598 Broken Balance
As the Saint ate, not at all perturbed by the head of the terrifying wyvern staring at her with dead eyes, the rest of them stood awkwardly and waited for her to satiate her hunger.
Sunny observed Sky Tide with a somber expression, then glanced at what remained of the fearsome Transcendent Cormac. His heart was heavy.
'...Damnation.'
Being the cause of a hundred Lost and two Masters dying — one of them by his own hand, no less — was already bad enough, not to mention that the whereabouts of the sole prisoner of the Night Temple, Prince Mordret, were currently unknown… also as the direct result of Sunny's actions.
But causing the demise of a Saint was nothing short of an utter disaster.
Saints were irreplaceable. In all of humanity, there were just a few dozen. Cormac's death was not going to go unnoticed… or unpunished…
'Would I even be able to return to the real world?'
Sky Tide finally finished her meal, then drank some water and glanced at Cassie and him.
"What exactly happened in the Night Temple?"
The two of them looked at each other. After a few moments, Sunny spoke, his voice somber:
"...Everything went wrong from the very start. As soon as we arrived, one of the Masters discovered a piece of mirror in my belongings. That shard… I picked it up on Reckoning island. There was apparently a person imprisoned in the Citadel, and he escaped his bindings with the help of the mirror I delivered, somehow."
He paused and studied the Saint's face, trying to ascertain if she had known what would happen. Tyris certainly knew of the Mirror Beast… however, she could not have known that Sunny used to carry the mirror shard the creature had left behind.
His attempt to read anything on her face failed, so he was left without an answer.
With a sigh, Sunny continued:
"The Masters destroyed the Gateway and sealed the temple. After that, the escaped prisoner slaughtered the Lost, and took possession of a Master's body. He even stole the knife from the shattered altar. In the end, it was just the three of us left alive… and he would have probably killed us, too, but Saint Cormac arrived just in time. You know the rest."
Saint Tyris stared at him for a few moments, then shook her head.
"So the prince still lives… how could this be?"
She frowned and looked straight at him:
"Where is he now?"
Sunny shrugged.
"That we don't know. Saint Cormac must have destroyed his body, but as to where his soul went… your guess is as good as mine. He is probably hiding in one of the mirror shards, falling into the Sky Below with the rest of the Night Temple as we speak."
Sky Tide remained silent for a while, then sighed.
"I see. You did well to survive. Don't worry about the rest… there are no witnesses left, and even the Citadel itself is gone. I will deal with the fallout, as well as I can. However, it will be good for the two of you to disappear for a while. Proceed to the Seed of Nightmare as you have planned, and challenge it. By the time you return… if you do… the worst part will be over. The situation will be different, too."
She rose and glanced into the darkness of the Sky Below, a somber expression on her face.
"...Now that the Hollow Mountains anchor is no more, the Chained Isles will shift and change position. That will cause a mass migration of the Nightmare Creatures, both those from the surface and those from the dark side. Even some of the Corrupted abominations might move to new hunting grounds. I will have my hands full for the foreseeable future… so, we won't see each other again for a long time. Good luck to you."
Sunny stared at the beautiful Saint, then at the head of the wyvern. He cleared his throat:
"I am sorry, Lady Sky Tide… but won't you be in trouble? Killing a Saint is not something that can be simply forgiven, no matter your status. Right?"
Tyris lingered, then shook her head.
"I will be punished, sure. But not too severely. Do you understand why?"
Sunny glanced at his friends, who had the same confused expressions.
"Not really."
She sighed.
"There are… were twelve Saints who swore loyalty to the Great Clan Valor. One less than those who are sworn to the Great Clan Song. Now, there are eleven, while Song still has thirteen. With Song Seishan back from the Forgotten Shore, that number will soon increase even further, while Lady Morgan is still too young and lacks the experience to challenge the Third Nightmare. The balance of power will be broken."
Sunny listened to her words attentively.
'So the great clans are at odds with each other… two strongest are, at least. Makes sense…'
Sky Tide frowned, remained silent for a few moments, and then said:
"With the gap widening so drastically, Valor can't allow to lose me. Or any more of their Saints. So, I will be fine... more or less. That is also the reason why you will be, too."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Us? What do we have to do with any of this?"
Tyris smiled slightly, looking at him, Cassie, Effie, and Kai.
"Right now, the four of you are just people who have raw potential. You are valuable, but not irreplaceable. However, should you survive the Second Nightmare and Ascend… you will prove that you have the courage, skill, and determination to realize that potential. You will prove that you can be Saints, and thus become precious. When you return, the great clans will not only be unwilling to eliminate you… they'll be fighting for the right to have you."
Sunny scowled, connecting that statement with what Master Jet had told him before. His eyes grew bleak.
"...What if we don't want to be had?"
Sky Tide looked at him for a while, then turned away. Her voice sounded even:
"Then you are out of luck."
With that, she jumped up. A gust of cold wind suddenly enveloped the deck of the flying ship, and a moment later, a massive shadow separated from it and shot upward, soon disappearing into the distance.
Sunny, Cassie, Effie, Kai, and the Fire Keepers we left standing in the darkness alone.
After some time, the huntress shifted and sighed heavily.
"She... she ate all my food. What a disaster! What a tragedy..."
