Ki Song touched her son's sleeping pod in his room in the waking world. She was fighting the realm itself to be here, but it was worth it.
She smiled, thinking back to the days when they were younger, the nights where she looked at them sleeping, the harsh training with the Saints… The lessons she taught them.
She couldn't wait for them to come back, she wanted to see Seishan, how much she grew, and Sunless, how did he find a way to escape that place?
Thanks to Hel, she knew they would escape, but how? That was an entirely different question.
The door opened, a tall, beautiful lady walked in, her black outfit and eyes revealed who she was.
Revel froze when she noticed her mother was there, her sight was a rare one in the waking world.
"M-Mother! Didn't expect to see you here…"
The smile that permeated Ki Song's lips didn't fade, in fact, it grew gentler, the sight of her children always managed to bring the little humanity she had left.
"Revel… Come, you wish to see your dear brother, no?"
The eldest daughter of Song relaxed, walking to the opposite side of the pod and started to stare at her sleeping brother. Instead of letting silence fill the room, Ki Song decided to talk with her daughter, it had been a while.
"How is he?"
Her cold motherly voice was supernatural, it made the fact that she was a walking corpse evident… Anvil denied her the warmth of a real body, and forced her to be walking corpses for the rest of her life. It only accelerated the loss of her humanity.
Revel turned her head to look at her mother, a proud smile on her face.
"He's doing great, as always, he got a few more Memories but it looks like he's giving them away to his allies, well, it's not like they are better than the ones he already has…"
She paused, her smile left her, replaced by curiosity, then continued, but this time, she asked a question.
"... Mother, can I ask you something? It's about Sunny…"
Ki Song looked at her.
"Of course, what is it?"
"When I told you that he gained Shadow God's lineage, after the whole Soul-Devouring tree happened, you didn't seem surprised, like you already knew what happened…"
Ki Song chuckled, and turned her gaze to her sleeping son.
"His lineage of Beast God may have been consumed by Shadow God's blessing, but it is still connected to me. I knew the exact moment the Ichor was consumed and he became the Heir of Shadows, when the blood of a new God flowed in him."
"... Then do you know why he gained a new attribute?"
The big question, Sunless attribute, [The Embodiment of Death and Solace], appeared as soon he absorbed Shadow's lineage, what it did in practice was a mystery, but one thing was certain, Beast God's lineage didn't have an equivalent.
Ki Song observed her daughter for a second, and revealed her theory.
"I don't know for certain, but I do know that Shadow God's lineage is more powerful than Beast God's."
"Wait… Why?"
"Because the concentration of Ichor that Sunny absorbed was much higher than what was in my lineage."
Revel was even more confused, so Ki Song explained.
"The lineages of the Gods humans find are simply drops of Blood that fell on the world unconsciously, whether it was in a battle or something else, they didn't put effort in making them.
But Shadow God… Apparently, his blood drop was more planned than he led his opponent to believe. Maybe he even planned for Sunless to be his Heir… Perhaps that was the reason he gave him his blessing…
I can feel it, through Sunless' blood, the lineage has more secrets than any other… Your brother will have many surprises the more he walks the Path of Ascension. Just like Smile of Heaven had, and that her daughter will have…"
Revel absorbed everything that her Mother told her.
"But… What about Weaver's lineage?"
Ki Song's smile disappeared, then turned her gaze to her daughter.
"Weaver… I don't know what your brother did to it, but I hope that simply denying a Ichor erases it or he simply found a way to leave it behind…
That Daemon… Everything I know from them tells me they have a plan, and I doubt they didn't have countermeasures…"
She turned from the sleeping pod and walked to see the vast view from the window.
"... I just wish no one is burdened by his treachery…"
— —
Seishan stood in the middle of the main hall, it had been two weeks since the attack of the Fallen Demon. Now, the entrance corridor and the main dining hall were the same room, now returned to some of its former glory.
They had reconstructed the main doors and had just finished clearing all the rubble and fixing the Castle, renovating it, in a sense.
The Bright Castle had more Sleepers than ever, Seishan even gained a few more handmaidens, all Sleepers were motivated, ready to leave the Forgotten Shore. So the work was done at a relatively fast pace.
And in 2 months, they would all assault the Crimson Spire. They were waiting for the next Winter Solstice, in case any more Sleepers appeared, moreover, they still needed the last Memory Shard, which is why Changing Star's cohort was in the catacombs of the Dark City, they would kill the Lord of the Dead… With Gunlaug, Gemma, and some of the Shadow Watchers.
The past Bright Lord was now following the daughter of the Immortal Flame, he wasn't forgiven, many Sleepers still hated Gunlaug, but his strength could not be ignored. In a way, he was serving as Changing Star's 'enforcer', but no one saw him as that, and he enforced no rule, it was more like he was working for his redemption, and people were forced to accept that, because the man known as Kira backed him, and by proxy, Sunless backing. And Sunless was the second in command.
A girl snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Seish… Lady Seishan…"
She turned around to see Nix, she looked much worse than before. The bags on her eyes were deeper, and her skin much paler, yet she hid it all in a false smile. Her flaw was destroying her.
Nix's flaw made her unable to feel anger, hate, any emotion related to frustration or annoyance was out of her emotional spectrum. That meant the only thing she felt that day… Was guilt and sadness.
"Yes, Nix?"
"Harus… Motza still couldn't find him."
The Hunchback had been missing ever since his master gave up the title of Bright Lord, the last of someone saw of him he was mumbling something about 'That is not my master, I'll avenge you' again and again, then, he ran to the Dark City, seldom being spotted watching the Bright Castle. Ironically enough, Gunlaug had no idea where his once loyal subject was, or why he reacted like that, Harus was supposed to be his slave, yet Gunlaug seemed to barely understand the Hunchback.
A part of Seishan felt that in his own twisted way, Harus was still serving Gunlaug.
"Alright, we'll need to pay attention when he comes back… You can rest now Nix, you need it."
The handmainden, now Shadow Watcher, bowed and turned, before heading to her room, she said one last thing to Seishan.
"You need way more rest than I do Shan."
Seishan stared at her friend as she left and sighed, not wanting to see how miserable she looked.
— —
The fight against the Lord of the Dead was easier than it was supposed to be, after all, even a Fallen Tyrant was vulnerable to poison, and after being poisoned for a week and a half, its strength was not what it once was.
On top of that, it was facing the strongest among the Forgotten Shore, the combination of Changing Star's cohort, the Shadow Watchers, the most experienced of the Pathfinders and the once Bright Lord was enough to overwhelm the twisted abomination.
All of that and the augmentation of the [Dawn Shard] and the fearsome Tyrant fell by the hands of the Heir of Death.
"That's what you get bastard."
Effie celebrated by kicking the pile of bones that was once the Lord of the Dead, dawning the new Memory Sunless gave to her. [Starlight Shard] was a white cape that gave the user many enhancements. Sunny would have used it, but Effie lost her mentor by the hands of the Tyrant, so she deserved to have it… Plus, it was white, it didn't fit his style.
Sunless was sitting on the ground, lost in thought, Kai and Caster stood beside him, drinking water while looking at Kira, Gunlaug and Gemma, who were now guarding the entrance while the cohort rested.
"Who would have thought that The Bright Lord would be fighting with us?"
Caster brought up the reality that was once thought impossible, which made Kai open his charismatic smile and answer the rhetorical question of the legacy.
"Never say never! Last year I thought killing a Fallen Beast was impossible, yet here we are, killing a Tyrant!"
"Hm, fair enough, in the past, I was terrified of swords and spears."
"Really? Is that why you always lose to Sunny when you spar?"
Caster rolled his eyes then pointed at Sunless while talking.
"I don't know! This guy seems to predict everything I do!"
"Exactly."
Both snapped their heads towards their sitting friend.
"I predict every move you do."
Caster turned his head to Kai, who had a bewildered face, understanding that Sunless was telling the truth.
"Am I really so predictable?!"
"Yes."
He said immediately without any hesitation. Caster got extremely ticked off.
"And you only say that now?!"
"You never asked."
"Were you going to keep that a secret?!"
"If the matter wasn't brought up, yes."
Kai held Caster off as the scion attempted to jump at Sunny.
"I'll kill him! I'll kill him! Kai, let me go! I have to kill him!"
"Caster! Please! Stop lying, my flaw is going crazy!"
As one of his friends tried to kill him, being stopped by the other one, Sunny turned his gaze towards Nephis. She was healing the injuries of the wounded Kin and Lan, Mei right beside her.
A question that permeated his mind for a while was brought up in his head again.
'What will you do when we come back Nephis? Continue your revenge? Confront my mother? What about Anvil and that Thing? What do you think about them? They are not like mother… At least the Dreamspawn isn't.'
He sighed, deciding to think of something else, looking at his fragments.
[Shadow fragments: 1752/3000]
'I doubt I'll be able to become a devil before the Crimson Spire…'
He had hunted so many creatures that it was becoming more and more difficult to find them.
But… There were a few that he could kill, out of nothing except a personal wish, without any true meaning.
'I am the Hollow Death after all… I only bring meaningless death…'
"Lord Sunless?"
He turned his head towards the voice, Kira was calling him. Caster and Kai stopped struggling and looked puzzled at the Knight, who asked them a favour.
"Can I talk to him alone?"
The two looked at each other and agreed.
"S-Sure…"
"Alright."
They moved away from the two Shadow Watchers, leaving them alone, and went to Effie, who was still looking at the pile of bones.
"What do you think they will talk about?"
Kai was certainly curious, the black knight was really imposing, and kind of scared him, but he always listened to Sunny, so Kai wasn't wary of the man. Caster, meanwhile, had a suspicion about Kai's question, remembering Sunny's reaction to the massacre on the Bright Castle.
"I think… It's about guilt…"
—
Sunless observed his subordinate in a silent, but questioning look.
"I wanted to ask, when we get out of here, how will it be? The Shadow Watchers I mean."
Sunless face turned into puzzlement.
"What do you mean? There will be nothing."
"What?"
Sunless sighed.
"You can do whatever you want, I won't be your leader anymore."
The tall man gripped his hand tightly.
"Stop it."
"Hm? Stop what?"
Kira kneeled to touch Sunless' shoulder.
"You did what was necessary, stop thinking there was another way."
Sunless' eyes widened, then his brows furrowed, shaking off his subordinate's hand.
"This has nothing to do with that… I created this group to defeat Gunlaug then get out of the Forgotten Shore. What did you expect afterwards Kira?"
Kira sighed.
"You really don't get it…"
"'Don't get it?' What do you want from me? To lead all of you? For what purpose? There's no point…"
"Of course there is."
He stood up and looked at Mei.
"Do you remember how you recruited Mei?"
Sunless scoffed, chuckling a little.
"It was more like she recruited herself, Seishan almost jumped when she suddenly appeared behind me, asking to join…"
Kira also chuckled.
"Yes… It was the first time anyone saw her choosing something for herself. And she chose to follow you."
An uncomfortable feeling suddenly creeped up on Sunny.
"Kin and Lan gave up their comfortable place in the castle to follow you."
"They hated Tessai, of course they would get a chance to kill him."
"They didn't need to wait so long. You gave them the motivation to get up, you and Lady Nephis."
Sunless grunted, rather annoyed.
"Lauma found her place thanks to you, Lycon finally found a way to leave. You gave Merlin another chance at life. Motza… Do I even need to say it?"
"... No…"
"You may think you forced Nix to do that, but in the end, it was her choice."
Kira sighed once again, crouching once again.
"Look, I am not saying for you to ignore what happened, I am asking you to remember why we follow you, you gave us a chance, and we understand why you did what you did."
"But—"
Kira interrupted him immediately.
"If they hadn't died, Gunlaug wouldn't have changed his mind."
Sunless stayed silent.
"Then, Changing Star would have killed him, and many would still believe that the assault of the Crimson Spire was an impossibility, and that staying in the Bright Castle was the only way to survive…
Who knows what would have happened…"
The Prince of Song sighed, and looked away. Kira got up and began to return to the entrance.
"We have to do the best we can, no one blames you for your choice."
He left Sunless alone with his thoughts.