Chapter 110: Your Sunless Has Leveled Up!
Hugo was on the verge of drifting off when a knock at the door jolted him awake.
He sighed, dragged himself up, and opened it.
Standing there was none other than his favorite shadowy ascended.
"Sunny! Great to see you!" Hugo beamed, genuinely excited to see his friend in the Dream Realm.
Sunny, however, did not share his enthusiasm. Or rather, he seemed... disturbed, as if he had just seen an unholy Titan. His eyes narrowed, and his shadows stirred restlessly around him, as if sensing something off.
"So you consumed the lineage of Shadow God," Sunny said slowly. "I don't know if I should congratulate you or envy you."
"I mean, both can be True" Hugo said.
At the same time, Hugo's shadow suddenly stirred, stretching toward Sunny's shadows like a curious child. They met, mingled and then... recoiled. As if they didn't quite know how to interact with each other.
It was only natural for tbem to be confused, after all one was born from the blood of Shadow God while the others were, if Sunny's explanation was accurate, the literal shadows of Shadow God's own divine shadow manifested through a divine aspect.
Which meant that Hugo's shadow was the blood of Shadow God made into a shadow, while Sunny's shadows were Shadows of the shadow of shadow God.
'Talk about confusing.'
"Something is wrong though," Sunny added, his voice thoughtful and full of curiosity. "The lineage didn't settle in you like it was supposed to do, instead it went straight to your shadow... That makes you the host, not the wielder. How... unsettling."
Hugo listened carefully to his words. If anyone understood shadows, then it was Sunny, he was a divine shadow himself, after all.
Which meant Hugo's suspicion was correct. His shadow was the true heir of Shadow God, simply anchored to him.
"I had a feeling that was the case..." Hugo murmured, staring down at his shadow.
The little guy did not seem to have any alternative motives... However, knowing his luck, Hugo wouldn't be surprised if his shadow turned out to be the consciousness of Shadow God who was intending to use Hugo to resurrect himself.
"...We'll find out in the future, I guess," Hugo said, letting out a sigh. "Anyway, I don't assume you came here just to chat?"
Sunny shook his head. "Not really, I need to show you something... But before that, why did you turn your room into a blacksmith shop?"
He said, looking at the crystal forge inside.
"Because... I had no other place to work at?"
"You could have made the forge outside, near the lake, or on the other side of the Ivory Tower," Sunny said..
Hugo looked at his friend with a dubious expression. "It was a decision in the heat of the moment. Ignore it, Anyway, what did you want to show me?"
Hugo closed the door and walked with Sunny through the tower, eventually getting out of it and back into the pagoda.
"It's related to the Sacred Treasure. I successfully assimilated it."
Hugo smiled at this revelation. He was glad his friend had managed to get use of his gift.
then out of curiosity, hugo activated his Titan consciousness and sensed Sunny's presence.
A sweat suddenly formed on his back, as he shivered deeply.
In Sunny's soul, Hugo could sense the four shadow cores his friend possessed but he could also sense something else in there, something vastly more terrifying and ancient. It was a black wheel, completely submerged in shadows in the centre of his shadow cores.
"Good for you..." Hugo said, his smile becoming a little forced.
"Good is an understatement. The things this treasure could do... It's superhuman," Sunny said, reaching the edge of the island. "I have managed to successfully tame nine of the ten shadows within the Sacred Treasure so far, by using a very simple strategy. Wanna know what it is?"
Hugo thought about it for a moment, thinking about the tactics Sunny usually used in fights.
Knowing him, he would summon the shadow creature and then throw them in the sky below directly, getting an easy kill... But it couldn't be as simple as that.
"Hmm, you summoned them, then you jumped them alongside your existing shadows?"
Sunny grinned, then shook his head. "Close, but no. I actually summoned them in my soul sea—which is incredibly risky—and let the legion of dark shadows in my soul take care of them alongside my own personal Shadows."
Hugo was actually surprised by this revelation. He did not know Sunny had a legion of shadows in his soul sea, but it wasn't that absurd after everything he had seen.
"How very treacherous and in character of you," Hugo whistled. "Then, are the shadow creatures you tamed any good?"
Hugo had fought the white Transcendent Shadow Devil himself and nearly died to that abomination back in the second nightmare, if not for the nuke he had dropped on it using Chromastone. That shadow was not tamed by Sunny likely due to how strong it was.
The other nine were bound to be weaker than it, but that did not mean they were weak or useless.
"They are extremely useful, actually. All of them are awakened devils, minus one who's an ascended devil. I have a bunch of rabbits, a toad, an owl, two dogs, an elephant, a deer, an ox, a tiger and a serpent! I didn't even know some of those animals existed before I got this treasure! You know, maybe we should start a zoo of some kind. That would definitely get us a lot of credit."
Hugo looked at him with a dubious expression.
The idea of using a treasure made by Shadow God and the shadows in it to open a zoo seemed incredibly blasphemous... But it did not seem like a bad idea at all.
"That's not a bad idea, but seriously what can they do?"
To this, Sunny simply smiled and made a strange gesture using his hands.
As he did, an oversized owl-like creature made of shadows emerged from his shadow, electric sparks dancing in its strange eyes.
Using his Titan sense and shadow sense, Hugo realized this one was the ascended devil shadow.
Sunny got on top of the shadow and smiled.
"How about you come and see for yourself? Like they say, show, don't tell."
With that, Sunny and his shadow leaped over the cliff.
"Show off," Hugo said, as he summoned the [Proto-Truck] and quickly Activated its flying form.
He entered the vehicle, and leapt off the tower using it.
Not far away, a Fire Keeper watched the entire exchange with a deadpan expression. He glanced down at his coffee, then back at spot where the two lunatics had just jumped off a cliff on a flying truck and a shadow owl.
"Maybe I should stop drinking caffeine..." he muttered, going back into the tower.
—————
Hugo and Sunny flew moderately close to each other, with Hugo following Sunny, as they endured the force of The Crushing.
Thanks to Hugo and Cassie's work in studying the runes back in the Ivory Tower, The Crushing force that assaulted everything in the Chained Isles was weakend enough so that awakened and ascended could pass through it without being seriously harmed.
They couldn't turn it off completely yet, but Hugo theorized that they would be able to do it if they made a saint claim the citadel.
The patchwork landscape of the Chained Isles was revealed far below. Islands shone on the velvet backdrop of the dark abyss like precious gems, connected to each other by the thin threads of the Heavenly Chains.
The island Sunny and Hugo were heading to was a strange one, housing a massive ruin below.
Its ancient walls were collapsed, and were now overgrown with verdant vines. The structure seemed to be an arena of sorts due to its circle-like design.
What was more eerie, however, was the fact that there was dried blood on the walls, and deep within the gargantuan structure were dozens of sickly nightmare creatures walking through the place.
It was definitely an terrifying scene, but Hugo was not scared, considering most abominations there were awakened.
Sunny had stopped in his tracks, and landed on top of Hugo's [Proto-Truck].
Hugo parked the [Proto-truck]mid-air, and got out of it, climbing on top of its roof.
"Context would be helpful around now," Hugo said, staring at the scene down below.
"That's The Red Colosseum. It's where I was imprisoned in the second nightmare and forced to kill hundreds of creatures, before I escaped and killed the Transcendent responsible for enslaving me... I also burnt it down while I was at it."
Sunny's tone was not serious, although Hugo could tell he did not have fond memories of this place.
It was a traumatic event for Sunny, just like the Beast Realm was for Hugo.
"...We could go test your shadows elsewhere, if you're uncomfortable," Hugo said.
Sunny shook his head. "No need. The people who imprisoned me are all dead by now, so it doesn't matter. Besides, Cassie asked me to kill the creatures there so she could study the runic circle, or at least what remains of it."
"Hmmm..." Hugo looked down at his Omnitrix, seeing that it was not yet rechargd. "I don't think I can fight just yet, so we should wait."
To this, Sunny only smiled. "We aren't here to fight, we're just going to watch as my shadows deal with them."
Sunny made another gesture using his hands, and eight more shadows emerged from his shadow, launching towards the broken Red Colosseum like missiles.
The two divine dogs landed on the ground, hunting the abominations like experienced hunters. Nue unleashed her thunder from above, killing the aerial abominations. The Toad swallowed the creatures whole. The Serpent was biting their heads off. the Elephant and the Ox were two walking catastrophes, destroying everything in their sight. At the same time, there was a horde of rabbits spreading throughout the arena drowning everything like a tide.
The destruction they were unleashing was definitely impressive. However, they were not really that strong.
All of them were awakened devils, with only Nue being an ascended devil. None of them were above the devil class as well, making them seem underpowered compared to the current Sunny and his shadows.
"No offense, but aren't they too weak for the current you?" Hugo asked.
Sunny nodded, agreeing with him. "For now. However, what makes those shadows valuable isn't their power... but instead, their potential."
"Potential?"
"Yes. Unlike my shadows, those shadows aren't incomplete. Instead, they are fully fledged shadow creatures bound to me by the Sacred Treasure. Each and every one of them can advance in the path of ascension without me feeding them memories. Their shadow cores grow the more they kill, so the more creatures they devour, the closer they are to ranking up, nau herself had already done that. Do you see how useful they are now ?"
Hugo looked at Sunny with wide eyes...
This simple distinction from Sunny's shadows changed everything about the Sacred Treasure, and the shadow creatures within it.
They could grow in rank, and possibly even class from what Sunny had said, and they were more complete, as well... So those creatures held the potential to advance to the Ascended rank, then to the Transcendent rank and even beyond...
Supreme, sacred, divine... Those ranks were distant dreams, however they are obtainable. It would take years—maybe even centuries—and countless kills to reach them but in this age of the Nightmare Spell, with gates opening everywhere and abominations swarming the world, those shadows would have no shortage of prey.
And who knew? Perhaps they could even cultivate naturally, without Sunny's help.
" you really hit the jackpot with this one..." Hugo muttered, looking at the scene below him.
Sunny, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow. "Who's Jack? I don't remember hitting his pot."
"No, it's like a saying... You know what, nevermind. So your plan is to cultivate those creatures until they become powerful... How terrifying."
Sunny nodded. "Yes, but I'm not planning on relying on them, that would be a death sentence. No different from an Awakened who leans too heavily on their echoes and memories. Moreover, the Sacred Treasure itself has other functions beyond just holding and summoning those creatures. For example..."
Sunny closed his eyes, focusing inward. When he opened them again, they had turned into two pools of absolute darkness.
Above his head, a wheel of ten manifested.
Down in The Red Colosseum, Nue dissolved into shadows and returned to her master, entering into the wheel.
Then Sunny's eyes began to glow with electric light, and two feathered wings made of shadow unfurled behind his back.
He looked genuinely terrifying in this state, as if he was an angle of death.
"Fusion?" Hugo raised an eyebrow. "Still ripping me off?"
Seriously, couldn't this guy be original for once?!
"It's not quite like your Omnitrix, unfortunately. I can only partially merge with one of the ten shadows to gain their abilities, but even that is temporary considering it drains my essence too much."
He dismissed the wheel and his eyes reverted to normal, losing his wings.
Nue returned once again, perched on his shoulders.
"This treasure is a well of potential. I'm certain there are more abilities I haven't discovered yet. With it, I could even advance my Shadow Dance and make my shadow shells even stronger... I guess I do owe that to you, so... Thank you," Sunny said, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Ohhh, Sunny, are you embarrassed? You shouldn't be! We are best friends after all" Hugo said.
"And here I thought being nice for once would be good... Besides you aren't my best friend, that would be Kai." he sighed, looking at the expanse below, at the same time he sat on the ship's roof.
"Traitor! Scoundrel! Tsk, tsk, tsk. You would really do this to me, Sunny? Why must you reject my heart, when I've opened it to you hundreds of times? Although I can't really blame you, Kai is definitely a good friend"
"... You didn't let me finish, Kai might be my best friend, but you are my closet friend" sunny said with a scowl, almost as if the words were physically hurting him.
Hugo simply smiled, sitting on the ship beside Sunny.
"I could live with that."
Despite the absurdity of the situation, Hugo found Sunny's company pleasing.