A Sunless Dream

Dodging blows had always come easy to Changing Star. Simply grasp the essence of the combat technique that your opponent is using and use it to predict and determine where your opponent will move before they even begin their motion.

However, when matched up against Orion, some could describe him as her worst enemy. There was no definite essence of his fighting style; he drifted from hand-to-hand combat to swordplay in seconds, using a wide variety of martial arts and sword techniques as he went.

Splitting off her attention in an attempt to grasp the essence of his fighting style slowed her reactions and left her more open to attacks. And such openings would be resoundingly punished by her insidious opponent.

Sunny wanted to shout at Nephis, to tell her the way she was looking at the fight was entirely wrong and warped. Predicting Orion's movements using intellect was a fool's errand, and he had known it since he first fought him.

However, Sunny refrained from speaking. A warped, insidious side of him wanted to know what Changing Star had been hiding. He was sure that one blow from Orion would not kill her, but allowing her to take such risks went against everything he stood for.

Nephis ducked under a kick from Orion, the force of the blow creating a blade of air that sliced through the foundations of the citadel, causing the building to collapse around them. "As long as the Anchor is fine," Orion muttered to himself as he used the shadows to throw aside the oncoming debris that threatened to interrupt the fight.

Noticing the lapse in concentration of her opponent, Nephis blitzed toward him before swinging her sword at his throat. Orion ducked down and whistled at her speed before kicking upward to catch her in the stomach. However, Nephis was no amateur.

She placed a palm on his foot, allowing the force of his blow to send her flying, before summoning her wings to propel her to the ground at blinding speeds. Orion narrowed his eyes at the white dot of flames barreling toward him before placing an open palm outward.

He aimed his palm in Nephis's direction before pointing his sword at her once more. In a split second, the entire field was enveloped in blinding light as his sword extended toward Nephis.

The momentum of her descent didn't allow her to completely dodge the blow, so Nephis settled for blocking the attack. Biting the inside of her lip, Nephis detonated one of her soul cores, focusing the blast radius into a single beam that clashed with Orion's extended sword.

An excited laugh escaped his throat as Orion stared at the scene with wide eyes. "A beam clash! I thought those only happened in anime!" he roared before pouring essence into his sword once more. Eventually, neither gave out as an explosion erupted throughout the dream realm.

The mountains behind them exploded and crumbled under the individual forces they were exerting. Dust flew through the air as Nephis slowly descended from the sky, sweat pouring off her body in large amounts.

Sunny jumped into the air to grab her. Five minutes had passed, and Nephis had done what was necessary. Landing softly on the ground, Sunny sat next to Nephis as he observed Morgan leap at Orion with narrowed eyes.

"Haha, Changing Star! I'll admit you got hurt, but since it was from both of our attacks, I'll call it a draw for now!" Orion roared as he ducked under a blow from Morgan. Before he could respond, Kai shot an arrow where his fist would have moved to strike Morgan.

"I thought we were fighting fair," Orion mumbled before shaking his head. In a burst of speed, he was above Morgan, grabbing her head and slamming it into the ground as he threw her body toward Kai.

The speed of the throw caused Kai to slide back a few feet. However, he remained relatively unharmed, staring at Orion with barely concealed rage. "I'll heal the lady from Valor as she did me a favor. Since you're so eager to enter the fight, come!"

White flames surrounded Morgan's body as her wounds disappeared in a split second. Although she appeared slightly disheveled, the source of her blistering anger was Kai.

Looking up at the man who had saved her, she was about to let loose an insult. After all, he had insulted her pride. Who told him that she needed saving suddenly? A warrior of Valor fought to the end, after all, and anything less was an insult.

Before she could say anything, however, Kai spoke first. "If he decides to kill me, I'm not going to die without saying this: you have beautiful eyes, Morgan." With a slight smile on his face, he rushed at Orion with a burst of speed, leaving Morgan to remain seated with an extremely flustered expression.

Jet walked up to her slowly before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Good going, Morgan! I didn't think you could pull that big of a fish!" she teased before focusing once more on the fight. Their training had been intense and more harrowing than any other ordeal they had once been through.

It was time to show the fruits of their labor.

Kai wasted no time before entering his transformation state. A massive dragon plated in golden scales towered above Orion before attempting to swat him with his claws. Orion jumped backward before deflecting another blow with his sword.

Orion continued dodging the onslaught of blows before Kai's voice rang out through the empty field. "Stop." For a split second, Orion's body slowed down. However, he quickly shook off the effects, rushing toward Kai and sending a punch to his chest.

The blow sent Kai flying across the field. Quite frankly, Orion just wanted to assess how he would compare to a dragon in terms of strength, and he smiled knowing he compared well.

Appearing above Kai's downed body, he prepared to continue his onslaught but was stopped by a golden tail swinging in his direction. Orion caught the blow before taking in a breath, and in one movement, he swung Kai's gigantic body into a crushed mountain.

'Transformation isn't going to cut it; he's way too fast,' Kai assessed before dismissing his transformation ability. His forehead was bleeding heavily, and his leg looked extremely mangled as he donned his supreme armor once more.

Summoning his bow, Kai used himself as an arrow flying through the sky directly at Orion. In the same movement, he summoned a sword and attempted to slice off Orion's arm. However, Orion brought up his sword and parried the blow.

Jet was about to rush in. The fight with Kai had taken longer than any of them had thought, and he was a few seconds away from five minutes. They still had fifteen more minutes until he had to focus on the cursed titan.

All the cohort began to close the distance between themselves and the battle, except for Nephis, as Orion continued to parry Kai's blows. In a moment, he caught Kai's sword with a sickening smile settling on his face as he grabbed Kai by the neck, laughing at him.

"Is this it? Is this how you use the bow?" Across his body, several sets of arms, bows, and arrows protruded from his back. In a moment, the arrows were then sent flying toward the oncoming cohort, who were thrown back by the force of the shots.

Noticing his lack of attention, Kai activated his ascended ability once more. "Stop moving." That was all it took for Orion to slow in his movements, allowing for a new opponent to arrive. With a pitch-black scythe in hand and a mischievous grin settled on her face, the woman swung at Orion, forcing him to jump back slightly.

'She's fast,' Orion thought to himself as he took a second to analyze the threat before him.

Soul Reaper Jet was now his opponent.