Here we go again in hell(A shadow slave Fan-fic)

Sunny & Nephis vs The White Castle pt 2!

"NEPHIS DODGE!"

One of the white knights moved in from behind Nephis, and Sunny only noticed when he was swinging his sword at Nephis's neck. Moving on instinct to protect his beloved, he lunged at her and pulled her to the ground as the sword grazed some of Sunny's hair, cutting a bit off.

Suddenly two red eyes appeared from the shadow as it intercepted two swords trying to reach the helpless sleepers. Sunny sent all three of his shadows, augmenting Saint massively as she easily cut down three knights in a single slash.

[You have slain a Fallen Demon, The King's Guard.]

[Your shadow grows stronger]

[You have slain a Fallen Demon, The King's Guard.]

[Your shadow grows stronger]

[You have slain a Fallen Demon, The King's Guard.]

[Your shadow grows stronger]

"Thanks, Sunny-"

"Thank me later we're still royally fucked, hold on to me tight."

Neph hugged him tightly without hesitation as he sent a mental command to Saint, after parrying another attack and cutting down a few more knights she reached down and threw the sleepers towards the exit. Sunny dismissed Saint before she was overwhelmed as he rolled to soften the fall on the wooden floor. After getting up, and helping Neph up, the King raised his staff and bashed it into the ground as the dark orb grew even dimmer as a kind of mental shock rang throughout the castle like electricity. Sunny didn't know how he knew what signal meant, but he had no time to question it

'He's alerting all the castle Fallen creatures, we have to go now.'

Nephis nodded as they both turned and ran out of the throne room, but the remaining knights and the King followed shortly behind them. Sunny had no hope that they would be able to outrun a Corrupted terror, so his only option was to leave the castle and hope it wouldn't follow them. Soon they made it outside as the creature behind them was only a few yards behind them, thinking quickly, Sunny started summoning [Prowling Thorn]. As they ran towards the entrance to the castle wall a group of dog-like creatures appeared at the door.

Nephis stopped and summoned her [Dream Blade] and [Nameless Sun] along with it. Sunny on the other hand summoned his daggers and moved with Nephis on the dogs. Sunny, using a bit of essence in his legs, jumped at great heights before dropping down and cutting off the head of a dog cleanly.

[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Iron Hound]

'How fitting for a monstrous being, though I remember dogs being less scary in the storybooks. We'll have to end this quickly before the king arrives though.'

Sunny ducked as one of the dogs ran at him and went over him, and using the opening, he stabbed his dagger, which was augmented by three shadows, into its belly and let its momentum cut it open as blood splattered all over Sunny.

His breath came in sharp, ragged bursts as he darted between the monsters as if he were dancing. Sunny stabbed, struck, and sliced as he moved between the creatures, learning how they moved and thought to not get hit. They may be dumb but Sunny knew a single strike from them would end him as their two ranks above him. Sunny was reminded when he fought the Spire with his cohort, except there was no cohort besides Neph, and there were multiple Fallen creatures.

There were a couple of them surrounding Sunny. Jaws too wide for natural skulls, and they moved in jerks, twitching and snarling, eyes burning like furnace coals. Although his daggers were small in comparison to their jaws and unassuming, they were the same rank and a higher class than them. They were of the ascended rank and tier four, he had gotten it after killing a dual-wielding Fallen devil. As Sunny finished off another hound he took a glance at Nephis who was fighting her group of hounds.

At first, it seemed as though Neph was losing and dying, but in reality, for every wound she got, another hound was burned fatally and was healed a moment later. Sunny didn't know if her flames would last long enough but he had to trust they would. Sunny kept dodging and often threw dirt from the ground towards the hound's eyes, causing them to hesitate for a moment, long enough for Sunny to punish their mistake. Luckily they handled the hounds quickly enough and entered the castle wall before starting to run through the corridors.

'So what's the plan Neph?'

'I thought you had a plan.'

'Why would you think that? You're always the one with the plan!'

'Well, we wouldn't be doing all this if you didn't reach for the key.'

'I couldn't control myself it felt as if something possessed me, making me grab it even if I knew I shouldn't.'

'Well, I forgive you Sunny, but let's try to reach the trap door and escape.'

'Sounds like a plan.'

'That's because it is.'

Sunny gave her a surprised stare, he wasn't expecting Neph to make a joke, especially for the predicament they're in. Nephis gave him a sly smirk, or what looked like one at least, and Sunny appreciated her trying. Turning back his attention forward he narrowly missed crashing into the wall in front of them as they turned the corner, only to be confronted by more hounds and a few knights. Sunny summoned Saint and gave her [Midnight Shard] as all three of them charged towards the group.

Sunny could hear in the distance a door being smashed open and hurried footsteps echoing through the hallways. One of the knights loudly knocked on their shield which Sunny assumed was to alert the enemy's location, aka them, to the king. Sunny kept fighting and fighting as he cut down any creatures while unconsciously memorizing their attack patterns and learning from them. Sadly though it seemed they ran out of time as the king, along with his guards, arrived to the horror of the group. Sunny felt flames engulf him, and understanding the message, Sunny went back to hold them off while Neph and Saint tried to clear the hallways as more enemies started to appear.

The white knights charged towards Sunny as Sunny followed suit, daggers in hand. Sunny clashed with the first knight and parried his attack before giving it a kick knocking it back. Sunny then turned to his left side and blocked a sword attack coming from another knight as he then rolled to dodge an attack on the right. Luckily the right knight killed the left knight and struggled to get his sword out, and taking this opportunity, he stabbed his dagger through a gap in his neck, killing him instantly.

Sunny then had to fight as more and more knights, hounds, huntresses and all poured into them, the Spell sang often as he slew.

[You have killed a Fallen Beast, executioner of the damned]

That one had been the hunched back creatures that resembled Harus

[You have killed a Fallen Beast, Trickster Huntress]

That one reminded Sunny of Effie but with her brown skin replaced by pure white and other changes.

[You have killed a Fallen Monster, Dark Knight]

They reminded Sunny of the Dark Knight that gutted him in the Cathedral, albeit massively inferior.

Sunny overall was doing well in the sense that he was still alive. As for Neph, she looked healthy with no sign of damage inflicted on her, but Sunny knew that she had just healed it. Sunny also noticed that her flames were growing weaker and less bright the longer the fight continued. He knew this was a fight they couldn't win and even if they could beat the creature, the King would finish them off. The only reason he hadn't yet was because he was enjoying their suffering, like the sick bastard he is. But if there was even a hint of the tides turning Sunny knew the King would simply step in and finish them. Though Sunny will make the King regret not finishing them off when he had the chance.

See Sunny knew where all the enemies were by their shadows. And it just so happened that the King made one fatal mistake, he had alerted all the troops to their position, which also left the rest of the Castle empty. So sunny had just been buying time until he saw an opening, and he saw it. A tiny, narrow gap appeared in the ranks between two knights, and so Sunny put his plan in motion. He instructed Saint to move in and bash her shield against them, which earned her some cuts. He then threw [Prowling Thorn] around Saint's arm and mentally commanded Saint to pull her arm forwards hard. Sunny instantly turned to a blur as Saint was augmented by three shadows and along the way Neph, who had been previously fighting alone, was uncermonally picked up as Sunny prayed something wouldn't intercept them

It seemed Fate or [Fated] was on their side as they passed through with ease and ended up behind the ranks and on the other side of the hall, away from the King by a considerable amount. Sunny and Neph broke into a sprint as Sunny once again dismissed Saint who had taken a beating.

'Thank you, Saint, that's why you're my best Shadow.'

Eventually, they made it to the staircase and reached the trap door. Once on top of the castle wall, Sunny shut the trap door, and using some essence, made a chain that secured it tightly.

'Let's fly.'

'Don't you mean glide?'

'Yeah yeah.'

They summoned [Dark Wing] just as the trapdoor was ripped open, with the King sprinting at them.

"Jump!" Sunny said as they jumped off the wall.

The King though was able to grab one of Sunny's wings, and refusing to let go, broke the delicate wing. All this happened in a second as Sunny was now fighting for control as he fell into a hard descent, with the ground appearing bigger by the second. Sunny leaned towards the wall and kicked off it to make it a controlled landing as he then rolled on the uneven ground and broke a few ribs before coming to a stop just outside the Castle's gate. Nephis on the other hand simply glided over to him and gently landed without falling as she dismissed her wings.

Suddenly a voice that pained Sunny's heart played out.

[Your memory has been destroyed.]

'Shit...you did good Dark wings, we've had a good run.'

Sunny and Neph watched as the King and his subjects retreated to the Castle.

"We did it Neph...we've actually survived that."

"Yes although I'm sorry that you lost your wings, I'll give you mine if you'd like."

"No it's fine I don't need them and I still have [Prowling Thorn] let's just get going-"

Suddenly a loud series of bangs echoed throughout the sewers, all of it coming from one location, the Castle's gates. 'Wha-what!' Not long after the bangs—about 10 seconds—the gates opened wide and what he saw shocked both of them. The white knights were at the front with the King—who emitted an annoyed aura—in the vanguard leading them. Then came the hounds at the sides, the huntresses in the middle, and lastly the executioners and skeletal figures in the back. Over one thousand Fallen creatures came out of the White Castle's gate, marching towards Sunny and Neph at considerable speed.

"Shit we need to go!"

"Let's get going then!" Nephis' voice was a little loud which Sunny noticed since she only ever did that in the Spire or speeches.

Sunny got up...only to stumble after he got to his feet as a sharp pain spread from his legs. Nephis seeing this touched his legs and warmth spread throughout his body until he felt good as new. Sunny got up again and made sure everything was healed before running with Neph as the army gave chase. They sped throughout the sewers trying to shake them off to no avail. The Corrupted terror could sense them even if they were miles away Sunny realizes as he felt watched whenever they got distance. Sunny led them since he could scout ahead with his shadows and make sure they didn't head to a dead end, but more and more dead ends were appearing signaling they were near the end of this section of the sewer.

They also encountered many fake passages that were mere illusions caused by the huntresses. Sunny had been to this part of the sewers many times, which was to say his Shadows were, so he knew the place more or less. Sadly this didn't prevent them from falling for false passages from time and time. Even his Shadows couldn't tell the difference so they sometimes had to backtrack or take a few heavy hits before being ahead again.

Sunny was trying to formulate a plan when they passed a room that had a massive pit in the middle with water going down it. 'Wait... that's it!'

'Neph I need you to trust me on this.'

'Sure what is it?'

'I need you to give me all your flames and go to the control room. I'll give you Serpent and I need you to circulate your essence into overflowing the sewers.'

'Sunny I don't know how to manipulate essence, why can't you go?'

'I just have to, please trust me and I know you can do it. I'll try to hold them off as long as I can and I'll tell you when to pull the lever.

'Okay and please stay safe sunny, don't die like an idiot.'

Just as Nephis was about to run ahead she hesitated before kissing Sunny on the lips through which she gifted him all his flames before heading left and disappearing. Sunny then stopped and turned around, and waited until the army was in his sight before summoning his favorite and most powerful memory... [Silver Bell]. Sunny ringed it as it realized a mesmerizing, clear ring rang out through the sewers that made even the corrupted terror pause for a moment. But it was only for a moment before the army was on the move again, but was now entirely focused on the raven-haired boy that has snuck into their castle, stolen from the king, and humiliated them.

Sunny ran but was stopped when the king reached him in ground-breaking speed. 'I guess he ain't holding back no more, fuck you [Fated] I was hoping for more time.' The King reached his side and slashed his staff in quick succession that should've been impossible for Sunny to block in time, so he didn't. Sunny went into a slide as he felt the hard concrete ground bite at his ankles but he was still alive, if only for a moment. Sunny let the momentum he built bring him forward for a moment before getting back up and throwing one of his daggers at its head. It grabbed it before it could do anything and crushed it into pieces, and Sunny wasn't shaken from him losing a dagger as he already knew that losing one won't destroy the memory but it'll take a while before it comes back. 'A small price to pay, I'll need every moment I can buy.' Sunny then raised [Midnight Shard] as the king rose his staff and along with his army ran towards where Sunny was standing still, waiting to take them on.

***

Nephis ran like her life depended on it, which it did, and not only hers but Sunny's too. She didn't know what flooding the sewers would do since at most it'll knock them to their feet before rising back up, but she trusted Sunny completely to question him. Soon she reached the control room that was covered in dust and which seemed abandoned for centuries or even a millennium. Rushing over to the control panel she summoned Serpent from her shadow which took the form of a tattoo around her arms and back. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous, after all, there was no telling if this would work

Not only was she still a sleeper, but she also had no experience in trying to circulate her essence. Her perhaps only saving grace was that she was a class higher than Sunny and was halfway to becoming a tyrant. But even so, she had no idea if Serpent could help her, it could just be that she could only help circulate shadow essence but not soul essence. Either way, she was going to try because if Sunny could do it then she might be able to too, and he's courting death by facing an army by himself, even if he has her flames. She could only hope that Sunny was alive enough to be able to heal him and hopefully not get his head chopped off.

Soon she was trying to feel what Sunny called a "dark river" of flowing mystical energy circulating throughout her veins. She tried to concentrate but every time she got close it would slip from her hands like sand. This went on for a minute, her frustration building after each failed attempt to control her coil essence. She was so frustrated that she punched a wall with her whole body, making an indent, and destroyed a couple of metal controls and wires.

'Whole body, that's what's missing!'

Nephis realized that throughout her attempts she had been trying to only circulate soul essence in her hands, when really she had to circulate it all over her body. Pulling back her hand she concentrated trying to grab the mystical essence locked away inside her core, using Serpent as a type of key to access it throughout her attempts but always disappearing back in. After a few moments, she was able to release it and focused on circulating it in a circle around her body, making use of every vein. Eventually, she felt a slight movement coursing throughout her body, something that gave her a bit of strength wherever it reached.

'I'm doing it, I'm actually doing it!'

She felt the river of essence get faster and faster until it felt like a torrent of water as she grabbed the lever.

All she needed to do now was wait for Sunny's command, though she hadn't noticed Serpent leave her arm and shadow as it traveled quickly down the tunnels.

***

Sunny had almost died a few times if not for Nephis's flames that kept him going, but that didn't mean he wasn't in anguish though. Each time he took a cut he still felt the pain before it was healed, and the creature did more than just a little papercut. Many times he had his arms or legs broken as he tried to dodge as many attacks as he could, but it seemed to do no good as there were just too many weapons and not enough openings to expose. Sunny kept cutting down creatures with his dagger and sword, but for each knight he took down, two more took their place.

The most troublesome part was the Corrupted Terror as it spared no mercy to Sunny as it cut him limb from limb, only to have to do it again and again. But the reason why Sunny hadn't died yet was all because of Shadow Dance, but he wasn't talking about the first two steps. Sunny had been trying to figure out what the third step of Shadow Dance was and he had finally found it, in fact, he had started doing it ever since the Dark City to the god forsaken sewers. He had been learning the styles of the creatures and using them to predict what they'll do next like what he does whenever he trains with Neph. Not only that but during the onslaught from the army, Sunny had been incorporating the creatures' styles into his own which allowed him to stay alive this long...but maybe not alive for much longer.

Sunny's arms weighed heavily on his shoulders, his head felt like a metal ball and his legs buckled from the stress of the situation. Even with having his two saving graces keeping him alive he didn't know how much longer he'll last, something needed to change. Sunny hadn't figured out a way yet to cause the creatures to fall for his trap, with the centerpiece of it all coming up at the end of the hall. At the end of the hall was a gigantic open room with a large pit that seemed to be bottomless at the center of it, and Sunny was leading the army there.

Suddenly Sunny heard a similar voice he had long since recognized.

[Your Aspect Legacy mastery has been increased.]

[You have received the right to claim a Legacy Relic.]

But suddenly in a loud voice, the Spell boomed.

[Collect the Relic now Lost from Light!]

'Wha- this never happened before! Why is it rushing me to collect it?'

That though costed Sunny an arm as he failed to dodge an incoming attack from the King. Backing up, Sunny carefully dodged attack after attack as he continued killing and surviving.

"Claim!" Sunny yelled at the top of his lungs hoping that whatever the spell was about to give him will hopefully save him.

[You have received a Memory.]

Sunny had no time to open his ruins so taking a gamble that whatever was summoned could be held with one hand, he started summoning it as well as dismissing his remaining dagger. Soon a small lantern about the size of his palm, made out of black, resembling stone more than anything appeared in his hand. The frame of the lantern was intricately engraved, making it seem and feel like the scales of a serpent, and its walls were made out of glossy black morion. There was a small door on one of its walls. On top was a ring of dark metal, with a short chain attached to it. It could be held in a hand or fastened to one's belt Sunny noticed immediately. As soon as the lantern appeared, the darkness of the shadows that surrounded Sunny instantly became deeper and colder, oppressive, and impenetrable which even the king felt and backed away slightly.

Sunny was shocked and rattled the lantern which caused the door to open...which made every shadow start gliding towards it and enter it. 'It seems to consume shadows, does it also expel them?' Sunny though as he commanded the shadows from the lantern to come out and fly towards the army. After a moment the shadows flew out again but this time in front of the army, but it seemed to only annoy them further as they continued moving forward. Sunny slashed his sword at the fast-approaching king and intercepted the slash from the staff. Pulling back its staff, it raised it as the orb darkened, and if it wasn't for the ominous feeling Sunny got to dodge away, he would've been burnt to a crisp from the black lightning that came out of the orb. The ground that Sunny had previously been on was now turned to ash and burned.

Sunny ran further down the hall and commanded Serpent to return to him as he activated [Death's Eye] and spotted two weak spots on the roof in the gargantuan room. 'Jackpot,' sunny though as he turned around and faced the charging army once more. Sunny simply waited, and then waited some more until they were no more than a few tens of yards away from him.

'Now Neph!'

***

Nephis who had been waiting for her time to shine, upon hearing Sunny's command, pushed the lever forward and dumped all her essence into the lever as it greedily drank it all, and left not a single drop behind as the walls started to shake violently.

***

Sunny had been waiting until the army had passed two grated weep holes before commanding Neph to pull the lever. After his command, the walls suddenly shook violently as both the King and the army looked behind to see a river of water pour out of the weep holes. There was so much pouring out that the weep holes tore open. The knights were swept off their feet they started being pulled towards the pit that devoured the water, and the water reached 6 inches which threatened to knock Sunny over. Sunny however had planned for this and before the knights reached him, Serpent arrived and formed into tattoo form before helping Sunny circulate enough essence to make an elevated 2-foot platform.

Soon the hellhounds were pulled into the raging river and barked at him as they passed. Soon the huntresses followed suit, then the hunchbacks, and the skeletal figures too. Only the King stood tall in the water that had now reached two feet. Its burning eyes were staring directly at Sunny, if looks could kill then Sunny would have been dead already. But eventually, even the King was defeated as the staff he stabbed into the ground became loose and dragged him down into the pit. Sunny held on to the platform with one hand while summoning [Silent Thunder] and [Burden of the Hunt] before nocking two arrows in the bow and shot them at the two weak points in the roof.

The moment the arrows hit the roof cracks started appearing before then shattering into large boulders and disappearing into the pit. Sunny...had not been aiming to do this and was shocked even, he had meant to only shatter the roof into one large piece to cover the pit to not allow anything to crawl back up. Sunny dismissed his tachi and the lantern before connecting to their mental link.

'Turn off the water and meet me by the end of the tunnel.'

After a few moments, the water started disappearing, and eventually all of it was consumed by the pit. Sunny dismissed the platform as he stepped off it and laid on the wet concert floor. Sunny laid there for an indefinite time before he heard footsteps approach and the white flames that consumed him disappeared. A face appeared above him, a face that could only belong to an angel, his angel.

"Hey Neph, are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that."

"I've seen better days, though compared to fighting that Awakened Demon this seemed almost easy," Sunny said with a small smirk on his face.

"I'm glad you're okay." Sunny could see just barely a form of a smile on her face.

Nephis bent down and picked Sunny up before putting her arm under his armpit and began walking him through the sewers. As they walked the small drops of water broke the silence as Sunny started feeling tired and lightheaded.

'I still need to check about that lantern.'

Opening his ruins, he scrolled down until he reached his memories, and clicked on the newest memory in his collection.

Memory Rank: Divine.

Sunny shook slightly, which thankfully Neph didn't notice as he turned back his attention towards his ruins.

'Another...another Divine memory, should be interesting.'

Memory Tier: I.

Memory Type: Tool.

'A tool... makes sense. It is a lantern, after all. But what does it do? Lanterns are supposed to produce light and illuminate surroundings. That's not exactly what shadows are known for, is it?'

Memory Description: ["Death is just the shadow of life," said the Goddess of Life. "And peace is just the failure of war. Have you ever been something that had not been stolen, made empty, and vile? Have you ever done something that was not futile and hollow? Can you even exist without being cast by another? Look at how weak you are, how small you are. Am I supposed to be frightened of a small shadow?"

Made pale and feeble by the radiance of day, Shadow laughed and rose from the ground. As he did, his figure swallowed the land, devoured the heavens, and blotted out the light of the sun. Soon, there was nothing left around them but darkness. And from that darkness, a hiss came, making Life tremble:

"Life is just the prelude to death, and war is just the key to open its gates. Everything you cherish, everything you nurture, everything that starts with you will one day be mine, be welcomed by me, swallowed by me, and find peace within me. This is the mercy of Shadow. Hollow... futile... you might have come first, my sister, but when your cruelty ends... I will be all that remains..."]

Sunny shivered once again, 'D-damn... was Shadow God always that creepy?'

'How...cold and I didn't know Shadow God was so ominous.'

Memory Enchantments: [Gates of Shadow].

Enchantment Description: [This lantern devours light and can contain, and then release, an infinite amount of shadows.]

Sunny blinked.

'Huh?'

The enchantment didn't seem like much, for a Divine Relic... that was unless one thought about the meaning behind those words

Infinite...

Sunny suspected that in this case, the word infinite described an actual infinity instead of a fake one like [Endless Spring]. It was worth being Divine since it broke all laws of reason.

'Why can't it be a nasty all-destroying sword instead?'

Still, Sunny would need to explore this later and find out its abilities and limitations.

'For now...'

Both Sunny and Neph returned to camp, and the campfire burned out which caused the camp to be dark. They made their way towards the tent and soon Neph collapsed onto her makeshift sleeping bag.

'Cute,' he thought as he turned away and laid down on his side.

But before he could try and fall asleep he heard the voice suddenly alerting him of hundreds, no thousands of kills.

[You have killed-]

[You have killed-]

[You have killed...

'The boulders must've smashed into the army after they reached the bottom, the fallen must've brought them on death's door-'

Suddenly one notification caught his attention.

[You have killed a Corrupted Terror, The King Beneath the Thorns]

[You have received a memory]

[Your Shadow is overflowing with power!]

[Your Shadow is taking shape!]

'What!'

A burning searing pain shot through Sunny's being, but before the pain could register, exhaustion caught up to him and Sunny passed out.

***

By the way, I want to apologize for uploading late these days, I'm just trying to make these chapters good and high quality, and I want the fights to be good. But it should go back to normal now that the saga of fights is over.