Chapter 10: Hour of Reckoning
The trap they had been preparing for the Winter Beast was all but done by now.
Earlier, Serpent had gone out at Sunny's command and caused severe damage to all of the surrounding volcanoes. Serpent then had orchestrated a groundbreaking earthquake that resounded in the surroundings far and wide...
Sunny was sure that seismic measuring devices would be picking up on this disturbance even all the way in Eastern Antarctica.
And then it happened... the numerous volcanoes violently erupted, spewing out scorching hot smoke, lava, and debris...
Conveniently, most of the volcanoes lava spilled right into the open valley they stood in and mercilessly burned away all the limited snow-covered grass and plant-live.
They watched in awe as the combined dark smoke surrounding them rose into the dark sky, blocking out the stars and reaching all the way as high as the stratosphere.
The glowing lava was flowing down the volcanoes and right into the valley from all sides, offering almost the entire place a reddish illumination that had a certain devilish vibe...
Sunny coughed a bit, covering his eyes a little. There were countless sparks and ashen particles in the air by now, oxygen levels had dropped, and the intense heat made breathing harder.
But all that didn't matter to the 2 Masters because things went just as planned. The snowstorm melted and evaporated midair as it approached the valley. The entire valley was almost like a fragile bubble of heat that clashed against the corrupted blizzard.
The Shadow's eyes had a dark glint in them now... 'You see this, meager Titan? This is my masterpiece!'
He laughed a little before turning to Jet. She just glanced at him and then held out her hand...
<"What's so funny, Sunny?">
Sunny, meanwhile, just shrugged his shoulders, a manic grin still across his face. He summoned [Morgan's warbow] and casually threw it over to her... <"Ah, it's nothing big... I'm just a little excited...">
Jet caught it and gave it a curious inspection... it was quite a decent bow in her eyes... perfect for the objective she had in this fight, at least. <"Hmm... it's a shame I'll just be a support... but what can one do...">
They both had different roles in the upcoming battle. Sunny would be the one getting close and dangerous, inflicting the decisive blows.
Jet, on the other hand, would use [Morgan's warbow] and a few custom created arrows sunny had crafted prior. It wasn't that he thought Jet wouldn't be able to inflict damage as well... but the problem was that she just didn't have proper means of protection against the all-encompassing cold... especially if she got too close and it would eat at her soul core. So she had to stay around the lava. Sunny had been worried that she might die due to him, but then he remembered that she was already dead... 'That woman's basically semi-immortal for all I know... I should be worried about myself...'
Thus, he had decided that she would take a secondary support role from the distance using [Morgan's warbow]. Sunny knew that it was almost impossible to hit the Winter Beast with projectiles from a distance because they all were condemned to be frozen and shattered long before they got close enough.
But he hadn't given her just any arrows. These had some insidious enchantments made specifically for being a major thorn in the winter beasts' side, weakening its will and power the more arrows got close enough. They didn't even have to connect.
A single arrow's curse wouldn't do much against the corrupted Titan... but what about 20? What about 100? The curse Sunny had enchanted into the arrows would stack repeatedly, weighting down and slowly eating away at its will and abilities like a corrosive toxin.
His treachery truly knew no bounds... he was starting to understand the spell...
But could one blame him? How else should he face these impossible odds? Having an honorable fight would just get him and everyone else he cared for killed.
'That's right! Fuck honor... I am who I am.'
Now that Jet was armed, he had to choose a weapon himself, tho... There weren't many options...
Serpent's blade form wouldn't be available because he had other plans for his Loyal Shadow.
There was the [Cruel sight]... but it was a mere ascended weapon. Even with its divine flames or other elements, it had no hope of even scratching the hard Crystal-like body of the Titan.
That left him with only one choice. One he wasn't exactly excited about. It was more out of necessity and convenience... he'd have loved to use the [Cruel sight]...
Far in the distant mountains in front of them, suddenly the whole mountain gradually froze over. The lava in the nearby vicinity of said mountain was slowly but surely being cooled down and freezing over into a charred crust...
Their Guest had arrived. And he had arrived quite early at that.
Sighing, Sunny finally summoned the memories he needed. [Shadow lantern] manifested and hung around his side, the beautiful jade Jian slowly manifested in his hand, and with it, the maddening whispers that cursed him all those years ago.
It was non-other than his old friend, the [Sin of solace].
Said wraith stood before Sunny, having assumed his Supreme looks. It was silent for now... but not out of friendliness.
The wraith was furious. It was glaring at Sunny with murderous intent, wishing nothing more than to rip his head off here and now... but it couldn't, and it knew that.
Due to being a splintered part of his mind turned against him, the [Sin of solace] shared his memories, and with it the knowledge of its own demise, of its own failure to drive him mad and corrupt him.
Sunny glared back at the SoS for a moment and then rolled his eyes... he couldn't be bothered with the noisy wraith now. "What are pouting for? You've had it coming, bastard."
The SoS scowled for a moment, almost exploding in fury... but then it let out a loud sigh and walked away, not wanting to be around Sunny for now. "Don't think this is over. Your pride will be your downfall, you hypocrite of a man."
"Keep dreaming and go into your corner, bastard. I've got a fight to win."
The gates of the [Shadow Lantern] opened upon his command, and out of it spilled many wild shadows that encompassed Sunny's form...
And then the shadows rippled and grew... they condensed and formed the shape of a grotesque 4 armed devil that had multiple dreaful horns, sharp teeth, and clawed hands. It was the Shadowspawn form Sunny had chosen for his shadow shell.
Right on time, Serpent had returned, and upon return, it joined his shadow form, fusing with him in the shadows.
[Soul Companion]
Attribute Description: "Soul Serpent can fuse with its master's Shadow Shell, granting it some of its abilities."
Now that they were fused, Sunny shared some of Serpent's abilities. Most importantly:
[Slaying Blade]
Ability Description: "When in its Soul Weapon form, Soul Serpent embodies the Death aspect of Shadow God. As such, it ignores the will of greater beings."
But that wasn't all... now that they were fused, Serpent's Supreme ranked essence and will was reinforcing his 4 meter tall shadow shell, making it much more potent and having the chance to actually close in on the Winter Beast.
His preparations were interrupted by a loud explosion from the distance.
'What the spell...?'
Startled, they watched as the mountain that had previously been frozen over suddenly exploded and shattered into countless pieces of ice shards that flew off in all directions... the grounds were rumbling beneath their feet as they watched an entire mountain crumble in on itself...
The perpetrator soon revealed itself. Floating in the air, the calamity of ice had entered their valley and, as a by-product, popped the bubble of heat that had formed due to the lava...
Said lava was already being snuffed out and somehow frozen over in the Titans' direct vicinity.
'Such a... dramatic entrance.'
The biting blizzard and winds now entered the previously hot valley, wreaking havoc and condemning them all to a cold death.
Sunny groaned in his shadow shell form and quickly dismissed the [Dying wish] and instead summoned the [Winter's nightmare] again. He then put the charm memory into the open slot of his Marble Shell, further enhancing its effects due to the [Underworld Armament].
[Underworld Armament]
Enchantment Description: "This armor can accommodate a Charm Memory to inherit and enhance its enchantments."
A smaller "bubble" of sorts formed around him in a large circle, actively fighting back the oppressive blizzard around him... for now.
'There you are...' Sunny took a step forward, the [Sin of solace] held tightly in his two lower hands.
Step. Step... another step.
He was gradually picking up speed before his towering shadow shell exploded into a full sprint.
The Frozen calamity didn't hesitate...
Its weaponized winds grew fiercer and fiercer against him, trying to slow him down and creep into his soul. But he resisted fiercely, channeling his will precisely. He shrugged off the freezing influences... for now.
He had 5 shadows... Gloomy, haughty, and Happy wrapped around his [Marble shell], which simultaneously boosted its [Stalward] Enchantment against elemental attacks and strengthened the enchantments of [Winter's nightmare].
[Stalwart]
Enchantment Description: "This armor provides extremely high protection against physical attacks, high protection against elemental attacks, and a moderate amount of protection against mind and soul attacks."
His other two shadows naughty and creepy augmented the [Sin of solace] in his hands, which was already abnormally deadly due to Serpent's abilities and Will being integrated into it.
Sunny pushed forward further and further towards the eye of the storm. He was slowly closing in, but the problems were mounting. The increasing force of the corrupted Titan's elements was starting to feel less like a bothering hurricane... and more like a brick wall that stood in his way.
'Curses... keep pushing!'
Suddenly, he heard the air being penetrated as something shot past him with a loud swoosh towards the Titan. <"Come on, Sunny! I'm getting a little cold back here!">
Jet had gone into action as well. Now, it was all up to him.
Straining himself, he gritted his teeth and pushed forward.
The heat offered by the [Winter's nightmare] was slowly giving in against the oppressive blizzard that assaulted him in all plains of existence.
The wild shadows that manifested his shadow shell couldn't resist the oppressive cold anymore, and with them, the outer layers started to freeze and shatter. The shadows that held him together all died one after the other at alarming rates the closer he got to the eye of the storm.
Straining himself, Sunny grimaced. More and more shadows spilled out from the [Shadow Lantern] He wore. They quickly reinforced the leaks and went in to replace their fallen counterparts in a repeated cycle of being destroyed and reinforced in a constant battle of attrition.
"Look at all these dying shadows... and you dare call yourself their lord? You're just a disgusting hypocrite, aren't you?"
But Sunny wouldn't listen.
Everything was at stake.
He couldn't stop now. Not when everyone was believing in him. Not when they all put their faith in him. He would not let them down this time.
'This weight of the millions of souls that lay painfully on my shoulders... it's far greater than the strain against this meager Titan could ever be!'
With his newfound resolution, Sunny roared, willing himself into existence and shooting forward into the storm... his shell kept crumbling and being reborn at alarming rates, the wild shadows sacrificing themselves for every inch he paved toward the eye of the Storm.
Inside the shell, Sunny sunk into the embrace of shadows to protect his body even more...
But he was also rapidly running out of essence at this rate... and all the wild shadows he had gathered prior weren't infinite either... so it was only a question of time until his meat shield of shadows ran out.
And just when he thought that things were turning from bad to worse, he finally saw the grotesque body of the frozen Fiend...
The Winter Beast was a massive ice creature that was floating above the ground in its frozen kingdom. It was eerie and grotesque. The creature's body was made of ice, resembling parts of a mangled body, including limbs, organs, torn intestines, broken bones, and desiccated flesh.
The ice was pale and bleak, but the Winter Beast was full of color due to numerous flowers blooming on the ice, their petals an intense azure color that gave it a harrowing and beautiful... but mostly harrowing look.
Sunny detested it nonetheless.
Steeling himself, he closed the remaining distance, strained against the corrupted force of nature. He felt its insidious cold creep into his soul despite all his preparations and defenses, slowly freezing his soul over...
'Ahh! Damn you!! I'll fucking kill you again!!'
His 2 lower arms that held the [Sin of solace] grabbed the hilt tightly and thrust its transcendent blade into the grotesque crystal body... enhanced and augmented by both Serpent and his shadows, it managed to penetrate.
With great strain, it buried itself into it and formed a small network of cracks...
His 2 clawed upper arms of the shadowspawn shell reached out and grabbed onto the floating crystal. He pushed it down, pinning it to the ground with vicious force. Large cracks split the ground, magma creeping up the crevices from all sides.
Of course, the shadows weren't even able to hold onto the winter beast for seconds before freezing over and shattering into pieces. More and more shadows spilled out of the [Shadow Lantern] to make up for the countless losses...
*
Jet was sweating despite the oppressive cold, repeatedly pulling on the string of the enchanted bow to fire of more and more arrows toward the eye of the storm...
'Come on, Sunny... you can do it! I know you're resilient like that!'
She gritted her teeth, pushing away the doubts and fears that threatened to spill out.
When she heard a loud crash, she paused for a moment, her icy blue eyes wide...
But then she quickly regained focus. She couldn't let him down now. Not when they had gone so far.
She'd rather die again.
Pulling on the string, another arrow shot off into the vague eye of the storm.
*
'Enough hiding!! I've got you, Bastard!!'
Seemingly responding in kind, the Titan let out a furious storm of unnaturally cold winds that crept up his already damaged soul...
Feeling his Tyrant core slowly freezing over, Sunny knew he had no more time. This had to end here and now.
'Haaaah!!' Die!!'
Suddenly overwhelmed by a murderous frenzy himself, Sunny pulled out his Jade Jian roughly before stabbing it right back in... his 2 upper arms raised into the air and then struck down with murderous intent and raw brutality.
This fight had never been a clean one, and it was turning even uglier by the second. But Sunny welcomed it. He embraced the hatred that had led him this far. This was his kill.
It would pay for its sins, and Sunny would make sure of that.
Repeatedly hammering his clawed fists down at the crumbling Crystal-like body, he gleefully watched as the initial small network of cracks had spread more and more... It seemed Sunny wasn't the only one on the verge of crumbling.
He lifted his great Jian, turning it around in his hand... he raised the hard pommel of his sword into the air, and then, with a single, violent strike, he rammed it down, leaving a major Crack that left a gaping hole in the Winter beast's body...
He tried raising his trembling arms for another finishing strike... but then he realized his sorry state.
Even with [Soul weave] reinforcing his soul, he was still dying to the elemental attack. His soul cores were all already partly frozen over by now, its flow of essence severely disrupted.
And then there was his Tyrant core... it had completely frozen over, on the verge of shattering completely if not for [Soul weave]...
Everything was hurting... he was barely still afloat, and his essence was about to run out... but victory was so close...
'Ahhh... It's such a shame...'
He had initially wished to slay the Winter Beast with his own two – or four hands in this case – but now that he wasn't really able to fulfill this desire, he felt a little disappointed...
Despite all the preparations and cunning tricks he had used, he was still too weak to face the Titan head-on by himself.
'Ah, but... don't think you've won now, little Titan. I've got a little suprise for you!'
He let go of the pinned crystal like body that had been lodged into the cracked frozen lava, and then he jumped back with all his might, quickly creating distance between them.
At the same time, a gigantic Serpent came forth out of his Shadows-shell, jumping straight towards the cracked body of the Winter Beast with its maw open wide and fangs ready to tear everything apart.
The world seemed to bend around the Onyx Serpent, time slowing and morphing around it in a terrific display of power.
The corrupted blizzard furtively tried to reach for the Supreme being, but all its efforts were for naught. The frozen winds were dispelled by Serpent with cold and alien like indifference...
This was the might of a Supeme being compared to a Corrupted one... even if it was a Titan, that wouldn't save it.
Gracelessly landing on the ground, Sunny was in a world of blinding pain. His soul was mostly frozen over, and his Tyrant core was starting to crack...
"Raaah!!"
His Shadow spawn loudly roared in pain, and he writhed on the ground pathetically... but despite all his suffering, his eyes looked up with wicked, triumphant glee.
Serpent's massive 100 meter Body crashed into the already cracked form, making the grounds groan on impact, its fangs burying into the hard Crystal-like body with terrifying ease as Serpent's death Will cursed his enemy.
It didn't take long before the profane Titan's soul was violently snuffed out.
All Sunny heard was a loud shattering and a groundbreaking earthquake that lasted for a few moments...
...
And then there was increasing silence. The deafening, unnatural blizzard slowly subsided into a tolerant breeze...
The soul consuming cold was gradually turning into a comfortable cold that was normal for the Antarctic climate.
Sunny was then expelled from the shadows due to a lack of essence, his Shadow shell crumbling quickly as the shadows returned to their natural intangible state.
He weakly rolled over on his back and sprawled over the frozen volcanic grounds, staring into the Antarctic sky with beyond exhausted eyes.
He watched as the unnatural snowstorm slowly retreated, and the skies of Antarctica gradually cleared up again. All the stars of the heavens stared back at him, offering solace in the eternal darkness...
And then the spell finally whispered these sweet words into his ears. Its voice was surprisingly proud.
[You have slain a Corrupted Titan: Forsaken fragment of the Ice spirit]
[Your Shadow grows stronger...]
[You have received a memory]
The young man's onyx eyes slowly started to glisten...
The images of his dying soldiers and friends...
The memories of the frozen remains of the massacred Streets of Falcon Scott...
The corpse of Obel...
Him shoveling Graves for his friends...
It all burned so vividly in his mind... but now he had changed their Fates.
Now he had Righted his Wrongs.
... and then a smile slowly split across his face. It was a happy smile. An exaggerated smile... a ridiculous smile.
'I... I did it... Gods...'
He couldn't stop himself anymore... the warm tears on his face started flowing like a broken dam, flowing down his pale cheeks and spilling down into the melting snow as he continued to smile...
"Hah... haha... I really... really showed them all!" He exclaimed weakly, raising his fist into the sky... he didn't know why he was being so strange and ridiculous... but it felt good... so, so good to scream his heart out right now...
Standing over him with crossed arms, the SoS furrowed its brows at his ridiculous display. But then it looked over at the shattered corpse of the Winter Beast and sighed... for once, it didn't have anything to say.
He heard hastily approaching steps and saw Jet looking at him with panicked eyes, bow still in hand. But when she saw Serpent towering over the shattered remains of the Winter Beast, she quickly calmed down...
Standing above him while panting heavily, she gave his sprawled form a careful look-over for any injuries... when she was satisfied that he'd make it, her shoulders slumped forward in exhaustion, a tired grin forming on her face as well.
"What are you grinning for, you lunatic! Crazy... you're totally crazy, kid! Haha!" She exclaimed loudly as she tiredly sprawled on the floor next to him...
Sunny started laughing with her but then fell into a coughing fit, wincing at the pain.
"Ahh... fuck. That bastard got me real good..."
He weakly turned his head, looking over at the remains of the Winter Beast with gleeful eyes. Jet happily joined his observations as well. "...but in the end... Death inevitably caught up to it."
The lava that had spilled into the valley from all sides was slowly starting to cool down, turning into a hardened film over the plains.
Sunny sighed in a strange mix of satisfaction and exhaustion... he summoned his remaining shadows Saint and Nightmare as well as his memory [Covetous coffer], giving them the lazy order to clean up the mess and gather all the remains of the slain Titan and stand guard over them both.
They hadn't slept in days after all... too busy preparing for this confrontation to find any time for rest.
Sunny wasn't a Demigod anymore, after all. His body – even if altered and enhanced by his [Weaves] – still needed rest, as any human did.
So, when he saw his Shadows go into action, he finally allowed exhaustion to catch up to him and closed his heavy eyelids. [Soul weave] and the others had one hell of damage to repair... and so Sunny finally gave in and fell into a well-deserved slumber.
Saint watched as he fell asleep, Jet joining him soon after. She then turned to stare at the horizon with her usual indifference.
The eternal darkness over Antarctica was slowly retreating at the edge of the sky...
[End of Volume 1: Dark Nights]