Which only added to Sunny's confusion.
Soon, he was left laying on the ground, disoriented and feeling lost. Everything that had happened since he activated the [King's Resentment] enchantment of the Crown of Twilight was like a blur, but the memory of it remained, etched into his mind.
'...What happened?'
Sunny felt incredibly tired, but he forced himself to raise his head.
Nephis was kneeling in front of him… wearing the Starlight Legion Armor, for some reason. Her striking grey eyes were calm and cold.
Behind her, the corpse of the Dread Lord towered above the ruined courtyard of the floating fortress. Kai was laying on a pile of rubble, heavily wounded. Mordret was there, as well, staring at the dead dragon with a grim expression.
The world was dark, with only a few rays of pale sunshine pouring through the veil of ashen clouds.
There was something else, as well… a black crow was perched on the remnants of the broken wall, staring down at them.
Sunny looked at Nephis, a storm of emotions raging in his heart.
Noticing that he had regained his senses, she nodded simply and rose.
Turning away, she walked toward where Kai was laying, his ivory armor painted by blood. Soon, soft radiance flowed from her hands, healing the archer.
At the same time, Mordret sighed deeply and looked at Kai with a hint of resentment.
"Why did you do it? I almost had him."
Kai met his gaze somberly, and then said in a hoarse voice:
"That was why I did it."
The Prince of Nothing remained silent for a moment, then grinned with dark amusement and turned to Nephis. Waving his bloody stump in the air, he asked blithely:
"Don't I get healed?"
Her answer was cold and even:
"...Wait for your turn."
Sunny observed it all, too tired to move, and too numb to think.
Soon, two figures climbed over the pile of rubble that the wall of the fortress had turned to. They were Effie and Jet.
Effie was walking while supporting her weight with a spear, while Jet was carrying unconscious Cassie. When she appeared, both Crow Crow and the Quiet Dancer rushed to her side.
The wind tore apart the veil of clouds, and finally, the light of dawn illuminated the drowning fortress once again.
Sunny looked at the sky pensively.
A strange thought surfaced in his mind.
'We… won.'