Sunny stared at the shining figure in front of him, a myriad of thoughts appearing in his mind.
With her skin emanating blinding white radiance, Nephis looked beautiful and pure, as though untouched by the imperfections of the mundane world. Wreathed in light, she was like a heavenly angel that descended into the mortal realm.
The sight of it was both breathtaking and terrifying.
…It was also eerily similar to the image of the radiant creature he had seen on the walls of the ancient mine. Especially with the gem of the Dawn Shard burning on Neph's forehead like a third eye.
But that wasn't what gave Sunny pause.
'How is this possible?!'
But then, why wouldn't it be possible?
At the start of their journey, he had guessed that Changing Star's Aspect was of the Divine rank, just like his. Her powers seemed to be able to either augment Memories or heal, while his own could be used to scout, enhance Memories, or augment Sunny himself.
Because Nephis had never used the white flames to achieve that last effect, he had assumed that she was incapable of doing so, and thus her Aspect, while powerful, was less versatile.
But augmenting herself was exactly what Neph was doing right now. Sunny knew it instantly — she wrapped her body in light just like he had wrapped his own body in the shadow countless times. With this enhancement, her physical prowess had to grow exponentially.
Had she always been capable of doing so and hid that facet of her Aspect intentionally, or was this something she learned how to do only after growing more powerful and absorbing hundreds upon hundreds of soul shards in the Labyrinth?
That question was going to remain unanswered, at least for now. Because the battle between Changing Star and the Bright Lord was far from over.
Just like Sunny suspected, with her body wreathed in light, Nephis suddenly became much stronger and faster. If before she was visibly weaker and slower than Gunlaug, even if not by much, now, it seemed the other way around. She dashed toward the enemy, batted away one of the daggers, and delivered a crushing blow right to the polished mirror mask.
This time, there was a slight mark left on the surface of the golden armor by her sword.
The two of them became locked in a ferocious battle, dozens of attacks flying at each fighter. The clangor of metal grew in volume, turning into an almost deafening cacophony. Changing Star was fighting with abandon, more and more wounds accumulating on her radiant body. However, she also managed to land several more blows, each striking at the golden mirror of the Bright Lord's face.
Slowly, a hint of a crack started to appear on its surface.
Sunny also noticed that her wounds weren't healing. It seemed as if Nephis was only capable of supporting two effects at the same time — one augmenting her sword, the other her body. To summon the healing power of the white flame, she had to sacrifice one or the other.
But she was unwilling to.
A few moments later, it seemed as though Gunlaug was slowly starting to lose ground. His enemy was just too fast, powerful, and ferocious. More and more strikes landed on the golden armor, and although it seemed to hold, for now, it was clear that the continuous blows were taking a toll on both the Bright Lord and his Echo.
…However, the Golden Serpent had a few tricks up his sleeve, too.
When the momentum of the fight began to favor Nephis, he suddenly chuckled and turned his face to catch her reflection in the mirror mask.
A second later, the sound of muffled groans could be heard escaping from the mouths of hundreds of people. The psychic pressure emanated by the Bright Lord suddenly increased manyfold, throwing some people to the ground and making others stagger. Sunny saw blood flowing from people's noses, eyes, and mouths.
He himself also felt it and gritted his teeth, struggling to remain standing. He almost failed.
Changing Star, who was at the center and the true target of the mental assault, let out a pained yelp and staggered.
…That was the moment when Gunlaug stepped forward and stabbed her through the chest with one of his daggers.
As the long blade pierced the lithe body of the young woman and exited from her back, he said in a calm and friendly voice:
"There, there. That's enough. Go die now, stupid girl."
Then, he twisted the dagger, making her scream once again.
Nephis stared at him, blood flowing from her mouth. Then, she raised her sword and hit him in the face with the pommel, again and again, until a small crack finally appeared on the surface of the mirror mask.
But the crushing wave of mental pressure did not go away. Instead, it only increased.
Gunalug laughed.
"Are you done? No? Well, let me help you then…"
His second dagger flashed through the air, slashing Nephis across the wrist. With the tendons cut, the silver sword fell from her hand, its radiance dimming.
Nephis used her other hand to push the Bright Lord away and slid off the blade of the dagger, then staggered away, eventually falling to her knees. The white radiance emanated from her body grew brighter, and the wound on her body began to heal. A low groan escaped from her lips.
Gunalug approached the kneeling young woman, laughing.
"Did you think I wouldn't know about that little trick of yours? Go ahead and heal. See where it gets you."
With that, he grabbed her by the neck and stabbed her again, reopening the terrible wound that had just closed once again.
"How's that? Come on, heal it again!"
With a ferocious growl, he continued stabbing her, over and over, his hand quickly becoming painted red with blood.
"Oh, this is really fun! But a bit tiring. How about I just cut off your pretty head right now and end this?"
Nephis spat some blood and turned her head to face him.
And then she… closed her eyes.
Back when they had first arrived in the Dark City, Sunny had noticed that Cassie wasn't affected by the psychic pressure of the golden armor at all. From that, he deduced that the source of the mental assault was not the armor itself, but the golden mirror of its face — or, to be exact, seeing your reflection in it. After returning from the Castle, he had shared that insight with Nephis.
It seemed that she remembered it.
With her eyes closed, Changing Star raised her hands and grabbed the Bright Lord that was strangling her by the shoulders. Then, she used her whole body to deliver a devastating blow to his face, the gem of the Crown of Dawn hitting Gunalug right where his nose should have been.
Finally, the surface of the golden mirror cracked and shattered. Through the small breach, a blue eye full of murderous joy was revealed. Shocked by the sudden blow, Gunlaug staggered away.
"You bitch!"
The daggers were instantly absorbed into the golden armor, replaced by the heavy battle axe again.
…But he didn't get the chance to use it.
With her eyes still closed, Nephis swiftly turned to the sound of his voice. Then, she raised her hand, opened her fist… and blew on it.
In the next moment, a cloud of red sand shot from her palm and enveloped Gunlaug.
Sunny stared at it in shock, an expression of sudden recognition appearing on his face.
He knew the look of that cloud all too well. It wasn't sand.
It was the Blood Flower pollen.