A/N: Thanks for all of those who have been asking about my health recently I really appreciate that. Regarding my arm, things went from "manageable" to "bad" and from "bad" to "worse" due to a medical misjudgment in my diagnosis. That was the reason I disappeared in the past couple of weeks. Things are quite rough but bearable now, wish me luck.
Third POV:
With Tessai out of the picture, the remaining powerhouses of the castle likewise chose to retreat.
The Hunters, the Artisans, and the Handmaidens retreated under the command of their respective leaders. As for the Guards, the remaining bunch who were a tad a bit later than the rest or couldn't cross it to the other side of the hall eventually chose to surrender.
It wasn't like they had a choice.
With their leader fleeting with his tail tucked between his legs and the large numbers of furious men and women blocking their path, they couldn't help but pale gazing upon their unforeseen future.
And if all of that wasn't enough, if they somehow managed to make their way toward the steps, there was a fearsome black-clad man mid-way up the stairs waiting for them menacingly.
They were pretty much stuck between a death pit and a dead end.
By the end of the day, the new Lord of the Bright Castle was still not decided. The castle itself became divided between three warring factions, led by the three contenders for the throne.
As for Tessai, his whereabouts remained unknown.
The first faction was led by Gemma and Kido, the chief Artisan. While the two of them had fewer fighters than both other factions, each of these fighters was worth a dozen. They were the Hunters, the most experienced and formidable Sleepers in all of the Dark City. Although the territory this faction held was not large, it was of utmost importance, since they controlled the only reliable source of food and water in the Bright Castle.
The second faction belonged to Nephis. She controlled the southern part of the Castle, where its main gate was situated, as well as the outer settlement, to where many of the previous inhabitants of the ancient citadel had fled in hope of finding shelter.
A large number of The two hundred sleepers who had previously lost their lives in the halls of the Bright Castle were from the inhabitants of the outer settlement for obvious reasons.
They were less equipped with memories than the Guards, they were also less experienced in battle than the Hunters, and most importantly, they weren't strong enough to defend themselves amid the chaos.
But with the survival of those sleepers, the numbers of Neph's faction had now rivaled those of the Guards and the Handmaidens combined. Although they lacked quality, their quantity was still welcomed.
Despite all of this....there was still a glaring weakness in all of that.
The Crimson Spire was not a place one could conquer with cannon fodder. So, they did not need a thousand weak humans. What they really needed was a few hundred powerful, battle-hardened fighters.
Which unlike before...the current Sleeper army did not have.
By preventing the battle from breaking out, Sunny had snatched them away from their opportunity to gain experience and the opportunity to absorb a vast portion of their enemy's soul essence.
All of that had befallen Sunny's shoulders. It would be up to him to find a way out of this dilemma.
***
In the next couple of weeks, the Bright Castle had become a strange place.
Inside its magnificent halls, barricades were built and three makeshift fortresses appeared, each faction holding a specific territory. Beyond these protected areas, there was no man's land. Going outside of a faction's stronghold was often tantamount to death.
Sunny couldn't be everywhere at the same time, so there was little to nothing he could do to stop the bloodshed that was happening underneath the calm visage of the castle.
No one knew what they would encounter there. Corpses littered the floor, with an occasional marauder hiding in the darkness. With no more law, tyrannical as it had been, many people gave in to their darkest impulses. But these wretches were the least of the dangers that now populated the Castle.
A much worse fate was to stumble onto a patrol or a war party of another faction. The Guards especially were quick to slaughter anyone they met, sometimes in gruesome and inventive ways. They were obviously infuriated by the stains of shame their leader had left them with.
These Guards, under the leadership of Tessai's second man in command, managed to get hold of the northern parts of the castle, Where most of the strategic and easily defendable areas of the castle were situated.
And since this area had bordered the western parts of the castle —which was under the Handmaidens's control—and were as easily defendable and strategic as the northern parts, by now, the skirmish between the two factions had reached an all-time high.
Thanks to their numerical advantage, the Guards were able to keep the northern and the eastern sides in check. Their current leader was apparently smart enough to realize that destroying a headless group was as easy as destroying a sand castle on a shore.
Without someone as strong as Tessai by their side, the Guards knew that they would be doomed if any of the three contenders made a serious move to seize them. So why shouldn't they take the initiative and take as many as possible with them before they fall, since they are doomed anyway?
...or that's what an outsider would think.
While in fact, this was merely a strategic move by the current leader of the Guards.
Instead of targeting a single faction, he was poking all sides in moderation, not too much but just enough to make them wary of one another in case of a potential ambush in a moment of weakness.
All in all, There were a lot of disturbing things happening in the Castle these days.
Apart from the frequent but minor skirmishes between the factions, people kept dying in all manner of morbid ways. There was no safe place anywhere now, except for maybe the three strongholds.
....and the outer settlement.
Sunny had taken charge of the seventy or so guards whom they captured and had stationed them on the elevated platform outside the castle gates to protect and watch out for any Nightmare Creature that might try to break into the castle through the main gate.
Thanks to the large numbers of Changing Star's supporters, even the halls just beyond the castle gates were filled with her people, especially those who didn't wish to be a part of the bloodshed that was soon to begin.
Taking advantage of the extra Guards and their aspect abilities, Sunny ordered them to completely flatten out the elevated platform of the outer settlement from the makeshift tents and huts, as well as to collect the remaining valuable materials. He also instructed them to build a staircase-like structure.
Although the Guards were skeptical at first, but how could they refuse?
By the time Sunny looked up to the sun and realized that there were only two hours left before sunset, the Guards were already done with their assigned task.
Aside from the handful of makeshift tents near the castle gates that housed the Guards and the few other sleepers from Neph's faction, there was nothing on the elevated platform but a couple of makeshift staircases.
Eventually Sunny climbed to the top of a set wooden staircase.
This was the thing he had asked the guards to build. It was nothing but a simple elevated platform. From afar it looked like a staircase that led to nowhere.
It could be considered to be a simplified siege tower. The differences lied in the fact that they were not made to scale the castle walls and it was a great deal shorter than what it would usually be. But, for Sunny's purposes, this height was enough, especially with the help of the elevated position of the encampment.
Anything that could potentially obscure his vision was taken out of the way, leaving him with an open space that he could monitor the whole outer settlement from.
Sunny was satisfied, to say the least. This place would soon become his nighttime hunting grounds.
Not many people were crazy enough to get this far away from the castle's walls, especially at night.
Even if there was, no one had a good night vision as his. Not to mention with Sunny's shadow senses he should be less concerned about getting sneaked up on.
With that in mind, he should be able to freely practice his archery with Morgan's Bow as well as solve the food problems along the way.
Climbing down the stairs, Sunny dismissed the Guards to their assigned positions while making his way toward the castle gates.
Walking under the swinging skulls, Sunny entered the familiar hall of beautiful colored glass windows that were now being covered by a thick layer of makeshift leather fabric. The opulent desk that Harper used to sit behind was still there, only now, a similarly downtrodden young man was scribbling on a piece of parchment instead.
Up ahead, people had occupied the space just beyond the castle gates. The once quiet and large corridor was now filled with all kinds of people to the brim.
Some sat comfortably on their makeshift beds, some were casually chatting with their friends about all types of rumors, there also were those who couldn't sit idle and chose to help in sewing the makeshift leather parts together, and then there was those who were just absentmindedly staring at the nothingness.
However, once Sunny walked through the gate, all eyes were on him as all the noise died down.
A sigh escaped his lips, but in the silence, it couldn't have been louder.
It had always been like this, ever since his fight with Harus, whenever Sunny went he was met with the same reaction. And Now wasn't any different.
With his sigh, many people immediately averted his gaze and looked the other way, while the eyes of the rest who had kept staring held a mixture of awe, gratitude, and....fear.
Already getting used to it, Sunny quickly made his way through the crowded corridor and began to navigate his way through the complex set of twists and turns, while going down a couple of stairs. Eventually, he reached his destination.
Standing before a sturdy-looking door, Sunny examined the newly engraved symbol of a Sword and a Shield.
The new Memory Market.
There was a specific piece of armor he wanted to get.