"She's not hurt anywhere."
Nephis lowered her head slightly as she observed the trembling blonde girl. Although her face remained calm and indifferent as always, Sunny could still notice a subtle trace of unease hidden beneath her composure.
For soone like Nephis, even the smallest emotional reaction felt strangely noticeable.
After remaining silent for a few seconds, she spoke in what was perhaps her own version of a soothing tone.
"Cassie? What happened?"
Unfortunately, her attempt at comforting sounded almost exactly the sa as her normal voice.
Still…
It sohow worked.
At the very least, Cassie slowly cald down enough to speak again, though her voice continued trembling violently.
She shakily raised one hand and pointed downward toward the massive stone head buried beneath the crimson sands.
"Th-The head… I saw… oh gods…"
Her breathing beca uneven again.
Sunny frowned deeply before glancing toward Nephis.
"Did she see another vision? Maybe sothing from the past?"
Nephis remained silent for a mont before quietly answering:
"I don't know."
For the first ti since they had t her, even she seed uncertain.
"It never happened before."
The atmosphere imdiately beca heavy.
The five of them stood beside the giant weathered stone head in silence while the distant sound of waves echoed endlessly through the Forgotten Shore.
The hollow sockets of the ruined statue stared toward the crimson sky like the remains of sothing ancient and forgotten.
Sothing that perhaps should have remained buried forever.
Sunny looked at Cassie again.
The blind girl's entire body was trembling slightly.
Fear.
Pure fear.
Not the ordinary fear of death.
Sothing deeper.
As though she had glimpsed a truth her mind could barely endure.
For a while, the group awkwardly attempted to calm her down.
Sunny tried asking questions.
Nephis remained beside her quietly.
Senrix offered water.
Elysia softly rubbed Cassie's back while whispering reassuring words.
Yet none of it truly worked.
After uttering that single sentence, Cassie refused to speak further.
Her lips remained tightly shut as though she feared that speaking would sohow make the vision real.
Eventually, Elysia finally sighed softly.
"Let's… leave her alone for now."
Elysia gently brushed Cassie's hair while smiling faintly.
"Maybe she simply needs ti."
Sunny opened his mouth, wanting to object, but quickly realized that he had absolutely no better idea.
In the end, he exhaled slowly and nodded.
"Fine."
Then he added quietly:
"I'll keep an eye on her."
However—
Their self-proclaid instructor clearly had different plans.
Half an hour later—
Sunny stood across from Elysia while gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
Beside him, Nephis silently adjusted her stance, her silver hair dancing gently beneath the cold sea breeze.
Across from them stood Elysia herself.
The pink-haired woman smiled brightly while lazily spinning her bow in one hand.
The atmosphere imdiately felt strange.
Not hostile.
But dangerous.
Nearby, Senrix leaned against a broken pillar with his arms crossed while calmly observing the three of them.
"Rules are simple," he said.
His crimson eyes lazily swept across the group.
"You're free to use your Aspects."
Elysia's smile widened.
"You're free to use deception, tricks, teamwork, or any thod necessary to win."
Sunny narrowed his eyes slightly.
"But killing is obviously forbidden."
Nephis silently nodded.
Elysia casually stretched her shoulders before lightly tapping the ground with her foot.
To her…
This fight already felt decided.
Senrix glanced at the three of them once before calmly speaking:
"Begin."
The instant those words fell—
Nephis exploded forward like a silver cot.
Sunny cursed internally.
'She didn't even wait a second?!'
The pale blade in her hand sliced through the air with terrifying speed as she rushed directly toward Elysia.
Yet the pink-haired archer rely smiled.
Instead of retreating backward—
She stepped forward.
A single arrow instantly appeared between her fingers.
Twang!
The bowstring vibrated sharply.
The arrow shot toward Nephis at point-blank range like a beam of light.
Nephis tilted her body sideways with unnatural precision, narrowly avoiding the projectile as flas suddenly erupted around her blade.
At the sa ti—
Sunny vanished into the shadows.
Elysia blinked.
"Oh?"
The surrounding ruins suddenly darkened slightly as Sunny's shadow slithered across the ground silently like a living creature.
A mont later—
Sunny erged from behind Elysia with his sword aid toward her back.
Fast.
Silent.
Precise.
Unfortunately—
Elysia simply leaned slightly to the side.
Sunny's blade barely missed her shoulder.
"Hm~ too obvious."
She smiled playfully before smashing the lower half of her bow directly toward Sunny's ribs.
Bang!
Sunny barely managed to block in ti, but the impact still sent him stumbling backward.
'What kind of monstrous strength is that?!'
Before he could recover—
Another arrow was already flying toward his face.
Sunny ducked instinctively.
The arrow pierced through the stone pillar behind him with a loud crack.
Then Nephis arrived once more.
Her sword descended like falling moonlight.
Elysia jumped backward gracefully while releasing three arrows midair.
Two targeted Nephis.
One targeted Sunny.
Sunny rolled across the ground while cursing loudly.
Nephis cut the incoming arrows apart with frightening calmness.
The silver-haired girl imdiately pressed forward again aggressively.
Unlike Sunny—
Nephis fought like a relentless wave.
No hesitation.
No fear.
No wasted movent.
Every strike carried killing intent.
Elysia's expression finally beca slightly more focused.
Clang!
Sword collided against reinforced bow.
The impact echoed across the ruins.
Sunny suddenly erged from Elysia's blind spot again while commanding his shadow to wrap around her ankle.
This ti—
The attack almost succeeded.
Almost.
Elysia lightly jumped upward at the last second, completely avoiding the shadow before twisting her body midair unnaturally.
Then—
She kicked Sunny directly in the chest.
Boom!
Sunny flew backward into broken stone debris.
"Cough—!"
Pain exploded through his ribs.
"What the hell kind of archer fights like this?!"
Elysia giggled.
"A very good one!"
anwhile, Nephis had already closed the distance once again.
Flas erupted around her sword violently.
This ti, however, Elysia's smile slowly faded.
For the first ti since the fight began—
She beca serious.
The air suddenly trembled slightly.
Nephis swung downward.
Elysia twisted sideways while grabbing Nephis's wrist directly.
Then—
She pulled.
Nephis's balance imdiately broke.
At the sa mont, Elysia slamd her elbow toward Nephis's stomach.
Boom!
Nephis staggered backward slightly.
Sunny's eyes widened.
Elysia did not fight like an ordinary archer at all.
She fought like soone perfectly comfortable at every range.
Mid-range.
Close-range.
Movent.
Spacing.
Everything flowed together seamlessly.
Like dancing.
No—
Like she had already predicted their actions beforehand.
Sunny clicked his tongue.
'Annoying.'
Then his expression suddenly changed.
"Nephis!"
A scavenger corpse nearby suddenly exploded apart as Sunny's shadow burst outward violently, distracting Elysia for the briefest mont.
That tiny opening was enough.
Nephis instantly lunged forward.
Her flaming sword cut through the air like blazing sunlight.
Elysia narrowly blocked—
But the force pushed her backward several ters.
For the first ti since the battle began, her feet slid across the ground.
Sunny imdiately rushed forward together with Nephis.
One attacked openly.
The other attacked deceptively.
The coordination was rough—
But improving rapidly.
Elysia smiled again.
Now this was becoming interesting.
The ruins erupted into chaos once more as arrows, shadows, and silver flas violently collided beneath the crimson sky.
_______________
A/N: sunny was already able to move in the shadows due to the attribute [shadowspawn]
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