"Sunny, you're here too?" I asked jokingly as I started killing the beetles that had gotten behind us.
"Where else would I be? We have to hold these back so we don't get surrounded."
"Hahaha, after a while, you'll start to like it. Just the two of us against the tide—I can't imagine a better event for bonding."
"You're a madman."
We fought against the incoming Nightmare creatures, and Sunny even summoned a thin wall of shadow, denying the insects the opportunity to get past us.
"These things don't seem to lessen," he complained. "How did you even hold back something like this as a Sleeper?"
"Hahaha, now do you see how awesome I am? Anyway, if you have time to talk, it's not even that hard," I said while slicing one in half.
"We'll run out of essence before they run out of numbers."
"Well, you're not wrong there. Hey, on a scale of one to ten, how much do you trust me?"
"You? Three," he said bluntly.
"What?" I was offended. "Doesn't matter. You have a bow, right? And you can shoot a bit. Help Sky Tide by shooting that Tyrant's wings."
"Even if I can, how do you expect me to do that while these things keep coming?"
"What else? I'll protect you while you aim. But be fast—it won't be easy running around killing these things without disturbing you."
He didn't say anything for a while and continued slaying the Nightmare creatures.
"Ughhh, fine. You better guard me well."
"That's the spirit! With me here, not even a hair of yours will move."
With the plan agreed upon, he summoned a bow and an arrow, then started aiming at the sky. Meanwhile, I circled around him, cutting down the incoming insects.
It was much harder than I anticipated—going around him, killing the monsters, and making sure the carcasses didn't fall onto him. It was grueling.
I don't even know how much time passed, but finally, he fired—then fired again. After that, he resumed fighting.
"You took your sweet time," I complained.
"Do you know how hard it is to aim at a flying monster while making sure I don't hit the one fighting it?"
"I don't have any experience with ranged weapons. Not my style."
"We have a problem," he said.
"What now? I don't feel anything strange."
"The Tyrant is falling toward us."
"Fuck. Then run, idiot!" As I said that, I could already sense it getting closer.
We ran in opposite directions, and with a loud thud, the Tyrant crashed into the ground.
"Sunny, are you alive?" I shouted.
"I think so," came the response. "Fuck, it's moving."
I was too far to do anything, and the insects were already swarming me.
Sunny must have finished it off as expected, and with Saint Tyris now freed up, she started wreaking havoc among the remaining Nightmare creatures.
With the last of them slain, the Irregulars finally calmed down and slumped to the ground.
"That was one hell of a ride," someone from Jet's cohort said.
"Did you see that? Master Sunless and Master Christopher held off the flanking monsters with just the two of them."
"I caught glimpses of them."
"I even saw Master Sunless calmly aiming toward the sky while Master Christopher ran around him, cutting down the approaching insects."
"The two of them are both survivors of the Forgotten Shore. They must trust each other fully."
Not far away, Sunny and I were sitting next to each other on a carcass.
"Hear that, Sunny? They think you trust me completely, yet you rated me only three out of ten," I said sadly.
"After this experience, I'd push it up to at least five." He paused for a moment. "Hey, do you think Saint Tyris will get mad at me for stealing her kill?"
"You killed the Tyrant?"
"Yeah."
"Nah, from what I've heard, she won't care too much."
All of a sudden, Master Winter lunged at us, pulling us into a group hug.
"You two were seriously great!"