A Sunless Dream

Nephis indifferent tone was usually something that struck the hearts of all awakened. Rousing a deep-rooted carnal challenge them, and Sunnys slavery to Nephis made this effect impossible to ignore as he heard her voice ring through his head a thousand times.

'Do not lose yourself, lost from light' is all she said to him, the devilish grin on his face grew as his mouth cracked open revealing his bloodied mouth. In a second, he let out a laugh. Not one of anger, malice or even one to mock the opponent that stood before him.

His laughter was filled with genuine joy.

Feeling the essence flow into his body, Sunny felt the debris that had been caused by the battle part to make way for his presence. His eyes remained levelled at the opponent before him with his unwavering resolve burning through whatever fear and hopelessness, he had felt prior.

'Lets get busy' Sunny thought to himself with a smile as he immediately closed the gap between them in blinding speeds. He brought his arm down to separate Orions body into two pieces as it was quickly met with a parry from his opponent. Blurring to his side he swung another slash aimed at Orions liver however it was met with a parry once more.

Appearing behind him, Sunny bent low and sent a slash at Orion's Achilles tendon only for that to be dodged as well. As Orion jumped forward, Sunny met him with their faces only a few inches apart. Suddenly, a blade protruded out of Orion's chest intending to impale Sunny as he used his sword to deflect the blow.

Immediately, Sunny sent a thrust at Orion's neck hoping to deal some damage however his attack was dodged. 'He's disappeared' Sunny thought to himself as suddenly a palm appeared on his face trying to slam him into the ground. Sunny grabbed the arm and twisted it, loosening the grip on his face before swinging the arm into a wall.

Before Sunny knew it, Orion was above him sending a slash at the ground and although Sunny dodged it a crater was still left where he once had been. 'He just slashed at least 800 feet into the ground without even intending to, what a monster' Sunny thought to himself before rushing in once more.

Orion was quite frankly confused, a moment ago he was tossing around his missing piece and now here he was donning the crown of a great beast attempting to compete with him. With every attack he was forced to block, dodge and parry he understood increasingly about the essence of Sunny's fighting style.

"How, disappointing" he muttered to himself.

Although the statement was unknown to Sunny, the increase granted by the essence as well as the augmentation of six shadows allowed him to gain a slight advantage in terms of speed. But that still wasn't enough. Sunny flashed in front of Orion once more with his blade at his neck only for Orion to bend his back in an unimaginably contorted angle and spring back up in seconds sending a punch right at Sunny's face.

Sunny dismissed his blade and crossed his arms absorbing the impact of the blow. He had sworn he heard something inside of him crack as he soared through the air attempting to regain his balance. Before he could do so, Orion was above him once more stomping into the piece of air which Sunny had once been.

Then, using the floor as additional footing he pushed himself towards the still flying Sunny with an attack aimed to remove both his feet from his body. Sunny span through the air and blocked the attack with his newly resummoned sword allowing him to barely parry it before charging at Orion.

In a split second, everything went black. 'Am I dead?' Sunny thought to himself as he attempted to push himself off the ground with what he assumed were his arms. Thankfully, his assumption was correct as his face was now freshly freed from the crater it had made within the floor and a bloodless gash ran across his forehead.

Before him, Orion stood looking at him with a confused expression. His tone further reinforced this image as he asked "Why aren't you using shadow dance? That's the only explanation as to why you're so....weak" although his genuine intention was not to insult Sunny, his original couldn't help but feel offended by his statement.

'He speaks as if the gap between is that large' Sunny thought to himself, not replying to Orion's words as he closed the distance between them once more. His sword sang through the air as he bent his arm down completely reversing the momentum of his upwards swing and aiming his sword right at the leg of Orion.

Orion leaned back slightly watching the sword pass over his face and grabbed it from the blunt end before saying "I'm speaking like that because the gap is that big. I'll demonstrate" before Orion could act, Sunny was halfway across the room as he took continuous laboured breathes.

Sweat poured from his face as he continued to stare the man before him down 'If I hadn't moved, he could have killed me in a hundred ways before I even replied. Don't fucking tell me he's still holding back' shaking his head to ignore such a possibility, Sunny charged at Orion once more only for Orion to mirror his movements and respond with the attack he was about to do.

Orion slammed the blunt end of his sword into Sunny's neck, kicked him in the stomach, grabbed him by the face and threw him into the wall on the left side of his citadel. In a split second, he appeared before Sunny only for a sword made of shadow to emerge and lunge at him.

Moving his head slightly to dodge the blow, he attempted to grab his downed opponent as Sunny suddenly sprung to life grabbing Orion by the neck. In a split second, Sunny was attempting to choke the life out of Orion only to be met with a punch on the jaw and a slap to the face.

"Use shadow dance. Now." Orion commanded as he took a step back giving Sunny time to recuperate. 'This is getting boring, unless he has any more tricks I want to go speak to Revel' Orion thought to himself before tapping his foot impatiently.

Sunny was sure at least one of his lungs had collapsed, blood had seeped into his eyes as he struggled to see straight, and every inch of his body was telling him to run. He had barely been there for five minutes and yet he had still incurred such damage.

'Trust in Nephis, trust in our bond' Sunny thought to himself. If the only way to stand a chance was through shadow dance, he was going to bet everything on the command Nephis had just made him and go all out without fear or restraint.

'Don't think, forget who you are, forget what you're fighting for! Just move, reflexively' Sunny repeated to himself before charging at Orion. Orion started off with Nephis flowing fighting style which Sunny mirrored, Sunny then replied with Saints grounded fighting style overpowering Orions grip on his sword as he sent him sliding backwards slightly.

Orion shifted his style once more, mirroring a great beast he had fought a day prior and dismissing his sword. Sunny did the same as he prepared to mirror whatever Orion had thrown at him as he cracked his knuckles and prepared for what could be the last fight of his life.

Both met each other in the middle as Sunny threw an uppercut at Orion only for it to be dodged. Orion grabbed Sunny's arm and attempted to swing him however Sunny countered the throw and used Orion's body as a springboard to jump to the ceiling.

Sunny immediately jumped down as he met his still grounded opponent with a knee to the head, Orion grabbed the knee in one hand and threw him behind his back before turning around and sending a punch at Sunny's stomach. Sunny proceeded to grab the blow and pull himself towards Orion before attempting to drive another knee into his nose however that failed again.

'Faster, faster, faster!' Sunny thought to himself as he pushed his body well beyond it's limits to continue to keep up with Orion. However, no matter how fast he begun moving the true depths of Orion's fighting ability remained an illusion to him. Orion met the knee with a headbutt causing Sunny to wince slightly before bending his body, so he was balancing on Orions shoulders before driving another knee into his head.

Orion quickly grabbed both of Sunny's arms and pried them off his shoulders before binding them together with one hand and slamming Sunny into the floor. Before Sunny could even hit the ground Orion drove a knee into Sunnys stomach sending blood flying out of his mouth.

Despite this, Sunny was lost in his own thoughts. The depths shadow dance was pulling him into went deeper and deeper as he lashed out a counterattack without even knowing why. As he was on the ground, despite coughing up blood Sunny threw a punch upwards hitting Orion on the mask slightly allowing him a moment of time to create distance once more.

'He's beautiful' Sunny thought to himself, his mind was hyper focused on combat. Everything around him, air, the ground, his muscles even the hair on his body were all hyper attuned to fighting and due to this anything deemed irrelevant to that world was deemed hideous.

The only one standing in his little world was Orion.

Sunny pretended to have lost his footing however Orion didn't take the bait, closing the distance he caught a punch from Sunny before attempting a leg sweep. Ignoring the fact his hand was firmly being held by Orion he jumped up to dodge the leg sweep before swinging his knee into Orion.

The attack connected. Although it did little to no damage Orion took a step back releasing Sunny's arm in the process before allowing a light laugh to escape his lips "Humans are so interesting! I'm sorry for underestimating you, your growth, drive, everything is honed to it's maximum capacity!"

As quickly as his laugh came, it ended. His tone grew cold as he took of his mask, allowing Sunny to see his essential reflection levelling a glare at him that could not be ignored.

"But I guess all humans have limits. How disappointing. Wait, no! That can't be it! You just need a little motivation to dance for me some more, right?" a thoughtful expression levelling his features as the words that emerged from his mouth shook Sunny to his very core.

"Shall I go kill Changing star?"