Kai looked south, remembering the location of the ruined temple, and nodded.
"Alright."
Sunny raised a hand, stopping the young man from flying away.
"Wait. Whatever happens, don't go inside the cathedral, okay? I'm not joking. There's a Fallen Devil residing inside, so if you do, he'll butcher you just like he had butchered that bunch of idiots who had kidnapped you."
Kai stared at him in shock.
"What? They are dead?"
Sunny shrugged.
"How do you think I found you in that well? One of the dead thugs had a map on his body. I thought there'll be treasure hidden in the marked location. But…"
The beautiful Sleeper smiled.
"But it was something much better? Aw, thank you for the compliment! I'll be careful not to enter the cathedral, rest assured."
Sunny stared at the smiling Kai for some time, then shrugged in exasperation.
"Sure. Off you go, then. And remember — if you break our agreement, I will…"
"...find and kill me, yeah. Don't worry, Sunny. I never break a promise!"
With these words, Kai raised his head and looked up. A soft gust of wind touched Sunny's skin, and in the next moment, the charming Sleeper suddenly soared above the ground, quickly disappearing into the sky. Soon, only a tiny dot of his paper lantern could be seen, moving south through the black skies like a lonely star.
Suddenly, Sunny trembled.
A cold feeling of dread grasped his heart like an iron grip.
Following the dot of light with his eyes, he whispered:
"...There was a lonely star burning in the black skies, and under its light, the castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls."
He stood for a while in the darkness, motionless.
If Sunny didn't know better, he would have thought that this part of Cassie's prophecy talked about Kai.
But he did know better.
He had known the truth of that prophecy for some time now.
Lowering his head, Sunny licked his lips and asked the voiceless shadow in a raspy voice:
"Is it… is it already starting?"
Like always, the shadow did not answer.
'What a stupid question.'
Of course not. It had started a long time ago.
Right at the moment when the three of them had entered the ruined city.