Sunny’s jaw almost crashed into the floor as he looked at the bounty in front of him. The wanted man’s face was concealed by a mask, so he couldn’t quite see his face. However, he knew that this was too much of a coincidence.
The final member of the Stellaron Hunters was a man named Mongrel.
Mongrel wore a beautiful onyx armor that radiates a sense of solemn, dark menace. His face was hidden behind a fearsome black mask, with three twisting horns rising from it like a jagged crown. His hair was stark white, and there are two pools of impenetrable darkness in the place where his eyes were supposed to be. His weapon of choice was a long, curved odachi forged of lusterless black steel, engraved with strange runes of darkness. It rested on his shoulder, seemingly devouring the bright light of the illusory sun.
Sunny stared at this image, feeling like everything was just getting even more confusing.
’...Damn, I look cool.’
At that strange thought, Sunny refocused on this strange revelation:
Mongrel — considering certain similarities — was Sunny, the treacherous Lost From Light.
The mask that Mongrel was wearing was his only Divine Memory, Weaver’s Mask. Although he hadn’t summoned it yet, he remembered what it looked like. It had the ability to hide his identity from even the most powerful of divination abilities, reverses his Flaw so that he could only lie, and another mysterious, unknown ability that he didn’t have the guts to test out.
The armor that Mongrel wore was Sunny’s Mantle of the Underworld. He had recently used it a couple of times, and it was currently repairing itself in his soul sea. Fortunately, the only two people he had used it in front of was Sparkle, who must have already known about it, and Seele, who seemed to be quite ignorant about Awakened matters.
Thinking about the girl with a split personality, Sunny had the urge to punch himself in the gut. That stupid request that he had made was bound to be the death of him, and he hadn’t even tried to clear up the misunderstanding.
Sunny had no idea what he was thinking, since he could have made any number of outrageous requests.
Strange situations aside, Sunny only grew more confused as he gazed at the odachi that Mongrel held in his hand. Summoning the Soul Serpent in it’s weapon form after making sure that he was hidden from prying eyes, Sunny quickly compared the two weapons.
He sighed as he allowed the Shadow to revert to it’s tattoo form. The weapon wasn’t the exact same. The length of Serpent was a few inches longer, while also being much darker in color. The odachi that Mongrel wielded was engraved with runes that seemed to absorb light itself, which wasn’t a property that was shared with Serpent.
Anyways, considering most of the available information, Sunny deduced that he must have been Mongrel at one point in time. Most likely for the past two years that Sparkle refused to tell him about, he was a Stellaron Hunter.
Which completely changed the situation regarding his Shadow Bond.
’Did I tell AR-26710 my True Name of my own volition? Or was it because of my Flaw? If Sparkle knew about it because I told her, it shouldn’t be impossible, right?’
Not only that, but considering the fact that they were literally called Stellaron Hunters, and tended to have connections with multiple Stellaron disasters, they might have had something to do with the Stellaron inside of him.
...No, they must have been related to it.
Thinking about it, he must have been acquaintances with them at worst, and... friends at best.
’...I’m not going to humor anything more than that.’
Of course, it was possible that betrayal was on the table, but Sunny somehow doubted that. Considering the message that was left behind by his past self, it was highly unlikely that he had departed from the Stellaron Hunters on bad terms. After all, he had somehow trusted AR-26710 despite the fact that he was her slave.
So... Sunny could only come to one conclusion.
The whole debacle with losing his memories must have been some extremely elaborate mission. His past self had written that message with the knowledge that Sunny was going to lose his memories, so it only made sense, right?
’Why does everything have to be so convoluted?!’
Sunny decided that he’ll judge whether the Stellaron Hunters were his enemy or not when he encountered them himself. He couldn’t possibly make such a decision based on nothing but bonds he couldn’t remember.
He sighed, deciding that he should probably head back to the hotel. The sun was starting rise, as rays of light started to push the shadows away, causing them to grow starker.
The walk back to the hotel was relatively peaceful. The cold of Belobog was only a mild chill, as the Trailblaze gave him a resistance to extreme temperatures. Belobog itself was much less colder than the rest of Jarilo-VI, due to the specific location and the heat provided by the heaters littered around the city.
Before he had fallen asleep the previous day, he had wanted to leave one of his shadows behind to keep watch over Cocolia. He didn’t know why, but the woman gave him a bad feeling. Unfortunately, although he could make his shadows keep watch while he is asleep, he couldn’t use them in the Waking World while he was in the Dream Realm.
As such, he wasn’t able to stalk the Supreme Guardian.
Sunny paused. That didn’t come out right... even it was what he had planned to do.
Just as Sunny was about to reach the hotel, Sunny spied a coffee shop having their sign flipped to ’open’. Seeing this, he recalled the cup of coffee that he had drank from right before his First Nightmare.
’...Not all coffee could be that bitter, right?’
Paying the kind old man with credits — which he seemed to have quite a lot of — Sunny took a seat at one of the small tables within the humble coffee shop.
The coffee sat before him, a deep, rich brown so inviting it seemed to pulse with promise. The steam rising from the cup curled and swirled in delicate tendrils, carrying with it the scent of roasted beans, dark chocolate, and a whisper of caramel. He leaned in, inhaling the aroma as it wrapped around his senses, coaxing memories of cozy mornings and quiet moments from his childhood.
Sunny took the first sip slowly, letting the liquid linger on his tongue. It was velvet — smooth and thick, with a weight that seemed to settle comfortably in his chest. The bitterness of the coffee was perfectly balanced, never harsh, only the subtle tug of dark roast that spoke of the care taken in each step of its making. There was a hint of something sweet — maybe a distant trace of vanilla or the faintest touch of brown sugar — that danced alongside the deep, smoky flavors, a perfect counterpoint to the strength of the brew.
As it slid down his throat, warmth spread through him, a gentle fire that spread from his chest to his fingertips. But it wasn’t just the heat that made the cup irresistible. There was a complexity in the taste, layers that revealed themselves slowly: the earthy richness of the beans, a whisper of toasted nuts, and something more elusive — a floral note, perhaps, like the faintest touch of jasmine or lavender, adding an unexpected lightness to the experience.
With each subsequent sip, the cup seemed to deepen, unfolding more and more. It was both familiar and new, a revelation wrapped in the simplicity of a perfect brew. The aftertaste lingered — a gentle sweetness, like honey kissed by a hint of spice, keeping him anchored in the moment, unwilling to let go.
And Sunny hated both honey and the insects that create it, which goes to show how delightful this cup of coffee made him feel.
He closed his eyes, savoring the fleeting pleasure of the drink, knowing this was more than just coffee. It was an indulgence, an experience. And as the last drops vanished from the cup, he felt a quiet longing, a desire to hold onto this warmth a little longer, to taste it again before the day fully demanded him. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noveⅼfire.net
’...If I had a way to give this place a rating, it would be five stars.’
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be possible. The only reason why Sunny had any cellular connection was because his phone seemed to be a little special. Those who lived in Belobog didn’t have any connection outside of Jarilo-VI, so it was impossible for Sunny to have a way to give any sort of review.
Sunny decided that he must come back here at least five times before he leaves.
Thanking the old man behind the counter, Sunny exited the coffee shop. Right in front of him was the hotel in which he had woken up in... which was surrounded by a swarm of Silvermane Guards.
Sunny blinked as he saw March and Dan Heng being led to the grey haired girl he had seen yesterday at Qlipoth Fort — Bronya, he believed her name was. She held a rifle with a bayonet at the end in her hands.
’What is going on...?’
Bronya spoke in a powerful and stern voice:
"I am Bronya Rand, acting commander of the Silvermane Guards. In the name of the Amber Lord in the highest, and under order of Supreme Guardian Cocolia Rand, I hereby arrest the suspected infiltrators under the charge of plotting to incite rebellion."
Sunny started to piece together the situation... they really were going to get killed because he fell asleep in the Supreme Guardian’s presence!
’Dammit! If only I had drunk some of that delicious, delectable, impossibly sweet coffee before we met with her... all of this could have been resolved!’
’Wait a second — rebellion?’
Bronya continued as Sunny skulked through the shadows in an attempt to get closer.
"As agent of the Supreme Guardian, I herewith temporarily strip you of your freedom of action and speech. When you are tried by the adjudication panel, you will be given the opportunity to defend yourselves against the accusations."
Sunny thought about his options for a moment, before making quite the rash decision. Burning a little bit of essence, Sunny dived into the shadows — where he belonged.
"Resistance will prove futile. You must come wi—ah!"
Bronya yelped in surprise as she was suddenly grabbed. Her rifle was violently wrenched out of her hands, cluttering to the ground as the person that was holding onto her whirled around so she was facing the rest of the Silvermane Guards. The protectors of Belobog all pointed their guns at her.
No... they were pointing them at the one who was holding her hostage. However, didn’t that just mean that Bronya herself would also be shot? Cold steel pressed against her neck, making the threat to her life obvious.
"What is this, the second time I held a blade to someone’s neck? I really hope this doesn’t turn into a pattern."
The suspect that had grabbed her spoke in a snarky tone, as if he wasn’t committing a heinous crime by holding her as a hostage.
"...Sunny, where were you? We couldn’t find you in your room when we looked."
By the sound of the voice, Bronya guessed that it must have been the green-eyed boy that spoke. This ’Sunny’ individual must have been the one that was holding a weapon against her neck. Based on the feeling of it, she guessed that it must have been a dagger of some sort.
In truth, Bronya was not prepared for anything . Despite the fact that she was an Awakened, she didn’t think that she could escape the grasp of the man holding onto her. It felt like he had the strength of four Awakened within his body — no, even more than that.
Not only that, but he had somehow gotten behind her without either the Silvermane Guards or herself noticing. If his Aspect was stealth related, it wouldn’t make sense that he could have been physically strong enough to completely restrain her. The opposite was true as well.
"Oh, me? Well, I was too busy drinking a cup of coffee fit for a king. Honestly, you should try it. The old man that runs the place is really nice, you know? Oh... but he wasn’t accepting tips."
Sunny’s casual tone was broken up by a chuckle, before the blade against her neck dug a little deeper. Bronya scowled.
No wonder her mother had wanted these criminals to be arrested as soon as possible. Only the worst of them could have a conversation about coffee while preparing to commit regicide!
His laughter suddenly cut off. Bronya felt his breath brush against her neck, revealing that he had turned back in the direction of the Silvermane Guards. Although they held him at gunpoint, they made no move to shoot. After all, Bronya would most definitely be shot alongside him.
Her captor had to have known that.
"Now then... I have no idea what’s going on, and frankly, I don’t give a shit."
Bronya blanched as she felt Sunny play with her hair.
’This... miserable scum!’
"But... there is something that I do know. There’s what, a couple dozen of you? Was your plan to outnumber us or something? I mean, all I see is a whole bunch of weaklings."
Bronya could practically feel the smirk that Sunny must have had on his face.
"Anyways, as you can all probably see from inside those stupid helmets of yours, I’ve got the strongest of you in my arms. Ah, don’t enjoy it too much Miss Bronya. I don’t want your mother to be more cross with me than she already is."
Bronya wondered if he ever stopped talking. Any more of this, and she really would have been fine with her death as long as this bastard could die as well.
"So, I’m giving you all a choice. I’m a generous guy, so I’ll give you all a chance to live! No need to thank me!"
"Drop your guns, and you guys get to live along with the princess here. Don’t, and well... the Supreme Guardian might have to get some tissues."
Silence permeated the streets for a few moments.
"...Do I have to spell it out? I’m saying that I’ll slit her throat! Please make the right choice. I don’t really enjoy killing pretty girls..."