Defeat…Nephis felt nothing but defeat. Never in her life had she been crushed so mercilessly. Her face was deadpan with her Jaw hanging wide open. She knew that her opponent was a fierce one, but she had never expected to lose in such a brutal manner.
Her hand was shaking while she took a step back. Her voice shivered with awe and a hint of fear.
"You…you did not hold back one bit…did you?"
Sunny laughed heartily after taking a sip from his hot chocolate…with alcohol. Not that it really matters but the taste was no less important when enjoying a hot beverage on a cold Winter day.
"I did, I could have won our little match faster but I did not want to crush you too fast. A fight like this has to be enjoyed."
"I will never challenge you to a Arcade game ever again. Especially not Street Fighter."
Sunny had played a lot of old Arcade games in his childhood after all. It was way cheaper than going to a Dreamscape Arcade. Therefore he has become a Master at this old art of Arcade machine games. Especially Street Fighter where timing and combos were the most important aspect did he exceed.
Nephis on the other hand who had never even stepped foot in an Arcade had no experience to speak of and has misjudged sunny's knowledge about such things tremendously. Of course she had asked him about it when deciding to go inside such an Arcade on their date but he of course knew how to handle the situation and said evenly.
"I grew up in the outskirts, I did not have the means to play such games very often, I never won against anyone too so that should tell you more than you need to know."
Which is the truth of course. In truth he never even played against anyone in the first place. Always the KI was his opponent, on the hardest difficulty though Nephis did not have to know that.
Leaving the Arcade again the two held hands as they walked through the Crowd of people, the snow below their feet giving a satisfying crunching sound with every step they took.
At one point Nephis had to lean on Sunny though as the Alcohol in her blood made her sway a little. After all, she had many of the so-called "Glühwein" A German specialty made out of Red wine with different spices and a lot of Alcohol. Normally it is called "Mulled Wine" but the owners of the Stores selling the hot Beverage advertised it with the German name to bait customers. In the case of Nephis, it had worked pretty well.
Too well perhaps since she could not stop buying the tasty Hot drink from various booths on the Christmas Market. As a Saint she had a high tolerance To alcohol but after dozens of drinks even she had no means to withstand the poison.
Supporting her further Sunny put a hand on her waist while they continued to walk. Her Black Hair tickling his nose again.
'It feels…nice.'
He thought, right as his Gaze landed on her beautiful blue eyes. Not the ones he's used to but they were no less Beautiful, even with the Appearance altering Memory.
He of course wore something to hide his Appearance And presence too. As the enchanting Master Noctis with his white hair and scarlet eyes.
They could not show themselves in public after all. She was the very famous Changing Star after all and he was the Devil of Antarctica. People knew him quite well of course. He could have gotten away without changing his appearance…maybe. After all there weren't many pictures Of him.
An hour later they reached a restaurant Nephis had quickly searched on the internet for. Sunny did not know the place but whatever Nephis had chosen was bound to be perfect.
Sitting down in a private booth they both ordered their food and talked for a bit. Nephis actually had sobered up almost completely now but her voice still swayed a little as she spoke.
"I like our date very much so far, how about you?"
Sunny couldn't help but to agree with her. He let out a quiet chuckle and sipped from his wine before Answering.
"I like it too. You're still a little tipsy as it seems. I would kiss you but a drunk person can hardly give consent."
Immediately Nephis eyes shot wide open before she sat up straight while trying to speak as clearly as possible.
"I'm not drunk…not even a little bit."
Sunny chuckled again before bringing his hand to her face and cupping it gently. He brought her closer and whispered.
"You know I can smell the Alcohol from your breath, right?"
Nephis blushed, then pouted. She had expected something else of course but Sunny was determined to make her struggle a bit. He still had something to say that would bring her mood up again though.
"But I guess till later you will have sobered up completely. I guess we can try to bring our relationship to the next level later. If you manage to keep your hands away from the "Glühwein" that is."
Once again her eyes shot wide open, this time with Sparks of hope and lust dancing inside of them.
"I would like to do that. I promise to keep my hands away from the Alcohol….Not you though."
She stood up from her seat and sat down beside him. Sunny didn't know what she was up to but he had no reason or will to stop her. The soft bench he was sitting on had enough space for up to 3 people to sit side by side after all, so Nephis had enough space to sit comfortably beside him.
Putting a hand on his lap she started to rub his Pants smoothly while pulling him into a Kiss. Luckily the Private booth was covered by curtains so Noone could see them. Making out in a Public space is not directly illegal, but not socially accepted either.
He was quite surprised by her actions and pulled away for a second.
"You…we…we can't do something like that here! What if the Waiter catches us?"
She giggled and whispered.
"Then I guess you will have to warn me when someone approaches. You have Shadow Sense after all so you should be able to know when someone is close, right?"
"R…right…but still, try to keep your hands away from my pants, it's getting painfully tight down there."
The Black jeans he was wearing concealed his erection pretty well, but that also meant that he had to endure the tightness that got more and more unbearable with every second.
Although Nephis was a little sad by his words she respected his wishes of course. The last thing she wanted was to scare him away by forcing herself on him.
'He has just said he wants to bring our Relationship to the next level. I can only hope that he means what I hope it does.'
She let out a quiet sigh but then Smiled again giving him a nod she leaned in again. This time resting her hands on his Chest instead.
Their tongues Fought Furiously against each other while Their smooth lips brushed wetting themselves With their Saliva. Her heartbeat rose just as his while their Body's stayed mostly still.
Suddenly their Communicators ringed with an Alarm.
[ Attention all Awakened! Gate opening in 1 minute 20 seconds. Chance of Category 2 80%, Category 3 20%]
They both stood perfectly still as they looked at the Screens of their Communicators. Sunny looked at the location and frowned, noticing that it was pretty close he couldn't help but feel betrayed by the world again.
'My attribute [Fated] is gone But I'm still rather unlucky as it seems.'
"We should respond."
Nephis said now more seriously. She would have loved nothing more than to throw away their Communicators and continue with their date but her feeling of Righteousness was too overwhelming. If she could help then she would. No matter what.
Sunny sighed Deeply and gave her a nod.
"Let's see what we can do."
He pulled them both into the Shadows back into a dark alley. From there they could see the location where the Gate should appear soon. She looked at him with excitement and said.
"Is it time for Mongrel? Please tell me you plan on fighting the Gate as Mongrel."
Sunny chuckled and shook his head.
"No, but something very similar."
Nephis was confused for a second before she noticed a shadow separating from Sunny's. It moved out of the Alley, crossing the street unnoticed by all the Civilians running away in fear from the Area.
Suddenly a Graceful Female Knight Clad in Onyx Armor rose from the Shadow, standing over 3 Meters in height with a Sword and shield in each of her hands. The Aura she emitted filled the Area with a cold breeze while drowning it in a Dark and lifeless shade.
Some of the people turned to the Female Knight with awe and pointed at her.
"IT'S MONGREL, WE ARE SAFE!"
Some of them screamed. While Saint took a stance in front of the Ripple in the Air waiting for the Gate to open.
Nephis looked at the Scenery with awe as she remembered the last time Sunny himself fought in front of the Gate holding the stream of Abominations back all by himself. Back then she didn't know it was him but now the Situation was different too.
"You gonna let Saint handle the Gate on her own? Can she really do that?"
She asked with doubt in her voice. She knew how powerful Saint was of course. She had seen her fight in Antarctica after all but handling a Gate all on her own was perhaps a little too much even for a Shadow of such immense strength. At least that's what she believed.
"Don't worry and just enjoy the Show. She is my most powerful Shadow when it comes to Fighting after all. I'm sure she will easily crush anything that steps foot through this Gate, even if it's a Category 3 or higher."
Sunny said confident, he even laughed as he pulled Nephis closer while hiding them in a Veil of shallow Shadow.
Nephis could not see very well but she could feel his hands moving behind her back down to her ass while his lips started to explore hers again. Suddenly all she cared about was him and not the Clash in front of the Gate that had just started.
With her sense of Righteousness Fading away from the Fact that Saint would Handle the situation and Sunny showing her his Passion and Longing she had nothing else in mind but to grind herself on him as she tried to get as close as She could.
Sunny Manifested a Chair out of Shadows and sat down with Nephis on his lap moving her hips furiously against his. A shallow moan escaped Her lips as she could feel her body starting to heat up again. The world outside which was loud and filled with screams of Nightmare Creature that were torn and cut apart by Saint Vanished Completely while she lost herself in the pleasure that Sunny was giving her.
'It's not exactly what I need but close enough with his hands on my ass…I wish he would get a little more rough though…'
As if listening to her thoughts Sunny brought a hand between her legs and began massaging her intimate area like she had done before.
"That's better."
She Chuckled before pressing her mouth On his again. Their bodies were tightly pressed against one another while Nephis felt her underwear getting more and more moist. She knew that if he continued to touch her like that, she might even fall over the edge at one point.
'By the dead gods, he's making me go crazy from just touching me…I STILL HAVE MY PANTS ON!'
But she liked it…no, she loved it. But on the other hand it wasn't enough. She wanted more, so much more, and she would do anything to get that from him and only him.
As the world around her slowly continued to fade, a loud Bang pulled her out of her trance. The ground shook for a second before everything grew perfectly silent. She removed herself from him for a second to see what had happened. When her eyes managed to pierce the Shallow shadows did they widened.
For a moment she had feared that Saint had been defeated, or worse. But as her eyes landed on the Graceful Female Dark Knight she could only utter one Word.
"Amazing"
Around Saint were countless Corpses of Nightmare Creatures, but one in particular catched her eyes.
'The Gate guardian…it's a Corrupted Terror.'
Indeed the Gate that had opened was a Category 4 something the Obel Scale did not predict for some reason. Saint had killed the Abomination with one Strike of her Sword. Its long tentacles were still twitching from time to time as his countless eyes slowly lost any resemblance of life. It's beak escaped one last pained breath before finally closing forever.
Saint was surrounded by Soldiers and other Awakened, even a Master from the Government had appeared to help with the situation. He would have been helpless of course. A Corrupted Terror was too much for any Master. Well… except their name began with S and ended with unny of course.
When it became clear that no Abomination was still alive Saint took a look into the Crowd of People before hitting the rim of her Shield one time. She gave them all a nod as she dissolved back into the Shadow's.
Most of them were too stunned to speak or notice the shadow rushing back to her Master who had shamelessly used the situation to make out with his loved one. Nephis looked at Sunny with a deadpan expression which made him chuckle.
"You know, to be Honest she could have even handled a Category 5, so everything up to the Great Rank. Not a Titan of course but everything else should be no Problem for her."
"Uhuu"
Was everything she could say in the Moment. Sunny just laughed heartily and picked her up while standing up from his Chair. Taking a step forward they were now in a different Alley beside a Grocery store.
"I think it would be best if I cook something for us instead. After all, the Restaurant won't open again until the Chaos in the front is resolved."
Nephis who was still unable to speak just nodded with awe all over her Face and followed him inside. Only the touch of his Hand reminding her that this was indeed not a Dream.
'At least not a Nightmare.'
She thought with a Smile on her lips.
After buying the Necessary Groceries for the Meal sunny had thought about did they Shadow Step one last time. Now they Were both back in his house. Which was empty, like it was most of the time these days.
Nephis who was right behind him took the bag of groceries from his Arms and put it on the counter. She pulled him closer to her and wrapped her arms around him from Behind.
With a soft and desperate voice she whispered.
"I'm starving."
"I know, it's gonna take me 15 minutes to cook for us."
She pulled something out of her Jacket and put it in front of him on the Counter.
"Not that Kind of hungry."
It was a box with Condoms Of course.