The Great Hall was caught in a state of collective paralysis. To the hundreds of Sleepers watching with bated breath, the outcome was undeniable: Alista Tudor had won. The golden tyrant, Gunlaug, lay broken at his feet, his legendary armor dulled and his authority shattered. Yet, the killing blow never came. Alista had lowered his sword, stepping back from the precipice of execution.
The silence was finally broken by a harsh, grating laugh. Tessai, one of Gunlaug's most brutal lieutenants, stepped forward, his eyes filled with mocking derision.
"So, the rumors were wrong," Tessai sneered, his voice echoing off the high stone arches. "You are simply too kind, boy. Or perhaps too weak. Enlighten us, 'Blood Emperor.' Why has the great conqueror refused to finish the job? Why does Gunlaug still draw breath?"
Alista didn't look offended. Instead, a smug, knowing tilt appeared at the corner of his mouth. He wiped a smudge of blood from his cheek, his hazel eyes gleaming with a secret that seemed to weigh heavier than the sword in his hand.
"Kindness has nothing to do with it, Tessai," Alista spoke, his voice carrying an edge of cold confidence that made the mocking lieutenant stiffen. "I have exactly two reasons for leaving him alive. And since you're so eager to learn, I'll show you the first one—the reason that has already been confirmed."
Alista turned his gaze away from the broken king on the floor and looked toward his cohort. His eyes locked onto Klaus.
"Klaus," Alista called out, his tone shifting to something almost playful. "Is it time? Shall we use the rock?"
Klaus froze for a heartbeat, his eyes widening as the realization of Alista's plan finally dawned on him. A slow, boisterous laugh began to bubble up from his chest—a sound of genuine, half-mad amusement.
"Alista," Klaus managed to say between chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief. "I've said it before, but I'll say it again for everyone to hear: You are truly the most insane person I have ever met."
Klaus didn't hesitate. He reached into his spatial storage and summoned a jagged, obsidian-colored artifact—a Visual Rock, a rare Memory capable of recording and projecting past events. With a surge of essence, he activated the stone.
The air above the arena shimmered and warped. Light began to bleed from the rock, weaving together to form a massive, semi-transparent screen in the center of the hall. The Sleepers leaned forward, their confusion replaced by a mounting, frantic curiosity.
"Watch closely," Alista commanded, his smug expression sharpening into a predatory grin. "This is the truth of the 'Saintess Nephis' you all adore, and the future Gunlaug was too afraid to face."
The projection flickered to life, showing a familiar alleyway under a dying sunset. There stood Sunny, looking small and weary, and Nephis, her ivory skin glowing like a pale moon in the fading light.
The recording began to play.
[Video Content:
[Grrrr.....
In the projection, Sunny sighed heavily. He turned his face away from the beautiful, ivory-skinned girl.
"Hey, have I ever told you about my sister?" he asked.
Nephis blinked, her expression unreadable. "No. Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
Sunny smiled, but it was a wistful, painful expression. "I just was reminded of her recently, so I thought I'd share. You see… our parents died when we were little. She got adopted, but I ended up on the streets. Life wasn't really sweet for me. In fact, it was nothing but unsavory and bitter. So, young as I was, I simply imagined that it was the same for her. That's why I got obsessed with the idea of finding her. I had this fantasy in my head, you know, of saving and protecting her. Becoming a family again."
Sunny grimaced, looking down at his hands. "But how could a penniless undesirable like me find anyone? You know how the city databases are. Even if they're functional, unsealing anything requires you to be a citizen, and one of a considerable rank, too. However, I was ready to do anything to accomplish my goal. So, I saved up money. A street kid can't earn much, but even then, I saved up as much as I could."
A dark shadow passed over his face in the recording. "Even if I had almost nothing to eat, I would keep putting away the pathetic amount of credits I had earned through doing all kinds of horrid crap. And after four or five years of this, by the time I was nearly seventeen, I finally had enough to hire a private investigator."
He smiled again, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You see, there was this detective who sometimes hired us nobodies to gather information for him. His services weren't cheap, but I trusted him. Or in him, at least. So I gave all my money to that guy and told him to find my sister. And you know what? He did. One day, about a month after we made the deal, he gave me a piece of paper with an address written on it. So I went there."
Nephis hesitated for a few moments, then asked in a quiet voice, "So what happened? Did you meet your sister?"
Sunny rubbed his face, glanced at the holographic sky, and said, "Sort of. I actually met her near the tram terminal. Only at that time, I didn't recognize her. You see, despite my lofty ideas of being her savior, I couldn't even really remember what she looked like. There was this girl, around twelve years old, wearing a tidy school uniform. She was walking in the same direction as me. I only realized that it was her after she entered the house from the address."
He fell silent for a while. When he spoke again, his voice was strangely emotionless. "It was already dark. I think it was raining. The house was situated in a really nice district. They actually had the whole house to themselves. Just one family living in it, can you imagine? Well, I guess you can. Anyway… there was even a lawn. And a window… a big window that shined light outside. Watching them through that window was almost like watching a television show."
He continued, the memory clearly vivid in his mind. "Standing in the shadows just outside the edge of that light, I observed her family for a while. She had parents who loved her and treated her well. She had real food, and enough of it to never go hungry. She had pretty clothes and expensive textbooks. She even had cute younger siblings. They were all smiling, laughing, and having a great time together."
Neph looked at him, her grey eyes piercing. "So what did you do?"
Sunny didn't answer immediately. After taking some time, he spoke softly. "I did the only selfless thing that I have ever done. I turned around and went away. Do you know why?"
Nephis slowly shook her head.
Sunny grinned, the anger finally finding its way into his eyes. "Because even a cretin like me was able to realize that the person he wanted to save didn't need his saving. So please tell me, Neph, why is it that you, with all your intelligence and clarity, can't seem to do the same?"
She stared at him, a deep frown appearing on her face. "Are you implying that I lied about my intention to help these people? If so, you are wrong."
Sunny clenched his fists. The hologram flickered slightly with the intensity of his emotion. Before he could stop himself, words flew out of his mouth. Glaring at Changing Star, Sunny spat:
"...Fuck you, Neph."
She blinked. "What?"
He smiled crookedly. "I said go fuck yourself with that bullshit… Saint Nephis. You might have fooled everyone else, but I know you. I know you better than anyone else. So I don't buy your whole savior act even for a second."
Sunny repeated her gesture, pointing at the surrounding hovels of the outer settlement. "Help these people? Please! What are you going to help them with? Help them turn into corpses? You and I both know how this ends. Cassie already told us. Fire and rivers of blood, right? Is this what you're planning?"
Nephis stared at him, a dark expression written on her ivory face. Her cold grey eyes weren't calm anymore. Finally, there was a burning emotion in them. Was it… confusion? Pain? Disappointment?
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Then, Changing Star slowly shook her head. Finally, she seemed to find the right words. Looking Sunny right in the eyes, she slightly raised her chin and said:
"...Fine. You got me."
Sunny stared at Nephis, stunned by her answer. He didn't expect her to admit it so easily.
Meanwhile, she just shrugged. "What? Was I supposed to deny it? Why should I? You are the one who is obsessed with lies, Sunny, not me."
The corner of Changing Star's mouth twitched. "Actually, I have to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I would have never learned how to deceive people so easily. I had a very sheltered upbringing, for obvious reasons. Communicating with others had always been something I knew very little about."
She smiled darkly. "How fortunate it was to meet you, of all people, on this forsaken shore. Lucky me. Right?"
Sunny blinked. The confusion was evident on his face.
Neph took a step forward and pierced him with an intense, burning gaze. "No one survives in the Dream Realm alone. I knew that I won't be an exception to this rule, so I watched Cassie and you and tried my hardest to learn from you both. That's when I noticed that nothing you ever said—or did—was true. Wasn't it?"
Sunny felt a cold shiver running down his spine. The viewers, Alista and Klaus, felt it too.
She scoffed. "No matter what happened, you somehow always managed to keep your real thoughts, desires, and reasons hidden. I've never seen anyone so adept at deception. Congratulations, Sunny! The mind games you played with us were almost as devious as the mental hex of the Soul Devourer. It was nothing short of inspiring."
Changing Star paused and shook her head. "You can even easily turn truths into lies. How… brilliant. I never even knew that such a thing was possible. Silly me. I didn't know a lot of things before I met you."
She smiled. "So, you see… while you were learning how to use a sword from me, I was learning how to use people from you. So please, Sunny, accept my sincere gratitude. I could not have wished for a better teacher. Without you, none of this would have been possible!"
Nephis raised her hand and stabbed a finger at him. Then, with anger in her voice, she spat: "So where do you get the audacity to blame me for doing the same thing you do to everyone you ever meet?"
Sunny trembled and spoke. "That's not the same…"
Changing Star scowled. "How is what I am doing different? I haven't told a single lie to these people. I gave them just enough truth to make them deceive themselves, just like you taught me. But what, now that it was turned around on you, it is suddenly not fair? Now you won't settle for anything less than the whole truth?"
She smirked. "Fine. I'll tell you. Yes, you are right. There's going to be fire and rivers of blood. That is my plan. So what? How is it worse than this pathetic, hopeless existence? It isn't. I am going to kill Gunlaug. After he is dead, the Bright Castle will become engulfed in a civil war, with each of the five lieutenants vying for the throne. I am going to kill them, too. And when I am the last one standing…"
Her eyes glistened with fanatical light. "...I will gather those of us who remain alive and make a road of bones for the lucky few to reach the Gateway. That is my promise. That is the salvation I offer to the people of Dark City—a chance to return to the real world or die like a human should, standing tall and with a sword in their hand, instead of living in fear like a rat! I thought that you, of all people, would understand."
Sunny stared at her in disbelief. Shaking his head, he whispered: "Is it really so terrible to live here? Is Gunlaug really so bad that you would rather see all of us die than let us remain under his rule?"
A dark expression appeared on Changing Star's face. With cold contempt ringing in her voice, she said: "Gunlaug has done many despicable things. But I won't judge him for those. Who knows if any of us would have done any better? Keeping a thousand hopeless people alive in this hell is the kind of task that can turn a saint into a demon. No… there is only one crime he committed that I can never forgive."
Sunny raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"
She lowered her chin and gritted her teeth. "It's that he gave up."
She looked at Sunny and said, her voice full of intensity: "It's that he never even tried to reach the Gateway. With so many years to prepare and hundreds of powerful fighters under his command… do you really think that there was nothing he could do to enter the Crimson Spire? No… no, he simply changed his mind. Why return if he can live like a king here, in the Dark City? He abandoned his duty as an Awakened and submitted to the Spell."
Frowning, Sunny asked: "Don't you think that, maybe, he just wasn't willing to see hundreds of people die? All these young men and women living in the outer settlement and the Bright Castle… how many of them are you ready to sacrifice to achieve your goal?"
He grew silent, afraid that her answer would confirm his suspicion.
Neph straightened her back and glanced at him. Once again, her eyes were firm and calm. Without pausing to think, she said, not a shadow of a doubt in her voice:
"All of them. Of course."
In the dark room, Klaus's fist clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.
In the recording, Sunny grimaced and turned away, feeling a terrible headache. The sun was almost gone, and the night was following in its footsteps. He didn't have much time left.
With a desperate smile, Sunny looked at Changing Star and asked: "What can be so damn important? What can be so valuable that you are ready to condemn everyone here to death?!"
He shook his head, guessing that he already knew. "Don't tell me that it's some stupid crap like bringing the glory of the Immortal Flame clan back. Duty of the Awakened? What, you gave a terrible oath to become the first human to conquer the Fourth Nightmare, like your father conquered the Third, and your grandfather the Second? Or even worse, is it something even more foolish? Are you planning to save the damn world?!"
"Save the world? No, I'm not going to save the world, Sunny."
Then, the smile disappeared from her face, and white flames suddenly ignited in the depths of her cold, grey eyes. With dark and frightening conviction, she said:
"I'm going to destroy it."
Her words echoed in the darkness, making Sunny feel an irrational sense of dread. He stared at her, both failing to comprehend and afraid to believe in what he had just heard.
Deeply inhaling the cool air, Changing Star looked up at the sky. "This world, Sunny. This cursed place. The Dream Realm. No, I won't be the first one to conquer the Fourth Nightmare. I will be the first one to conquer every Nightmare. I'll go through them one after another, destroying anything and anyone who stands in my way. And when I get to the heart of the Nightmare Spell, I'm going to obliterate every part of it, I'm going to rip it to shreds, I'm going to decimate and bring it to ruin."
She looked him in the eyes and said: "You think Gunlaug can stop me? You think a Fallen Terror can stop me? Those three ghouls can stop me? No, Sunny. Nothing will stop me. Anyone who dares will die. I'll kill them all."
Taking a step back, Sunny stared at her with wide eyes. He shivered, feeling something cold touch the back of his neck. Then, he grimaced and asked, a hint of anguish in his voice: "Why? Why do you want to destroy the Spell so much?"
A corner of Changing Star's mouth curled up slightly. After a few moments, she simply said: "Because I hate it."
He closed his eyes and whispered. "You are actually insane."
Neph smiled. "What does it mean to be insane in a world that has gone mad? I would be wary of anyone who remained perfectly sane in this hell."
Then, she sighed. "So, are we done here? Or do you have more questions? The sun is almost gone, so you'd better hurry up and ask them."
Sunny shook his head and said, his voice hoarse: "...Yeah. Yeah, Neph. I'm done."
With that, he slowly turned around and took a step forward.
Left behind, Nephis frowned. "Where are you going? Come back here."
He waved a hand and said in a suppressed tone, refusing to turn his head: "Sorry. I have an errand to run. We'll... talk some other time."
Her frown deepened. Looking at his back, Changing Star gritted her teeth and called: "I said come back, Sunny! This conversation isn't over! Come back here right now!"
But there was no answer. Sunny had already disappeared into the shadows, leaving her standing alone in the alley that was brightly lit by the last light of the dying sunset.
Grrr....]]
Reaction:
As the projection flickered and cast its ghostly, bluish hue over the gathered crowd, the dialogue between the Nephis and the "Nobody" shifted the room's curiosity into a heavy, suffocating dread. When Sunny asked about his sister and Nephis questioned his sudden sentimentality, a confused murmur rippled through the general populace, while Gwen's heart ached at the sound of a long-stitched wound being reopened, Sid watched with narrowed, distrustful eyes, and Artemis stoically noted that Sunny was giving away valuable information for free.
As he spoke of his parents' death and the "unsavory and bitter" life on the streets, those from the outskirts felt a sharp pang of kinship; Gwen's eyes clouded with tears at the miracle of his survival, Sid's cynical exterior finally cracked under the weight of his hardship, and Artemis marveled at the terrifyingly high mental threshold that allowed him to speak without resentment. A heavy silence fell when Sunny described watching his sister through a window like a television show before choosing to walk away to keep her life pure—a concept Gwen thought "loving her enough to be a ghost," which left Sid bleeding from a bitten lip as she realized his sarcasm was merely a shield, while Artemis remained fascinated by the "wasted asset" of his choice.
The air grew electric when Sunny spat, "Fuck you, Neph," prompting collective gasps from a crowd that saw cursing the Changing Star as cursing the sun itself; yet while Gwen flinched at the jagged agony in his voice and Sid hissed with manic satisfaction that someone had finally said it, Artemis remained still, recognizing that Sunny was attempting to dismantle an entire ideology. The silence became vacuum-sealed when Nephis admitted, "Fine. You got me," thanking him for teaching her how to deceive. As the pedestal of the Nephis groaned, Gwen's face turned corpse-pale at the realization that people's trust was a mere "lesson in deception," Sid recoiled from a level of evil that used people like tools, and Artemis whispered "Checkmate" at the sight of a true contender.
The crowd drew back as if burned when Nephis revealed she had been "learning how to use people" from Sunny, a betrayal that left General People feeling physically ill from the cold logic and Sid whispering that they were being "spent" rather than saved, though Artemis nodded in approval of such audacity. Panic finally set in as Nephis promised a civil war and the death of "all of them"; Gwen let out a broken sob at the casual shrug that signed their death warrants, Sid shook with the horror of being discarded, and Artemis watched with fanatical interest at a Hypocrite
By the time Nephis declared her intent to obliterate the Nightmare Spell out of pure hatred, a religious terror took hold; Gwen saw only white flames where a girl used to be, Sid broke into a cold sweat at a hatred more frightening than any Fallen Terror, and Artemis realized the "Saint" was truly a "Destroyer." As the projection ended with Sunny walking into the shadows, no one cheered; Gwen felt a desperate urge to follow the only soul left to save, Sid slumped against the wall as the light of the Star turned into a furnace, and Artemis smoothed her skirt, offering a final, chilling warning that the game had changed and God help anyone who tried to play it against her.
****
Alista scanned the faces of the crowd. The silence in the hall was absolute, heavy with a shock that seemed to have frozen the very air. It wasn't just the spectators; even the members of his own cohort stood paralyzed, their eyes darting between the flickering projection and the bleeding boy who had just dismantled a legend.
Alista finally broke the silence, his voice steady and devoid of the smugness he had displayed moments before. "See? This is my first reason," he began, gesturing vaguely toward the fading hologram of Nephis. "I do not seek unnecessary slaughter. That was my primary concern regarding Gunlaug. To kill him now would be simple, but I have no desire to ignite a civil war among us. We have enough monsters outside these walls; we don't need to create more within them. But still..."
He turned his gaze toward Gunlaug. The former tyrant was a hollow shell of his former self, still reeling from the defeat and the soul-crushing revelations played out for all to see.
"From today onwards, your reign is over," Alista declared, his words carrying the weight of an inescapable decree. "You will no longer be the Bright Lord. I am taking that mantle. As for you, Gunlaug... you will live, and you will assist me."
A ripple of unease passed through the lieutenants, but Alista wasn't finished. He summoned his sword once more, the steel singing as it caught the torchlight. His hazel eyes grew dark, reflecting a cold, ruthless resolve.
"If anyone still harbors the desire to fight for Gunlaug's lost cause, or if you think now is the time to claim this throne for yourself..." He leveled the blade at the crowd. "I will slaughter every last bastard who tries."
The threat hung in the air, thick and lethal.
Tessai, his face twisted in a mask of defiance, stepped forward. He looked at the blood on Alista's cloak and then at the body of the fallen king. "How are you any different from the Changing Star?" he spat, his voice trembling with rage. "You talk of peace while standing in blood—"
The air blurred.
There was no sound of a struggle, no clash of steel—only a wet, heavy thud. Before Tessai could finish his sentence, his head parted from his shoulders, rolling across the stone floor. His body collapsed a second later, blood pooling rapidly around the discarded remains of his arrogance.
Alista stood over the corpse, his expression unchanged, his sword already clean. The speed was so immense that the onlookers hadn't even seen him move. The stunned silence returned, deeper and more terrifying than before.
"Any objections?" Alista asked, his gaze sweeping over the remaining lieutenants. No one moved. No one breathed. "Good. People, disperse. As the new Lord of this castle, I am adjourning this assembly. Go. Ponder the speech you heard in that recording. If you find yourselves doubting the truth of it, ask Klaus. He was there."
He turned his back on the crowd, looking toward his inner circle. "Seishan, Genma, Kido... and my cohort. Artemis, Fors, Gwen, Klaus—stay alert. Protect Gunlaug for a while; I still have a use for him,If he tries stupid,Kill him without hesitation. As for the rest of you whom I called... follow me to Seishan's quarters." and he cuffed Gunluag,Which he had before ahdn
Without waiting for a response, Alista unsummoned his blade and walked out of the hall, leaving the scent of ozone and iron in his wake.
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A/N:Alista did something crazy,He revealed everything (almost) about Changing Star,So,Give me your opinion about this decision?