Before anyone could say anything, Senrix suddenly raised a hand.
"Hold on."
The group looked at him.
The tall young man scratched the back of his head, his crimson eyes filled with mild annoyance.
"I actually have one soul shard."
Sunny blinked.
"You do?"
Senrix nodded.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, only one."
He let out a sigh.
"I gave most of the others away whenever one of you needed them. Elysia needed so after fighting those scavengers, Cassie needed so because she is important, and Sunny kept accidentally throwing himself into situations that almost got him killed."
"I did not."
"You absolutely did."
"I survived."
"That's not a defense."
Elysia imdiately giggled.
"It really isn't."
Sunny looked offended.
"I feel attacked."
"You should," Senrix said with a grin.
For a brief mont, the tension eased.
Unfortunately, the problem remained.
Three soul shards.
Five people.
Not enough.
Nephis stood quietly while the settlent around them slowly prepared for the coming night.
The sun was sinking beyond the ruined horizon.
Long shadows stretched across the crude settlent beneath the Bright Castle.
People hurried between huts carrying bundles of supplies.
Doors closed.
Windows were covered.
Voices beca quieter.
Everyone wanted to be indoors before darkness arrived.
Far away, the massive silhouette of the Crimson Spire dominated the skyline like a giant scar carved into the world itself.
Its shadow seed to stretch endlessly across the Forgotten Shore.
The atmosphere grew heavier with every passing minute.
Eventually, Nephis looked down at the soul shards resting in her palm.
Then she spoke.
"We need to split up."
Sunny imdiately grimaced.
"Every ti sobody says that in a story, people die."
Elysia nodded.
"Or get kidnapped."
Cassie smiled faintly.
"Or discover so terrible secret."
Senrix crossed his arms.
"Or all three."
Sunny pointed at him.
"Exactly."
Nephis remained completely unmoved.
"We're still splitting up."
Sunny sighed dramatically.
"There goes my brilliant argunt."
The corners of Elysia's lips lifted slightly.
Even after everything they had gone through, Nephis remained terrifyingly immune to nonsense.
The silver-haired girl looked at each of them before continuing.
"We have three shards."
Her gaze moved toward the castle.
"Three people can enter."
The group fell silent.
Nobody wanted to be the one left behind.
Not because they feared danger.
They had survived far worse.
But because after everything that had happened, the idea of separating simply felt wrong.
They had crossed the Dark Sea together.
Survived the Labyrinth together.
Fought monsters together.
Nearly died together.
Sowhere along the way, being together had beco normal.
Expected.
Comforting.
The realization made Sunny strangely uncomfortable.
Then Nephis suddenly extended her hand.
The three soul shards rested in her palm.
"Sunny."
He looked up.
Then froze.
Nephis was offering him the shards.
Sunny frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"Take Cassie and Elysia into the castle."
The world seed to stop.
Even Elysia looked surprised.
Sunny stared.
"And you?"
Nephis calmly answered.
"Senrix and I will remain outside."
This ti, even Senrix looked caught off guard.
"Huh?"
Nephis glanced at him.
"You have objections?"
The tall young man opened his mouth.
Paused.
Thought for several seconds.
Then shrugged.
"Not really."
Sunny looked between them.
"What?"
Nephis spoke calmly.
"It is the most practical solution."
She pointed at him.
"You can gather information inside."
Then at herself.
"I can gather information outside."
Then at Senrix.
"And my brother is strong enough to survive almost anything this place can throw at us."
Senrix imdiately raised a hand.
"I appreciate the confidence, but I'd like to formally state that I prefer not testing that theory."
Elysia laughed.
Cassie smiled.
Even Nephis seed slightly amused.
Then the white-haired girl continued.
"In one week, we et again."
Sunny slowly absorbed her words.
It made sense.
Actually...
It made perfect sense.
His shadow could scout the castle.
Nephis could learn about the settlent.
Senrix could move between both sides without attracting much attention.
anwhile, Elysia and Cassie would be significantly safer inside the castle.
Still...
Sothing bothered him.
Then Nephis spoke again.
"The shards also belong to you."
Sunny blinked.
"What?"
"You killed the stone creatures."
"The cohort killed it."
Nephis shook her head.
"The final blow was yours."
Sunny stared at her.
Then sighed.
There she was again.
Stubborn.
Fair.
Almost annoyingly honest.
Their original agreent had technically ended once they reached the castle.
Yet Nephis was still acting as though nothing had changed.
For so reason, that made Sunny feel much better than he expected.
The knot in his chest loosened slightly.
Because hidden beneath all her practicality was a simple assumption.
She fully expected them to continue working together.
Not because they had to.
Because they wanted to.
Elysia seed to realize the sa thing.
A small smile appeared on her face.
The Shadow Bond carried faint traces of warmth between all of them.
Nobody said anything about it.
Nobody needed to.
After a while, Sunny finally accepted the shards.
"Fine."
Nephis nodded.
"Good."
Then Elysia suddenly stepped forward.
Her long pink hair danced gently in the evening wind.
The fading sunlight painted golden reflections across her bright eyes.
"One week."
She looked directly at Nephis.
Then at Senrix.
"Don't do anything stupid while we're gone."
Senrix looked offended.
"I always do stupid things."
"Exactly."
"That's discrimination."
"It is self-preservation."
Cassie quietly laughed.
Even Sunny couldn't help smiling.
Elysia then turned serious.
Which was rare enough to imdiately capture everyone's attention.
"Take care of yourselves."
The cheerful girl hesitated.
Then added softly:
"We already lost enough things getting here."
The joking atmosphere faded.
For a mont, nobody spoke.
Then Senrix suddenly reached out and lightly flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!"
"Stop sounding like we're marching to our deaths."
Elysia rubbed her forehead.
"You literally fight sea monsters."
"And I survived."
"That's not reassuring."
"It is for ."
The group laughed.
The heavy atmosphere finally broke.
Soon afterward, they separated.
Nephis and Senrix remained behind as Sunny, Cassie, and Elysia approached the castle.
As they walked away, Sunny found himself glancing back several tis.
Each ti, he saw the sa thing.
Nephis standing calmly beneath the darkening sky.
Senrix beside her.
The two siblings looked small compared to the enormous castle looming above them.
Yet sohow, they felt impossible to move.
Like mountains.
Like pillars.
Like people who would still be standing there no matter what happened.
Eventually, they disappeared from view.
The castle gates grew closer.
Sunny felt increasingly uneasy.
The massive marble fortress was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
The pristine walls.
The towering spires.
The elegant architecture.
Everything felt wrong.
As though soone had built paradise in the middle of a nightmare.
Beside him, Elysia seed to notice his expression.
"Nervous?"
"No."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You absolutely are."
Sunny groaned.
"I hate how observant you are."
Elysia smiled triumphantly.
Cassie tilted her head.
"I think he's worried."
Sunny imdiately pointed at her.
"See? This is bullying."
"It's not bullying," Cassie said softly.
"It's concern."
"Sa thing."
Elysia laughed again.
The sound eased so of the tension in Sunny's chest.
Then they reached the gates.
Two ard guards stopped them imdiately.
After inspecting the soul shards, the guards stepped aside.
The enormous gates opened.
Sunny suddenly felt as though he were crossing so invisible boundary.
Outside was the Forgotten Shore.
Inside was sothing else entirely.
The mont they entered, the gates slamd shut behind them.
The thunderous impact echoed through the massive hall.
A giant iron bar dropped into place.
The sound made Sunny flinch.
The castle suddenly felt less like a refuge.
And more like a cage.
Beside him, Elysia subtly moved closer.
Not enough for anyone else to notice.
Just enough for him to realize she felt the sa thing.
Cassie tightened her grip on her staff.
Being blind did not stop her from sensing the shift in atmosphere.
If anything, she noticed it more clearly than either of them.
None of the three said anything.
But all of them understood.
For the first ti since arriving at the Bright Castle...
They felt trapped.
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