A Sunless Dream

As the chain breaker touched down near the nameless temple. All of the fire keepers seemed to form a small swarm for their own safety, watching each others backs as the immense pressure exuded by the citadel pressed them down as though to crush them under it's weight.

Cassie remained on the ship, she had established a mental link between herself and Sunny to remain well informed of the events that took place within the citadel and thus marked their entry to the nameless castle.

Nephis walked at the front of them, the presence she exuded served as a beacon to calm the stressed nerves of her followers as her light pierced through the shadow of the nameless temple. Her gaze was firm, and her eyes did not waver, and one could never discern any hint of anxiety or uncertainty by observing her movements.

The last words Sunny had said to her was 'be careful' as she made her way towards the citadel. After that, her companion remained silent within her shadow merely observing her entry into the citadel. Once they made their way past the front gates Nephis was greeted by an Onyx Saint with glowing red eyes and an immense greatsword sheathed at her side.

Just from observing the creature, Nephis could sense it's immense strength and though she wasn't quite worried she was sure that the creature could at least pose some form of challenge towards her. Continuing her stride as though she had never even encountered the creature in the first place, Nephis made her way into the main hall of the citadel and there after long last she was greeted by the lord of shadows.

This was the first time she had encountered him, however, his presence was oppressive and violent flashing visions of her own death through her mind as she made her way towards him. The man's posture appeared relaxed as he sat there with his head rested on his arm which had been firmly placed on his lap. Although she could not observe his face, the mask further enunciated the air of violence that surrounded him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, changing star?" his voice cut through the silence like a well honed blade. It was deep and commanding completely contrasting the gentle tone that Sunny had used whenever he interacted with her, in calmer scenario's at least. She heard the armour of her subordinates tremble at the sound of his voice, if she didn't respond she suspected they would collapse to the ground before him.

"I am here to recruit you to the cause of clan Valor" her reply came quick and calm, she didn't need to resort to violence immediately if not needed although she highly suspected that the man before her was not someone who could be easily convinced by words and reason alone. Her suspicions were proven correct as the demonic saint simply burst out in laughter at her comment, his laughing fit went on for another two minutes before coming to an abrupt stop.

"Why would I take order's from someone so obviously weaker than myself?" he asked simply, Nephis quite frankly had half the mind to order him to follow her and do as she said. However, going to such extreme measures so quickly would be extremely counterproductive towards her goal of getting closer to Sunny as well as it being in extreme violation of her own principles. And so, she chose against it.

"Maybe I can prove myself worthy of leading you in the form of a duel" with that, she summoned a pale white sword and held it at her side. She was baiting him into the engagement to evaluate how much of a threat he was, and if he was impressed by her maybe he would follow her orders willingly.

All traces of hope were torn from her mind though as she recalled Sunny's prior words. The man didn't listen to reason, and so violence was the only way of justifying her right to exist before the man before her. The fire keepers could sense the tension rising between the two as the lord of shadows stared at her impassively and so, they instinctually moved back to the farthest corners of the citadel to allow Changing star to do combat uninhibited.

Laughing once more, the lord of shadows clapped his hands slowly before summoning a weapon of his own. As opposed to the typical sparks of light which became present as a memory was summoned, the shadows seemed to surround the arm of the man and form themselves into a pitch black odachi. "One hit, if you can land one hit on me changing star, I'll follow you like a dog. And to make it better, I won't even use my aspect" not giving her any chance to reply, he was already upon her.

Standing a few inches away from her face in one burst of speed, the man thrust his sword directly where her head was supposed to be as she ducked down to avoid the blow. Releasing one arm from his odachi, the lord of shadows balled it into a fist and took advantage of her bent position and punched her into the ground.

Nephis swore she heard at least four of her ribs crack as she made a small crater in the ground, however, she was not given any time to heal her injuries as the lord of shadows attempted to remove her head from her body once more. She moved faster than he had expected though and quickly rolled out of the way before back flipping to return to her feet.

"Impressive" was the only comment he gave before he closed the distance between the two of them once more. This time, Nephis took the initiative as she swung her sword diagonally attempting to catch him on his way in. Rather than allowing her to build up the speed needed for her attack, the lord of shadows got closer to her before kicking her in the stomach. Nephis raised a hand to block the attack and grabbed him by the foot before attempting to slash it clean off his body.

Before she could do so, the man spun his body shattering the leg she currently held in her arms and used the momentum gained to kick her straight in the face. She had not expected such a move and was late to react however her instincts allowed her to block the attack although barely, "Doesn't that hurt?" she asked him reviewing the most recent engagement she had with him however his response was something she wouldn't have ever expected "It's just pain"

With that statement, the battle continued once more. Nephis and the lord of shadows swung their blades at each other however they clashed evenly. Suddenly a sharp pain tore through her body as she saw the lord of Shadow's foot firmly planted on her own "You're too focused on my sword," taking advantage of her momentary distraction the man won the clash forcing her backwards and causing her to skid across the citadel with another horizontal slash.

Although she had jumped back at the same time of the slash, it still connected somewhat as a thin line of blood appeared on her body even through her armour. Her armour was of transcendent rank however this man was able to slash through it easily. Quickly healing herself to avoid having her guts spill out she rushed at the lord of shadows once more thrusting her sword at his head, he stepped out of the way of the attack and attempted to return with a thrust of his own however Nephis bent backwards into a cartwheel to kick his sword into the air.

Momentarily disarmed, Nephis took advantage of the situation and jumped into the air kicking the sword by the hilt and sending it flying towards its wielder at high speeds. However, the lord of shadows caught the sword between his fingers and threw it to the side, rushing towards her with his bare hands.

"You're boring me changing star!" he shouted, he crouched down to sweep her legs as they came into contact with the floor however, she used the momentum from his leg sweep to create speed for a back flip. Using the force of gravity as well as the lord of shadows to her advantage, she spun in the air quickly before attempting to slash downwards towards her downed foe.

Her armour clad opponent took initiative though and got up like a spring, and before she even had the opportunity to slash at him she was hit square in the jaw with a right hook that sent her piercing through the air like a bullet into the wall. 'I know from earlier he should have broken every bone in his leg, how is he completely fine?' Nephis thought to herself before charging at him once more.

Sunny observed the fight from within her shadow and in all honesty, it took him every ounce of self control to not emerge and attempt to do combat with his clone. 'He's toying with her, if she wants any hope of winning something has to change and fast' a million thoughts per minute flew through his head however he remained focused on the battle. There was nobody else he could trust in this situation except changing star.

Nephis moved at the lord of shadows at full speed, ducking low attempting to slash upwards and catch him by surprise. However, she was swept off her feet by a simple low kick from the lord of shadows causing her to wince in pain as her shin was shattered by the force of impact. Before she could properly recover, he thrust his sword directly at her face causing her to move out of the way but not before he ripped off almost all of the skin where her cheek was supposed to be.

Before she had the opportunity to activate her flames, the lord of shadows separated the skin from her cheek from her entire face and sent it splattering onto the ground in a display of blood that shocked everyone present. The fire keepers felt sick to their stomachs as some turned around to throw up at the sight.

Flames covered Nephis face as she began to rapidly heal the damage however as she was doing so something odd happened. The lord of shadows, an ominous Saint who's mannerisms could not be understood by anyone walked up to the piece of flesh. HER flesh. And in a subtle motion allowing his mouth to be visible.

He picked up her flesh, and ate it.