Chapter 95: A Most Harrowing Dream
Cassie dreamt of a distant future.
One that she had not seen before in her vision, and one that promised a brighter fate.
That promise did not last long.
Cassie saw the corpses of billions of humans and creatures alike fall into a bottomless, hungry pit that devoured everything in its way.
She saw the champions of humanity fall one by one, from the awakened, the ascended to the Transcendent.
They were all consumed, unable to mount any resistance.
Even the supreme demigods of humanity were not spared.
Cassie saw a beautiful dragon, vast as the sky, with scales of midnight fall into the sea of storms, broken, bleeding and utterly defeated, the children of the dragon fell with him, and the dragons seemed like falling stars at that moment.
She saw a swarm of mists leading an army of wraiths, slowly starving until the wraiths disappeared completely, leaving nothing behind them.
She saw a magnificent giant with steel of flesh, attempting to save the world by carrying it on her back, but in the end even she had failed.
She saw two queens, one of blood and another of metal. The queens gathered their armies, one made of transformed creatures and another made of metal and charged into their doom bravely, knowing that there was no other solution.
She saw a starbeast made of light, shifting between corporeal form and incorporeal, desperately trying to save the last of humanity by teleporting them away to another realm, but even that had failed.
And just like that, the last supremes of existence were no more.
But it was not the end yet, the gods of humanity had fallen as well, the god of shadows and death put up a strong fight, nearly destroying the calamity that had befallen humanity but even he had failed.
The goddess of light desperately tried to save her people, bringing them back from the dead, but even her flames were consumed in the end...
The god of nothing attempted to seal the calamity, just like the original gods had done ages ago. But he failed, he was not vast enough to cage the calamity...
Cassie could not see the calamity, or the three gods for that matter. Her aspect, or perhaps the nightmare spell, was protecting her from that, making sure she kept her mind intact.
However, right as the dream was about to end, Cassie saw it.
It was a universe in the form of a man, with countless stars adorning his body like jewels... On his chest, was a familiar badge that she knew too well...
The last god of humanity was about to wage his last battle, putting up one last fight in an attempt to save existence from being devoured...
However, just before he did that, the dark alien suddenly turned his head towards Cassie's direction, or to be specific, the direction she was observing all of this from. He had completely ignored the calamity and focused on her.
"Cassie..." The being spoke her name, making her shiver despite the fact that only her consciousness was present at the moment.
The being had somehow detected her through time and space, and was somehow speaking with her.
"It's good to see you again, old friend. Although it's a shame that we have to meet under such circumstances" the alien said, its voice both male and female at the same time. An amalgamation of three personalities " This timeline is already doomed, so I will have to trust you with the dire task of changing it."
The calamity that threatened to consume all of existence was getting closer, eager to devour the last living god.
"... I can't talk for long. But Cassie, listen—whatever happens, whatever it costs... Fate must be broken. Even if you have to sacrifice all of us."
His form was already fading, the calamity swallowing the light.
"And Cassie..." For the first time, Cassie noticed that something had changed within the vast being. Their voice, which was strong and confident suddenly took on a somber tone "... Do not trust me."
Cassie wanted to cry from his words, she wanted to scream at the divine being and curse them... She wanted to ask why she had to bear that burden, the burden of the entire world on her shoulders. It was her goal yes... But it was one that was far too burdensome for her.
And with that, Cassie was suddenly pulled back to her time, seeing the last god in existence clash with the first god in existence.
—————
Cassie woke up covered in sweat, her ascended body feeling weak and sore despite its tenacity.
She let out a long sigh, as she walked towards her desk and brought out her journal...
Then, she suddenly remembered something, her blind blue eyes widening slightly
"Ah, so today's the day..."
Her head turned towards the window, a solemn expression on her face...
Today was going to be a long one.
—————
Somewhere else, in the outskirts of NQSC, a certain shadow moved through the dirty slums, patrolling its streets.
That shadow belonged to none other than Sunny himself, who was using it as a way to see what was happening in the outskirts and also as a way to train his upgraded [Shadow Control], now that he was an ascended.
He had chosen this place because it was his home, and because of how many people were suffering in there...
It was not like him, to be such a hero. However, the act itself was training for him, and also, breaking the bones of a few thugs here and there didn't harm anyone.
Not to mention that he could wait for nightmare gates to open, and kill the abominations inside to gain shadow fragments.
His [Shadow Symbiote] had recently become a Transcendent Tyrant, offering him greater enhancements.
That shadow offered him defensive and offensive capabilities and means to travel besides shadow step.
He had even gained the ability to customize its appearance a little, so Sunny took the liberty of adding a white spider symbol in the chest area, for no particular reason.
Well... There was a reason actually. Sunny had remembered Noctis telling him that spiders were associated with Weaver, the daemon of fate. So Sunny, who carries the lineage of Weaver, decided to choose that mantle to make his real identity in case anyone saw him...
Soon enough, Sunny found himself gaining a second secret identity, just like Mongrel... This one was no less menacing and imposing.
The internet called it "Spider-Man" which was an absolutely ridiculous name in Sunny's opinion, but he hadn't abandoned that identity completely considering a certain silver haired girl found it cool...
'What the hell am I thinking... I should really stop with this secret identity thing, it's getting ridiculous'
Every time he made a secret identity to remain anonymous, he ended up becoming famous! It was as if fate wanted him to be recognized by the world or something...
Sunny sighed as he entered his house, and shadow stepped into the basement of his house, which was a training area.
There, Rain and Nephis were sparring, with Nephis taking it easy on Rain, who was a mundane human.
Seeing Sunny, the two briefly stopped and looked at him.
In response, Sunny showed them the refreshments he had brought with him, making the two girls' mouths drool.
"Teacher, how come you became so strong?" Rain asked, sweating.
"It was definitely not easy-" Sunny responded
"I was not talking to you, I was talking with Lady Nephis"
Sunny crushed the cane in his hand slightly, his eyes twitching.
Nephis looked at them calmly, then spoke:
"It took a lot of training... A winter solstice, and two nightmares. And maybe some luck."
Rain gave Nephis a long look, before sighing
"I guess the only way to gain power in this world is through the nightmare spell..."
Sunny, seeing Rain's pouting did what any other older brother would do.
He flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!" Rain held her forehead as she winced "What was that for?!"
"That, was for being an idiot. You should be grateful that you didn't get infected by the nightmare spell. The spell caused horrors and deaths beyond your imagination to its carriers, so receiving the chance to grow up as a normal human in a save neighborhood is something you should be grateful for... That said, wanting to become powerful is not a bad wish"
Sunny's tone was a bit serious, however Rain could tell he was trying to give her advice.
"You suck at this, you know-"
As Rain was about to argue, Sunny's and Nephis's communicators made a peeping sound, indicating that someone had just called both of them.
he answered the communicator and listened to the voice who had called him, as he did that, his suddenly eyes widened.
"What is it?" Rain asked in confusion as she watched sunny give nephis an intense stare.
"Go home rain" sunny said, his demeanor changing entirely.
With that, he disappeared into the shadows completely. Leaving rain confused
Shortly after, nephis also left the house, heading to her family's manor.
—————
All around the Immortal Flame Manor, hundreds of people were gathered, alongside dozens of news channel reporters, each of them had a look of awe and shock in their eyes.
They were not here to meet with Changing Star, the renowned champion of humanity, or the Fire Keepers.
Instead, they were here because of the strange blue star that had appeared right above the Manor, illuminating the sky.
Many people had thought that it was a nightmare gate at first, and hurried to evacuate. But after some time, people realized that it wasn't...
For one, no terrible abomination was coming out of it. And secondly, technology was working perfectly fine around it.
This had led people to speculate about all sorts of wild theories, such as the idea that someone has finally conquered the fourth nightmare and emerged from the nightmare as a supreme.
Or perhaps one of the gods was coming back to life.
Cassie stood outside of the manor, alongside the confused Fire Keepers. They had no idea what was going on, and were just as confused as everybody.
Cassie, however, knew exactly what was happening. She knew that the blue star was actually Hugo's body remaking itself after he finally conquered the second nightmare.
His return was bound to bring attention from the entire world, especially considering that the beloved young hero of humanity was thought to have died two years ago, sacrificing himself to save the sleepers of the Forgotten Shore.
That was how the public had spun his story, the truth was not that much different, considering Hugo did actually risk his life to battle the crimson terror.
Those two years had been harsh on Cassie, as she and the cohort, alongside half of the Fire Keepers, had prepared themselves for the second nightmare and even ended up encountering a terrible fiend in the Night Temple...
Mordret of Valor had managed to escape and join the nightmare alongside them, becoming ascended as well.
Despite his danger, Mordret was currently the least of Cassie's worries right now... She and Nephis had to deal with the consequences of possessing an independent group composed of one hundred and twenty masters and another one hundred awakened. The clans were pressuring them to join them, more ferociously than ever and now that Hugo was coming back, that pressure was bound to become even stronger...
In the end they would have no choice but to join Valor or Song. There was also the chain of nightmares, which Cassie had anticipated as well...
But so many things were wrong. The visions Cassie was seeing were bizarre and fragmented, some came from a timeline that never came to be, some came from a timeline where Hugo didn't exist, another came from a timeline where Sunny was left on the Forgotten Shore instead, or where Nephis was left.
It was a total mess, and Cassie was barely able to recognize what events belonged to her world anymore... However, she was able to find some core events that needed to happen...
One such event was Sunny's enslavement, which did not happen in this timeline. Another was Nephis remaining on the Forgotten Shore for two years and challenging the second nightmare as a sleeper, which also did not happen.
Then there was the ominous future she had just seen in her dream... Its context was vague but she did understand it. She saw the end of existence, and her friends, who all died against the Forgotten God.
'What a mess...'
If Cassie wanted to succeed in breaking fate, and ridding the world of its influence, she would need Sunny's fate to be stolen... However, there was a problem.
Unlike the original timeline, the Sunny of her world did not seek his freedom that much considering he already has it. What this Sunny wants more than anything else is power. Power so that he could never be weak again...
Which means that Cassie could not influence him into breaking fate as easily. She would need new drastic measures to do so, while also not telling him exactly about the plan, considering that could cause them to fail.
She has to do it subtly, change fate slowly, little by little. Until she could break it with a final strike.
And now that Hugo was back... She could do just that far more easily than before.
"Song of the Fallen" a voice resounded from the crowd, beautiful and calm, breaking Cassie out of her thoughts. It belonged to a tall woman wearing a black suit, possessing long black hair and crimson red eyes.
That woman was none other than Morgan of Valor, the representative Valor sent to negotiate with Changing Star and her Fire Keepers...
Her objective had changed now, considering the recent developments.
"Lady Morgan." Cassie addressed her calmly, activating her ascended ability to see from the perspective of one of the Fire Keepers.
"You wouldn't have an idea as to whatever this is, will you?"
Morgan asked, looking at Cassie with a calm expression... So calm that it was slightly creeping Cassie out.
"No. I don't." Cassie responded, maintaining her act.
"Is that so... What a shame."
Looking at the blue star, Morgan's silver bracelet glimmered slightly and briefly, a cold eye could be revealed in its vast depth, belonging to a terrifying being.
Cassie shivered slightly, pretending not to notice...
It seems even the King of Swords was interested in what was happening, and if he was watching, that meant that the other two supremes were also paying close attention...