Out in the great hall of the ancient castle, the air was full of screams and clangor of steel, with rivers of blood being spilled on the white marble floor. But in the wide corridor Sunny and Harus had found themselves in, the havoc that reigned above seemed muffled and distant. It was just the two of them here.
Picking up the Midnight Shard from the cold stones, Sunny flexed his shoulders and looked at the hunchback. There was a dark, icy fire burning deep within his eyes.
"...How wonderful. We are finally alone."
The hunchback tilted his head and stared at him with his glassy eyes, not saying anything. A slight smile appeared on Sunny's lips.
"What, no reaction? Well, fair enough. Allow me to introduce myself, then. My name is Sunny… and I've been craving to kill you for a long, long time."
Harus remained motionless, looking at him with the same indifferent, bored expression. A hint of anger appeared on Sunny's face.
Taking a subtle step sideways and slightly turning his torso, he said in a casual tone:
"To tell you the truth, Harus, I have killed many monsters. Some of them were Nightmare Creatures, and some were men. I killed a person or two, as well. But I have never done it out of malice. I've never enjoyed it… too much."
He paused and then spat, his voice shaking:
"But I will enjoy killing you."
Sunny grasped the hilt of the Midnight Shard with both hands and took a step forward, piercing the hunchback with a furious gaze.
"You embody everything that I despise. The mere fact of your existence offends me. You sicken me, and for that reason alone I am going to end you. You don't deserve to live."
Harus blinked and continued staring at him, motionless. Sunny stopped a few meters away and snarled, frustrated at the lack of response.
"Do you have any idea what I had to do, what I had to sacrifice, how many things I had to let go of to save myself from becoming someone's slave? And here you are... living as one of your own free will… bastard, what gives you the right? Who gave you the idea that you can breathe the same air as I do?!"
The hunchback finally showed a sign that he had heard Sunny. With a slightly irritated expression, he shook his head and said:
"Talk, talk, talk. You talk too much, little worm."
Sunny grinned. A dangerous spark appeared in his eyes:
"Yeah? Well, what are you going to do about it?"
Harus smiled, too.
His smile was cold, unnatural, and frightening.
"Break you. Apart. You will have to die, anyway. All of you will."
Sunny raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, really? Why is that?"
The hunchback shrugged and outstretched his hand. Weaved from the sparks of light, a heavy chain appeared from the air, wrapped around his arm from wrist to elbow. Then, he grimaced and straightened his back as much as his deformity allowed him.
Before, he seemed to be of the same height as Sunny. But now, Harus towered above him almost as much as Tessai had, his twisted figure radiating a sense of vicious, bestial power. As two menacing lights ignited in his pale eyes, he growled:
"Because this is the will of the Lord."
Sunny laughed.
"Lord? The Bright Lord? I don't want to disappoint you, fool, but your lord is dead."
Harus stared at him with sincere confusion. Then, a corner of his lips curled upward. With something that almost resembled pity, he said:
"Poor worm. You don't even understand what loyalty means, do you? Alive or dead… it doesn't matter."
Sunny snarled.
"You're right! I don't understand."
Finally, he raised his sword and prepared to attack.
"You know… I spent so much time trying to learn what your Aspect Ability and Flaw are. But now, I am glad that I don't know. I don't want to kill you using a trick. I just want to obliterate you…"
Harus listened to him. A mocking grin appeared on his lips.
…And then, Sunny suddenly became blind.
***
A moment before, Sunny was looking at the hateful figure of the fearsome hunchback. Then, suddenly, his sight was gone, replaced by nothing except for boundless darkness.
'Wh…'
Almost immediately, a monstrous blow sent him flying back. Sunny hit the wall of the corridor and then fell to the floor, leaving a trail of blood on the cold stones. His bones groaned, but held together, if barely.
Harus, who had hit him in the chest with a fist, the heavy chain wrapped around his knuckles, lunged forward with terrible speed, aiming to crush the enemy's skull under his boot. His movements were swift and utterly silent.
To his surprise, though, the little wretch somehow managed to roll away and jump back, avoiding death by a hair's breadth.
Sunny slid backward and rose to his feet, blindly swinging the Midnight Shard in a wide arc in front of him. The blade of the tachi missed the murderous hunchback entirely, but bought him a second to gather himself.
Not that it was going to help.
He was still blind.
'Of course… it all makes sense now.'
Sunny finally unraveled the mystery surrounding Harus. He understood why so many Sleepers, no matter how skilled and with no regard to the might of their Aspect Abilities, had been somehow rendered powerless and easily slaughtered by Gunalug's executioner.
He also understood why there were no witnesses to the countless murders that Harus had committed. No one had ever seen him killing his victims — their bodies were always found only after the slaughter was over.
It was not because the terrifying hunchback was able to move like a ghost or possessed such great power that no one could even try to resist it.
…It was because his Aspect Ability could literally make people not see him.
Or anything, for that matter.
It didn't matter how skilled or mighty his opponents were. Once they were blind, all their technique and Abilities were made useless. Killing a blind person was an easy task.
It also did not matter if someone was there to see Harus kill — as long as he wanted, he would remain unseen.
That's how the legend of the horrifying butcher was born. People were always more afraid of things that they couldn't see, after all.
Sunny spat a mouthful of blood and grimaced.
It was nice to reveal another secret.
The question was… would he be able to survive knowing the truth?