What do you think the significance of the citadels are?
Also Q&A for 100 Chapters!
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Moonlight barely touched the forest floor, swallowed by the gnarled branches overhead. The air hung thick with the scent of blood—sharp, metallic, suffocating. People had died here, several. Even in the low levels of light the moon granted, one could tell it didn't take much effort to kill them.
A boy, no older than fifteen, stood among the bodies. His chest rose and fell in slow deliberate breaths, his hands slick and dripping. His hands gleamed red, catching the flicker of dying torchlight from the single figure left alive.
The survivor—an older man, trembling and pale—lay slumped against a tree. His hands clutched at his stomach, pressing weakly against a wound that would have caused his intestines to spill outward if left unattended. He wheezed, his breath rattling as he stared at the boy in horror.
"Why!? Why are you doing this to us!? What did we ever do to you!? Don't you see what you're doing is fucking evil!?" The man croaked, his voice laced with desperation and aggression as the young boy crouched down next to him. Blue eyes met his dying gaze, his head cocked slightly to the side in confusion.
"Why should I be condemned for not upholding morality or virtues? Just because you have done nothing to me, is not a reason why I should not do violence to you. Fairness, rules? They aren't part of my nature; that's just the tepid thinking of boring people."
In a single movement, he crushed the mans head, wiping his hands with the man's clothes with a sigh as he stared into the moonlight. "You can call me evil all you want; that's just a meaningless label used to manipulate those with differing ambitions. If you want to condemn me, outthink me! Overpower me! Neither will work."
Grabbing his phone, he scrolled through, finding a contact with the name of Asterion before cracking a wide smile. A malicious smile, one separated and unchained by theoretical and subjective virtues.
"The world I wish to create is getting closer daily."
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Light pierced through the gaps of the makeshift homes wooden walls marking daylight's arrival. Nephis allowed light to pass through her eyes as she slowly opened them, rolling over to see long dark hair sleeping by her side. Hel, one of the Song sisters had been tasked with watching her.
Whether it be through lack of trust or Eubin personally having a vendetta against her, she didn't quite mind. After all, sleeping by yourself in such an environment could be quite stressful even for her.
As she rose to her feet, she couldn't help but frown slightly, the empty space in her arms which Sunny typically occupied remained constantly present. 'I'm going to make this right, one day at a time.' She thought to herself, a resolved expression settling on her features.
Sunny's bold declaration that they were going to the citadel's was quite abrupt, frankly, none of the camp barring himself knew what truly remained within them. Citadels were odd structures, each of them structured in particular ways with particular tasks which if destroyed would cause massive explosions.
Supposedly, the previous inhabitants of the dream realm had created these structures to test the strength and resolve of all those who dared to challenge them. As a reward for their efforts, not only would they be greeted with new methods of fighting, but also more territory in which could serve as an advantage in battle.
Frankly, compared to all other methods of increasing in strength, challenging the Citadels lead to the fastest improvement. And knowing this, Sunny decided to challenge them as quickly as possible to empower his allies as quickly as possible before the war began.
As Nephis slowly made her way past Hel's sleeping form, she moved towards the makeshift bathroom which was too small for her own comfort. If one decided to take a bath, they would need to do it in the lake, meaning that only brushing teeth was accounted for.
Why this had been done was a secret only privy to the Song Sisters, their slightly perverted inclinations hidden from all those who remained outside their inner circle as well as Sunny, mostly due to their fear of the repercussions.
Once done with brushing her teeth and freshening herself up, she was met with the sound of steel clashing against steel as she opened the door. Sunny stood in their midst, attentively watching the clash take place and preventing any injuries through deflecting them at the last moment as Jessica and Cassie clashed.
Jessica planted her feet, sword raised in a high guard, eyes locked onto Cassie's form. The blind woman stood relaxed, her rapier angled slightly downward, yet every twitch of her stance radiated control. Constantly being brutalised by Orion as he mocked her for her weakness had built a warrior out of Cassie, even despite the disparity in experience between herself and Jessica she wouldn't back down easily.
Cassie lunged first, cutting air with a diagonal slash meant to cleave through Jessica's guard. Jessica pivoted smoothly, her sword flicking out in a near-invisible counter aimed at Cassie's ribs. A sharp twist of her rapier deflected the strike, but the sheer precision of the attack sent chills down her spine.
Her opponent didn't hesitate. Her footwork made a sound as she advanced, sword thrusting three times in rapid succession—each strike impossibly accurate despite it being a sparring match. Cassie barely parried the first two, but the third would have grazed her shoulder if not for Sunny parrying the blow.
"Good, now keep going." He commanded, blurring backward as Cassie gritted her teeth. A shift in tactics was needed. Instead of pressing forward with overwhelming force, she slowed, letting her movements breathe, adjusting her rhythm unpredictably.
A feint to the left baited Jessica into an early counter, and Cassie spun on her heel, her sword cutting toward Jessica's exposed side. Yet Jessica ducked all the same. The attack missed by a hair. Jessica's sword snapped up, gliding across Cassie's sword with a scrape of metal.
Sunny's presence arriving between the two called the sparring match to a stop as he watched the two of them with a neutral expression. "You two are about even, I wouldn't doubt Jessica could have butchered you if she was trying to kill you though. But you two did good, be proud of yourselves." He commented, staring at Cassie as he watched her catch her breathe.
It was never good to know your opponent could have killed you at any moment should she attempt to, but the simple fact was that she was getting better. Regular people wouldn't have been able to come anywhere close to this level under the same time span that she had been able to.
As he turned to Jessica, Sunny almost placed a hand on her head to ruffle her hair, his own internal anguish stopping him from doing so as he simply stared at her with a small smile. "How did you fall for that feint though? Are you getting rusty?" He asked, his tone teasing as Jessica quickly went red.
"I will cut your eyebrows off if you keep going." She growled, all Sunny could do was laugh in response as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going to go take a shower, the rest can go after me. Do not come watch, you pervert." He called with a laugh, leaving Moonveil and Cassie behind to speak.
Jessica, who had fully planned to watch despite his statement made her way to Cassie, extending a hand with a smile as she watched Cassie take it. "You're strong, much stronger than someone who only been fighting for as long as you have. Did anyone train you?"
Although Cassie couldn't see in colour, she could tell that Jessica was giving her an amazing smile, and so, responded in kind as her smile grew fonder with memories of Orion. "Yeah, some guy who owns a colosseum, really cocky too. But he was an excellent teacher and an even better man."
As she said this, Eubin made her way out the house with a yawn, a teasing smile settled on her face as her eyes focused on Cassie. "You have a crush on Orion!" She exclaimed, closing the distance in seconds as she took both of Cassie's hands in her own, causing a furious blush to arrive on her face as she began teasing her.
--
Pushing through the foliage, Sunny quickly began to undress, holding a bottle of soap in his hand as he prepared himself for a calming shower. It was his way of unwinding before he ended up doing extremely important decisions, as well as having fun when he wanted to be by himself.
All of these factors, as well as the fact that he leapt into the water, creating a large splash for his own amusement. Made it even more surprising when he saw Nephis sitting on the edge of the lake, a large blush on her face as she stared at him with an amused expression.
"Hi Sunny."