"You are such a curious abomination."
Sunny said, not a hitch to be noticed in his voice even as he sidestepped the hook that was coming for his face, missing by mere millimeters.
"Why is it that you fight? Why is it that you insist on surviving despite living such a wretched existence?"
He ducked under another attack and kicked off the creature, using it as a trampoline to gain distance.
"Why is it that you haven't given up yet? Why? Answer me, you bastard."
The demon's only answer was to pounce on him once more. He had to admit that there was something commendable in its single-minded focus.
Was it the answer, perhaps? To choose an objective and pursue it relentlessly no matter what?
The idea had some merit; it certainly worked for Nephis, but—as amusing as the thought sounded—he wasn't insane enough to follow through with that.
"Why? It always comes down to that accursed question."
As expected, the demon paid no mind to his question; the wretched thing was rude like that. Ah well, he had already prolonged the fight long enough, it was time to end it.
There were more of them, and he couldn't allow Saint to have all the fun.
He stepped in, leaned to the left to avoid one of its hooks, lifted a leg to avoid its attempt at sweeping it, and then tilted his head to avoid the fangs coming for his face. When he stepped back, the odachi had already struck, and the awakened demon fell to the ground in two pieces.
And yet, the thing still stared at him with murder in its vile eyes, the eternal wrath that the Heralds embodied not diminished at all. In a rather impressive yet futile act of defiance, it dragged itself toward him. It was going to die, and yet its eyes were saying that it would do so gladly as long as it could take him down with it.
He saw its string of life growing; it was probably the largest he had ever seen aside from the one belonging to the mountain. Unless the string was lying to him, the creature was staying alive through nothing but grit and anger.
Was this how it felt to fight himself? An annoying little beast that kept coming no matter how wounded it was? How amusing to be on the other side of it for once.
Huh… did he see right?
For a moment, he could swear that he saw many tiny strings of life around the creature, all of them moving lazily. It wasn't the first time he saw them either; they always… Sunny shook his head, feeling like he was forgetting something important. Then he saw the Herald almost upon him and completely dismissed the thought.
The blade struck once more, and the creature's wrath was extinguished forever.
[You have slain an Awakened Demon, Herald of Wrath]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
No memory once again; the Spell was being annoyingly stingy. The fact that he had not received a single memory from killing that mountain and the carnage it unleashed still irked him.
Maybe Neph had a point about destroying it, but why stop there? First the Spell, then…
Mom reading a book to Rain and I, Mom's death, playing silly games with Rain, being separated from Rain, finding out where Rain is, Rain doesn't need me.
The world came back into focus, the wrath still clinging to him desperately, whispering sweetly about how much easier it would be if he just gave up and allowed rage to paint the world red. He had to pass, there were far too many hands holding his chains already to want any more.
"…"
As if invoked, the accursed command never failed to remind him of its existence. After what had almost happened the day he activated the mysterious enchantment—Where is my eye? Weaver must have had a poetic soul—it had never stopped.
Never. It was maddening, a constant low whine that he couldn't ignore no matter how much he wanted to.
Not wanting to fall into another downward spiral, he focused back on the fight. He checked his surroundings and how the battle had evolved during his mental absence, then decided that he had only been enthralled for a second. His remembrance chain was getting better and better at fighting the curse of wrath invoked by the Heralds.
And what an annoying little fact that was. He had thought himself free of that particular trouble when Saint killed the Devil, only to find out that, while not as strong, all of the Heralds could still inflict it in some way. They were similar to the Brood in that aspect, as they too were all capable of inflicting a poison that heightened emotions no matter their rank and class.
There were many similarities between the two clans, which made it quite puzzling why they seemed to hate each other so much. If the two tribes ever met, they would instantly descend into a murderous frenzy and fight each other to the death. No hesitation, no retreat, just pure savagery.
Such was the case now. There were contingents of both of them, and they were fighting with a zeal that disturbed him. It almost made him feel sidelined, here he was, probably the tastiest treat in all of the Tears, and they would rather kill each other than him.
Sunny snorted. Something was very wrong with him if he could get angry about being ignored by a hundred nightmare creatures.
He rolled to the left, just in time to avoid a claw that would have ripped his head off. It looked like not all of them were willing to ignore him. How sweet.
Another attack came from behind, and he had no more time for idle thoughts.
He approached the first assailant, an Awakened Devil belonging to the Brood, its claws—which sizzled under the endless torrent of rain—already coming once more for his head. He parried the blow with the odachi, their clash giving birth to a rain of sparks that momentarily blinded the creature. It did not have time to recover before the [Moonlight Shard] was stabbed into its heart.
[You have slain…]
[Your shadow…]
[You have received a memory, Mask of Lost Echoes]
He didn't have the chance to pay attention to what the Spell said before he was forced to jump back to avoid the hooked strike of another Herald. While he succeeded in avoiding the worst part, it still managed to open a jagged wound across his chest, although it hurt far less than expected.
He made the Herald pay for it with a slash that saw its right hook separated from the rest of its body. The abomination paid no heed to the wound and instead charged fangs-first. The thing would keep attacking until it died or he did.
Their single-minded aggression made them simple yet dangerous opponents. Simple, because they would always attack in the most direct, and thus predictable, fashion. Dangerous, because they would gladly receive any kind of wound as long as it gave them the chance to inflict even the most minimal injury on you. He had learned that fact in a very unpleasant manner—the missing pinky on his right hand could attest to it.
He had made that Herald pay for it. He would make them all pay for...
Survival lessons with Teacher Julius, being pursued by the shark devil, seaweed biki...
His thought process halted, cheeks reddening against his will as he felt rather embarrassed by the intrusive memory. Fortunately, it still managed to break him out of the pervasive wrath. Just in time, too.
Odachi met fangs, and the fangs lost.
The Herald screeched in pain; a deep cut had been opened in its hideous face, painting the pink skin red. Any other creature, even the most stupid, would have reeled, retreated to assess the situation before trying again. A Herald? The mad creature kept going, just as he expected.
Sunny evaded, one of its fangs passing close enough to his face to leave a red line on his cheek. Before it had time to turn around and keep attacking, he swung the odachi and left far more than a red line on its neck.
[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Rosson of Aleras]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a memory, Wrathful Might]
Did the Spell hear him complain about receiving no memories? He should do it more often if that was the case.
A thought for another moment, he still had a battle to win.
-------------------------------------------
Sunny sat down with shaky legs on the remains of a stone-like Brood. His breath was heavy and erratic. So tired was he that he didn't even bother turning off [Endbringer].
He allowed Serpent to go back into tattoo form, an action that his exhausted arms greatly appreciated. He was completely spent; the battle had been close—far too close for his liking. In fact, had the two tribes not been so fixated on eradicating each other, he would be dead.
A month had passed since he made the decision to follow Fate's whims, and he was already regretting it. Battle after battle after battle—that was all he found on his way, the odds only becoming worse with each one.
Was the damn thing trying to kill him? It made no sense otherwise. Worst parent ever.
He dragged a hand through his hair in annoyance. He should cut it soon; it was getting in the way more and more often. Vowing to do it later, he opened the runes in order to check the new memories he had received.
[Memory name: Mask of Lost Echoes.
Memory type: Tool.
Memory description: Desperate to avoid another tragedy, the Seer gazed too far into the murky waters of Fate. Horrified by what he saw, he took his own sight in the hopes of erasing the memory of the bleak future to come. Alas, it was not enough, for the knowledge had already planted a seed of darkness in his heart. A seed that led to the downfall of a once-proud city and eventually that of the pitiful Seer.
Enchantments: Lost Echoes, Gaze into the Abyss.
Lost Echoes: This memory takes away one's sight; in exchange, it greatly enhances all other senses.
Gaze into the abyss: Moderately boosts divination capabilities. Beware of gazing into the abyss.]
The memory reminded him of the webtoons he liked to read as a child. Whenever a high-class event happened, the characters would always end up wearing adornments just like this one. It looked like a masquerade mask, made of aquamarine steel decorated with golden lines that almost looked like runes. There were no slits for the eyes, which wasn't too surprising considering the first enchantment.
"Cassie would love this thing." For once, the girl's name did not carry an instant burst of anger with it. He was far too tired to muster the energy for rage, so he settled for deciding to wear it in front of her to rub it in if he ever escaped The Tears.
The memory description interested him far more. Could the Seer mentioned be the same one who had led the surviving Alerans to the Temple of the Twin Gods? What was it that he saw? Could the mentioned seed of darkness be the corruption that ended up turning him into a nightmare creature?
Lacking the energy to keep pondering the questions at the moment, he archived the thought for later and moved on to the next memory.
[Memory name: Wrathful Might.
Memory type: Charm.
Memory description: The brave knight fought the tides of darkness unrelentingly, hoping to lead his loved ones to a safe haven where they would never have to fear what hides in the silence of night. Tragically, his hopes were dashed when the visions of the mad Seer were proven misleading. Consumed by rage, the seed of corruption bloomed in his heart, and in the end, the knight slaughtered all those he had once cherished.
Enchantment: Herald of Wrath.
Herald of Wrath: Overwhelming wrath consumes one's mind; in exchange, all physical capabilities are greatly enhanced.]
The charm looked like a brooch. It was painted a coppery color, and the image of a bloodstained knight laughing madly was sewn on the front.
Another Aleran dead by his hand. It was disheartening; he felt like he was trampling on what little remained of the city. He offered a mournful nod in the direction of the remains of the man, at least his nightmare was over.
Feeling an idea take shape, he called Saint, who had been dutifully patrolling the battlefield in search of any stragglers and at the same time keeping watch for newcomers. He was only alive because of her, that he could admit without shame.
When the taciturn knight arrived, he silently gave her the brooch, which she equipped without question. Upon activating the charm, she punched the air, the pressure of the movement alone raising a low breeze. She showcased no change in her behavior, so he considered it a tentative success. Saint was immune to mind attacks, which he had theorized to be the source of the wrath, since she was also immune to the Devil's hex.
She had already been among the most dangerous beings of the area, but with this charm and his shadows she might very well be the apex predator. Sunny smiled sincerely. She deserved this and much more.
[Shadow Name: Marble Saint]
[Shadow fragments: 134/200]
She was progressing very quickly too, thanks to the great amount of useless memories he had been receiving. Saint might just become a Saint soon, which was both reassuring and crushing at the same time.
His own weakness was like another chain around his neck. At times, he wondered if he would end up as the proud owner of a Divine Shadow while still being a pitiful Sleeper. It was depressing and hilarious at the same time. Deprilarious?
Sunny snorted and, annoyed with himself, ran another hand through his hair. He needed to get out, his mind was taking some really dark turns.
[Name: Sunless]
[True Name: Lost from Light]
[Shadow Cores: 4/7]
[Shadow fragments: 3870/4000]
At least he was earning plenty of fragments. By next month, his fifth core should be completed. At this pace, he would earn all seven before escaping. Or before dying. Though one was far more likely than the other.
Sunny exhaled tiredly. He was too exhausted to bother with depressing thoughts. In fact, he was very tempted to go to sleep there and then, his eyelids growing heavier by the second. He wasn't sure why, but in the last weeks, he had started to feel more and more lethargic.
A hand clasped his shoulder right as he was about to fall asleep, forcefully snapping him out of the stupor he was in. He blinked his bleary eyes, trying to focus his sight on whatever had touched him.
It was with great effort that he finally managed to recognize Saint. Her ruby eyes were shining with concern as she gently shook him in an attempt to wake him up. After giving her a thankful nod for stopping him from falling asleep, he finally dismissed her so she could recover from the damage she had received.
What was wrong with him? He was exhausted, but he had never allowed himself to relax so much as to fall asleep right after a battle.
Suddenly thirsty, he cupped his hands to collect some of the rainwater, his mind seemingly clearing at the mere action. Once he gathered enough, he lowered his head to drink only to stagger at the sight.
The water had strings of life, which wasn't surprising since everything did, but… what was he thinking again?
His eyes fell once more on the water, and he realized that… was he forgetting something? Sunny shook his head; he was curious by nature, and the tiny strings of life in the water must be distracting him.
He was about to turn off the vision provided by [Endbringer] when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the runes changing, altering at the bottom, right where her information was located.
Against his better judgment, he decided to check. It had been months already since he last did it, and he was curious about what had changed.
[Master: Changing Star]
[Soul Cores: 7/7]
[Soul Fragments: 120/7000]
He stopped dead in his tracks, bitterness washing over him like a violent tide. She was already a Titan. Nephis was out there growing stronger, probably gathering allies, rallying support for her mad crusade, living.
A sardonic smile came upon his face. Maybe that was his way out, wait until she destroyed the Spell and hope that it would somehow kick him out of the dream realm. Or maybe she would save him. She sure liked to play the savior.
Hah, like she even remembered the pathetic slave she had left behind. Like anyone did.
He shook his head once more, any traces of good mood already lost. What was he expecting? The world wasn't going to stop until he was back.
She certainly didn't.
Feeling his growing thirst, he went back to the water in his hands, mind still besieged by the conflicting emotions that always came up whenever he thought of her. When his gaze lowered once more, he saw the strings of life, lazily moving around.
His blood froze while his heart raced, beating like a drum.
Everything had strings of life, both living and non-living. The easiest way to distinguish them was through movement. The strings of living beings were always in motion, while those of objects were inert.
The rain… the rain was alive.
He felt his mind clouding, the realization half-forgotten already. There was only a fraction of a fraction of a second to react.
He resumed his remembrance chain and instantly went back to reading her runes. The combination of both actions just barely managed to keep him lucid.
His gaze went up at the dark clouds hanging straight above him, the source of the living rain.
There were more of the living strings of life in the rain, but he couldn't see any on the clouds. Whatever the source of the rain was, it must have been too big and powerful for him to witness.
He didn't think. He didn't decide to. It was nothing but an intrusive thought that he couldn't stop from putting into motion before it was done. His sight shifted to the one granted by [Blood Weave]. At first—almost disappointingly—he saw nothing. There was literally nothing. But then, he looked farther into the distance, and there, so far that he almost missed it, he saw it.
A sun,no, seven of them. They were dark and vile, so much so that his eyes started weeping blood at the mere sight. And the size, the size alone baffled all common sense.
If he were to put the cores of all the nightmare creatures he had ever seen together, they wouldn't amount to even a hundredth of just one of the dark suns.
He didn't know why or how, but he knew. He knew what he was staring at.
An Unholy Titan. A living god of darkness, an existence so exalted that he wasn't even a speck of dust in comparison.
Saint was the apex predator? What a joke. All of the transcended of humanity could be put together and they wouldn't even be able to tickle it.
The second he spent staring at the suns proved too long. Powerful nightmare creatures could tell when someone was staring at them, and this one? There was no being that could confidently claim to be mightier.
He felt it, as much with his body as with his soul. The Unholy was an ancient being, so powerful and vast that the world itself shook when it stirred.
During all that time—six months of travel—he believed he was nearing the end of the region. And now, he finally understood the truth. He was right at the edge, the proverbial gateway to the domain of the ancestral being; it was that vast.
And it was because he was still at the edge that he was still alive, its passive influence only enough to induce ever-increasing apathy and lethargy, as well as an addiction to its water when drunk.
The clouds above him trembled, and then, for the first time ever, they parted. What revealed itself… his mind refused to process it.
He simply could not; there was nothing but a hole in the fabric of reality where the clouds had parted. The Unholy being was so abominable that his mind refused to acknowledge its existence for fear of completely falling apart.
The pain hit right then. It was horrible, only second to gazing into the tapestry of Fate, although just barely. The abyss was staring back, its mere attention enough to wound his body and mind, his soul slowly crumbling under its regard.
The command was screaming, ordering him to do something, anything. His body did not move.
He heard Fate, its almost-whisper panicked and fearful. He still did not move.
What was he expected to do? He was a mere rat against a god. This wasn't one of the webtoons he used to read, where sheer grit and the power of friendship could save him.
Was he going to die?
He expected to feel many things, rage, regret, hate, sadness, bitterness, maybe even indignation at dying in such a way.
But in truth? He felt relieved.
He was going to die.
Finally.
Hadn't he wanted to break the chains of Fate? Well, here was an easy answer.
A smile came upon his face, warm and joyful. His arms opened on their own, as if welcoming death like a dear friend.
"Do it you bastard! End it! Set me free!" he screamed cheerfully, his smile widening to a mad degree.
The Unholy made no move.
"What are you waiting for? End me, here and now. I'm ready."
Still no reaction.
"Stop stalling and do it already, you bastard!" he screamed again, anger starting to seep into his voice.
The clouds trembled once more and started moving, the world itself holding its breath in anticipation of what was about to happen.
Then the clouds closed, and the vast being whose stare alone had almost killed him went back to sleep.
His arms fell to his sides, the mad smile cracking and turning into a broken, desperate one.
"Kill me! Come on, you bastard! Do it! Do it!" he roared, repeating himself time and time again until his voice broke. It was to no avail; the clouds did not move again.
He was still alive.
He was so insignificant that the Unholy Titan couldn't even be bothered to kill him.
Sunny laughed.