the thought, Pierce appeared from behind the bend of the corridor, glanced at Welthe, shook his head briefly, and then growled at the Lost:

"What are you standing around for?! Clean up this mess and secure the perimeter! No one moves alone or in pairs, three people minimum! Be ready, the bastard might return at any minute!"

The soldiers glanced at each other, seeds of fear blooming in the depths of their eyes. Then, they silently got to work, following the Master's command.

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then returned to Cassie and sat down on his mattress.

The blind girl asked quietly:

"Who died? And how?"

He rubbed his face tiredly.

"The guards. One was the guy who had noticed my shadow back in the great hall. The other, I didn't know him. As to how… pretty much the same as everyone else. Butchered and cut to pieces…"

She thought for a bit, then frowned.

"And no one heard a thing?"

Sunny sighed.

"He must have done it really fast. Or his new vessel possesses an Aspect that can dampen sounds."

He remained silent for a bit, then said somberly:

"Anyway, you should prepare."

Cassie tilted her head.

"Prepare for what? Another attack?"

Sunny didn't answer immediately, looking at the Lost. Everyone seemed busy and focused, moving with trained precision and purpose. However, there was a hint of uncertainty on their pale faces. The sentinels tried to hide it, but to no avail.

He looked down.

"No. Right now, everyone only thinks that Mordret somehow broke through the seals and got into the inner sanctum. However, once they have time to think, they'll realize that there's another possibility."

The blind girl paled. Sunny smiled darkly and added:

"...That he has been with them this whole time, hiding in one of the two strangers who had miraculously escaped an enchanted cell and insisted on being taken to this shelter. You or me."

Cassie gritted her teeth.

"There's no reasonable way to pin these murders on us."

He chuckled.

"What does reason have to do with any of this? Reason is always the first victim when fear arrives."

With that, he fell silent and, after a few seconds, rose to go and get them some breakfast.

As Sunny walked toward the part of the hall that had been converted into a makeshift kitchen, many gazes followed him. Just as he had expected, they were slowly turning dark and dangerous, full of hostility, fear, and suspicion.

Pretending to be appropriately frightened, too, he put some porridge in the bowls.

'...Interesting.'

Mordret… might not have been as crazed as Sunny had thought before.

From the start of it, something about how the Prince of Nothing behaved had not sat right with him. Mordret had shown himself to be extremely cunning and meticulous, crafting such a masterful trap that even Sunny, who was an ingenious deceiver as well, fell into it without suspecting a thing.

The sadistic way in which dozens of the Lost had been killed and the morbid displays of demented butchery that the prince had left in the halls of the Night Temple, however, were utterly impractical and did not fit into this image of a cold and calculating strategist at all.

Now that Mordret had decided to reveal his presence in the inner sanctum and sacrifice the invaluable advantage of surprise in exchange for only two lives, Sunny became convinced that there was a method to this madness.

…And as the surviving Lost followed him with heavy gazes, dark expressions contorting their faces, he was pretty sure that he understood its purpose.

Mordret wanted them to be suspicious of each other, he wanted them to be tense and scared. He wanted their spirits to break.

Why? To make their souls weak and their willpower shaken, of course. Which suggested that his ability to devour souls was not absolute, and required the victim to be… what? To be defeated? To surrender? Or simply to be weaker than his?

'...What a bastard.'

Sunny returned to Cassie and gave her a bowl of porridge, then frowned.

Honestly, he wasn't sure who was scarier… an unhinged lunatic that enjoyed torturing his victims before murdering them in horrific ways, or a cold-blooded killer that uncaringly did the same simply because it suited his practical goals.

Either way, the result would be the same. The Lost were shaken, but not nearly close to breaking down. Which meant that Mordret was not going to stop… no, he was only getting started sowing terror into the souls.

The question was… how was Sunny supposed to stop him?

He ate his porridge, then glanced at Pierce and Welthe, who were speaking quietly near the doors.

…And should he?

***

Soon, Master Pierce summoned the ten Echoes. Even though maintaining them at all times cost a considerable amount of essence, it was decided that the disturbing things would remain among the Lost from now on.

Several were sent to explore the inner sanctum and try to find signs of the attacker, or at least learn how he had managed to get inside. The rest assumed guarding positions outside the hall, making the remaining sentinels feel both relieved and tense.

Not even these experienced warriors felt comfortable in the presence of human Echoes.

The security measures were enhanced, as well. No one was allowed to remain alone, and if there was a need to leave the common area, only groups of three could do so. Sunny and Cassie had to recruit the help of the female sentinel — the one who had the ability to turn invisible — just to visit the bathroom.

And yet, none of these measures helped protect the stronghold.

Come the next morning, two more Lost were dead. This time, they were killed inside the hall itself, not even in the corridor outside.

After that, things turned really ugly for Sunny.