Nephis's eyes widened slightly as she took another look at the rapidly approaching figure.
Without a word, she summoned a rope and threw it down the side of the statue.
Sunny, meanwhile, remained frozen, jaw slack. "…C-crazy bastard," he muttered under his breath.
The crab Asher was riding—no doubt an Echo—was absurdly fast. Not blurring fast, but fast enough to keep pace with the frenzied scavengers. The only reason he wasn't caught was because the monsters were trampling over each other in the chaos.
Sunny's gaze drifted to Nephis, who was now leaning over the edge, watching the scene unfold with unsettling calm.
Sunny cursed, 'She almost beheaded me, thinking I was a nightmare creature when we first met in this godforsaken place! Why don't they suspect him to be a nightmare creature'" But then again, he already knew the answer. Sunny chuckled as he mumbled, "No nightmare creature is as crazy as that bastard."
That stunt—riding a crab Echo, stealing soul shards, laughing like a lunatic—was exactly the kind of calculated insanity Asher specialized in. Under all the theatrics, Sunny knew he was clever. If he hadn't drawn so much attention to himself, they might've never noticed him. Which meant climbing the statue would've been impossible…
'But all of this would work, provided, he knew that we were here.'
He narrowed his eyes, 'How..?'
Nephis glanced at him, and without speaking, Sunny understood what she wanted. He moved beside her and helped tug on the rope.
But after a few seconds, his hands paused.
"…Hey, Neph… isn't this too light?" he asked, squinting at the rope. "Did Asher even grab it?"
Nephis frowned, just as puzzled.
Before either of them could answer—
"What's happening?" Cassie asked quietly from behind. "Sunny said Asher is here… Where is he?"
Both Nephis and Sunny turned to her.
And blinked.
"…Eh?"
.
.
.
They had completely forgotten Cassie existed.
But before anyone could process that revelation, the sound of heavy breathing reached their ears. They spun around—and saw Asher sprawled on the stone platform, drenched in sweat and looking half-dead.
He raised a trembling hand, eyes pleading.
"Water."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I NEED WATER!"
"oh." The 3 snapped out their reverie, Cassie quickly summoning the endless spring. Nephis crotched down to Asher, handing him the casket. Asher didn't even raise his torso, greedily drink as much as he good. Soon, his eyes blurred with tears as he continued to drink the water.
Water tasted soooo good! 'Damned flaw...' he cursed in his mind.
"Wah!" He finished his fill as his chest heaved up and down. A shadow of an hand blocked the sun, as he saw the figure Infront of him. He smiled, taking the hand, "Pleasant seeing you here, Nephis."
He rose up, seeing Nephis nod. Before he could say anything else, a strong force clamped him by the shoulders.
"CAN YOU EVEN COMPREHEND HOW EXPENSIVE THOSE SHARDS WERE?!"
Sunny screamed, his eyes wide. Asher, despite the pain, managed a wheezy laugh. "Is that the first thing you say after your dear friend almost got mauled by a bunch of obese crabs?"
Sunny's eyes narrowed, as he looked at Asher from head to toe. "You looked messed up." There were no grave injuries, just a lot of cuts here and there. It would definitely heal over a night's rest.
"Indeed I do." He looked around, spotting Cassie as he expressionlessly said. "Glad you're alive, Cass,"
Cassie flinched, looking down and nodding. "I-I am."
Asher hummed in response. Then he took a deep breath, before falling down ontot the ground again. "Ah.. I'm alive..."
He was, battered, hurt, a bit broken, but... alive. "What is this place anyway?" He asked looking at the sun. "Somewhere not discovered yet." Nephis stated matter-of-factly, seeming cooking some crab meat. Asher nodded, before narrowing his eyes on Sunny.
Sunny grimaced, "Why the hell are you staring at me like that?"
Asher smiled, "You look like you know something."
Sunny sighed, looking west, "We are in some place called The Forgotten Shore. It-It was written in the description of my weapon."
Asher nodded, raising his torso, "What a honest guy you are Sunny..." His tone clearly showed sarcasm but Sunny didn't mind.
Sunny smirked, "Well of course, I am the most honest man in the whole world, two world actually."
Then he frowned, "Wait, why are you talking like you alrea-"
"I also got the same description on my sword." He said as he summoned an azure blade.
"How do you have the same weapon as me?" He raised a brow as he saw the blade in Asher's hand. Asher looked at Sunny and gave him an 'Are you retarded?' look as he said, "Well, I killed one of those obese carbs, of course!"
Sunny frowned, "How many did you even kill to get an echo and a memory?"
Asher stuck his tongue out, "10 hehe..."
"HUH?!?!" Asher shook his head, "I only killed injured, still even those thing got me good few times." Sunny's face showed shock but just when he was about to reply; however, Nephis intervened. She handed Asher a bowl while saying, "Eat up and heal. We have a lot to discuss."
Asher nodded with a smile before taking a bite out of the crab meat. As soon as he did, Nephis hurriedly asked, "Did you get any armor-type memory?" Asher shook his head as he looked at Nephis properly. His eyes widened.
"Woaaaah."
Asher knew that Nephis didn't have armor at this point in time and wore a thin garment made of seaweed as a substitute. What he didn't expect, however, was the unexpected peaks of her chest.
Nephis, noticing Asher's gaze, quickly covered her breasts with a hue of pink washing over her face. She hissed with narrowed eyes, "I understand why you and Sunny are friends now." She paused and said with a grimace.
"You both are perverted degenerates."
Asher frowned while Sunny got unexpectedly offended, "I am not a pervert! I just.. said and did some things…"
Nephis threw him a glance to show her disgust. Asher clicked his tongue. He was a man who respected women! His his damned flaw amplifying his lust!
He 'involuntarily' looked again. "DAMN IT!"