[A/N: I am aware that this is a mid chapter... bear with me... Also like, I Copy pasted some text from the canon chapters so if you spot any 'she' instead of he, it isn't cuz Asher changed his pronouns.]
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Sunny, however, felt a unexplainable chill as he saw one of the five cores.
It was half white, half black.
The sight of it bought a sense of danger Sunny never felt before.
Madoc let out a low, measured laugh, his eyes sweeping across the crowd.
Asher's expression hardened. He understood immediately. Cameras were probably streaming the entire event. Killing him here — with half the world watching, not to mention his new notoriety — would be suicide for the Valor Clan. Add the presence of Changing Star and her cohort, and the political fallout would be catastrophic.
Too much collateral.
Madoc's smile didn't waver. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. The Valor Clan has made no attempt on your life. Perhaps…" he tilted his head, voice laced with faux concern, "it's a personal grudge? Have you wronged someone before?"
Whispers rippled through the hall.
Asher narrowed his eyes. Was this Saint trying to gauge details about his past? Did Madoc somehow have a connection to the real owner of this body of his?
Madoc continued, his tone smooth as silk. "Or perhaps," he said lightly, "you attacked them first? The awakened stationed in the Academy were there to aid dreamers during the Winter Solstice. It could've been… a psychological reaction, after your second nightmare. Such cases are not unheard of."
The implication drew a few uncertain looks from the audience.
Asher clenched his jaw. "I didn't attack anyone. The professors at the Academy saw everything. There are witnesses."
Madoc's expression stayed perfectly blank.
Asher took a step forward. "What, are those witnesses going to magically die in their sleep tomorrow?"
Madoc's smile thinned, but he shook his head slowly. "There has clearly been a misunderstanding," he said, tone cooling. "Those involved may have acted independently, for reasons I cannot claim to know. Still, since they were associated with the Valor and Song Clans, we'll take responsibility for this… unfortunate event."
He folded his hands behind his back. "You will be compensated. I trust the Song Clan will do the same."
Asher stared at him for a long moment. Every instinct screamed to call the man's bluff — but reason won out.
Starting a fight here would mean death. His life, for now, hung by a thread— one held together only by reputation, and the few powerful eyes that watched him closely.
He had dragged himself to the ball like this for one purpose: to beat the Valor clan to their own game. If he didn't show himself and speak first, they would spin some story, brand him as unstable, twist public opinion and use it as grounds to execute him later if he didn't confront them openly.
His calm, collected façade existed solely for that purpose, even as exhaustion from the earlier fight gnawed at him.
Because the truth was… his body was finished.
He exhaled shakily. "Fine," he muttered. "I accept."
Madoc inclined his head, victory flashing faintly behind his calm smile. "Good."
He opened his mouth to speak again—
—but Asher's legs buckled. His vision blurred.
The world tilted as he hit the marble floor.
Nephis and the cohort rushed forward as Sunny caught him from the shadows before his head hit the ground.
Madoc watched from the staircase, his expression unreadable.
Then he turned away. "Take him to the hospital," he said coolly.
***
The five of them huddled together and waited in front of a door.
Sunny silently observed the faces of his friends, seeing sincere happiness and relief written all over them. Some… Kai and Effie especially… looked on the verge of getting emotional.
Nephis looked front with blank eyes. Yet, Sunny knew how much emotion those eyes carried.
Eventually, Aiko and Stev came into the waiting room with anxious looks.
The silently came taking a seat next to the cohort.
Soon, the armored doors finally opened, and one of the Awakened healers in the employ of the Academy appeared from them.
Everyone gathered in the waiting area held their breaths.
One of the government agents couldn't contain herself and asked:
"How… how is he? Lord Asher is really back?"
The healer lingered for a moment, and then nodded.
"He is. His physical condition is fine… better than fine, even, even after that.. massacre. Perfect. As for his mental condition, we will know when he wakes up. Sir Asher is currently sleeping."
Someone from the crowd immediately spoke:
"Sleeping? Do you mean that he is back in the Dream Realm?!"
The healer hesitated, then slowly shook her head.
"Seems to be that the information was true. He seems to have… Ascended. So, he is simply asleep."
Despite the government's attempts to stall for time and control the narrative, just in a few minutes, the incredible news of Lord Zerei's return spread across the network.
Not long after that, another explosive rumor appeared, claiming that he was now a Master.
Just like that, all of humanity learned that Echo of the Abyss had become the first human in history to conquer the Second Nightmare as a Sleeper, thus jumping Ranks, and returned to the waking world unscathed.
The network practically exploded with an endless amount of discussions. Everyone wanted to share their excitement and celebrate the homecoming of the young hero who, without a doubt, was going to become one of the most powerful champions of humanity soon.
In fact, the chilling clips of his entrance in the valor ball were already circulating.
Eventually, Sunny and Effie went over to the Academy cafeteria. Sunny did note of the damage that Asher had caused to the place. The walls were riddled with holes and the walls were still stained with blood. Sunny shivered think what sort of power Asher had to do this as soon as he woke up.
Looking at the dents and the blood splatter patterns, it seemed as though something squashed the weaker awakened alive
Sunny sat quietly, consumed by thoughts, when Effie suddenly appeared nearby and landed on a chair near him. There was a mountain of food on her own tray. The huntress looked at him with a smile:
"Great minds think alike, huh?"
She took a bite out of a small cake, then swallowed it entirely and said with satisfaction:
"The healers want us five to come help them when Asher wakes up. You know, in case he becomes... agitated again."
Sunny silently nodded.
The huntress studied him for a while, then suddenly said:
"You know… for someone who was just reunited with their first and best friend, you don't look too happy, doofus."
Sunny glanced at her. "I don't know."
Effie scoffed.
"Don't lie to me, Sunny. I know how you feel about Nephis and Asher, and how much of it you feel. What's up with you?"
He grimaced.
"Lie? How can I lie?"
Sunny lowered his eyes, hesitated for a while, and then said quietly:
"Stronger… I wanted to be stronger than him. Stronger than Nephis. I really, really tried. And to be honest, I am very annoyed that all of it was for nothing."
The huntress looked at him with a strange expression.
"Is that why you were in such a hurry to challenge the Second Nightmare?"
He leaned back and turned away.
"...Yeah. That was a big part of it."
The other was the unsettling feeling that Asher knew about the shadow bond and how it worked. Not to mention the half core.
Effie lingered for a bit, then slowly shook her head.
"Yeah... I don't know. Ash really did change a lot. I mean killing 20 or some awakened as soon you wake up from 2.5 years is boggling indeed."
Her eyes turned somber, "And it's also... not like him."
She then shook her head, grinning.
"Who knows? Asher always disappeared from us for a while, and the next time we see him, he is simply stronger! Maybe disappearing from us is the key! I mean you did the same when you fell to the sky below? Didn't you?"
With that, she laughed and returned to her food, not paying the conversation any more attention.
Sunny, however, remained still for some time.
A somber expression appeared on his face.
After a while, he sighed and silently resumed eating his meal.
'Disappearing… Disappearing indeed..'