The Great Beast was dead.
Sunny couldn't help but tremble.
'What… what the hell? What could have ripped a Great Beast apart?!'
Flinching, he forced himself to look away from the revolting head and peered into the fog.
'Where is it… where…'
He couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't sense anything.
Sunny gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
Cassie.
Even if he didn't know from which direction the attack would come from, Cassie would. She could see a few seconds into the future, after all — it was all but impossible to get her by surprise.
Turning slightly, Sunny tensely studied the blind girl. She was holding the Guiding Light in front of her, ready to deflect a sudden attack. It seemed that she had not felt anything dangerous, yet…
'Maybe it's go…'
But then, Cassie's shoulders trembled slightly. Her Aspect Ability had shown her the future.
...She did not turn to face the unseen enemy, though.
Instead, her hands dropped, and she lowered her head.
Which meant…
That in the future Cassie saw, there was no escape.
Sunny stared at her in disbelief.
'No!'
A moment later, he was swallowed by a heavy shadow.
Looking up, Sunny saw a hand stretching toward them from the fog above. It seemed like a human hand… except that it was almost the same size as the Great Beast had been. He could see the lines on the giant palm, and the blackened, broken, bloodied nails at the ends of the long, bruised fingers.
The giant hand moved deceptively slow… but before Sunny could even blink, it was already upon them.
Without ever slowing down, it smashed into the members of the cohort, squashing them like bugs.
Sunny died.
This time, his death was mercifully swift.
***
...Sunny waited for a moment, then slowly straightened.
The deck of the Chain Breaker felt solid under his feet. This time, he simply peered into the fog instead of looking around… not that he could see anything.
His gaze was dark and hollow.
'...I failed again.'
His face was pale and unmoving.
In front of him, the mists of Wind Flower flowed slowly, swirling in indifference as they devoured the world.
Everything was as it had been before.