Stepping forward with slow, measured steps, Sunny watched as Jet fell back, allowing her to catch her breathe and the same sentiment could be shared for his opponents. While blitzing and slicing their heads off remained an option, blitzkrieg tactics always had the downside of becoming boring.
And so, drawing a gold and diamond plated blade, Sunny waited until his two enemies breathes stilled, indicating they had completely regained their stamina before pointing his blade at the duo. "I'll give you the chance to surrender, if you don't take it, I can't guarantee you'll be 'ok' once I'm done with you."
"Go fuck yourself you monster." Kai growled, in response, a serene smile spread across Sunny's features.
"I couldn't honestly say I expected you to surrender, but offering it never hurt anyone, no? Let's see how far your arrogance takes you."
Kai, once more, acted first. Raising his pistols and firing them in quick succession, he intended to end the life of his monstrous opponent as quickly as possible. Although he was all too familiar with the utter ineffectiveness that projectiles had proved themselves to be against Sunny, he was determined, nonetheless.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the field, but Sunny wasn't there anymore. Moving faster than either of them could register, Sunny was next to Kai with the stealth of a phantom. Extending a hand, Sunny twisted his wrist, causing a sharp pain to shoot through his arms as his pistol was wrenched away.
In the next moment, the butt of a knife cracked against his ribs, sending him stumbling back. Effie lunged, her spear thrusting forward with eerie precision. Sunny's response came immediately. Sidestepping, he avoided the tip of the spear with a small smile as he watched her glide by.
Before Effie could adjust, Sunny twisted his body, slamming his elbow into her chest. The impact sent her skidding back, her boots digging into the soil. Kai, who had been feigning injury drew his second pistol and fired without hesitation. It was near point blank range, if there was ever a guaranteed shot then this was it.
But Sunny was already moving. He weaved through the bullets with unnatural ease, his knives flashing. A single stroke of his knives, flashing gold through his vision was all he saw as the barrel of Kai's pistol was torn into two pieces, rendering it useless.
Before Kai could mount any sort of counterattack, Sunny's foot slammed into his stomach, launching him backwards. Effie was back in the fight instantly, swinging her spear in a powerful arc. This time, she didn't aim for precision, hoping to push him back with sheer strength alone.
But Sunny didn't retreat. He stepped into her attack, his diamond plated knife meeting with the spear's shaft as a flash of sparks lit up the field. Before Effie could react, Sunny pivoted, striking her with the flat of his blade. She felt the impact rattle her skull as she staggered to the side.
They were losing. And fast.
Kai gritted his teeth, unleashing curses formerly unknown to his vocabulary with ease as he switched tactics, moving in close with his fists. "You're getting closer to me? Really? Are you sure that's the right option?" Sunny teased. In all fairness, Kai's striking was impeccable, each one of his strikes capable of killing.
And yet, it was useless.
Every punch was dodged with minimal effort, every kick was met with a counter before it could even fully extend. It was as though Sunny had repeated this fight thousands of times, recognising the optimal route in which to crush Kai's onslaught before enacting it with brutal efficiency.
In a moment, Kai found himself caught—his wrist trapped in Sunny's grip. The next moment, he was airborne, flipped over and flamed onto the lush grass landing directly on his collarbone. Effie roared, bringing her spear down in a powerful overhead strike.
Instead of dodging, Sunny raised his knives over his head, the sheer force of the blow driving his feet six inches into the soil, yet Sunny didn't budge. Instead, he twisted his arms, locking the spear's shaft between his blades before yanking it forward. Effie lost her grip, her weapons ripped from her hands and tossed aside.
"Why can't you just fuck off and die! Maybe if we kill you, they'll stop trying to kill us to get back at you!" Effie roared, Sunny only cocked his head to the side, confusion evident on his face as he stared at her like she was stupid.
"But…you're having sex with Valor's number one enemy. Wouldn't they kill you for that too? It just sounds like you don't like me, and that's ok. I've recently been told that I'm enough, and I don't intend on letting that sentiment go just because a weakling said some awful words."
Silence permeated through the field once more, Sunny was deliberately allowing them to catch their breathe as he jumped from foot to foot, shifting his weight in what appeared to be a dance like motion as his eyes focused intently.
"I'm changing the difficulty of this battle, only people ready to die fighting are worthy to see what comes next."
Effie rushed forward, aiming to tackle him, but Sunny shifted his weight at the last second, redirecting her momentum. She stumbled past him, and before she could turn, a sharp pain shot through her back. The blunt edge of the knife tapped against her spine.
It was a warning. Should he decide it, he could permanently cripple her at any moment.
Kai feinted left before pivoting into a spinning kick. It was his fastest technique, one he had used to fell multiple assassins who had come for his life before. But Sunny read it before he moved, he stepped into the arc of his kick, trapping Kai's leg mid motion.
A split second later, Kai was sent crashing onto the ground a second time. Sunny was handling each and every move at their disposal like a coordinated dance. "Ok, this should be enough, I've had my fun here." He mumbled, and in the next second both were unconscious.
'This monster, this fucking monster is who Blondie wants to emulate? It's who he wants to match!? Does that kid have a death wish? Damn this! Damnit all!' Jet screamed internally as she watched Sunny lift Effie and Kai's body into his hands like they weighed nothing as he sheathed his knives.
"I did the heavy lifting, so you're carrying them." Sunny commented before throwing both of their bodies at Jet, who quickly caught them but was sent flying backward. "I don't know where you learnt to use a scythe that well, but you should really be more creative with how you fight, swinging a blade so laterally is for sword users."
With a small piece of advice given from one warrior to another, Sunny and Jet made their way back
--
Eubin sat silently in front of a piece of soil, freshly turned showing the signs of a burial, it was right atop a small mountain, allowing an excellent view of the sunrise and sunset. Frankly, from such a vantage point, the world looked beautiful. However, it was not for such aesthetic reasons Eubin was there.
"I wonder if you'd enjoy such a view." She whispered; her tone wistful as she overlooked the setting sun. "This view, a loving family, laughing at jokes, crying with family, sharing a meal with a loved one. All these scenes, robbed from you so early. Was it only that dreary scene you were forced to witness since birth?"
"I'll let you know; I wasn't born with much. In fact, my parents thought I was a still born when I came out the womb. But I fought for life tooth and nail, when I first drew breathe it was looked at like a miracle, wide smiles spread around my vision like I was the most important person in the whole world.
When my parents got killed, I was distraught, obviously right? But more importantly, I was curious. I wanted to know what exactly was so interesting about being alive that made death so scary, what was so good about being alive that people would lie, steal and cheat to remain alive.
Why was my birth celebrated if my parents would leave only a year later, why was my birth something people smiled at? What about the simple act of me existing brought smiles to so many? And so, I searched, I looked everywhere, I studied, and I explored without end.
And then I realised, I was looking for something that was in front of my face the entire time. The more I looked, the further I got from realising the essence of why life was so beautiful. So, I looked inward, I thought more, why are things the way they are, why do animals strive for life so desperately.
In fact, the whole reason I used strings in the first place is because I used them to recreate the webs of spiders that I destroyed on accident. So immature, no? Yet there was something so simply beautiful about the effort they put in, something so beautiful by the sheer existence of other living being that I couldn't dismiss it.
Yeah, you'd probably call me a hypocrite. Preaching about life when I was the one who took yours, but it's the fleeting, impermanent, infinitely malleable nature of living beings that make them beautiful. There's so much more beauty I can't understand, so much beauty I'll never see.
So much beauty you'll never see."
As she finished her speech, she looked down as her legs dangled off the edge of a cliff. An inclination to jump off to see how quickly she would act to save her own life flashed through her mind, quickly being quashed as she focused more intently on the beautiful picture the world painted in front of her.
A gentle hand guided her shoulders to the left, her eyes didn't need to move for a moment to recognise who it was. Sunny, who had heard her entire monologue sat next to her without saying a word, holding her close to his chest and allowing her to soak up his warmth.
Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his waist, holding him close like he would disappear should she let go.
"Do what you need to." Sunny whispered.
And with that, she cried endlessly.