Sunny woke up from someone shaking him from his sleep, still sleepy he groaned,
"5 more minutes."
"Wake up Sunny, don't make me hit you."
"Fineee."
Sunny shook his head and slowly opened his eyes to see Nephis next to him already ready. Sunny got out of bed and put on [Mantle of the Underworld] and [Shadow of the Drowned Moon]. As he did Nephis was packing up the place and putting it all into [Burdenless Sanctum] because they were hopefully never coming back.
Soon the room was cleared out and luckily they could fit the bed in the chest with some minor difficulty. Sunny had grown fond of his room, after all, it was the first room he could call his own, and he spent 3 months there. It had been his sanctuary for his stay at the Dark City, but now he was willing to leave it all behind for a chance to escape the dream realm. 'Thank you...for everything,' Sunny thought before leaving the room with Nephis and going up to the cathedral's roof.
They then climbed down and walked side by side on the streets, which were void of danger.
"What do you think will be in the West Neph?"
"I don't know... my prediction is it'll be more mountains."
"Hopefully not because if it's anything like the Hollow Mountains then we'll die."
"Then pray it's something we can handle."
They had planned out their path a week ago and when they would be resting and sleeping. It was hard to make landmarks since they've never been West so it was Sunny's job to count how much distance they covered. Nephis, using the privilege of knowing how to do 10th grade math, had predicted how much distance it'll take until they reach whatever is in the West which is 3,393 miles or 5460.504 kilometers, whatever a kilometer was. It will be a long time for both of them but they knew they could do it, After all, they had already done the impossible many times and now it is no different.
They also had a whole month to prepare for the journey which they used to stock up on food and get stronger. So they were sure they'll make, 'don't get a big head Sunny you may have gotten stronger but you're still easily killable'. Sunny had to remind himself this many times whenever he started getting a big head as it will get you killed. Pride and bravery get you killed in the dream realm, so Sunny was treacherous and cowardly.
They had finally reached the walls of the Dark City so Neph grabbed onto him tightly. Summoning [prowling Thorn] he threw it onto the wall and made it get stuck in a crack.
"Hold on tight!"
Sunny said as he then pulled them up with a hard pull. They immediately got sent flying as they felt the wind roar against their ears and their hair had gone wild. Before long they were above the wall so Sunny dismissed [prowling Thorn], dived down, and rolled. As he finished his roll he caught Nephis in his arms before she hit the ground. Neph immediately had a blush on her face which Sunny found extremely cute and stared at her before putting her down.
"T-thanks-"
Nephis mumbled before starting to summon [Dark Wing] as Sunny did the same. Eventually, two humans, one with silver hair and the other with onyx black hair were gliding down the wall and landed just outside the wall. Unsummoning the memories they began their long and tiring walk towards the West. It wasn't difficult since they didn't have to cross the crater where the Soul Devouring Tree and the crimson maze had already turned to dust, so it was clear land from here on out.
'I know it must be pure darkness for her...but does she have to be holding my hand? I mean it's just a clear path with the occasional bumps, ditches, and hills.' Neph had been holding his hand ever since they left the wall. Her grip wasn't so tight that he could escape it, but tight enough that he would need to use some force. Although his thoughts sounded like he was annoyed by the situation, in actuality, he was enjoying it all and didn't mind her hand in his.
Eventually, they covered enough distance to have their first of hundreds of breaks. Sitting down Sunny grabbed some firewood from his storage memory while Nephis laid out two logs to sit on. Starting up a fire, the two started to cook some monster meat in silence, enjoying each other's presence. Sunny summoned [Eternal Spring] and let Neph have the first drink which she drank greedily before Sunny drank too.
"We made pretty good distance, we covered 100 miles already in 5 hours."
Of course, the only reason they were able to go this fast was because he: 1. Was able to augment one shadow to each of them, 2. They ran non-stop, and 3. They had incredible stamina as sleepers. It would've been better if the sea were still here so they could sail but that had its perils and most likely would've ended them so by foot it was.
"We'll be able to reach the west in about 10 days if we continue at this rate, with sleep too"
"10 days...you make it sound easy."
"It probably won't be because of a certain attribute you have..."
"Hey! That's...fair actually, we'll probably almost lose our lives to a sneaky fallen titan on the way with my luck."
They both laughed at Sunny's joke for a bit before returning to comfortable silence. But then Sunny sensed something coming towards them with shadow sense, something small akin to a large rat based on its shadow.
"Something's coming Neph, get behind me."
Follow his command she got behind him and got into a defensive stance and summoned a small flame. Back to back, they were waiting as the shadow came closer and closer...but Sunny couldn't see it. 'What the hell? I sense a shadow there but I don't see anything...' Then there was a disturbance in the ground a few feet in front of Sunny. Sunny then realized why he can't see it...it's underground! 'Damnation!' A large black rat then lunged at Sunny and slashed at his armor, but not leaving a scratch on its surface. 'Must be an awakened monster at best'. Sunny slashed his tachi at the creature but it burrowed back into the dirt before it hit.
"It crawls in the dirt, watch for disturbances in the dirt!"
Neph nodded and started paying attention to the dirt carefully, looking for any sign of the creature. Sunny suddenly had a bad premonition as he stabbed into the ground where the shadow was.
[You have killed an awakened beast: Scavenger Rat.]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
Sunny sensed more shadows coming from all sides. Ten, then twenty, and eventually a hundred shadows started making their way towards them.
"I sense about a hundred more rats coming in a few seconds, damnation."
"Then let's kill them all, Sunny."
Nephis then summoned more flames and splashed them on the ground in front of her which caused the creatures under to burn. Sunny on the other hand was stabbing into the ground and slashing at them whenever they pounced at him. Eventually, though they started pouncing on him in pairs and trios so he had to use Shadow dance to avoid being hit and drowning in the wave.
[You have killed an awakened beast: Scavenger Rat.]
[You have killed...]
[You have killed...]
[You have killed...]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
[Your shadow...]
[Your shadow...]
Sunny killed a few more before he heard a haunting message.
[Your shadow is overflowing with power!]
[Your Shadow is taking shape]
'Shit my core!'
"Neph protect me!"
Was all Sunny was able to yell out before he suddenly lurched towards the ground, avoiding the rats that were pouncing on him. He got into the fetal position as the pain soon arrived the next moment which felt like a seething metal rod was inside him. He felt a burning pain that enveloped his whole body and the pain made him unable to do anything but hold back his screams of agony.
***
"Neph protect me!"
Was what Neph heard before seeing Sunny go into the fetal position. 'He must be forming his third core shit I need to get him!' Nephis scooped sunny into her arms while dancing around the rats avoiding them as she occasionally slashed at them. Placing him on her back and locking him in place with [Evertwine], she continued battling the rats with flame and blade. This continued as Nephis felt Sunny's body twitch more and more and more bodies were piling up. 'Shit I can't keep up, I'll get overwhelmed if this continues....shit Neph think!'
Neph then stepped on wet dirt and taking a glance down saw a small stream of water leading somewhere. Slashing at a group of three rats and ignoring the mocking voice of the spell announcing the kill, she started walking back and covering her retreat. After a few minutes she felt Sunny stop twitching and felt him return to normal, she quickly unsummoned [Evertwine] as Sunny slid down her back.
"Thanks, Neph for having my back, what's the plan?" Sunny asked as he started summoning his twin daggers, they would be more fatal in a fight like this where the rats had speed.
"There's a stream of water going somewhere, let's follow it and maybe whatever we find will help. I'll cover your back so just keep moving forward and cover mine."
They soon fought in unison, having each other's backs and sides. If a rat didn't die from Sunny's dagger then Neph burned it to ash, and if Neph got overwhelmed then Sunny stepped in and lent her Gloomy. They fought for a while before Sunny sensed something up ahead that he recognized. After all, how could he not when he at times had to camp inside them or escape from people coming to kill him? In front of Sunny was...a sewer opening under a hill. 'Feels like old times when I used these as a haven.'
"Neph the water leads to a sewer, if we reach there then we'll be able to lose them hopefully."
"Understood, let's go then"
The entrance was about a mile and a half away and with the speed they were moving, it'll take them a while to arrive. As they moved more rats began to show up again but these seemed stronger, they had a darker hue and reached his knees, unlike the others which were half that. The main difference is that they didn't tunnel underground though, they were running towards them at incredible speed. 'Awakened Monsters I assume, this will be a whole lot hard that I thought, I'll be damned.' Sunny tried slashing at one running towards him but it dodged and grabbed onto his dagger. Sunny tried shaking it off but it was of no use so he used his other dagger to kill it.
[You have killed an awakened Monster: Soldier of the Rat King.]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
'Soldier of the Rat King? Wait does that...fuck!'
"Neph there's a fallen tyrant! These rats are its spawn we have to get to the tunnel before it arrives!"
"Well then move fast Sunny!"
Now that they knew a fallen tyrant was well on its way to kill them they started moving at a fast rate. Sunny had to summon Serpent to keep himself from being overrun but it was taking a beating the more the battle went on. Both Sunny and Nephis were taking a beating whenever they failed to outmaneuver the rats or block. Sunny's arms grew heavier and heavier with each swing and he had to retract Gloomy from Neph at times and Neph had removed her flames from him at times too. So the situation was far from ideal and it got even worse as Sunny sensed a large shadow making their way towards them.
'That must be the supposed Rat King, luckily we've covered half the distance but still...' Sunny was worried that they won't make it in time, from the rate the rat king was moving they were almost bound to have to fight it before reaching the sewer. Sunny did not want to fight a tyrant as the last time they did with the Lord of the Dead they had almost perished. That was when they had the cohort and weren't surrounded, so it was a safe bet to say that the tyrant spelled their deaths.
Sunny continued cutting down the endless horde as more and more started to appear causing even more chaos. They had even started fighting and killing each other by accident which helped relieve the pressure off them even if it was just a bit. Sunny then summoned [Midnight Shard] which activated [Unbroken] almost immediately after, rejuvenating his body with new strength but most importantly, clarity. Kicking a large rat and sending it back into the crowd Sunny had come up with an idea for them to be able to reach the tunnel faster.
'Why walk when you can fly after all?' Sunny thought as he summoned his favorite Shadow, Stone Saint.
"Neph summon [Dark Wing] and get ready for plan F"
Plan F was one of many contingency plans they had made in case they ran into problems that needed a quick exit. Seeing Neph summoning her memory Sunny did the same as Saint appeared from the shadows and slew a dozen rats in the process buying them time, time that they needed. Just as they were about to get overrun Saint grabbed both of them and threw them high in the air, just high enough for Sunny to spot the Fallen Tyrant.
It had two beady red eyes and a monstrous mouth, walked on two legs and had two arms in front, and was gray all over. It was seven times Nephis's height and wider than 5 Sunny', so overall the size of it was terrifying enough. It had long black, jagged claws, a large tail big enough to grab a truck and crush it, and black, sharp metal covering its weak spots like joints and its head. It made the awakened demon from the Soul Devourer Tree look tiny and a plaything, and that demon had almost killed him if not for Neph.
'[Fated] is purposely trying to kill him isn't it?' Sunny sulked as they glided together towards the sewer entrance after dismissing Saint. They covered a great distance and were only a quarter mile away by the time they landed. There were no nearby Rats but they were going to reach them soon so they both ran as fast as they could before they reached up. Sadly, it proved futile. Scavenger rats appeared in front of them but were quickly taken care of but eventually they were once again backed against to defend themselves from the onslaught. 'Damnation but we're almost there!'
Just a few hundred meters away from the two was their haven. The two continued pushing with renewed strength as they made their way through the crowd. More and more of the tougher rats were appearing and Sunny was even attacked by an even larger rat that was an Awakened Demon. Although they both were getting fragments from this fight they still were exhausted so Sunny had summoned Saint and Serpent to help with the last stretch. It was all in vain though as a loud terrible roar shook the battlefield which made the color drain from both of them as they stared at the top of the hill...which was where the Rat King stood.
It jumped down which shook and knocked Sunny to the ground but luckily Neph caught him and held him as they shivered from the pressure emitting from the creature. All the rats around them bowed slightly at their Lord before turning their attention towards the pesky humans. Sunny quickly got up and the battle continued but with more coordination from the rats as their Lord was commanding them. 'We have to get passed him, do you think you can create a flame big enough to blind him?' Sunny thought through their interconnected memories. 'If you can create an opening and give me 5 seconds I can but be quick as I can't keep up much longer.'
It's true, both of them felt more exhausted by the second from the endless fighting and would pass out if this continued, leading to their deaths. Sunny commanded his Shadows to form a circle around Neph as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her flames. Each second felt like an eternity as he fought to keep the rats at bay, which was a difficult task. This reminded Sunny of when the cohort had gone through the catacombs and had to fight the undead skeletons that would never die.
Just then Sunny felt his back burning which was his sign to move away and as he did a flame passed right next to him and flew towards the Rat King. His plan though...failed successfully as the Rat King clawed at the flaming ball thrown at him which caused it to explode, blinding every single Rat and causing heavy damage to the Rat King.
"Go!" Sunny yelled as they ran frantically towards the entrance as the Rat King stumbled around. Sunny dismissed his Shadows once more before entering the cave as they turned their backs towards the entrance as they heard rumbling. What had happened was that Rat King had clawed wildly in its moment of weakness. It hit his subjects, the air, but more importantly, the hill as Sunny and Nephis had entered the cave. It caused many cracks to form and before anyone knew what was happening the hill collapsed the entrance, blocking it off completely.
They heard the loud squeaks and roars from the outside and claws banging and clawing at the stone to no avail in breaking through. Eventually, the noises stopped as they heard loud footsteps walk away to their relief and they then collapsed to the ground.
"Thank God that's over."
Sunny said in a sheepish voice as he summoned [Eternal Spring] and drank greedily from it before handing it to Neph. Neph drank for a while before giving it back to him before he dismissed it.
"I'm glad too but now we're blocked off and I don't think we'll be able to break through the rocks anytime soon."
Neph said as she stared at Sunny who was deep in thought.
"Is something wrong Sunny?"
"Yeah...remember how only the strongest Fallen creatures had been able to survive the Soul attack from the Spire?"
"Yes, I do, what are you trying to get at though?"
"Well, don't you think it's a bit suspicious that somehow those rats we killed that were Awakened Beast somehow survived?"
"They were probably made after the event, it has been a while since it incident."
Sunny ran through Neph's theory but shook his head after a few moments.
"Some of those rats were Monsters and a few were demons, they must've been alive for a while before the incident to reach that. What I think is most likely our answer..."
Sunny paused for dramatic effect before continuing.
"...Is that they had been hiding here, in the sewers, to avoid the attack which means...that there must be loads of nightmare creatures that hid in here to survive. And I'm willing to bet there's still inside here somewhere in the sewers."
"So you're suggesting that things will be more difficult from here on out?"
"I am but I also think that this is a blessing in disguise as there might be awakened and dormant creatures here we can hunt. Plus I have a feeling that this sewer system leads west anyway so we won't be off track."
"Well then... let's go find somewhere to set up camp then, I want to lie for a bit on our bed."
Sunny stood up and offered his hand to Neph which she accepted. They both looked into the darkness ahead, well Nephis did, Sunny was able to see but even then he couldn't see the end of the tunnel. 'This is going to be one hell of a journey to reach west isn't it,' Sunny thought as they began walking down the tunnel, into the unknown...
End of arc 1: Breaking Fate
Beginning arc 2: The Dreadful Sewers
***
By the way this fanfic might end off at 50 chapters or more depends on how long the arcs are, they'll be 4-5 arcs. Take care y'all!