A Sunless Dream

Cold air billowed through the air as seven saints made their way slowly towards God Grave. They had the option of boarding the chain breaker however the idea was an ambush, a giant ship would draw too much attention.

"We have five hours to beat the guy. We're going to start the fight early and hopefully take advantage of his sudden divided attention."

The source of the voice was a man of short stature, he was wearing a pitch-black winter jacket which flew in the air behind him with the fast winds, he donned a pitch-black mask which covered the lower part of his face leaving only his onyx eyes and black hair flowing through the wind.

"No offence shorty but wouldn't it be better not to fight him when he has no restraints" Effie's voice had a hint of nervousness as she said it, she couldn't rush into the battle without restraint like she once had. Her life didn't belong to her alone anymore, she had a son to take care of.

Such restraints were both a source of immense nervousness and strength, she couldn't die here. Anything that got in the way of her and her son would be quickly removed.

"If we give him even a moment to get used to his weakened strength, we'll die. Just trust Sunny" Nephis voice cut through the billowing winds like a knife, the radiant light her soul emitted served as a beacon in the dark world of the dream realm.

Their steps were steady and focused, Kai continued to look around admiring the environment close to God Grave. There was snow falling on the ground, which was unusual for a place usually famed for it's heat however he wasn't complaining.

"This snow isn't natural" Morgan commented, she was hugged to Kai's side like a magnet to metal as she attempted to find warmth in him regardless of her near immunity to the cold.

"Yeah, it would be better if we picked up the pace by now" moving to use his transformation ability, Kai was suddenly stopped by the raised hand of Sunny. Sunny then pulled out a small lantern, it had an open entrance which only contained pure darkness within it.

The gate of the lantern seemed endless yet alluring, Kai struggled to take his eyes off it before Sunny commented "Go." Immediately, the entire world was covered in darkness. It wasn't the chilling true darkness that dwelled beneath the dream realm, rather, it was something more sinister. A singular gigantic shadow.

Immediately, an odd sensation overwhelmed the entire cohort. They found themselves unable to see as they had been sucked into the shadow "Don't speak, just follow my lead" Sunny's voice radiated around them in all directions as they found themselves moving towards the citadel with immense speed.

Although Jet couldn't see anything, she had noticed that Sunny's attitude was much more focused and serious compared to how he had been when they had been training.

'So, this is what he's like when he gets serious.' She commented mildly, the change wasn't unwelcome however it was quite shocking. In a few moments, the cohort found themselves slowly emerging from the shadows. They were before the nameless temple.

Unlike Nephis and Sunny's previous encounters, Orion was standing in front of the citadel waiting for them. He sat with his legs crossed in front of the entrance of the citadel with a bored expression on his face as he got up slowly with a sigh.

"I'm not the original, he manipulated shadows to create me. I'm here to assess something." His voice cut through the silence as Sunny stared at him with an intense expression. Immediately, the shadow was behind Sunny with his sword drawn.

Quickly, the shadow sheathed his sword once more as a sly grin appeared on his face. "You've gotten stronger" with that, the head of the shadow slowly slid off it's body as a hole appeared in it's chest. Sunny had killed it.

Continuing to lead the way into the citadel, soon they found themselves before what they presumed was the actual Orion. A low laugh escaped from the man's lips as he slowly made his way off his throne.

"Soul Reaper, Raised by Wolves, Nightengale, Morgan of Valor, Song of the fallen" his finger scanned across the room as he took notice of all the new arrivals in his citadel "Not to mention, Changing Star and you...Sunless." In a matter of moments, he was standing before all seven Saints who had slowly surrounded him in a wide half circle.

"The look in your eyes! It's so pathetic!" Orion dismissed his mask as he spun around to lock eyes with each saint that had surrounded him "You don't possess resolve! You don't even have a good reason to kill me!" his voice shook the room as anger dripped from his tone "Come at me, fight! We are humans are we not? You wish to take from me, and I shall take everything from you! That is how we are!"

"If you don't have resolve, I'll feed you some, if I am not killed here Saint Athena, I will kill your son and husband slowly! I will gouge out the eyes of changing star and heal her continuously and force you all to watch! Is that what you need? Come at me, fight me, try and kill me!"

The distance between Orion and Sunny became mere inches as he locked eyes with Sunny, who remained silent for the entire tirade. "Is it you? Will you be the one to kill me?" without receiving an answer, Orion materialised a sword and swung it at Sunny's throat.

A battle deciding the destinies of all present, had begun.

The rest of the Cohort jumped backwards allowing them the space needed for the fight, after all, that was the plan.

Before they had begun preparations to leave, Sunny made sure to relay the plan to every single one of them once more.

"We can't win if we attack him all at once, all doing that would do is force him to go all out and kill us all. The core of this mission is to do as much damage to him without making him feel like he needs to use his full power. We'll fight him in intervals of five minutes and immediately retreat, it's first come first serve so whoever he attacks first is game. Do not interfere with each others fights if you want to see the end of today."

Sunny's voice commanded their respect in a way Nephis hadn't. The chance of them dying was very real however the strategy allowed defeating Orion to become at least slightly feasible. Kill him before he copies you.

Raising his own sword to block the blow, Sunny sent a slash at Orion's chest which he blocked by raising an arm. As he raised it, a sword protruded from his arm clashing with the sword causing sparks to fly. Sunny sent a kick at Orion's leg only for Orion to raise his shin to block the kick.

To his surprise, Sunny instead stomped on the floor sending a spiderweb of cracks throughout the entire building. He then sent a punch to Orion's chest which sent him sliding back five feet as he closed the distance immediately grabbing Sunny by the face. Nephis anxious gasp echoed through the citadel as Sunny grabbed his arm while remaining midair and twisting his body to slam Orion's head into the floor.

In an inhuman display of flexibility, Orion allowed himself to spin with the twist and threw his legs in front of his head to land on his feet instead of hitting the ground face first. The move gave Sunny enough time to do a cartwheel and hit Orion in the back of the head with his shin, Orion swung his head backwards to meet the force of the kick before digging his fist into the floor.

His fist bulged as his veins seemed like they were close to bursting out his skin as he used one arm to propel himself towards Sunny at blinding speeds landing a dropkick directly on his face. Sunny blocked the blow by grabbing Orion's foot before swinging his sword down to impale him.

Orion shook his foot and sent Sunny sliding backwards before they both rushed at each other and clashed blades. A small grin settled upon Sunny's face as his eyes blazed with madness matching Orion's.

"Let's get busy you fucking bastard."****"Cold air billowed through the air as seven saints made their way slowly towards God Grave. They had the option of boarding the chain breaker however the idea was an ambush, a giant ship would draw too much attention.

"We have five hours to beat the guy. We're going to start the fight early and hopefully take advantage of his sudden divided attention."

The source of the voice was a man of short stature, he was wearing a pitch-black winter jacket which flew in the air behind him with the fast winds, he donned a pitch-black mask which covered the lower part of his face leaving only his onyx eyes and black hair flowing through the wind.

"No offence shorty but wouldn't it be better not to fight him when he has no restraints" Effie's voice had a hint of nervousness as she said it, she couldn't rush into the battle without restraint like she once had. Her life didn't belong to her alone anymore, she had a son to take care of.

Such restraints were both a source of immense nervousness and strength, she couldn't die here. Anything that got in the way of her and her son would be quickly removed.

"If we give him even a moment to get used to his weakened strength, we'll die. Just trust Sunny" Nephis voice cut through the billowing winds like a knife, the radiant light her soul emitted served as a beacon in the dark world of the dream realm.

Their steps were steady and focused, Kai continued to look around admiring the environment close to God Grave. There was snow falling on the ground, which was unusual for a place usually famed for it's heat however he wasn't complaining.

"This snow isn't natural" Morgan commented, she was hugged to Kai's side like a magnet to metal as she attempted to find warmth in him regardless of her near immunity to the cold.

"Yeah, it would be better if we picked up the pace by now" moving to use his transformation ability, Kai was suddenly stopped by the raised hand of Sunny. Sunny then pulled out a small lantern, it had an open entrance which only contained pure darkness within it.

The gate of the lantern seemed endless yet alluring, Kai struggled to take his eyes off it before Sunny commented "Go." Immediately, the entire world was covered in darkness. It wasn't the chilling true darkness that dwelled beneath the dream realm, rather, it was something more sinister. A singular gigantic shadow.

Immediately, an odd sensation overwhelmed the entire cohort. They found themselves unable to see as they had been sucked into the shadow "Don't speak, just follow my lead" Sunny's voice radiated around them in all directions as they found themselves moving towards the citadel with immense speed.

Although Jet couldn't see anything, she had noticed that Sunny's attitude was much more focused and serious compared to how he had been when they had been training.

'So, this is what he's like when he gets serious.' She commented mildly, the change wasn't unwelcome however it was quite shocking. In a few moments, the cohort found themselves slowly emerging from the shadows. They were before the nameless temple.

Unlike Nephis and Sunny's previous encounters, Orion was standing in front of the citadel waiting for them. He sat with his legs crossed in front of the entrance of the citadel with a bored expression on his face as he got up slowly with a sigh.

"I'm not the original, he manipulated shadows to create me. I'm here to assess something." His voice cut through the silence as Sunny stared at him with an intense expression. Immediately, the shadow was behind Sunny with his sword drawn.

Quickly, the shadow sheathed his sword once more as a sly grin appeared on his face. "You've gotten stronger" with that, the head of the shadow slowly slid off it's body as a hole appeared in it's chest. Sunny had killed it.

Continuing to lead the way into the citadel, soon they found themselves before what they presumed was the actual Orion. A low laugh escaped from the man's lips as he slowly made his way off his throne.

"Soul Reaper, Raised by Wolves, Nightengale, Morgan of Valor, Song of the fallen" his finger scanned across the room as he took notice of all the new arrivals in his citadel "Not to mention, Changing Star and you...Sunless." In a matter of moments, he was standing before all seven Saints who had slowly surrounded him in a wide half circle.

"The look in your eyes! It's so pathetic!" Orion dismissed his mask as he spun around to lock eyes with each saint that had surrounded him "You don't possess resolve! You don't even have a good reason to kill me!" his voice shook the room as anger dripped from his tone "Come at me, fight! We are humans are we not? You wish to take from me, and I shall take everything from you! That is how we are!"

"If you don't have resolve, I'll feed you some, if I am not killed here Saint Athena, I will kill your son and husband slowly! I will gouge out the eyes of changing star and heal her continuously and force you all to watch! Is that what you need? Come at me, fight me, try and kill me!"

The distance between Orion and Sunny became mere inches as he locked eyes with Sunny, who remained silent for the entire tirade. "Is it you? Will you be the one to kill me?" without receiving an answer, Orion materialised a sword and swung it at Sunny's throat.

A battle deciding the destinies of all present, had begun.

The rest of the Cohort jumped backwards allowing them the space needed for the fight, after all, that was the plan.

Before they had begun preparations to leave, Sunny made sure to relay the plan to every single one of them once more.

"We can't win if we attack him all at once, all doing that would do is force him to go all out and kill us all. The core of this mission is to do as much damage to him without making him feel like he needs to use his full power. We'll fight him in intervals of five minutes and immediately retreat, it's first come first serve so whoever he attacks first is game. Do not interfere with each others fights if you want to see the end of today."

Sunny's voice commanded their respect in a way Nephis hadn't. The chance of them dying was very real however the strategy allowed defeating Orion to become at least slightly feasible. Kill him before he copies you.

Raising his own sword to block the blow, Sunny sent a slash at Orion's chest which he blocked by raising an arm. As he raised it, a sword protruded from his arm clashing with the sword causing sparks to fly. Sunny sent a kick at Orion's leg only for Orion to raise his shin to block the kick.

To his surprise, Sunny instead stomped on the floor sending a spiderweb of cracks throughout the entire building. He then sent a punch to Orion's chest which sent him sliding back five feet as he closed the distance immediately grabbing Sunny by the face. Nephis anxious gasp echoed through the citadel as Sunny grabbed his arm while remaining midair and twisting his body to slam Orion's head into the floor.

In an inhuman display of flexibility, Orion allowed himself to spin with the twist and threw his legs in front of his head to land on his feet instead of hitting the ground face first. The move gave Sunny enough time to do a cartwheel and hit Orion in the back of the head with his shin, Orion swung his head backwards to meet the force of the kick before digging his fist into the floor.

His fist bulged as his veins seemed like they were close to bursting out his skin as he used one arm to propel himself towards Sunny at blinding speeds landing a dropkick directly on his face. Sunny blocked the blow by grabbing Orion's foot before swinging his sword down to impale him.

Orion shook his foot and sent Sunny sliding backwards before they both rushed at each other and clashed blades. A small grin settled upon Sunny's face as his eyes blazed with madness matching Orion's.

"Let's get busy you fucking bastard."