A lonely Shadow

Arrangements for the venue of the battle hadn't taken long, in fact, Valor was such a battle-ready clan that it only took a few minutes to arrange for a colosseum to be opened for the sake of the battle. Awakened of all ranks poured into the audience of the colosseum as Sunny and Morgan slowly made their way to the centre of the battlefield.

Sunny's mind was taken back to his second nightmare as the chants of "Glory!" reverberated through his very core. In that hellish colosseum, he had been reduced to a being less than an animal, less than a slave. They had abused and tortured him for a 'greater good' hoping to appease a god who would soon be dead.

Despite his nigh-infinite amounts of mental fortitude, Sunny felt his heart race and his muscles tense slightly as the chants continued. A pang of pain flashed through his skull as his eye twitched to supress it, looking around, the colosseum he found himself in was eerily similar to the one which had been constructed in his second nightmare.

The resemblance didn't give Sunny any comfort.

Across from him, stood Morgan of Valor. She was lightly stretching as her eyes remained fixated on Sunny's form. Although Morgan didn't know it, Sunny found himself quite intrigued by the blazing light that her soul emitted. It was a much different colour than everyone else he had encountered, burning a beautiful red that seemed ethereal in nature.

"I assume you're ready?" Morgan called, assuming a battle stance. Sunny offered her a toothy grin in reply "Yes, I am, I'll say, I get a bit rough when I spar with people. So, if possible, please stop me if I take it too far." Morgan merely nodded in response as she watched Sunny shift his weight from one foot to another, preparing himself for their battle.

In a moment, Sunny was upon her. A kick soared through the air and crashed into her defences with tremendous force, Morgan gritted her teeth as she endured the blow, quickly twisting her hand to grab his leg. Using her as a platform, Sunny pushed himself backwards before blitzing towards her once more, slamming a kick into her chest.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Morgan blocked the blow, although it sent her back slightly. She felt Sunny's presence arrive next to her as she spun on her heel and slammed her fist into where she expected him to be, Sunny crossed his arms and endured the blow with slightly wide eyes. Morgan was far stronger than he expected her to be.

"You're strong," Sunny praised, blitzing towards her before landing a punch on her midsection. Morgan endured the blow with minimal effort before bringing her fist down on Sunny's form once more, despite the force of her blows, Morgan was deceptively fast. So fast that it only took one mistake to be crippled by her blows.

"And you're beautiful too," Sunny continued, as he jumped over a hooking blow from Morgan. Allowing a slight smile to grace her features, Morgan appeared before Sunny before slamming a foot into his defences. Sunny bent downwards, kicking her directly in the knee she used to keep herself upright eliciting a pained groan from Morgan.

However, Morgan shrugged through the pain entirely as she allowed herself to fall forward slightly, bringing down her fist on Sunny's form with her own force as well as gravity acting as a useful addition. Grabbing her fist, Sunny spun his body before slamming Morgan's face into the ground.

With what looked like a mix between a cartwheel and a front-flip, Sunny slammed the heel of his foot into the back of Morgan's head. Despite this, she charged towards him like a bullet train and slammed her fist into his chest once more, Sunny rolled with the blow, slamming his hand into her chin in a brutal exchange.

Raising a hand to his lips, Sunny took a moment to analyse the slight trickle of blood trading blows with Morgan had caused. And suddenly, the mood shifted. "We might need to step in soon, to stop the fight." Said Nephis, turning to one of the Saints present. Thankfully, it was at least someone she was mildly familiar with in the form of Summer Knight.

Saint Gilead turned to her with a confused expression, so far, the fight had appeared even. Despite Sunny's superior speed, Morgan seemed to make up for it with durability and power, yet he wasn't about to brush off Nephis concerns so needlessly. Cocking his head to the side, Gilead studied Nephis expression before speaking.

"Why so? The fight appears evenly matched" Nephis shook her head, the longer she observed the engagements the larger her grimace grew as she noticed the invisible grin that continued to grow on Sunny's face as more of his and Morgans blood was spilled in the engagement.

"Sunny...does not fight people normally. He only fights people with the intention to kill them and blood really gets him going, you'll know once you've seen it. I'm surprised he's shown this much restraint so far."

Gilead merely frowned as he turned his attention back to the fight once more.

Sunny's face was bruised, he knew bone weave made his bones strong, yet he still almost heard them audibly groan under the immense force that Morgan had dished out, yet he couldn't help but enjoy fighting the woman before him. Morgan was worse off than him, he had dented her armour in multiple places as well as broken three of her ribs.

He knew her knee couldn't last much longer, and neither could his mental fortitude. And it only took one last engagement for it to occur. Morgan surged towards him; her steps heavy yet precise. With a swing of her fist, she caught Sunny directly in the jaw as he slid backwards, coughing up a torrent of blood.

Suddenly, chilling laughter permeated throughout the arena, silencing the chants of glory that had been drowning out all other noise so far. Sunny threw his head back in mad laughter, knelt and ran his hands through the torrent of blood he hand just excreted. Taking a moment to stare at his own bloody reflection, Sunny ran a hand through his hair, a dim glow being present upon his onyx locks caused by blood's reflective properties.

"I take it you're giving up?" Morgan asked, she already knew the answer yet asked anyway. Before waiting for a response, she was already in front of Sunny. However, her eyes which were formerly fixed on his form found themselves facing the sky as a sharp pain invaded her senses.

Sunny had kicked her in the chin so quickly she hadn't even seen it, before she could recover, Sunny grabbed her foot and slammed her to the ground. Mounting her, Sunny slammed his knee into her eye socket, sending a torrent of blood flying outwards before ramming his hand through the gaps in her armour.

Blood sprayed from Morgan's body in showers as panicked shrieks escaped her lips. She lifted her arm in an attempt to counterattack however Sunny grabbed her arm, broke her finger, and continued to pummel her. His sickening laughs only grew louder as he continued to torture his opponent in front of her people.

"Stop guarding your face! Let me see your eyes!" Sunny roared, continuing to attempt to pin down Morgan's hands which were flailing around her face in an attempt to halt his onslaught. Eventually, Morgan managed to shake Sunny off her, making her way to her feet with slow, baited breathes.

For someone who had been such an esteemed opponent before, now it felt like she was fighting something different yet so familiar. It was a force she had constantly danced with as she put her life on the line for the sake of glory and honour of her clan.

She was fighting death.

Sunny appeared in front of her, his arm twitched feinting a punch, despite Morgan's battered state she still remained a trained battle master as she read the bait and raised her foot to block a low kick that barrelled towards her. Despite her proper assessment, she hadn't accounted for Sunny breaking her shin entirely.

A sickening crack tore through the colosseum, only to be drowned by Sunny's persistent laughs as he watched Morgan fall onto her back while writhing in pain. Crouching down next to her, Sunny extended a hand towards her face, pushing her blood-soaked hair away from her eyes.

"There it is! There's the expression! That's beautiful, sublime!" Sunny's hands coiled around Morgan's neck as he began to squeeze, in a moment, a golden figure appeared by his side in a blur. A sickened expression was painted across Gilead's features as he firmly gripped Sunny's hand, prying him away from Morgan's downed form.

Nephis flames washed over Morgans body, a slight grimace hidden from sight as she endured the pain of her flaw to heal Morgan's injuries. Morgan looked like she had seen a ghost, her eyes were hollow and empty, not focusing on any particular object or person. Simply...blank.

Meanwhile, Sunny was trying to make his way past Gilead to finish his fight with Morgan. His sickening smile slowly growing dimmer as his charges were continuously repelled by Gilead's superior speed. Contemplating using shadow step, Sunny took a glance at Nephis who stood near Morgan before sighing and raising his hands in the air with a defeated expression.

Despite watching the brutal violation of the future of clan Valor, the crowd still roared in approval at the sight of an excellent fight. Chants of glory quickly made their way back into Sunny's ears, in his current mental state, he could no longer resist the impulses his body forced on him upon hearing that sickening chant.

His breathe quickly grew faster, his heart rate soared far higher than it did against Morgan. Taking hurried steps away from the centre of the colosseum, Sunny placed a hand on his head, the effects overwhelming him before he could completely make an exit before collapsing to the floor unconscious.

The last sight he was greeted with before he fell were familiar ones. Sickening locks of silver hair.