Nephis jolted upright, her breath uneven, her mind clouded by an emotion she hadn't felt in a long time.
Fear.
Not the fear of facing a powerful enemy or the terror of losing a battle.
No.
This was something else.
The fear of the unknown.
Of the incomprehensible.
A silent, freezing terror that slithered down her spine like an invisible hand, cold and merciless.
And alongside it—confusion.
Because none of this made sense.
More than ten million people had challenged this nightmare.
Ten million.
That was... impossible.
There weren't even that many Awakened in the waking world. Let alone Ascended.
Where had they come from?
How was this possible?
Nothing made sense.
But... when had it ever?
This world had always been a twisted lie, reshaped and corrupted by the Nightmare Spell.
And yet, this absurdity was on an entirely different level.
Nephis wanted to keep thinking, to search for answers that didn't exist.
But she didn't have time.
She didn't know where she was.
And the memories of her second nightmare still burned in her mind like fresh wounds.
She took a slow, deep breath.
Forced herself to focus.
To recompose.
She looked around, taking in her surroundings.
A forest.
No, more like... a vast island.
Dense. Alive.
And then, she saw it.
And for the second time, she felt a strange, unnamable sensation coil in her chest.
Her throat tightened.
Her lips parted as if to speak.
She almost stuttered.
—"W-what... what is that...?"
Her shock didn't come from the absurdity of the nightmare.
No.
It came from what was right in front of her.
Floating in the air like a fallen ghost...
Was herself.
A perfect reflection.
An exact copy.
Silver hair. Gray eyes. Same height. Same face.
Except for one thing.
The expression.
It wasn't hers.
Those eyes...
They were empty.
A hollow, lifeless gaze that belonged to someone who had fallen into an abyss and never climbed back out.
Someone who had given up.
Who had lost everything.
Who had no reason left to move forward.
A chill crawled down Nephis' spine.
Seeing herself with that expression...
It was horrifying.
Who was she?
The question barely formed in her mind before the woman spoke.
Her voice was quiet. Brittle.
Broken.
—"It's your fault... it always is... isn't it?"
Nephis froze.
Those words.
She knew them.
Weeks ago, that same whisper had tried to drag her into despair.
Into madness.
It was her.
Her cursed sword.
But this time...
It wasn't a whisper in her mind.
It was real.
So real it felt impossible.
And yet, there she was.
But Nephis had no time to process it.
Because then—
She saw it.
A message.
Carved into the bark of a tree.
A message that felt disturbingly familiar.
Something in her mind screamed that she had seen it before.
That it was important.
And yet...
It felt like she was forgetting.
Like something inside her was trying to erase it before she could understand.
The bark bore four deep slashes, made by a knife.
And beneath them—
Words.
Repeated over and over, scrawled in handwriting that was disturbingly hers.
At first, the message was clear.
"Light and Shadows."
But further down, the writing grew desperate.
"Light and Shadows. Light and Shadows. Together. Together."
"Together. Together. Light and Shadows."
The same phrase.
Written hundreds of times.
Each one more frantic.
As if the writer had been desperate for someone to understand.
And at the very bottom—
The words collapsed.
The letters warped.
The once neat handwriting twisted into a mess of jagged, erratic lines.
They were no longer words.
Only frenzied scribbles.
Illegible runes.
"Light and -;#:'-"
Nothing made sense.
But the worst part...
Wasn't the message itself.
It was the feeling growing inside her as she read it.
Fear.
Why did she feel like something was missing?
Like something was slipping away?
Nephis felt her body tremble.
It wasn't from the cold.
It wasn't from exhaustion.
It was too much.
Too much for her mind.
Too much for her soul.
She barely managed to force herself to read the remaining message carved into the wood, but... it was useless.
The runes were illegible, strange, chaotic. A language she couldn't understand, yet somehow... she knew she once had.
Another message.
One she couldn't comprehend.
But that wasn't what made her tremble.
It was recognition.
Light and shadows.
There was nothing else.
Nothing more real.
Nothing more true.
Her and Sunny.
Shadow and light.
From the moment they met.
Because, in the end, what else could have happened?
A divine shadow longing for its master, searching for a new one.
And someone like her.
A bearer of light with a divine aspect.
Fate.
Or a spell.
Nephis felt her heartbeat quicken.
It didn't matter which one it was.
She could hate the spell all she wanted, but... there was something undeniable.
She wanted Sunny.
In a way that terrified her.
Because if she ever had one true fear in her life...
If she had ever faced something that made her hesitate, that made her wonder if she could truly endure it...
It was the idea of losing him.
It had been a nightmare once.
Back in that desert.
When she was still a Sleeper.
And it hurt so much...
That it was terrifying.
And now... now that Sunny was with her.
Now that she had finally found warmth and love in the one person she truly cherished...
The fear had only grown stronger.
Deeper.
More terrifying.
But there was another truth.
One that overshadowed everything else.
She loved Sunny.
She didn't care if the stupid spell had paired them.
She didn't care if it was fate.
She loved him.
And she wasn't going to let him go.
Not the dead gods.
Not the spell.
Not the pyramid of an ancient demon.
Nothing.
Nothing was stronger than love.
(How cheesy, Nephis... stop reading romance novels.)
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.
When she opened them, her mind was already focused on something else.
She had an entire forest to explore.
But first...
She checked her runes.
To make sure Sunny was safe.
—-
Day 1
Nephis awoke to the sound of the wind whistling through the cracks of the strange ground beneath her. She slowly sat up, her gray eyes scanning her surroundings with caution.
The first thing she noticed was the terrain—dark, rough, and covered in irregular fissures that stretched across its surface like scars on ancient stone.
It didn't take long for her to realize she wasn't on an ordinary island.
The ground was barren and desolate, but here and there, patches of vibrant green moss clung to the rock, the only signs of life in this place. Rusted fragments of what once seemed to be silver armor were embedded into the surface, corroded by time and battle. Massive cracks and deep grooves cut across the land, some large enough to conceal a person, others filled with still, dark water.
And then, she saw it.
In the distance, a colossal reptilian head loomed over the horizon, emerging from the shadows of the island. Its obsidian-black skin was etched with silver markings, forming patterns that resembled ancient war armor. Its eyes were vast pools of murky water, bottomless and unreadable. Its massive beak, worn down by time and war, looked like the ram of a forgotten battleship.
It was a creature.
No.
It was the island.
The realization hit her like a punch to the gut. The entire landmass beneath her was the shell of a titanic sea beast, a monstrous entity spanning over a kilometer in length.
Nephis clenched her jaw.
Again.
Once again, the Spell had thrown her into an unknown sea.
First, the Dark Sea. Now, this.
She crossed her arms, glancing around with mild irritation. As impressive as it was, this place didn't feel like an immediate threat. There were no creatures lurking in the fissures, no shadows moving beneath the water.
But what truly unsettled her was the sky.
She looked up and counted.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four...
Seven.
Seven suns.
She let out a long sigh.
—Really?
The Spell was getting predictable.
Nephis didn't take long to explore her surroundings. Beyond the rough, scarred terrain, there wasn't much to see. But the vast ocean surrounding her was another story.
The water was crystal clear, a flawless, untouched blue, so still that it looked like an endless mirror. No waves. No wind. Just a boundless, unmoving sea.
Strange.
Far too strange.
But the most disturbing thing was the absolute absence of life.
Nothing broke the water's surface. No fish, no sounds, no shadows beneath the ocean.
Nephis gave one last glance around before sitting down on the black stone, crossing her arms behind her head.
No food.
No water.
No Sunny.
But she was alive.
For now.
Day 2
If a day had truly passed.
At some point, the suns had darkened, leaving behind a starless black sky. But there was no real night. No monsters rising from the sea, no sounds in the distance.
Just silence.
Bored, Nephis decided to sleep. She could train later.
Before closing her eyes, she checked her runes—out of habit rather than necessity.
Name: Sunless
True Name: Lost from Light
Aspect: Shadow slave
Shadow Core: 4/7
Nothing unusual.
Until she saw it.
Memory: Key of the Estuary
Rank: Supreme
Nephis blinked.
What?
Her mind struggled to process it.
Sunny had a supreme-ranked Memory?
Impossible.
Unless...
A mental image of Sunny fighting a colossal monster flickered in her thoughts.
No. That wasn't possible. Not even for him.
Then how?
Most likely, he had just found it by accident.
That idiot had the worst luck in life but the best luck with Memories.
He probably tripped, fell into the ocean, and stole it from a monster without even realizing it.
That was the only reasonable explanation.
But then, her gaze shifted to her own runes.
And there it was.
Memory: Lock of the Estuary
Rank: Supreme
A dull headache formed behind her eyes.
She didn't want to think about this right now.
She had promised herself she would train.
So, she stood up and unsheathed her sword.
⸻
The blade sliced through the air with precision.
Nephis moved in complete silence, her steps calculated, her breathing steady.
Her muscles tensed and released with each strike, each block, each fluid motion.
The black stone beneath her feet was unforgiving, but she adapted quickly, using every crack and uneven surface to her advantage.
The Sin of guilt, her cursed sword, pulsed faintly in her grip.
—You can't run from me, Nephis.
Its voice was an insidious whisper, curling around her thoughts like a shadow.
She ignored it.
And kept moving.
Slash.
Parry.
Step.
Turn.
With each repetition, her speed increased. With each movement, her technique sharpened.
But the sword was relentless.
—You're always running. Pretending you're stronger than you really are.
Nephis' jaw tightened, and she struck harder.
The wind howled as her blade cut through it.
Strike.
Strike.
Strike.
The echoes of her training filled the air.
—If you were truly strong... you wouldn't be alone.
Her sword stopped mid-swing.
For a second—just a second—her grip on the hilt wavered.
But then, with a flicker of cold fury in her gray eyes, she twisted her wrist and drove the blade into the stone beneath her.
The Sin of Solace trembled in her grasp.
—Shut up.
The cursed blade chuckled softly.
But for now, it fell silent.
Nephis took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
Her training wasn't over yet.
Day 3
Nephis remained lying on the thick branch of a tree, her body resting under the meager shade it provided. Her gray eyes gazed at the sky, observing the seven suns hanging motionless above, their blinding radiance devoid of warmth.
Saying that a shadow was protecting her would be ironic.
And not the shadow she truly desired.
Nephis sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.
She missed Sunny.
More than she was willing to admit.
Without his presence, this place felt even more desolate.
The Nightmare Spell had prepared her for many things. She had imagined arriving here alongside her cohort, ready to face a Corrupted Tyrant in an unparalleled battle. Or perhaps confronting a Fallen Titan, something grotesque and deformed, straight from the depths of hell.
But instead...
She was stranded on the shell of a giant turtle.
A scoff escaped her lips.
If someone had told her that her Third Nightmare would involve sailing atop a colossal beast in the middle of an endless ocean, she would have taken it as a joke.
And yet, here she was.
Nephis shifted onto her side, resting one arm under her head while the other lay across her empty stomach.
She was thirsty.
Seriously, she needed to ask Sunny for a memory that stored water as a birthday present.
Maybe if she closed her eyes, she could ignore the burning dryness in her throat...
But then, her mind began to wander.
How was her cohort?
Were they okay?
She had no way of knowing.
That frustrated her more than she cared to admit.
But if there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that this place... this island...
Was not a sanctuary.
Nephis wasn't naive.
This creature, this monster she was resting on...
Was a Great Monster.
If its size was that of an entire island, how powerful must it be?
She had been lucky in the Nightmare Desert to avoid facing the skin walker but here?
How much time did she have before the spell decided to end her so-called "vacation"?
And more importantly...
How difficult would it be to escape from here?
—Tsk...
Nephis clicked her tongue, annoyed at herself for even entertaining the idea that something could keep her trapped.
In the end, this world was ruled by a single law.
Power.
And she wasn't strong enough yet.
But she would be.
Soon.
But first... she needed to find water.
She sat up slowly, preparing to get up when, suddenly, a shadow crossed the sky above her.
Nephis narrowed her eyes.
In the distance, a figure was descending from the sky.
Dark wings, black as the night, flapped with precision as the owner of those wings fell with grace.
Nephis immediately recognized his silhouette.
It was Sunny.
Of course, it was him.
But what truly caught her attention was what followed him.
A serpent.
A giant one.
Nephis' eyes gleamed with a mix of curiosity and caution.
The creature, with its scaled, elongated body, slid effortlessly across the water's surface, chasing Sunny as if bound to his fate.
Nephis blinked.
Nephis sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself a brief respite before what she knew would be the end of her short-lived peace on the island.
Her vacation was over.
Or maybe not.