A lonely Shadow

Travelling through the dream realm to see Mordret alone had not been one of Nephis expected plans in the recent months, however, Sunny had explicitly noted to her that he planned on making the man an ally, and the memory he gifted to her was one which would aid in such a mission.

The memory he gave her was inconspicuous at first glance, and its name only served to further reinforce the image. It was just as the name implied an [Ordinary Rock]. Upon summoning it, Nephis had been told it would relay the message that Sunny had specifically spoken into it for however long he spoke.

She found herself having temptations to play the message before her encounter with Mordret, simply out of curiosity alone, however, Sunny had trusted her with the specific task. She didn't want to fail him again.

Although most hadn't noticed, Nephis could see the stress lines and eyebags that were forming upon Sunny's divine features. That wasn't to say they made him look any less attractive, in fact she could argue that they amplified that effect. But it was clear that the man was pushing himself both mentally and physically. Aside from the night he spent at her home, she wasn't even sure if he had been sleeping.

Shaking off her worry, Nephis followed the map Sunny had drawn for her to the location where she was supposed to meet Mordret. Her eyes became sharp as she donned her armour and a sheathed longsword, despite Sunny's words, failure to negotiate with the man was to be expected. She had to be prepared.

Upon finally arriving at the location, Nephis found a tall man with darkened, dishevelled hair with pitch black eyes standing atop the gigantic form of a slain nightmare creature. The resemblance Mordret had to Sunny was uncanny and unsettling, it almost felt like she was looking at one of Sunny's siblings.

A chilling laugh tore Nephis from her inspections of Mordret's facial features as he jumped off the titanic nightmare creature. From the looks of it, she was sure it had been at least of the rank of a fallen terror or even a titan. "Sunless must think we're far closer than we are if he had the mind to bring something so vile in my presence."

Mordret's voice, which typically was tinged with chilling and emotionless malice was tinged with disgust and something deeper which she couldn't identify as he appeared before Nephis. "Tell me, why is a Nephilim in my presence. Instead of the divine shadow I've become acquaintances with?"

How Mordret knew she was a Nephilim was beyond her, but Nephis face remained impassive as she quickly summoned the [Ordinary Rock] and held it in her left hand. "I'm going to brush off the insults because I assume you don't know any better. But Sunny has asked me to relay a message to you on his behalf as he's attending to…personal business."

Her voice gave away nothing towards her emotions as she locked eyes with the man before her. Mordret was half considering taking her soul however the thought of residing in the body of a Nephilim almost made him empty the contents of his stomach as he stood before her. Instead, he simply nodded before allowing a smile to settle on his face.

"We can get to Sunless message in a second, for now, tell me. Are you related at all to the original dream spawn?" Nephis eyes widened and flared with fury. She knew Mordret had once been of high value within Valor, however going so far as knowing Asterion was a dream spawn meant he was valuable…too valuable.

"What do you know about Aste-" Before Nephis could finish her sentence, Mordret slapped his hand over her mouth before placing a finger on his lips. His expression expressed mild concern; Nephis could tell that Asterion's name aroused deep emotions from the man before her. Moreso fury and fear than anything else.

'Maybe we can be allies after all.'

Slowly removing his hand from her lips, Mordret wiped his hand across his shirt with disgust before looking Nephis over. "Are you insane perhaps? No, even the insane wouldn't go as far as doing what you just did. Are you trying to get that vile thing to start watching us right now? I'll only say this once, never say his name aloud."

Mordret's ominous warning merely raised Nephis curiosity, however, from the looks of things Asterion was far more dangerous than either Anvil or Ki Song. She had almost suspected he had died, however knowing he was alive brought her more worry than comfort.

Sighing to herself, Nephis shook her head and focused her eyes on the memory once more. "We better get to business then; I don't intend to be here longer than I have to." Mordret simply nodded in reply as he sat down and prepared himself for what Sunny had to say. And then, the Ordinary Rock spoke.

"Hi Neph, you too Mordret. This message was for both of you to hear at once, so I really hope you didn't listen to it before you met him, Neph. But simply enough, Mordret all I want you to do is go into the barracks of clan Valor. And kill as many people as possible, destroy as many structures as possible too."

Nephis eyes widened, while Mordret only gained a sickening smirk at the idea of ripping apart Valor limb from limb. It appeared that Sunny knew his tastes much better than he thought he would, and knowing Sunny's flaw only helped make the trust more authentic. The ordinary rock didn't stop there though.

"The goal is to cause chaos, use the mirror beast to copy Neph's aspect and just blast at everything you see and light fires everywhere. Now this is where you come in Neph, all you must do is very simple. When Mordret arrives, destroying everything, I simply want you to stop him. Mordret, unless you're suicidal don't use your main body. I expect you won't, so simply allow your vessel to be destroyed by Neph and hide in the mirror beast, using it to escape."

Now Nephis was perplexed, she wanted Mordret to cause chaos, and for her to mitigate it? This was the first time she had ever truly been utterly stumped at the machinations that Sunny's mind went through, meanwhile, Mordret didn't seem utterly opposed to the idea. Taking down all of Valor as he was, simply just couldn't even be considered as an option. Sunny's voice only continued, pulling them out of their thoughts.

"But before you do anything, either of you. It is of the utmost importance Nephis gains a memory that allows her to resist your soul stealing Mordret, because even if she does destroy your vessel, Valor may get suspicious you took over her body and kill her."

Mordret scratched his chin in contemplation of the idea, like Nephis, he too had no clue at the grander plan Sunny was trying to achieve through doing this. The way Sunny's mind was operating was in stark contrast to the mad man Mordret had seen through the eyes of the mirror beast, yet only a mad man would be able to produce such a plan.

As Sunny's voice stopped emanating through the Ordinary Rock, Nephis dismissed it and sighed to herself tiredly. Things were only becoming more hectic now. Turning to Mordret, the only thing left to do was to decide when exactly the attack of Valor would occur. To their shared surprise, they spoke in unison.

"The attack happens in a week."

Both blinked in surprise at the shared wavelength of their thinking, before Nephis spun on her heel and made her way back to the ivory tower. She was going to interrogate Sunny on the true extent of his plans eventually, but knowing him, she was sure it would all work out.

That's why, she was even more surprised when she arrived home, only to see Sunny's tired form collapse onto the floor as he made his way through the door.