It took Sunny some time to find his way back to the cathedral. With the approach of the dawn, the Nightmare Creatures that hunted at night grew restless. He had to be especially careful as he lurked through the narrow streets, keeping to the darkest patches of shadow.
Even though there was no moon or stars in the lightless night of the Forgotten Sh.o.r.e, many of the monsters here had their own ways of perceiving shapes moving through the darkness. Their ability to see in the dark was somewhat offset by Sunny's [Child of Shadows] Attribute, which allowed him to become indistinguishable from any shadow that he dove in.
However, he still had to be cautious. In this cursed place, nothing was ever certain — except for danger, death, and terror.
Some time later, he climbed the familiar pillars of the cathedral and appeared on its vast roof. Walking on the wide ridge separating two slanting expanses of ancient tiles, he approached Kai, who was standing nervously some distance away.
The beautiful young man was grasping a longbow made of horn in his hands, staring into the darkness with a tense expression on his pale face. Sunny stopped a few steps away from him and looked at that bow for a long time.
'There's not much time left.'
To avoid getting an arrow between his eyes, Sunny decided to announce his arrival with a gentle greeting:
"Hey, Kai. I'm here."
The archer turned around with a startled expression and raised a hand, as though trying to summon his lantern. However, he thought better of it, afraid to attract unwanted attention. Instead, Kai gulped and whispered:
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"Lower your voice! What if that Fallen Devil hears us?"
Sunny blinked.
'Oh, right. He's a very carefull person.'
Which was a great personality trait to have, as far as he was concerned. The more paranoid, the better. Smiling inwardly, he said:
"Relax, he won't."
Kai stared at him with doubt, then asked:
"Are you sure?"
Sunny gave him a nod.
"Yes."
He was prepared to explain the reason behind this confidence, but, surprisingly, Kai immediately believed him and calmed down.
'Right… he knows when people are lying to him. Which means that he also knows when they're telling the truth. And since I can only tell the truth, he can pretty much believe everything I say without the need to ask unnecessary questions.'
Huh… come to think of it, that Flaw of his was actually very convenient.
Meanwhile, Kai cautiously looked around and asked:
"So, what are we going to do here?"
Sunny gestured at the group of shattered tiles not too far away from them and answered in a calm tone:
"I'm going to climb into that hole and retrieve something from the temple. You just wait here until I return."
Kai's eyes widened.
"Are you crazy? What about the devil?"
What about that b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Sunny couldn't help but fantasize about slaughtering the d.a.m.n creature for a few seconds.
'The day will come!'
Returning to the present situation, he said:
"What about him? I told you, I'm good at hiding. As long as I know who I'm dealing with, they won't be able to notice me unless I want them to."
He had learned that first part of the sentence the hard way. Actually, it was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who taught him that even concealment of shadows had its limits. That's how Sunny ended up with his insides on his outside and in possession of this vital piece of information.
Some lessons you only needed to receive once to remember them forever.
Kai was looking at him with a strange expression again. Sunny frowned:
"What?"
The beautiful young man shook his head.
"No, no. It's just that… it's an awesome Ability. I wish I had an Ability like that, to be honest."
Sunny glared at him and uttered through gritted teeth:
"Says the guy who can fly! Why would you want to hide your perfectly symmetrical face anyway? Tired of being ogled by love-stricken supermodels?!"
Kai sighed.
"Something like that. How did you know?"
Sunny opened his mouth, then closed it again.
"...Anyway, wait for me here. I won't be long."
Throwing a glance at the charming Sleeper, he shook his head and walked over to the hole hidden behind several broken tiles.
Soon, he was back in his secret lair. Looking around with a bit of apprehension, Sunny sighed and removed the rucksack fas.h.i.+oned from the skin of a monster from his back. Then, he unloaded the strips of carapace centurion's meat on the silver plate and walked over to the iron chest.
To be honest, he really didn't want to go anywhere near the castle. The idea alone made him long to stay in this dark, quiet, familiar room forever. But he couldn't. If he wanted to make the Shadow Saint stronger, he had to return to the human settlement and risk facing his fears.
'Whatever. I'll just go in and out. Kai will be the one doing all the work, anyway.'
With a heavy sigh, he raised the lid of the chest and began loading his rucksack with soul shards. Dozens of beautiful crystals were soon glittering inside.
Sunny only took half of them, but the amount was already enough to drive many people to murder.
He couldn't really blame them. On the Forgotten Sh.o.r.e, shards represented money, and money represented life. Without it, you couldn't buy yourself a place within the safety of the castle or procure food without having to risk death in the cursed maze of the city.
Anyone would be willing to commit murder in order to survive.
'Keep telling yourself this.'
With an angry grimace, Sunny shut the rucksack tightly, made sure that no light seeped through its seams, and turned around.
Glancing at his peaceful hidden lair one last time, he shut his eyes for a moment, and then walked away without looking back.
It was time to return to the castle.
…And all the terrible memories he had left there before running away.