And just like that three days had passed.
The cohort returned to meet up at the camp in the dark city.
"I will go in and challenge Gunlaug".
Nephis words echoed in the small room.
There weren't any complaints.
This plan had been in the works for a very long time.
And the members of the cohort already knew what she would do.
"Are you sure about this".
Sunless injected.
His face betrayed a hint of worry.
"You may be a legacy but Gunlaug has been in the Forgotten Shore for almost a decade".
Sunless paused for a moment then continued.
"Although you're strong, he has been surviving through this hell longer than any of us. His power is definitely much vaster than us as well".
Sunlesses worries, we're not unfounded.
But there was something he did an account for.
Something he seemed to have forgotten over the past year which him and Nephis had been apart.
"Does that matter? We only need to crush him".
Nephis was just crazy.
Sunless sighed.
There was no getting through to her.
It seemed she trusted Cassia's vision much more than he had expected.
"Any how we march tomorrow at dawn. Go back and gather your strength for tomorrow".
She paused.
"Tomorrow will be hell".
Isaac returned to the cathedral.
His plan was already in motion.
The moment the cohort stepped into the throne hall of the Bright Castle his plan would finally reach its apex.
But currently he was occupied with something else.
Or rather someone else.
In a candle lit room, where shadows flicker and coiled against the stone walls.
"Hmm aahh~ ".
A woman's moans could be heard in the cathedral echoing in a rapid yet smooth rhythm.
*pat*
*pat*
*pat*
The sound of flesh colliding could also be heard.
The two sounds twisting together in an erotic melody.
"Ahh~ you've hmm~ gotten b-better aahhh~".
Effie words were cut off by kiss.
Only her moans could escape into the air.
Effie was currently bent over.
She was drowning in a familiar pleasure.
'H-How many t-times now'.
Even her mind was in chaos.
How many time she had released was unknown even to herself.
As Effie was slowly pulling her mind back to reality the young man in front of her stopped.
And then...
"Ahh~ aaa~ s-so hhh~ h-hot".
Her inner walls were painted white.
The young man got offer his face had not changed from the beginning, remaining indifferent.
Yet this didn't offend her.
Because looking closely, the tips of his ears had gained the reddish hue.
The way his clear grey eyes looked over her as if marveling at his work was testament to what he truly felt.
The young man didn't wait.
Picking her up in a princess carry he placed her down on the bed.
He then laid with her pulling the cover over them both.
Giggling she turned and rested her head in his arm, her hands circling his soft pectoral muscles.
"Ku ku ku your in a good mood ha".
Isaac remain silent.
His eyes staring at the ceiling.
Turning his head towards her, his eyes staring directly at her hazel orbs.
"You think so?".
Effie smiled.
"Ohh definitely your mood is definitely good".
She wiggled her numb legs slightly feeling something slip from in between her legs.
She then sighed.
"So what happened?".
Issac stayed silent.
Then raised a brow.
"What do you mean? I am happy to be wi-".
"That's not what I ment".
Effie cut Issac off.
"You and the princess have been acting strangely ever since we came back".
Isaac stayed silent.
It was true that their relationship for some inexplicable reason felt strained.
But he couldn't pinpoint why.
That didn't mean he had no theories.
There were two that were the most prevalent.
One [Fated] was being a little b*tch and has somehow begun to mess with him.
Though from Isaac's perspective, he was only enhancing the strength of the cohort.
In the eyes of fate however,he may have done something that could change the future drastically.
The second one on the other hand, though prevalent was not something he would lean on considerably.
His second theory was that she somehow found out that he was a [Dreamspawn] or may be a [Nephilim] like her.
The reason why this theory did not hold much weight was because he had always had these two Attributes.
Why is it that she only started acting this way towards him now?
What had changed from the days in the Academy?
And that is where the small glimmer of hope for this theory was brought up.
Something drastic had changed from his days at the academy.
He had Awakened.
When one rises in Rank their attributes become stronger.
It was possible that due to his Awakening his "sent" had grown strong enough for Nephis to sense it.
Yet something else slightly smudged, that glimmer of hope.
It was the fact that Sunless had also begun to act strangely around him.
Of course, this could also be because Sunless lost Weavers lineage.
Yet for some odd reason, Isaac felt as if that was wrong.
His intuition kept warning him that something wasn't right.
But no matter how hard he thought about it he couldn't come to a concrete conclusion.
Sighing her replied to Effie.
"I truly don't know".
Though he had his theories, nothing was concrete enough for him to share.
Yet what Effie said next made the feeling of wrongness he had felt before much stronger.
"How about the conversation you two had".
Issac's brows furrowed.
It was rare for Isaac's expression to change.
But the feeling of wrongness was just too strong.
He had had many conversations with Nephis across their journey.
Yet none of them gave him the inclination that something was wrong.
Nor than any of the topics they discussed could strain the relationship between the two.
Then why was it that when Effie brought up the concept of a conversation that is intuition keep screaming at him.
Isaac memories flash before his eyes, every sound every flicker of light every movement he ever made every sensation that covered his skin.
Every taste his tongue had ever experienced flash through his mind.
His Flaw forced him to remember everything.
As long as he experienced it, he could never forget it.
Yet the feeling of wrongness didn't vanish.
Strangely enough, it only grew stronger.
"Can you tell me what conversation we had made you feel the way you feel now?".
Effie brought her right hand towards her chin.
Her eyes then flickered with light.
"It was before the princess told us to meet up in three days".
Isaac's expression began to change.
A dull indescribable sensation pulsed through his mind.
The world seemed to slow down.
Isaac criticized every memory at lightning speed.
Yet no matter how hard he looked he couldn't recall a conversation he had with Nephis before she told them about their three day recuperation.
he felt something called grasp heart.
He felt sweat slowly began to appear near his forehead.
His fingers began to twitch.
Isaac moved his eyes only to realize that his movement was extremely slow.
'Ahh so that's what's happening'.
Isaac had realized he was currently under the effects of [Ascetic].
His emotions must've reached the boiling point.
And since his innate ability increased an aspect of himself that was desperately needed in his situation after being filled with emotion.
It would explain why his mind was working at such incredible speeds.
To the point, the world seems to crawl.
But that wasn't the current issue.
'Why can't I remember'.
He didn't outright dismiss Effie's claim.
Under normal circumstances he would have.
His Flaw make sure he never forgot anything he experienced.
That alone would suffice to refute her claims that he had a conversation with Nephis he did not remember.
Yet there were two things that made him halt.
The first thing was the feeling of deep wrongness.
His intuition was reading alarm bells in his mind.
The second was this wasn't his first time experiencing memory loss or even an inability to remember something he had experienced.
'That dream as well'.
He had a dream that he could not remember.
Even now the memories of that dream were fuzzy and distorted.
Of course that wasn't something that could be considered a eureka moment.
It was the fact that he felt his intuition pointing in a positive direction.
feeling the effects of his innate ability war off he turned towards Effie.
"Can you tell me how that conversation started".
Effie looked at him with a concerned expression.
She had never seen his expression change so many times in a single second.
Collecting her thoughts she responded.
"It was after I mentioned howʎ̸̡͓̭͓͖̞̤̥̟̮͓̳̫͉̱͇͚̺̣̖̜͓̤͖̹̀̎͝ọ̵̤͖̖̙̮̫͖̤̟̰͕̞̣̻̳̰̜͇̟̓̑̽͗͂́̈́͜ͅn̷̰̦̘̼͉̜͒͌̾̍̈́̅̅̍̉͗̉̉͛͂̉͋̍̇̍͗̽̅̀́̄̈́̓̉̔͋͘̕͘̚͠͠͠͝͝͠ ̸̨̢̨̨̠͎͚̭̘̺̘̙̲̫̳͚̤͕͚͓͕̳̪̀͗̋̐͂̈́͋̇̚͝ן̵̢̝͖̝̖͓̦͈̩̃̌̂̀̉̀̎̅̓̇̉̓̍̐͗̎̄̿̌͋͛͌̽̔̓͋̋̌̌̂̿̿́́̇̚͝͠͠ǫ̸̧̢̫̭̠͙͔̫̩͈̳̻͈̭̱̗̭̦̰̹̂͂̍̔̈́̊̏͑̐ͅͅô̷̡̢̢̢̢̡̤̗̪̲̪̯̘̲̮̩̖̳͎͙͙͖͎̦̞̠̻͍̖̩̮͓̰̣̘̮̼̻̟̞͉͓̻̺̲͈̍̏̄̒͊͛͑̊̈̓̄̀̑̑̅͌̃̒̄̎̊̔́̾́̐̓̓̂͌͛̕̕ͅʞ̸̡̢̢̡̧̢̛̘̩̠͓̰͔̟̰̮̠̞̹̪̺̮͉̹̯̤̠̠͍͇̟̦͙̙̺̗̳̫̰̩̻͈̻͕̗̮̏́̒̅̿͊̌̅̎͂̌̉͛̐̀̔̄̎̏̉͗͌̀̽̈̀̇͘̚͘͜͠͝͝ǝ̸̡̧̡̢̨̡͖̲͖͍̞̜̝͓̦̻̥̹̩̬͚̥͈̻̝͍͙͎̮̳̳̠̗̯͇̖̳͉̪̙͖͚̺͎͇̱͙͎̳̏̄̅̊̍͆̍̓͒͋̿̃́̆͒̊͐̆̎͒͆̅͐͐̄̓̈́͋̅̎̉͛̓͛̈̿͒̌͆͘̕͝͝ṕ̶̡̢̨̡̭̯͚̮͚̠̰̭͍̮͖͕͖͉̥͈̱̙͈͕̱̯͔͚̪̫͙̠͔̰̘̰͖̝͎̳̦̜̠͎̞̦̤͗̋̅̊̎̿͗͗̽̈́̓̇̎͘̕ ̸̮̯̺̗̘̎͒́͒̇̂̑̌̂̒̑̀̒͂̓͂̌̃̿̐̊̂̀̈̽̏̆̋̚͝ן̸̧̛̜͍̖͇̤̯̜̲̬̭͖̻͖̩̭̜̞͇͈̿̎͐̓͛̊͋̿̔͊̉͒̎̈͛̽̈́͌͂͌̋̈́̕͘͘̚͜͠͝͝ͅı̴̢̡̢̡̡̛̲̱̘̗̲͓̹͍̞̭͖̹̘͙̳̥̭̗̯̦̹̲̭̣͍͔̻̮͚̜̣̬̰͎͖͊͒̈͂̈͋̒̓̀͛̏̀̈̂̍̇̾͗̾́͛̊̈́̒̅̎͑͒̃̋̈̔̈́̾̑̈́̐͘̚͘͘͘͜͝͠͠͝ʞ̵̨̲͔̬̥̬̌́̓̈̂̎͒͑̇̌̑̈̇̎̽̽̀̃̆̏̇̑̈́̄̀̃͑̀͆̍͊̓̑̕̕̕͝ǝ̸̡̡̘̲͈̱̦̹̗̟̲͕̯̟͈͍̥͖̣̝̺̭̺̖̳͍̱̣̼̳͓̼̩̳̳̳͚̜̭̖̩̒̊̈́̔̀͒͂̿͛̽͜͜͝ͅͅ ̴̨̨̨̛̛̛̛̛̝͔̩̠͇͖͙̯̠̝̬̳͇̝̫̼̤̞̪͔͕̳̩̲̩͕̱̟̩̳͊̌̑͌̈̈́̽͛̇̍́̀̔́̈̋́̎̂̄̈́̈́̀̏̚̕͜͜͠ɥ̴̧̗̜͖̜̞̺̼̟̩̳͍̙̗̜̠̮͍̘͕̬̣͚͚̘̰͚̯̭̫̟̖͖͔̩̤̀̆̊̀̓̂̋͋̈̄͛́̆͆͆̿͑̈́̍̇̽̕͜͝ǝ̸̨̨̡̧̛̛̘͇̬̝͇̙̦̩̻̮͖̟̹͎͙̈́͒͆͑́̽͗̿͐̅͐̾̇̈́̀̎͒̈́̊̑̐̋͑̍̊͊͂̑͑͂̈́̀̈́͑͛͋̽͘͜͝͝ɹ̷̧̢̢̤̖̗̪̥̭͈̘̪̬̹̻͍̜̼̻͖̰͊̈͂̓̔̈́͗̄̀̄̂̈͐̑̑͗̑̃́̅̈́̐̆̿̏͑͐̅̃͋̉͐̾̈́̄̉͆̚̕͠ͅͅͅ".
Isaac with stunned.
"What did you say?"