Somewhat surprised, Sunny struggled to open his eyes. As his vision slowly focused, he saw Neph's pale face looming above him. Her short silver hair was wet, sticking close to her skin.
She was kneeling beside his broken body, caressing his face with her hands. In her eyes, there was a strange expression.
It was as though she was frightened, but resigned to something.
Her pupils were wide and dark.
'Wh—what?'
Gritting her teeth, Nephis moved her hands to his collapsed chest and pressed them lightly against it, causing a pulse of pain to radiate through Sunny's body.
Then, a soft, radiant brilliance suddenly ignited beneath the skin of her palms, reflecting in her grey eyes like two dancing white sparks.
Almost immediately, Changing Star's face contorted in a grimace of excruciating agony, and she let out a terrible, muffled scream.
Her skin became white as a sheet of paper, and as she bit her lower lip, drops of blood soon rolled to her chin.