As Naeve and Sunny made their way across the wall of the port fortress, the battle grew louder behind them. Sounds of screams rose into the night sky, and the battlements beneath them shuddered. Ignoring all of it, they rushed forward.
As they ran, Naeve yelled:
"Have you ever fought in the water?!"
Sunny spared him a tense look, remembering the harrowing journey across the dark sea of the Forgotten Shore. The boat Nephis had built of demon bones did not survive till the end…
"Once!"
The Nightwalker let out a nervous laugh.
"How did it go?!"
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"I'm alive, aren't I?!"
There was not much choice, anyway. Naeve was probably the only Ascended of the House of Night inside the fortress — the rest were protecting the battleships sailing across the strait. Bloodwave was going to need all the help he could get, so Sunny had to join the hunt for the dreadful Terror.
Plus, he wanted to. The abominable creature deserved to die, and especially so by his hand.
'Won't be easy, though…'
Sunny had a couple Memories that would help him perform well underwater, but he lacked the experience of fighting in the depths of the ocean. Worse than that, Shadow Step and Shadow Manifestation would be nearly useless there — a shadow needed a solid surface to exist, and those were hard to find where he was going.
Actually… Sunny was not sure how his Aspect would function underwater. Much more distressing was the fact that he did not know a lot about the Terror of LO49, and what the abomination was truly capable of. The fact that it relied on mind attacks and manipulation suggested a lack of physical might, but even then, such things were highly relative when it came to Corrupted creatures.
Really, he was not even sure that the Terror was of the Corrupted Rank.
'...What the hell am I doing here?'
The Sin of Solace laughed, forcing him to grimace.
It did not matter. Even disregarding the fact that he had a personal score to settle, the creature had to be destroyed to protect the city.
"But what are you doing risking your life to protect that city? It's not like you, Lost from Light…"
Sunny did not really know how to answer, but he refused to let the voice of the sword distract him from the task at hand.
They were already on the pier, moving swiftly to its end. Some distance away, two gargantuan battleships rested on the black waves. He looked around, not noticing the distinct figure of the enigmatic Saint anywhere.
"Where is Bloodwave? Is he aboard one of the ships?"
Naeve gave him a confused look as he took his midnight blue coat off. Beneath it was a black wetsuit, an armor Memory already weaving itself from sparks of light.
"What do you mean? He's in the water, of course. Below the ships."
Sunny blinked.
"Oh. Of course…"
He hesitated for a moment, then dismissed the Puppeteer's Shroud. Left wearing nothing but his underwear, Sunny shivered in the wind — his pale skin was painted black by the shadows wrapping around his body, and his lean muscles seemed like they had been cut from matte obsidian. He sighed, then summoned three Memories.
First, a large and beautiful white pearl appeared in his hand. Sunny lingered for a moment, then placed it on his tongue and closed his mouth. The [Essence Pearl] would allow him to breathe and see clearly underwater.
Then, a piece of an icy blue crystal inlaid in a frame of dull metal appeared, hung around his neck on a black string — the [Memory of Ice]. Using two charms at once would consume essence faster, but Sunny had to protect himself from the lethal cold of the winter ocean. It was only possible to augment one at a time with the Underworld Armament trait of the Marble Shell, so he chose the blue crystal.
Lastly, a harness made of a fisherman's net wrapped around his torso — the [Nimble Catch].
With that, Sunny was more or less ready to dive into the water… at least physically. The only problem was that he needed both hands to swim, but that was easily remedied by fastening the Sin of Solace to the Nimble Catch — the harness was very handy in that regard.
With the jade blade strapped safely behind his back, Sunny walked over to the very edge of the pier and glanced at Naeve. The Nightwalker was already clad in a light armor that seemed to be made of black seaweed and nacrous shell.
A pale smile appeared on Naeve's face.
"Ready?"
Sunny stared at the tumultuous dark waves beneath them and shook his head.
Then, he jumped.
The ocean grasped him in a cold embrace a moment later. Sunny almost panicked, a deluge of unpleasant memories instantly surfacing in his mind, but then discovered that he could breathe normally despite being surrounded by water. That calmed him down a little.
The Essence Pearl had a strange effect. Sunny could breathe through his nose as if he was standing on solid ground, and there seemed to be an invisible barrier preventing the salty water from flowing up his nostrils. Additionally, the active enchantment of the charm allowed him to see clearly through the dark expanse of the ocean, as if he was wearing a diving mask.
He was also cold, but not terribly so. It seemed that the high elemental resistance of the Marble Shell, augmented by the shadows, was enough to protect him from freezing to death — adding the Memory of Ice on top of that turned out to be overkill. Sunny dismissed the blue crystal, relieved to save some essence.
'Not… not too bad.'
A moment later, Naeve plunged into the water beside him and swam nimbly forward and down. Sunny had learned how to swim during his Wilderness Survival lessons back at the Academy, and practiced it a few times on the Forgotten Shore… and yet, one glance at the scion of the House of Night made him feel embarrassed.
The Nightwalker moved through the water with great speed and ease, looking like some kind of graceful aquatic creature. It almost seemed as if he was more comfortable in the water than he had been on land.
…Maybe he was.
Sighing inwardly, Sunny followed. His movements might not have been as natural and graceful as Naeve's, but with the frightening strength of an Ascended Devil and the help of the Nimble Catch, he found himself more than capable of keeping up.
They dove deeper into the dark water, soon reaching the ships.
Sunny felt a tremendous shadow floating silently, below, a few moments before he saw it…
There, in the darkness, a monstrous killer whale was waiting, watching them with giant blue eyes.