Chapter 313 Starlight Shard
On the last day they would spend in the Dark City, Nephis led a small group of her most powerful warriors on one last hunt.
The members of her cohort were all following behind her. Sunny, who stubbornly refused to accept his status as one of them, walked apart from the group, idly looking around and observing the ruins.
Gemma and Seishan were also with them, as well as ten or so of the most experienced hunters — some of them formerly from the Host, some formerly from the outer settlement. There was no difference between the two anymore.
All of them were simply Changing Star's people now.
As they were walking, Gemma approached Sunny and glanced at him with curiosity.
After Tessai had fallen to Neph's blade, the tall man seemed to have found some measure of peace. Somewhere deep in his eyes, however, there always was a hint of sorrow.
Sunny stared at him and raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
The hunter smiled slightly and asked in a friendly tone:
.me
"You're Sunless, right?"
Sunny shrugged.
"Yeah, that's me."
Gemma silently measured him and then asked with interest:
"I've heard that you lived for months alone in the city. Is that true?"
'Ah, makes sense.'
The tall man was perhaps the most experienced hunter on the Forgotten Shore. He had survived countless battles on the streets of the cursed city. It was natural for him to be curious about this matter…
Sunny gave him a nod.
"Sure. A little over three months, I guess."
Gemma rubbed his chin, then asked bluntly:
"How did you survive?"
Sunny grinned.
How had he managed that, indeed?
"...Lots of hiding, lots of killing. A modicum of madness, and a little bit of luck."
Gemma stared at him for a bit, then chuckled.
"Sound about right, I guess."
After a while, he glanced forward at Changing Star and asked in a curious tone:
"Do you know what we are going to hunt today?"
Sunny looked at him with surprise:
"She didn't tell you?"
The tall man hesitated, then shook his head.
"She did. I'm just not sure that I believe it."
Sunny smiled and looked away.
"Ah, let me guess. Your first thought was that she had lost her mind. What can I say… get used to that feeling."
After a few moments of silence, Gemma sighed.
"But how can we kill it?"
'Poor guy…'
Sunny glanced at him, lingered for a bit, and then said:
"If my guess is correct, you know more about it than I do."
And just like that, their conversation ended.
By the middle of the day, they reached the eastern edges of the city and climbed the imposing monolith of the great wall. Standing on top of it, they saw the colossal crater and the headless statue that stood not too far away, its one remaining hand thrust toward the skies.
Their prey was hiding in a vast underground chamber beneath that statue.
Today, they were going to hunt the Lord of the Dead.
***
At the base of the statue, the second arm of the Priestess lay in the mud. Thousands of years ago, it had broken off and fell, crashing through the dome of the underground chamber. Now, there was a chasm in the ground that led into the lair of the Lord of the Dead.
Many months ago, Sunny and the rest had used that breach to escape from the catacombs. Now, they were going to use it to descend into that darkness, instead.
The ghastly master of the catacombs waited for them below. Sunny wasn't really surprised that Nephis had chosen to return to this place. After all, the mountainous abomination was most likely guarding the last of the seven Shard Memories.
However, he was really curious about how exactly she was planning to kill it.
Once everyone gathered around the hole in the mud, Changing Star glanced at him and said: