The group stood beneath the walls of the impenetrable city. All of them, even Juno, were looking at the great buildings and structures with shock and awe. The buildings were old, sure, but they still had a sense of charm. Ahead of them stood the human citadel, or the thing that Sunny and Nephis believed to be a citadel.
"Good thing there was a place to rest for a couple of days, otherwise it would've been difficult to refill my Away from Home.'
Not commenting on the impossibility of the castle being a citadel, Juno tilted his head upwards and towards the top of the great wall. "Eighty meters, give or take," he commented lightly. "That's like twice as large as the Academy walls. Makes you wonder if the Dark Seas height is different here than the Crimson Labyrinth."
Sunny grunted, already testing holds in the stone. Nephis watched the wall, part measuring and still part disoriented. She had healed herself up, but the mental shock still remained. Cassie just shivered and clutched her staff closer.
As they began the climb—Sunny and Nephis leading, Juno just behind, Cassie moving between them, guided by the golden rope—Juno kept talking. It had been over a month since he could hold a proper conversation with these guys, and he was keen on doing so. Additionally, he believed it helped keep the group's thoughts off the impending mental defeat.
"I know I've told you this," Juno said, planting his fingers in a narrow seam and hauling himself up. "But Sunny, you should think about using Shadow Sense in combat."
Sunny grunted. "Well, genius, I don't know what you want me to do."
"Oh come on," Juno said. "You can feel the shadows of beings, so why not feel how they move during combat? This should be as natural as breathing is to you."
Nephis glanced down briefly. "Explain."
"Right now," Juno went on, "you only think of using Shadow Sense to feel the presence of beings, but that's too narrow a view, isn't it? If I know how a shadow works, then every time I move, the shadow mimics that movement. If your Aspect is related to shadows, then you should intuitively be able to grasp how shadows of beings move in a fight and then mimic them. Shadows are formless, so your fighting should be formless too… Does that make sense?"
He reached up, jammed his fingertips into a joint between slabs, and levered himself higher.
"Well, imagine this. You are fighting… Nephis, and you use my hypothetical idea. You will, even if blind, be able to sense how the shadow of her sword and body moves and get an insight into her technique, at a level that is like hers. Then, you can automatically use that technique for yourself. Viola, the most insidious battle art to ever exist!"
Sunny grunted, breathless. "Easier said than done."
"Obviously," Juno said. "But, you can probably do that with only a week or two of intense, intense practice. Maybe dueling against someone for… six hours a day?"
He paused, feeling Cassie tug on the rope below as Nephis lowered her to the next ledge.
Sunny was quiet for a few meters.
"…Not useless," he admitted.
"High praise," Juno said dryly. "We'll workshop it later. When we're not halfway up a wall above a sea of death."
From there, the rest of the climb passed by quickly. Juno, obviously, didn't stop talking, but still, the topics were lighter.
The wall was slick and cold from the touch of the receding sea, but all four of them were very different from the Sleepers who had once struggled down the giant knight's statue. Nephis and Sunny moved with the easy precision of people who had spent months dancing on the edge of death. Juno followed a body length below, matching their rhythm so Cassie, roped between them, was never left hanging.
When they finally pulled themselves over the lip of the wall, all of them sagged for a heartbeat, catching their breath. Then Sunny lurched to his feet and walked to the inner edge.
Juno joined him, brushing grit from his palms.
The ruined city spread out below: broken streets, shattered houses, bones—both stone and monstrous—half‑buried in rubble. Things moved in the shadows, wrong shapes slipping between collapsed facades. The castle shone on its hill like something out of a sanctimonious painting. Behind it, the Crimson Spire stabbed at the sky like frozen blood.
Juno's gaze snagged there, just for a moment. Then he looked away.
Cassie's fingers tightened on his sleeve. "What… what do you see?"
Sunny answered, voice hoarse but full of that stubborn, battered hope she'd dragged them across the Shore with. Juno listened and said nothing. He already knew the punchline waiting behind Effie's smile and Gunlaug's walls.
They walked the wall toward the nearest tower. The city seethed below; nothing tried to climb.
By the time they reached the broken gate in the round tower and heard the wet crunching inside, Juno's three streams of thought had settled into their usual pattern: one on the physical, one on the shadows, one listening for the cracks in his friends' composure.
Effie was exactly where she was in the original timeline.
Juno knew that Effie was almost exactly his type, but her beauty still blew him away. She was easily the second most gorgeous person he had ever seen, and her character only made her prettier.
The scene unfolded as it had before: the roasting meat, the pile of bones, the tall, sun‑browned girl in the too‑short tunic chewing through monster ribs like candy. Nephis's question—"Are you… human?"—Effie's offended snort and bad joke. The hope was that when "castle" and "people" were mentioned. The way that hope shattered when she laughed and told them there was no Gateway.
Juno's personal highlight was his new nickname from Effie. He had wondered what it would be, or if she would even give him a nickname, but she did. Sunny was, as usual, a doofus, and Juno, the amazing little brother, was pretty. If his hopes hadn't been shattered, Juno would've rubbed it in Sunny's face.
Finally, after the initial shock and worst confirmation drained out from his friends' faces, Juno decided it was time to act. With a serious expression, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
Juno cleared his throat.
"Effie," he began, "you've been here for a while. Mind if I pick your brain a little?"
She smiled widely at him. "Sure. I like questions. It makes me feel wise and important."
Juno nodded. "If you don't mind, then tell me a little about the strongest people here."
This was, obviously, not for Juno. He knew all the lieutenants and their Aspects, so this was all for Sunny and Nephis. If Cassie knew the future and didn't share, then Juno would.
Effie licked her lips and began to count on her fingers. "Best to start off with the big bad Bright Lord, I guess. His name is Gunlaug, but I'm not really sure of his Aspect. I do know he is a monster when it comes to physicality, and nothing can pierce his armor. A bunch of people have tried, but not even Ascended-level memories were effective.
Then there are his lieutenants, whom he has five of. Gemma has a powerful regeneration Aspect, which makes him nearly immortal. Tessai, the leader of the soldiers, is as bloodthirsty as he is powerful, and he can freeze others' bodies. Kido, probably the weakest. She can manipulate the qualities of plants, so she doesn't have any offensive power. She grows all of Bright Castle's food. Then there is Harus, I have no idea what he even looks like, let alone his Aspect. He is dangerous, though, as Gunalug uses him as an executioner. Finally, there is Seishan. She is extremely powerful, with a good amount of high-ranking memories. Her Aspect is about changing into a monster creature."
Then, Effie sat up a little straighter and continued to talk. "There are a couple of other strong Sleepers here. Firstly, there's me. Then, there are the pathfinders and the hunters' second-in-command, Raku. Besides those guys, everyone else is decently strong. You have to be, to survive here after all."
Juno nodded slowly, pretending to weigh these things in his mind. "So those are the important guys? Also, you said things like pathfinders and hunters. What are they? I mean, I can guess what they do, but are they all the groups?"
Effie wiggled her hand. "No, no. The Host has a couple of other groups. There are the artisans, controlled by Kido. There are the castle guards, who are in charge of guarding the good ol' Bright Lord. I mentioned it, but Tessai leads them. Hunters and pathfinders are the most elite Sleepers in the Forgotten Shore, with the pathfinders being only a little below the lieutenants in strength. Finally, there are the handmaidens who are like the castle maids, and Seishan is in charge of them."
"How often do those lieutenants leave the castle?" Juno asked.
"Almost never," Effie said. "Only Gemma and Seishan come out regularly, and that's when there is a really important hunt to be done."
Juno stored that away and continued with the questions. He asked Effie about the most important things, like what notable Nightmare Creatures there were, where different tribes lived, and what areas to watch out for. He didn't want to spend a bunch of time scouting, and here was one of the best hunters in the Dark City willing to answer his questions. He would be a fool to pass up free knowledge.
Eventually, though, Juno concluded his interrogation and leaned back slightly, his expression morphing to calmness instead of focus.
"Thanks," he said. "I'll repay you as soon as I can."
Effie grinned. "Told you I like questions. Anything else pretty?"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "Not for now."
He pushed himself to his feet, dusted his hands off, and looked at Sunny.
"Alright," Juno said. "Time for my part."
Sunny frowned. "Your part?"
Nephis's eyes narrowed. Cassie turned her head toward the sound of his voice.
Juno looked toward the distant castle and grinned slightly. "Up there, there's a pathfinder who can mark people on a map in her head after seeing them once. As long as you're in this city, she'll know where you are."
Cassie's fingers tightened slightly on her staff.
"And thus, if I enter that castle, she will see me and mark me," Juno continued calmly. "So I'm not going in with you. Not as luggage, anyway. I'm going to stay out here for as long as I can. When you need me, you'll know where to look."
Sunny stared. "What the hell are you talking about? How the hell do you know about that Pathfinder? Effie didn't mention her!"
Juno met his gaze without flinching. "I have my ways," he said lightly. "There are more ways to peer at Fate than there are stars in the sky. Point is, she exists, and I'd rather not hand Gunlaug a neat little coordinate for me on day one."
Sunny's eyes narrowed. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting for now," Juno replied. "You know I wouldn't bring this up without a reason. Just add it to the growing list of things I will tell you later."
Sunny's expression darkened as he stood up as well. He might not have been as tall or wide as Juno, but his aura was definitely sharper. "Later might not exist," he growled. "You might have survived for over a month in the Crimson Labyrinth, but there were no Fallen out there. This place is crawling with them!"
Nephis watched Juno in silence, grey eyes steady and cold. "You are proposing to walk alone into a Fallen‑rank hunting ground," she said. "On purpose."
Juno spread his hands. "We've all been doing that for months. I'll just be doing it with fewer roommates."
Cassie's voice was meek. "Juno… why?"
He looked at her, then at Sunny and Nephis. "Because if all four of us walk into that castle, we all end up inside Gunlaug's system. His food, his walls, his rules. Someone should stay outside that cage. Out here, I can move, learn, and pick where I risk my neck."
He drew a breath.
"And because I can actually do it," Juno went on. "You can too, Sunny. And when you do, I would like an apology. And stop bitching about it now."
Abruptly, he lifted his hand.
White sparks ran across his skin, like shards of white lightning trying to escape. They gathered in his palm in an instant, coalescing into a dense knot of light that swelled and tore free of him.
A heartbeat later, the light boiled outward and unfolded into Dusky—ragged wings, hooked beak, hungry, feral eyes—looming over the fire as if it had always been there.
Not expecting any of this, Effie dropped her skewer and looked dumbstruck at the group.
"You have an Echo?!" she blurted out, eyes wide.
Cassie flinched closer to Nephis. Changing Star's fingers twitched, then stilled by sheer effort. Sunny just stared, stunned into silence.
"You've had that this whole time," he said slowly.
Juno shrugged. "I did, and I even told y'all about him."
Dusky shifted, talons scraping against the stone, tattered wings half‑unfurled. The Echo's mad eyes glittered in the firelight as it let out a low, rasping croak.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning on dying," Juno said seriously. "In fact, in four or five months, I'm gonna be stronger than ever."
Juno turned to Sunny.
"You," Juno said. "Need to get a damn grip on your Aspect. The parts you've played with. Especially the ones you haven't. Shadow Sense, shadows, and more shadows. You only treat your Aspect like something meant for scouting. You are dishonoring Shadow God with that thinking! You know that Shadow was not only the god of Death, but also the last to fall in the Doom War? Get a damn grip, brother!"
Sunny clenched his jaw. After a moment, he gave a short nod. "Fine," he muttered. "But if you die, I get to say I told you so over your grave... And, you're going to tell me more about that Doom War."
"You won't have time," Juno said. "You'll be too busy not dying yourself."
He shifted his gaze to Cassie. His voice softened a tiny bit.
"I know you're a seer, and a powerful one at that. But, from what I've read, seers tend not to be happy and always live in the future. You, as someone who can see both the past and future, need to enjoy the present."
Cassie bit her lip, then nodded, tiny and shaky.
Finally, he faced Nephis.
"And you," Juno said. "Do everything you can to get Kido on your side. Don't fight her, don't posture at her. Convince her. If you ever want to move anything in this place, you'll need her specifically, as she is the key to everything else."
A flicker of sharp, focused light passed through Nephis's eyes, quickly hidden.
"Oh," Juno added, "since we're on the topic, why don't you try out Shaping? I bet you have a nasty talent for it."
"I still don't like this," Sunny said quietly.
Juno just gave him a look that was all annoyance.
"Shut up and don't talk to me until you beat me in a duel every time! Holy."
Juno then turned to Effie and grinned at her. "Oh, and Effie, when I come back, why don't we go on a date? You're exactly my type, you know."
Effie grinned back at him. "I only go for guys who are stronger than me."
Juno laughed. "Isn't that perfect? Gives me an extra reason to stay alive."
Effie snorted. "Then don't die, pretty. It'd be a waste."
He patted the side of his leg, then vaulted up onto Dusky's back in one smooth motion.
He looked down at them one last time.
"We'll meet again," Juno said. "Preferably before Sunny turns into a respectable citizen."
Sunny rolled his eyes, but his hand tightened briefly on Cassie's shoulder. Nephis held Juno's gaze for a heartbeat, the sharp light in her eyes burning just beneath the surface.
"We're going to have a very stern talk once you get back, Sun Chaser."
Juno didn't say anything to Sunny, instead commanding Dusky to fly up.
Dusky launched, wings exploding outward, dragging wind and ash through the broken tower. In a few heavy beats, they cleared the gate and the lip of the wall, rising into the cold air above the Dark City.
The ruins spread out below like a shattered maze, the white castle gleaming on its hill, the Crimson Spire looming beyond.
Juno glanced back once at the small knot of figures around the fire.
'Shame I don't have a flashy Aspect Ability. Could've done a firework like thing…'
Dusky screamed, banked into the darkness, and the two of them vanished into the night.
(End of Volume 2 Part 1 - A New Devil)
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YES I AM DOING A JUNO AND EFFIE SHIP, I LITERLLY HINTED AT IT IN THE CHAPTER WHERE JUNO AND SUNNY TALK ABOUT THEIR TYPES, SINCE EFFIE IS TALLER THAN JUNO AND IS LIKE IN HIS EYES PERFECT.