Shadow Slave: Monochrome

"Do you guys think we can out run it?"

Ki Song replied,

"No. It's too fast. It'll probably catch up to us in a minute or two. Even if we get there, it'll just chase us down won't it?"

Moving to the forefront with her blade pointed in the direction of the earthquake, Gracia declared,

"Alright, So its decided then. We're going to fight it."

She looked at her, stupefied, while Epsilon just glanced at her concerningly. But her response was genuine and true. She really thought they could take it on. 

"Well, do you guys have any better ideas?"

A few moments later, Epsilon let out a small giggle.

"What's the joke?"

Relaxing, he explained,

"It's nothing big. It's just that there's probably no one else in the dream realm whose been convinced to fight a tyrant by a talking sword."

She then innocently said,

"Yes, It's just a Fallen Tyrant? Nothing big?"

And right after, Epsilons laughter exploded,

"NOTHING BIG SHE SAYS!"

"That's right! If it's our will, then who is to stop us?"

Although the idea of fighting a Fallen Tyrant as sleepers did look very stupid, what could they do? Running away was certainly not possible, but staying to fight was even more stupid. Of course, Epsilons Judgement attribute informed him that running would be the better choice, that necessarily didn't mean they would survive.

In the end, it was just a matter of picking their poison.

But maybe, just maybe, one of them wouldn't have to die.

"If it was just one of us, then it wouldn't've been enough, but two sleepers might let it forget about the extra who got away. It has a war to get back to urgently after all."

Although he wasn't directing it towards anyone in particular, it was obvious that his words were meant for Ki Song. Smile Of Heaven understood this, but still she added,

"Why are you speaking like we're going to die?"

Epsilon ignored her, but it looked like his words had failed to convince its intended target.

"Please just be that logical girl that you say you always are? Just this once."

"No. I won't leave you two behind."

She said that with certainty. Had being with the two of them changed her?

But still, he knew that it was possible to change her mind as long as he gave a good enough reason, and that she wasn't unyieldingly stubborn like Smile Of Heaven. He had convinced her in the past, all he needed was another catalyst like before.

'Well back then, I questioned how truly desperate she was to achieve her dream.'

Thinking about it now, wasn't he abandoning his own to save hers? He would die here, without having achieved anything.

But now with most of his memories back, he felt tired. Once again he was reminded of how big the gap was between a human and a god, and that the road to becoming one would be much more arduous then it is right now.

In other words, he simply lacked conviction. Because he knew that even if he died, someone else would take his place.

'Nero, you'll keep protecting mom anyway, right?'

And with that, he struck the nail in the coffin.

"But if you die here, how will you get revenge for your mother?"

The earth shook once more, this time with much more power and force, so much so that the ground beneath their feet rose and fell, causing them to be lifted into the air for a brief second.

The true heir of Ravenheart said with a shaky voice,

"H-How.. How did you know about that?"

"JUST GO GOD DAMNIT!"

A loud crash echoed, this time the closest it had ever been. And with that, Ki Song turned around and ran.

Smiling, Epsilon picked up the [Best Friend], gripping it firmly in his hands.

Gracia asked,

"Hey, aren't you forgetting about Emma?"

"She'll be fine. She's tough. You have it easier than me here, aren't you intangible?"

"There's a bit of a misconception about that. If the object im inhabiting in is destroyed, I'll take damage, worst case I could die."

The moment she finished saying that, a long fleshy tendril emerged, smashing right into her. It shattered the sword she was inhabiting with ease, sending its fragments flying. Immediately after, a white light emerged from the remains, however it was flickering, struggling to stay alight.

But it was also accompanied by a horrific scream. Although she had no body, she felt like her brain was being pierced by a hundred blades relentlessly.

Epsilon quickly moved, using up 2 years of his life and injecting it into his blade via his dormant ability. It glowed with a furious white light which he then aimed at the tentacle, easily cutting it in two.

But unlike its smaller fragment, it regenerated the moment the sword passed through its being. The tentacle then swung right into his chest, shattering his rib cage in a single hit. Its force sent him flying back through several trees, obliterating them as well as his back.

At the end of it, he crashed into a small formation of rocks that ended up with a new human sized crater.

His entire body screamed in pain, but he couldn't even make a sound to express it. Instead, when he opened his mouth, a river of blood poured out instead.

Right when he thought that the end was here, the small black spirit of Bob hovered right in front of him.

He'd been unusually quiet up till now, so Epsilon thought that he was scheming something. It seems that he was right.

The spirit simply said,

"Hey."

His eye was curled up in a way to make it obvious that he was feeling mischievous. He strained as he gave him a weak sounding, but simple response.

"What."

"A bit rude... that's a bad way to talk to the only one who can save your life right now."

This useless thing that's been following him diligently for a couple days had a way to save him? He genuinely couldn't believe it.

"That's right, and I can even save that other girl. I really don't know what you two were thinking by trying to fight a Fallen Tyrant. Did you think of it as a some sort of Noble sacrifice? Or was it pure arrogance? Oh well, whatever it was, I thank it."

Epsilon just grunted. What could it understand about how he felt anyway, he barely had any of his own memories to compare it with.

"All you need to do.. is sign... a little... contract."

His eyes widened. A contract? Like, an actual contract?

"I don't need you to do much. Just take me to my castle. We've passed it already."

'Castle? What castle??'

And then, without his command, the Nightmare spell manifested. But even stranger was its content that was far from what he was used too. Of course, it was the typical runes of random gibberish that he automatically understood, but reading them was a unique experience.

[Contractor: Bob]

[Contractee: End Of The Unbound]

[Observer: — ]

[Contract type: Equals]

[Terms & Conditions: The Contractor agrees to share the contractee all of their power for the duration of the contract, and in exchange, the Contractee must take them to, and explore the desired location.]

[Will you accept?]

[Yes/No]

First he gets convinced into fighting a Fallen Tyrant by a talking sword, and now he has to sign his first contract while being underaged on the verge of death, with a dead spirit of a 'self proclaimed' King. 

But still, it was an easy way out. The catch would be he had to back track, but, he would keep his life. That alone was enough.

The Roar of the Primate leader echoed in the distance, chasing after the Chimera Mass which had abruptly ran away from their brief scuffle. However, the Mass itself was now within eye view. Smile Of Heavens screams had long ceased, with the only thing left being the giant mass bubbling flesh shifting right towards him.

"Just say the words Epsilon... just... say.. IT!"

His lips opened up,

"Ye-"

But before he could finish them, the ceiling of cave roof began to shake and rumble, particularly right above Epsilon. By sheer chance, a fragment of the roof broke off, tumbling through the air before landing right on top of his head, knocking him out before he could finish the words.

Bob screamed,

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

But the rumbling didn't stop. It continued, allowing for more and more rubble to keep falling down, until eventually even the Chimera Mass had to stop in its movements. Bob couldn't really go anywhere, so it had no choice but to observe.

The Chimera mass was looking up. It seemed cautious.

Bob looked up too, and once he did, a small part of the roof exploded completely.

From the hole it had just created, a black figure shot down from the sky and crash landed right in front of the unconscious boy.

It was a humanoid creature, with onyx black skin that seemed to be covered in some kind of shell. Their face, a blank slate with no significant features, not even with a nose or a pair of eyes to see. If they did have a defining trait apart from their strange form though, it was their long black fingernails that were more like claws.

Bob recognised the figure. It was one of the countless Night sleepers that laid dormant in the city above. However, this one was 100% awake.

'I thought they couldn't move in the dark? How did it wake up, nevertheless dig from all the way up there!??'

Did Cassius do something?

The creature glanced towards Epsilon, taking a few steps towards him. Bob hurriedly floated in front of it, screaming at it to stop. But as the creature extended its hand out, its arm with its terribly long claws phased through him with ease.

"DON'T DO IT! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YA!"

Before it did anything, it suddenly froze. Instead, it turned around to face the Chimera Mass which was still observing the Night sleeper.

The humanoid Nightmare Creature took one step towards it instead. Its face began to deform, creating something that looked like a jaw with a row of incredibly sharp teeth made from the same material as the rest of its body.

It let out a quiet hiss, identifying the Chimera Mass as an enemy.

Of course, it recognized this too. And so the two Nightmare creatures prepared to fight.