The reality of the battle changed. Before, they were facing an army of Tainted Saints and their commander, the Jade Titan.

Now, they were facing an army of Tainted Saints, the Jade Titan, and the true enemy — a harrowing abyssal creature that hid its presence, but was the greatest threat by far.

So, their strategy had to change as well. But before that, Sunny and Nephis needed to learn the true nature of their enemies. For example... the stone golems they had fought before were merely shells that the Creature of Darkness used to hide from Neph's light. Once the vestige of darkness within was destroyed, the golems simply crumbled like the lifeless constructs they were.

But the Jade Titan was different. He wasn't a lifeless shell — Sunny could perceive its corrupted soul, and Cassie could read the truth of his profane existence. That meant that he was a living creature, and yet, that creature was seemingly being controlled like a puppet by the abyssal tendril of darkness... so what would happen if that tendril was destroyed?

Would the Jade Titan crumble, as well?

Or would he simply be liberated from the influence of the Creature of Darkness, remaining a dire threat?

Sunny and Nephis desperately needed to know the answer to that question, and many more as well.

As they reached the vast ruins of the ancient amphitheater, Sunny plummeted down, aiming to barrel into the Jade Titan's chest. The two of them were equal in Rank and Class, after all — even if only one incarnation of Sunny entered the fight, he was still confident in his ability to pose a significant challenge to the towering stone colossus.

His confidence was swiftly dispelled as he neared the Jade Titan, though.

From this close, he could see what hid behind the visor of the abominable Titan clearly... it was vast, impenetrable, unfathomable darkness. And as Sunny launched his rapid attack, that darkness moved.

The elemental darkness drowning the ancient city moved with it.

In an instant, the beautiful radiance of the countless lanterns that illuminated the city dimmed, and so did Neph’s brilliant light. The darkness surged, devouring it, and Sunny found himself surrounded by a lightless expanse. He was blinded and drained of power, his Will straining under the crushing weight of the enemy's malevolent intent.

Saint was far away, so Sunny could not see anything. However, he could still hear — and so, he heard the ground floor of the ancient amphitheater cracking under the Jade Titan's boot, as well as a deep, reverberating groan produced by the titanic plates of his stone-like armor scraping against each other.

Hidden in the darkness, the loathsome colossus was moving his hand to intercept the enemy... to squash Sunny like a bug. Sunny's daring attack, it seemed, was destined to fail.

But that didn’t matter.

His purpose was merely to distract the Jade Titan for a moment, nothing more.

The real attack came from behind him, where Nephis was streaking across the dark void like a radiant star.

As she raised the Blessing, its already blinding blade swelled with annihilating light. And when she brandished it, the vast city was momentarily drowned by pure white brilliance.

A ray of flawlessly white light cut the darkness apart, severing reality itself and scorching its parting edges.

The Jade Titan failed to react to Changing Star's attack in time — in fact, there was no time to react. The ray she unleashed was pure light, after all, and it traveled with the speed of light, biting into its target in an instant.

However, its target was not the abominable colossus.

Instead, the ray of devastating light incinerated the air above the Great Titan's shoulder and extended past it, plunging into the unfathomable darkness of the colossal tendril hidden behind his towering figure. Then, there was a blinding flash.

For a moment, the world turned into an annihilating white abyss. The elemental darkness the Jade Titan controlled was washed away by its merciless tide, releasing Sunny from his blinding prison.

He still couldn't see anything, though, and neither could he sense any shadows — no shadows existed in the world of flawless purity Nephis had summoned into reality. Then came the shockwave of the titanic explosion.

Sunny was protected from it by the unimaginable mass of the Jade Titan, and he still felt like the weight of the entire mountain chain above suddenly slammed into him. He was thrown back like a rag doll, his bones groaning under the tremendous strain.

He didn't even want to think about how hard the Jade Titan, whose back absorbed most of the devastating impact, was hit.

As Sunny struggled to keep himself in the air, the deafening roar of the explosion washed over him like an avalanche.

A hurricane wind rose when an incalculable volume of air rushed to fill the vacuum created by the immolating heat and obliterating force of the titanic detonation. It was only then that the white radiance consuming the world dimmed a little, allowing Sunny to see blurry shapes of the surrounding stalagmites.

The blinding light vanished slowly, allowing darkness to creep back.

The first thing Sunny saw was the staggering figure of the Jade Titan, his fearsome black armor cracked and superheated, emanating a fierce incandescent glow.

Then, Sunny's gaze moved behind the loathsome colossus.

And there, he saw...

A gargantuan tentacle countered by the dimming light, torn and convulsing.

It was raptured and separated from the body of the Jade Titan, whipping through the air as rivers of liquid darkness spilled from its depths.

Severed from the control of the abyssal horror, the towering colossus swayed and fell to his knees. The impact of his fall made the fractured, melted arena shudder. Sunny stared at the kneeling colossus, forgetting to breathe for a moment.

‘Come on... die!’

He desperately hoped that the Great Titan would collapse and crumble like an empty shell, removing itself from the deadly equation of this dire battle.

But Sunny’s silent plea was not answered. Instead of crumbling, the Jade Titan raised its head slowly, staring back at him with an even greater malice. Suddenly, the suffocating ocean of his abominable Will felt even more crushing, as if it had been freed from a debilitating burden.

And somewhere behind, in the distance... Sunny's eyes widened when he saw the lights of the magnificent city dimming one by one.

The absence of light revealed a second immense tentacle of true darkness rising from the great chasm beyond.

Sunny's expression collapsed.

He cursed quietly.

‘Damn it all... ah, I don't want to be Fated anymore...’

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