Raizel knew from the book that those two shared a bond that even the spell could ever sever — not without breaking the world itself in half.
He watched, impassive, as Sunny lunged at the scavenger. With grim efficiency, Sunny struck the joint of the creature's front leg, cleaving clean through the sinew and bone. The severed limb hit the ground with a wet, ugly sound.
Without pausing, Sunny drove the tip of his sword up into the scavenger's gaping maw. The blade sank deep, silencing the beast with a final, shuddering spasm.
'The pain again.'
Raizel could feel the pain, from his leg joints and his mouth, but he ignored it.
The corpse collapsed in a twitching heap.
Raizel felt a faint pull in his chest — his essence, sluggish and cold, was beginning to stir again.
'Time to move,' he thought, a little grim.
Without so much as a whisper, Raizel vanished from where he stood and reappeared directly in front of Sunny. The boy nearly dropped his sword, stumbling back in shock.
"Sunny," Raizel said, voice calm, measured — carrying a weight that needed no shouting.
"Go. Bring Cassie."
"B-But… N-Nephis!" Sunny stammered, glancing toward the another scavenger.
His hands were shaking.
"I will see to her," Raizel said, already turning away. His tone left no room for argument.
"Find Cassie. Quickly, before the real monsters catch our scent.".
Sunny hesitated, torn, but finally nodded. His steps faltered at first as he turned and headed toward Cassie's hiding spot, every instinct in him screaming wrong, wrong, wrong.
He kept glancing back, unable to shake the sick, gut-deep feeling that something was slipping through his fingers.
Something precious
"Something he wouldn't be able to get back once it was gone."
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"Nephis, you alright?" Raizel asked as he moved past the scavenger's corpse.
He already knew the answer.
Pain wasn't something she or anyone could hide from him — he felt it, stitched into his own nerves like a second skin.
But he asked anyway.
'Some truths didn't need exposing.'
"I-I'm fine. D-Don't... don't come closer," Nephis rasped, her voice shaky and thin.
Raizel kept walking. Slow. Unbothered.
Then he stopped.
Nephis stood in front of the dead scavenger, framed by the dead monster, trying to catch her breath, skin covered in blood. A brutal gash carved across her shoulder, another tearing through her stomach.
Blood ran down her shoulder and stomach in thick, ugly lines.
Her white tunic — or whatever was left of it — had been shredded in the fight.
She was completely naked, barely managing to cover herself — one arm across her chest, the other over her hips.
Their were red shads of line in her face probably because she was embarrassed to be seen by someone.
Her face burned red with shame, but she held her ground, trembling but stubborn.
Her silver eyes still burned with that unbreakable will.
Raizel didn't stare at her body. He didn't need to, her body is not something that interest him, and he has already seen her like this way before, The real problem was the blood leaking out of her, fast enough to kill her.
He stepped closer.
"Move your hands," he said, calm, almost casual.
"W-What?!" Nephis flinched, eyes wide, clutching herself tighter.
"I need to see," Raizel said. His tone didn't rise. It didn't need to.
Nephis hesitated, stammering something he didn't bother listening to.
He just sighed and reached out, pulling her arms aside.
Nephis jerked at the touch, but her strength was spent. She tried to protest — a sound, a word — but nothing came out. She pushed weakly against him, but it was like pushing against the tide.
Raizel examined the torn flesh, the blood running freely down her pale skin.
'This is bad,' he thought grimly.
The wound on her stomach was bad. Real bad.
Deep enough to gut her if left alone, he could also feel her life slowly leaving her body.
'And it seems like she is also out of essence.'
Her body would have already heal itself due to her Aspect, if she had enough essence but it's seems like the fight took a lot out of her.
Raizel narrowed his eyes. His mind worked fast.
He could save her. His blood could.
The blood of the Royal Dark Solomon family, it wasn't just any blood— it could heal wounds, extend life to half decade, do things no mortal medicine or any healing aspect could touch. But only if he gave it willingly. If someone tried to take it by force... they would inherit only endless suffering, endless curses. A fate worse than death.
The question wasn't whether he could save her.
It was whether she was worth it.
Sure, she was supposed to become some kind of saint later in the future, the shining star of humanity and all that crap.
But Raizel didn't believe in legends. He believed in choices. In consequences.
He studied her — not the blood, not the body — but the girl who stood there, shaking, trying to hide everything she could, but still too stubborn to fall.
'Just like that time.' thought Raizel while remembering the time when she come in his Castle begging for an alliance, only to fail trial given my him, but she still didn't give up.
'Well Nephis, let's see how you will go.'
He made up his mind.
Without a word, he summoned his sword, cut his palm, and held it out toward her, his dark crimson blood flowing out of his palm.
"Drink," he said simply. "It'll help."
Nephis stared at him, then at his bleeding hand, her face covered in horror and hesitation flickering across her face. It looked like she was about to throw up just thinking about it.
Blood wasn't meant to be drunk. Blood was sacred, filthy, terrifying. But Raizel didn't pull his hand back. He just waited, steady as stone.
Trust or die.
In the end, she gave in. She leaned forward and touched her tongue to his palm.
The moment she tasted it, her hesitation snapped. It was tentative at first — then again, more desperate, more hurried as if fearing the gift might be snatched away. Eyes wide, almost feverish as she devoured it.
Raizel didn't flinch. He let her drink.
When the wound finally closed and the blood stopped flowing, she didn't stop.
She kept licking, cleaning his hand like an addict starving for a hit.
Only when the last trace of blood was gone did she finally break.
She staggered back, knees buckling like a puppet with its strings cut. She collapsed onto the ground.
Raizel watched her, silent.
Then, under his gaze, her wounds started to close. Slow at first, then faster — skin knitting itself back together, blood fading from her flesh like a bad dream. It was like watching someone be rewound by time itself.
'Interesting,' Raizel thought and unknown to him, a faint smirk was tugging at the corner of his mouth.
'Very interesting indeed.'
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Nephis (pov)
Addictive.
Sinful.
Unholy.
That was the taste of Raizel's blood.
It wasn't just delicious — it devoured her from the inside out.
Every drop felt like a secret pleasure dripping down her throat.
Her fatigue, her hunger, even her thirst — all washed away in an instant.
More than that... she could feel it.
Her strength growing, like she has awakened. Her body healed itself like a starving beast suddenly fed after days in the desert. Her senses sharpening, she could now see and feel more thing around her.
She was high — drunk on him — the entire time she licked his blood.
It shocked her how short it lasted. Barely a few seconds, but it had changed everything.
Her muscles buzzed with energy.
Her mind, once fogged and sluggish, now blazed with clarity, It was sharp — too sharp — buzzing with alien clarity.
Even her eyes, once heavy and dim, now gleamed with radiant life.
A trembling smile curled up on her lips without her permission.
'Fascinating... dangerous...' she thought hazily.
She lifted her gaze.
Raizel stood over her, still, calm — that inhuman face carved from stone.
He was dressed in torn black armor, smeared with blood and dirt, yet still managing to look untouchable.
His skin, pale as frost.
His purple eyes, dead and bottomless.
Her heart skipped.
Nephis bit her lip — hard enough to draw blood, her heat pooling somewhere deep inside her.
Her body betrayed her then.
She became hyper-aware of herself:
The slim curve of her hips.
The tender flesh of her breasts, rising and falling with every breath.
The subtle scars on her thighs — memories of old battles.
Her pale, lithe form covered only by her arms, feeble shields against his cold gaze.
'He looks so beautiful in that armor...' she thought dreamily.
"Nephis."
'I want to tear that armor off him.'
"Nephis!!"
His voice cracked through the haze like a whip.
Nephis blinked, jerking back into reality.
Raizel's face hadn't changed — still cold, unreadable. But something in his eyes… an old cruelty, maybe... flickered for a moment.
"It seems your wounds are healed. Good," he said, tone flat as ever.
Nephis glanced down at herself instinctively.
Where there should have been a massive gash on her stomach and shoulder... nothing.
Perfect, untouched skin, Not even a scar left behind.
For one beat, she felt awe.
'Wow.'
The next, she felt horror.
'BUT HOW!?'
Cough!
She barely had time to marvel before Raizel coughed awkwardly and looked away.
"Well... it might be good if you, uh, cover yourself," he said, pointing vaguely downward without meeting her eyes.
Confused, she followed his gesture — then her heart stopped cold.
!!!
She was still completely naked.
Worse, she had been sitting there in front of him with her legs spread carelessly wide. Like a damn exhibition.
Obscene. Shameful. Powerless.
Face burning hotter than molten steel, she scrambled to her feet, covering herself clumsily with both arms.
'How could I forget something so important?!' she screamed internally, mortified beyond belief.
Humiliation twisted in her gut like a knife.
She shot Raizel a furious glare, as if blaming him for everything.
He just sighed like she was the most troublesome thing alive, then snapped his fingers.
SNAP!
Thin white threads appeared out of nowhere, swirling around her body.
In seconds, they wove themselves into a simple black shirt and pants, wrapping her in blessed modesty.
'Just like that night...' Nephis thought, remembering when he had saved her and Cassie before.
Fully clothed now, Nephis narrowed her eyes and stabbed him with a glare sharp enough to kill.
"You could have done that from the start," she said icily.
"I didn't have enough essence," he replied with a casual shrug, voice matching her coldness.
She looked at him suspiciously.
Raizel, reading her doubt without any effort, then he added.
"Believe it or not. Not like there was anything worth seeing anyway."
His words hit harder than any blade.
Nephis gasped, her pride taking a brutal punch to the gut, she even physically recoiled, as if slapped.
The third time.
The third damn time someone had said something like that.
And two time — it was him.
She opened her mouth to yell at him, finger pointing furiously — but no words came out.
In the end, she just lowered her head, cheeks burning in humiliation, fists trembling.
Without another glance at her, Raizel turned and started walking.
"Come on. Sunny and Cassie are waiting."
He didn't even check if she followed.
Heart pounding, dignity shattered, Nephis chased after him like a lost child.
Because no matter how much she hated it... she didn't want to lose sight of him, which she even don't know why.
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Sunny (POV)
We finally caught up with Raizel and Nephis.
Cassie broke into a run the second she sense Nephis, panic written all over her face.
She reached her and started fussing immediately, checking for injuries like a desperate medic after a massacre.
I slowed down, keeping my eyes on Nephis.
Something... was off.
She wasn't wearing her shredded white tunic anymore. Instead, she was wrapped in some kind of black and white, conjured clothing — it clung to her like second skin.
Her face was flushed, sweat dripping down her forehead, her breathing uneven.
I frowned.
'Where the hell did she get those clothes from? And why the hell is she sweating like she's about to pass out?'
Maybe it was the fight. Maybe it was something else.
Either way, it wasn't my problem. I nodded to myself and brushed it off.
Then, out of nowhere — a black shape slithered into view behind Raizel.
My instincts screamed.
!!!
"RAIZEL, LOOK OUT!" I shouted, already sprinting with my blade drawn, ready to cleave the thing in half.
Only to slam to a halt when Raizel lazily lifted a hand.
"Sunny," he said in that dead, hollow voice of his, "stop."
I skidded, almost losing my balance.
"What the hell, Raizel?!" I barked, glaring at him like he'd lost his damn mind.
He didn't flinch. Just pointed toward the creature.
"It's not a monster," he said calmly. "It's an Echo."
I followed his finger — and froze.
The creature wasn't charging. It was standing still, silent, watching us with a cold, alien patience.
Its entire body was wrapped in blackened armor, like burnt bone and rusted steel fused together.
From the cracks in its plates, faint black flames licked the air, flickering in and out of existence.
It looked like a twisted version of the Carapace Scavenger — only meaner, sharper, and somehow... wrong.
My mouth was dry.
"You got an Echo?" I muttered, still trying to process it.
Next to me, Nephis gripped her sword tighter, her face frozen in a mixture of shock and — was that embarrassment? She turned her face away from Raizel, cheeks darkening even more.
'Weird,' I thought. 'Really weird.'
Cassie, ever the honest one, couldn't hide her shock.
"An Echo? You actually got an Echo?!"
I kept my eyes on the thing, watching it shift its weight slightly, the dark flames licking at its armor.
Yeah. It was real.
Getting an Echo was like being struck by lightning — rare, random, and if you survived it, life-changing.
In the real world, people would kill their own blood for a shot at owning one.
Memories were valuable.
But an Echo?
That was power incarnate.
Still... something about this one made my skin crawl.
After a few long seconds, I finally spoke:
"I think we can task it with carrying Cassie. Outside of a fight, it'll be the most useful."
Raizel gave a slight nod, his purple eyes empty and cold.
"I agree," he said.
Cassie, poor girl, looked like she'd just been asked to ride a corpse.
"Carry me? Like… like a mount?"
I smirked, trying to ease the tension before she fainted.
"Trust me," I said, giving her a crooked grin not like she can see it.
"I've been clambering all over these things for days. It's actually pretty cozy. As long as they're not trying to gut you."
Cassie hesitated, glancing around nervously.
After a long pause, she sighed.
"Well… okay. If you think it's for the best."
I chuckled quietly.
Inside though, I couldn't shake the feeling.
Like we had just crossed a line that we wouldn't be able to step back from.
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Unknown(pov)
After some brief discussion, the four Sleepers pressed onward, heading west.
With Cassie and Raizel riding atop the scavenger Echo, their pace increased dramatically.
Nephis and Sunny led the way on foot, keeping a steady jog.
The need for shelter was growing urgent — nightfall would soon drown, and the water level would also rise, staying below was not an option.
Time was slipping away.
Without warning, Cassie called for them to stop.
"Wait!"
Nephis and Sunny stiffened, exchanging grim looks. Instinct warned them: nothing good ever came from halting in a place like this.
"...What is it?"
Cassie's voice was low, uneasy.
"Do you hear that?"
Both Nephis and Sunny shook their heads, tension tight around their shoulders.
"I hear it," Raizel said, his purple eyes scanning the grey sky above. His voice was colder than usual, almost detached.
Sunny narrowed his eyes.
"What do you hear?"
Raizel did not answer.
Instead, Cassie whispered, as if afraid the world might hear:
"...Murmuring."
She reached out blindly, trying to dismount the Echo.
Nephis instinctively moved to help her —
But Raizel's voice, sharp and uncharacteristically harsh, cut through the moment.
"Don't."
Nephis froze, confused.
Raizel's gaze was empty and distant, like he was already seeing something none of them could.
"We need to run," he said quietly.
"A storm is coming."
Their hearts froze.
And then—
Tip.
The first raindrop hit.
Then another.
And another.
Until the sky opened up, unleashing a torrential downpour.
Water slammed into them like claws from the heavens, cold and heavy.
In the distance, nightmare creatures screamed — frantic, desperate — fleeing across the endless maze.
Some ran. Some stumbled. Some simply collapsed where they stood, devoured by the rising flood.
Raizel didn't hesitate.
Without ceremony, he grabbed Cassie in his arms and dismissed his Echo, the creature vanishing in a shudder of black mist.
Cassie gasped, fear blanching her face.
'Of course,' Raizel thought bitterly. 'It would happen now.'
He know what was about to happened, so without waiting, he reached out with invisible force, seizing Nephis and Sunny with his telekinesis like ragdolls.
Then, they ascended into the howling sky.
RUMBLE
Thunder ripped the heavens apart.
Below them, Nephis and Sunny watched in horror as dark waters surged across the ground where they had stood mere seconds ago — hungry, relentless, rising with impossible speed.
Nightmare creatures scrambled madly, some leaping onto walls, some clawing at the stone, all fighting the inevitable.
But most were simply swallowed.
One moment alive —
The next, gone, torn to pieces by the roiling black flood.
The wind howled like a chorus of dying gods.
Lightning cracked the sky open — jagged veins of white fire, blinding and deafening.
One bolt struck Raizel directly.
His body jerked mid-air, almost dropping them all.
Cassie screamed.
Nephis clenched her jaw.
Sunny cursed under his breath.
Raizel, somehow, stayed conscious — but barely.
The others could see it.
His face was deathly pale, his arms trembling with the effort of keeping them aloft.
Every second dragged them closer to disaster.
Below, the black sea rose higher and higher — it would soon swallow the labyrinth completely.
None of them dared to look down again.
They didn't have the time.
They didn't have the hope.
Only Raizel's failing strength kept them from drowning in the nightmare.
Then—
They saw it.
Far ahead, through sheets of rain and flashes of lightning, something loomed in the distance.
Tall. Jagged. Dark against the darker sky.
A cliff.
A chance at survival.
If they could reach it.
If Raizel didn't fall first.