The Blightlands were a Zone of the Dream Realm located west of Ravenheart, conquered by the Song Clan by the hands of the daughters of the clan head. The Citadel was under the control of Silent Stalker due to the overall nature of the Zone, being the one Awakened went to for hunting.
It was a wasteland, various buildings stood together, akin to cities, together with a grand forest that covered most of the Zone, however, they were destroyed, ruined, and most importantly, burned, like a wildfire burned through it but left the structure intact. The hills made of gray rock had black burn marks along their structure showing the scale of the devastation.
Ash permitted on the air, letting a subtle mist of dust rise on the Zone and a permanent dark cloudy sky. Sometimes, rain fell on the Zone, the water was black, and irritated the skin as if it was acidic.
Sunny had chosen this Zone as the hunting ground of the Shadow Watchers, mainly for the majority of the creatures being of the Fallen Rank, some Awakened with high Class were able to survive, like Devils and Tyrants, there were a few Corrupted, but they were Silent Stalker's prey, and she didn't like to share.
Right now, Sunny was waiting for the rest of his squad on top of a hill to begin the relentless hunt for him to become a Tyrant.
Shadow Fragments: [2445/4000]
'One month, I have one month.'
One month and he would challenge the Second Nightmare.
Looking down, he observed the area they would explore today and sighed, turning around, he walked up to the enormous Tree that was now rotting into the ground of the hill, the pitch dark bark and leaves blending into the dark area.
The Shadow of the Soul-Devouring Tree welcomed its master, bending its branches towards Sunny, making a platform for him. He climbed on the branches made of shadows and waited as they led him to the main body of the tree.
It was a little nostalgic in a twisted way, yet ironic. Sunny almost died here, enthralled by the tree, and now, it was his temporary camp in the Zone, where he and his subordinates would rest. The Soul-Devouring Tree was now completely loyal to him, in fact, it seemed really grateful for its new master.
Reaching his destination, he climbed down the branches, tapping the bark of the tree as a sign of thank you. Two Shadow Knights kept on the lookout on the outer branches of the tree, serving as sentinels to the Tree, Saint was using an Ascended bow and arrow owned by Nix while Igris received a greatsword from Merlin, the weight of the weapon made him ditch the shield, but it wasn't much of a loss.
Looking up, he approached the ones that were already there, a big hologram-like map was materialized in the center, a woman with a black leather overcoat with compass details walked through the giant map that showcased the Blightlands main locations of the Zone. As she walked, the map slightly changed as she acquired more information.
By her side, an black armored man had his arms crossed as he saw the job of the woman, analyzing the new area of the Blightlands they would explore. An indifferent woman with purple hair looked at the dark sky, a scabbard on her waist, the katana being held in it brimming with her power… Her being.
Sunless approached the map cracking his neck as he questioned the position of the other members.
"Where are the others?"
Lauma answered without hesitation.
"They will be here soon."
Closing her eyes, she raised her hand, letting a blue butterfly land on her finger, dismissing it and recovering some essence. The way Lauma's Awakened Ability worked was that every butterfly she created wasted a part of her essence, however, everything else only required her concentration and focus, meaning that even without any essence she could still control and see through the summons, to recover some essence she could dismiss them manually like a Memory, however, if the butterfly was destroyed, she lost all essence.
Right now her limit was about ten butterflies, but even if she could create a hundred butterflies that didn't mean she could control them all, her Awakened mind could only handle so much, one of the reasons it took so much time to make the map of the Blightlands.
Technically they didn't need to make a map since the majority of the Zone had already been mapped out by Silent Stalker, but his teachers denied Sunny to use any of them because he needed to face some difficulties, after all, he was too strong already according to them.
'Well, considering that I can kill a horde of Fallen Rank creatures relatively easily… They may be right.'
He could still remember Frostblade's cold words.
"Get strong on your own."
Sunless sighed, sitting on the bark as he looked at the map.
As he did, Kira decided to ask.
"My Lord, why cancel all operations and make us come here?"
Sunny expected that question, and had the answer.
"You see, in a month, I'll challenge the Second Nightmare."
That statement called the attention of the two other Watchers, paying attention to the next words coming out of their leader's mouth.
"So I need to finish my preparations, and find a Seed for you guys too. Don't worry, my sisters will cover for us, Beastmaster's thralls will spy in our stead, and the Blood Sisters will make sure Song isn't being spied on."
The answer satisfied the knight, but something else caught his attention.
"Lady Beastmaster… May I meet her?"
Sunny sharpened his eyes, a thought unconsciously passed through his mind, but the Faceless Knight was in no way an opportunist or that kind of person.
"I can arrange, but why do you want to meet her?"
Kira hesitated, but answered nonetheless.
"I wish to test something with her powers, I could use your Shadow of the Soul-Devouring Tree, but it is not the same type of enthralment."
He noticed the implied meaning behind meeting the sister of his master, and clarified.
"I mean no harm or devious intention."
Sunny waved his hand as if brushing off the matter.
"Don't worry, I know you are not like that. Just don't suddenly start dating her as soon as I get into the Nightmare."
Kira froze and awkwardly moved his head back to the map, an uncomfortable demeanor in his body language. The two girls present chuckled, finding amusement at the interaction of their leader and his second in command.
Soon enough, the other members arrived, all members were present, observing the map of the Blightlands.
After being informed of the current objectives, they prepared for the expedition. As they did, a random thought passed through Sunny's mind.
'Hmm, I need to think of codenames, sure, I could use the True Names but not everyone has them and I don't want everyone to know exactly who I am talking about when I talk to them while undercover.'
He rolled his eyes, he'll think of those later, now, he had other things to worry about.
Sunless approached Lycon, who was together with the brothers and Merlin. The blond man bowed respectfully to the Prince of Song.
"Lord Sunless."
Sunny sharpened his eyes, the traitor of Pillaris was still a mystery to him. After he called Kai to check if what the Valor Legacy was saying was the truth, it just so happened that he was.
Every word Lycon said was true. He was the son of Pillaris, the middle child of the family, but the one who hated them the most as well. He told everything to Sunless, all his motivation.
To kill his mother, after she killed his father, then having the audacity to remarry to a cold man, having even a child with him. And not even his older sister cared, if anything, she helped with the assassination.
The reason he was able to join Sunny so easily? Pillaris didn't care for their first son, not at all, why? Lycon doesn't know… Or more accurately…
"How was the disposal of the spy?"
Lycon opened his mouth to answer, but after a few moments, he looked to the ground, losing his train of thought, then, he subtly kicked Lan's foot, as if ordering his partner to answer in his stead.
Lan glared at Lycon, but answered begrudgingly.
"Yes! We did as always, went to the warehouse, tortured him a bit, got nothing and disposed of the body. Although Lycon decided to make the bastard his little pet project! Then he had the gall to say he forgot the whole thing!"
Lycon's smile permeated despite the angry glare he was receiving. Sunny sighed, deducing what happened.
"Did he use his aspect?"
Lan frowned as he rolled his eyes.
"Of course he did! Made the guy return to being a mundane human just to kill him afterwards!"
Sunny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and resting the other on his waist, he looked at Lycon, who continued to smile.
"Be more careful, otherwise, I will see no point in helping you."
The smile faltered, understanding the weight of what Sunless said. Lan touched his shoulder to warn him.
"You heard that? Don't go all emotionally on missions, it doesn't matter if the bastard ticked you off!"
Suddenly, Lan received a slap on his nape, he flinched and snapped his head at the perpetrator, his own flesh and blood.
"Kin! What the hell?!"
"You are the last person who can say that, you hypocrite."
Before the brother could retort, Merlin cut him off.
"It's true! I almost died because of your anger issues! Remember the Awakened Devil last week?"
Lan was completely flabbergasted, forgetting his problems with Lycon for a moment.
"What-? You survived because of me! If I hadn't created a weakness on that thing's armour you wouldn't be able to dent that thing!"
"Oh yeah? And me and Kin had to save your ass after you rushed in without thinking, just because the thing smirked at you!"
Kin rested his head on his hand, sighing for having to deal with this again.
Sunny left the poor guy on his own, letting his gaze linger on Lycon, thinking back to what Revel said to him.
'My flaw really is tame compared to others…'
He sighed and went to the edge of the tree branches, sitting as he appreciated the view.
His mind wondered, thinking back to the past, to the Forgotten Shore and all his adventures, to his friends…
To Caster. His friend.
He was avenged already, mere hours after Awakening, he knew Harus had died, his sleeping pod shut down, confirming it. It was obvious it would happen, Harus was a Sleeper, wounded one, without one arm, and an Aspect that would only help him against a certain number of creatures, if it was Nephis or Sunny, maybe they would survive, but not Harus. Either way if the culprit behind the Hunchback's death was some nightmare creature, the collapsing Spire, or the blinding Sun, he didn't know, he would never know, and it didn't matter.
And yet, even after knowing Harus was dead, Sunny didn't feel any peace. It was his fault at the end of the day, he let his guard down, he didn't keep his Shadow Sense active.
Sunny sighed again, he couldn't keep thinking of this, it is as Seishan said, he needed to get better, stronger, and learn from this mistake, make sure no one else died in his watch. A determined expression found its way to his face.
'I can't let anyone else I care about die, regardless of my damn True Name. If mom changed Fate, so can I. I am her son after all.'
And it began by reaching the next step of Shadow Dance and incorporating the nightmare creatures style into his own.
It didn't take long for someone to interrupt his thoughts, Motza approached him quietly.
"Sunless?"
He turned back to see his mist assassin kneeling on one knee, an expression full of doubt creeped onto his face.
"Can I ask you a question?"
His leader nodded.
"Sure, what is it?"
Motza breathed in, and looked directly at Sunny's eyes.
"How did you know I was from Valor? And why did you and your family accept me even though I had a mission to kill your sister?"
Sunny frowned, he had expected this question, actually, he was surprised it took Motza this long to ask.
The truth of the assassin was that he was the adopted son of Madoc, the Whispering Blade, the brother of the King of Swords. He was trained to be an assassin to kill the daughters of Song, one of many, one of the reasons Sunny and his sisters entered the Dream Realm with fake identities.
Motza's original target was Moonveil, but since he was transported to the Forgotten Shore, it was impossible for him to complete his mission, so his mission became survival.
Sunny smirked.
"Motza, you were able to survive on the Dark City for four and a half years alone, hunting creatures every week, you had the best combat training out of all Sleepers, you could enter the Bright Castle whenever you wished, and you had an Ascended Memory that was clearly made by a blacksmith. And I know all assassins of the Song Clan, past and present, since you weren't one of them, it was clear you were from Valor."
Motza's mouth froze, just now noticing how his secret identity was kind of obvious with only a little guesswork. Sunny chuckled at his reaction, then proceeded to answer the other question.
"As for the other question, if you really were still loyal to Valor, you would have plotted to kill her when you discovered me and my sister's identity."
The assassin hesitated, widening his eye.
"Plus, Undying Blade is my teacher, he's one of the most trusted confidants of the Raven Queen and he was from Valor once. It took a bit of convincing, but I was able to convince my family, moreover, Blade heard you hesitating to follow Madoc's orders to kill Shan, which helped a lot."
Motza smiled, something rare to see from him, nodding in understanding, it seemed he was satisfied with the answer. But his expression dropped when he heard the next words coming out of his master's mouth.
"Speaking of which, why only assassinate Shan?! Am I Irrelevant to Valor? Or is their intelligence so poor they thought I wasn't a son of Song?! I'm Shadow God's Heir damn it!... Wait…"
Every single Shadow Watcher snapped their heads towards Sunless… Who turned his head slowly to his subordinates.
All chatter ceased, Lan and Merlin stopped fighting and looked at Sunny, both flabbergasted, Kin let his mouth gaped in the air, Lycon's practiced smile disappeared, in its place, an incredulous expression formed. Lauma and Kira took their gazes away from the map and towards their Lord, Nix dropped the Memory she was summoning in shock, Mei widened her eyes as the sky didn't seem that interesting anymore.
Sunny cursed in his mind, the amount of questions he was about to receive were enormous.
'I hate my flaw. Whatever, they would know sooner or later, better to come clean now.'
An idea passed through his head, it was preposterous, but their reactions would be so funny.
"Also, did you guys know I killed an Awakened Tyrant in my First Nightmare? And that Beast God and Shadow God had a custody battle over me? Oh, by the way, I'm a Devil right now…"
— —
The day went on… Somehow, despite their incredulousness, the Shadow Watchers were able to hunt in the Blightlands with their master, of course, they had multiple questions that Sunny was happy to answer, keeping a few secrets to not show everything he knew.
Alas, it was a productive day, he absorbed many fragments and advanced his understanding of the third Step of Shadow Dance.
He made sure to shadow the styles of the nightmare creatures, like the tribal warriors of the Nightmare Gate. He would reach a breakthrough soon, but not yet.
Days passed as their hunts continued, the Watchers improved everyday, Sunny got more and more fragments.
Soon, one week passed, and Nephis wanted to talk with him, accessing the connection they had.
[Light]: "Are you free tomorrow?"
Direct to the point.
[Shadow]: "I think so, sorry, I was too focused on becoming a Tyrant."
[Light]: "Right… You take longer to evolve."
After a few moments absorbing what she said, Sunny looked at her fragments.
[Light Connection]:
Name: Nephis.
True Name: Changing Star.
Rank: Awakened.
Class: Tyrant.
Soul Fragments: [1945/5000]
Sunless eyes twitched. She was so lucky that she didn't need to kill every creature…
Shadow Fragments: [3048/4000]
'I'm so jealous!'
But that was still good, he himself had some questions for her in regards to their evolution.
He sighed and responded to her.
[Shadow]: "Tomorrow afternoon, the same cafe as the one we went to after the movie, is that fine?"
The answer was quick, almost instant.
[Light]: "Yes."
After staring surprised for a few moments, he dismissed his runes and rested on the sofa of the Song's manor's living room. He wanted to rest, badly, it had been a very hectic couple of days, various battles, but nothing he couldn't handle.
He was about to get up when someone touched his shoulder, the hand was soft but firm. Sighing, he turned his head to see Eunbin.
"Hey Bin, how are you doing?"
Her red lips curved into a smile, she was looking happier than usual, her eyes, livelier. She moved around the sofa and sat beside him.
"Good, I met that confidant of yours, Kira, he looks trustful. I was really surprised when he was able to resist my Aspect."
Sunny's eyes widened.
"Wait, can he resist mental attacks?"
"You didn't know? Apparently, he has an attribute that protects his mind. Really powerful too, I struggled a little to influence him."
"I didn't… Huh, that's surprising. Leaving that aside, can you help me choose some clothes?"
Eunbin looked at her brother with a strange expression, Sunny had never, ever, asked about clothes, he only used black for the Dead Gods sake! Was he sick?
"I can but… What's the occasion?"
"Neph wants to talk to me, so we are going to the cafe tomorrow, I just don't want to… Bin, why are you looking at me like that?"
Beastmaster had her eyes widened, she looked surprised, no, more like terrified. Her lips were now opened, showing a gapped mouth that showed her disbelief, her horror.
She didn't answer him, instead, she got up and grabbed his hand and basically dragged him forward.
"Bin?!"
She ignored him, almost running through the halls quickly, hurry ever present in her demeanor. She passed through the few maids of the manor, all looked at them confused. She even passed through Marcus, he tried to grab Sunny out of Eunbin's hold, but the Saint was too strong, soon, the butler was left in the dust.
Sunless was about to Shadow Step away, if the next words of his sister didn't leave him shocked and frozen.
"Moon! Come here, Sunny is going on a date!"