999 The Fall of Falcon Scott (17)

"...My Shadow?"

Sunny unlocked his eyes wide.

'Saint!'

It seemed that Saint had finished her evolution into a Devil ahead of schedule. All things considered, her timing was nothing short of impeccable.

Even in his disoriented state, Sunny knew that he could not ignore such luck.

As the first of the Nightmare Creatures emerged from the Gate, he abandoned his attempts to crawl forward and called upon his Shadow, instead.

The coldness of the polar night seemed to grow slightly darker. Then, an intricate sabaton forged out of black, stonelike metal stepped on the ground beside him.

Sunny weakly turned his head to look up at Saint, who was as aloof as ever.

His taciturn knight... had changed.

Initially, she had been roughly the same height as him, becoming taller after evolving into a Demon. Now, Saint towered above Sunny. Obscured by the beautiful onyx armor, the lines of her stone body were still slender and graceful... but at more than two meters of height, the fearsome Shadow seemed extremely imposing.

Her oppressive presence was worthy of a Devil.

The black armor itself had not changed much - it had always been a product of magnificent craftsmanship, and seemed even more superb and menacing now. However, Saint's skin, which had been grey like stone before, then white as alabaster, was now as smooth and black as polished onyx - at least what little of it could be seen through the slits of her visor.

The ruby jewels of her eyes burned with ominous crimson flames.

Saint studied the vast rift of the Nightmare Gate indifferently, then glanced at Sunny. It almost seemed... as though she had a lot of questions.

He forced out a weak smile.

"Yeah... stuff happened. I'm glad to see you, too."

Then, he raised a trembling hand and pointed at the emerging Nightmare Creatures.

"Go... argh... go deal with them, if you don't mind. I'll stay here for a bit."

Saint lingered for a moment, then silently turned to the flood of monstrous creatures and strolled forward. Her steps were calm and steady.

Sunny let his hand drop back to the ground.

'Ah, it's good to have her back.'

Hoisting himself up to sit, his back leaning against a piece of rubble, Sunny used some of his last essence to send the Broken Oath to the taciturn Devil. Then, he commanded all four of his shadows to abandon him and embrace Saint, instead.

Her tall figure shone with a dark radiance. The shadows around the demonic knight swelled, becoming deeper and darker, surrounding her like a tenebrous mantle... which was all expected.

What Sunny had not expected, however, was that there was a hint of true, elemental darkness in that lightless glow. It made him shiver.

...A few dozen meters away from them, the Nightmare Creatures were being born from the revolting nothingness of the Gate. A flood of them rushed forward, chasing after the retreating soldiers and non-combatants.

The abominations gazed like tall, insectine humanoids with six hands each, their inhuman faces brimming with black eyes and jagged mandibles. They wore carapace armor and wielded weapons made of sharpened chitin, moving with astonishing speed and possessing dreadful might. As Sunny watched, one of the creatures easily threw a piece of the broken wall that must have weighed a ton aside.

Unfazed, Saint unlocked her arms, as if trying to embrace the broken, burning world. Darkness flowed from under her vambraces, over her palms, and into the air.

A moment later, the flowing darkness formed into the shape of a familiar stone sword - it was whole once again, but utterly black in appearance. A feeling of dark, nebulous power radiated from its stygian blade. On her other hand, a round shield of stonelike metal appeared, its surface the same polished onyx as the fearsome armor of the taciturn Shadow.

Walking toward the enemy, Saint raised her sword...

And struck the rim of her shield twice with its blade, as if challenging the harrowing tide of monsters.

'D-damn...'

Sunny was too weak and mentally shaken to do anything, so he just sat on the ground, using a piece of rubble for support, and watched Saint fight.

His Shadow had simply strolled forward, and then dove into the mass of enemies as soon as the last of the soldiers ran past her. She collided against the arachnid warriors with her shield, sending a dozen of them stumbling to the ground, and then twisted into a whirlwind of annihilating darkness, her sword slicing through carapace armor, flesh, and bone as if nothing could stop it.

Black blood, severed limbs, and broken bodies covered the ground.

Saint was an Ascended Devil now, and augmented by all four of Sunny's shadows. The Broken Oath received the same augmentation, seeping strength and vitality from her enemies. The graceful knight fought with stunning clarity and sublime skill... and yet, that was not enough to explain why Saint was so deadly and devastating.

The abominations were not weak... it was she who was too strong, too fast, and too tyrannical. A simple evolution of one Class could not explain the difference.

'A Devil... a Devil commands unnatural powers. That is what separates them from Demons.'

Sunny's thoughts were slow and tangled, but he remembered that much.

What powers had Saint received?

'Might as well take a look.'

It was not like Sunny could be of much use, currently.

He lingered for a few moments, staring at the fearsome battle that was taking place merely two dozen meters or so away from him. Saint was holding back the whole mob of Nightmare Creatures by herself... for now. He did not know how long she would last, or whether the abominations would flow past the slaughtering Devil to escape into the city.

If they did, he would be the first one to die.

'Huh...'

Sunny gathered his thoughts and activated the healing property of the Dying Wish first. That, at least, did not demand any essence - or maybe slowly accumulated it with each kill, creating a hidden reserve. The main effect of the enchantment had been deactivated long ago.

A wave of healing energy spread through his body, repairing the damage done to it and lessening the pain. He was still weak, muddled, and suffering, though - whatever touching the Gate had done to him seemed to be more than a mere physical wound.

'Whatever...'

Next, Sunny summoned Nightmare. He did not send the black stallion to join the battle yet, ordering him to stand guard above his master.

Somewhat satisfied with these measures, Sunny glanced at Saint again, and summoned the runes.