Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance].
Shadow Dance Mastery Level: [3/7].
First Relic: Claimed.
Second Relic: Claimed.
Third Relic: [Unclamed]…
Sunny focused on the runes of the third relic and proclaimed.
"Claim."
After a few seconds, the Spell whispered in his ear.
[You have received a Memory.]
Sunny crossed his arms, looking at his surroundings.
The Shadow Watchers were securing soul shards and patching up their wounds.
Motza was creating a perimeter with Lauma's assistance, they would need to make sure the way to this area was clear.
Turning back and looking up at the large tree, he could hear the call of the Nightmare Seed, they found their one way ticket to becoming a Master. Well, the Shadow Watchers ticket, not his.
Leaving that aside, he summoned his new Memory along with its runes.
A lantern about double the size of his palm appeared out of shadows, differently from his normal Memories, like he was summoning a Shadow.
It was made out of a black material, resembling stone more than anything. The frame of the lantern was intricately engraved, making it seem and feel like the scales of a serpent, and its walls were made out of glossy black motion. There was a small door on one of its walls. On its top was a ring of dark metal, with a short chain attached to it. It could be held in a hand or fastened to one's belt.
As soon as the lantern appeared, the darkness of the forest that surrounded Sunny instantly became deeper and colder, oppressive, and impenetrable.
Sunny's first impression was confusion. A lantern… Compared to a Serpent with a thousand uses and the Lineage of Shadow God, it was somewhat underwhelming.
He looked at the runes.
Memory: [Shadow Lantern.]
Memory Rank: Divine.
'..... Eh?'
He immediately erased his past feeling, the Divine Memory immediately became the strongest thing in his arsenal, regardless if it was a lantern.
Memory Type: Tool.
'Interesting…'
A tool type Memory could have a multitude of uses, and one that came from his Aspect Legacy must be perfectly suited to his Aspect. Some theories started forming in his mind, but he decided to look at the description before making any conclusions.
Memory Description: ["Death is just the shadow of life," said the Goddess of Life. "And peace is just the failure of war. Have you ever been something that had not been stolen, made empty, and vile? Have you ever done something that was not futile and hollow? Can you even exist without being cast by another? Look at how weak you are, how small you are. Am I supposed to be frightened of a small shadow?"
Made pale and feeble by the radiance of day, Shadow laughed and rose from the ground. As he did, his figure swallowed the land, devoured the heavens, and blotted out the light of the sun. Soon, there was nothing left around them but darkness. And from that darkness, a hiss came, making Life tremble:
"Life is just the prelude to death, and war is just the key to open its gates. Everything you cherish, everything you nurture, everything that starts with you will one day be mine, be welcomed by me, swallowed by me, and find peace within me. This is the mercy of Shadow. Hollow… futile... you might have come first, my sister, but when your cruelty ends… I will be all that remains…"]
Sunny shivered upon reading the description, it told him a lot about the relationship of the Dead Gods.
The fact War God and Shadow God were at odds with each other wasn't a surprise, they represented inherently different values.
One was the Goddess of Life and War…
The other was the God of Death and Peace.
But just reading the words of Shadow God already made Sunny tremble, imagine actually being there…
'And I'm his Heir…'
He couldn't help but smile, he was just a Awakened, and he was already feeling way too powerful, the notion that he had Shadow God's blood in his veins…
It filled him with excitement.
But it also reminded him that War God also had her Heirs.
'Valor… It seems Shadow God and War God really were fated to be enemies.'
It was ironic, in a way. Valor was unknowingly going to war against their mortal enemy, the Heir of Shadows, thinking they were only facing the heirs of Blood.
Maybe that was the reason his mother was investing in him so much compared to his sisters, apart from his Divine Aspect. Why she wanted him to lead in Antarctica, she thought he was the hidden Ace against Valor.
A test to make him stronger…
A female, sarcastic voice came from behind him.
"Ohhh… What is that Shade?"
Sunny answered not really paying attention.
"A Divine tool Howl."
He smirked, hearing her sigh from behind him.
"Damn your attribute."
Turning around, Howl was crouched in the burnt corpse of the Fallen Tyrant, she was pouting, annoyed that she couldn't surprise Sunny.
Her presence brought a kind of ferocity to the field, as if she alone could face a hundred opponents alone with a smile on her face.
"I miss the times I could surprise you…"
"Unfortunately for you, my dear sister, your shadow is really recognizable."
She sighed and jumped down, taking a look at the lantern in his hand.
"Is that really a Divine tool?"
Sunny turned his gaze back at his new Memory.
"It's what the Spell says, and the description backs it up, considering it comes from my Aspect Legacy, I won't doubt it."
Howl leaned her body forward, analyzing the Shadow Lantern with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Seems kind of useless to me…"
Sunny rolled his eyes, then remembered he could see the attributes and abilities of his Shadows and decided to see if it also counted for the Memory.
Looking at the runes again, he looked further down.
Memory Enchantments: [Gates of Shadow].
He smiled.
Enchantment Description: [This lantern devours light and can contain, and then release, an infinite amount of shadows.]
'This is really good!'
Being a shadow user, Sunny noticed one thing really important about his element: he is dependent on the environment.
He couldn't create shadows, only command them, if he ended up in a situation where there weren't many shadows he would be at a disadvantage.
That was confirmed with Shadow Blade Kurt when Sunny denied him the blessing of shadows, making the Awakened powerless.
With the Shadow Lantern, he could have the environment always be full of shadows, unless he was in True Darkness, he would never be at a disadvantage. He smirked widely.
"This is the exact opposite of useless."
Howl raised her brow, but decided not to question.
"Either way, come on, we're going home."
Sunny stared at his sister, his mouth hanging for a second.
"Am I in trouble?"
Her eyes twitched for a second, her smile became forced as she gritted her teeth.
"No… You are being rewarded…"
"You don't seem pleased."
"I'm not, you're about to become way too strong."
Sunny's face became a question mark, not understanding, Howl sighed.
"Look, mom has a plan for you, after going to Ravenheart, you're going to the Chained Isles, alright?"
"Alright… Wait, already? My Second Nightmare its still some weeks away, plus, what about Valor's–"
Howl groaned loudly, so much so it got the attention of the Shadow Watchers, who just noticed the presence of the Saint.
"Look, I don't know about the politics, but you need to spend some time with your cohort, so you are going to the Chained Isles tomorrow! You already secured the way for your guys, let them deal with the rest."
Sunny turned around to his subordinates, Kira nodded his head.
"Don't worry Lord Sunless, we have it covered, we can't always rely on you after all."
The others seemed to agree, it made sense, Sunny had been kind of a crunch for them, with his strength and Shadows, they needed to overcome obstacles without any help this time.
Merlin however, didn't seem to like that, puffing and rolling her eyes.
"Does boss really need to go? He can just make the Nightmare with us."
Sunny gazed at the girl with a smile, since her question was directed at Kira, his flaw didn't force him to answer.
Merlin was a curious girl, being able to survive the Dark City for a year before he arrived. Even though she was from the outskirts, he thought she could have been someone special, but no, she was just a outskirts rat that happened to have her eyes changed by the Spell.
So Sunny was indeed the only one who reached out a hand for her…
Nix approached the girl and touched her shoulder with a small smile, then spoke in a motherly voice.
"Merlin… You are acting spoiled again."
The brattish girl puffed, rolling her eyes and taking Nix's hand off her shoulder.
"Don't nag me Nix! You are not my mother, don't act like it! Why do you even do this anyway?!
The purple eyed woman twitched her eye at Merlin's response, Mei was only trying to be gentle and point out when Merlin crossed the line of authority, she turned to look at Sunny, basically saying: "control your child" with her eyes.
He let out a sigh and turned to Merlin, approaching her.
"First, don't speak like that to Nix, she's seen way more than you have."
"But–"
Sunny stared at Merlin, making her interrupt herself. For a second, the shadows seemed darker, making the girl shiver a little. Sunless said in a strict voice… It reminded Howl of their mother.
"Second, you are all strong enough to do the Second Nightmare without me. But Nephis still relies on me in her cohort, I'm the only scout she trusts enough."
Merlin looked down, she seemed to understand.
"I… Alright…"
Sunny sighed, then smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll survive."
She looked back at him, and nodded, turning to Nix, she did a little bow.
"Sorry…"
"It's fine, just hear me from now on."
Merlin felt her shoulders turn weak as she leaned down, making Nix chuckle.
Sunny sighed, then turned to Kira.
"You are in charge."
The Faceless Knight nodded, and so did all the Shadow Watchers, understanding that Kira was in charge now.
Howl sighed.
"Can we go now?"
"Yes, we-"
Mei approached Sunny, standing in front of him and interrupting his line.
"May I speak with you?"
He took a look at the swordwoman, who had her eyes furrowed, she was serious. Then he looked at Howl, who was staring daggers at his subordinate.
"Later, in the waking world."
Mei nodded, and walked back to the others. Sunny couldn't help but notice she was incessantly looking at Lycon, it seemed like she wanted to talk about him…
'I'll deal with this later.'
Following his sister, he left the Shadow Watchers, all his Shadows returned to his soul sea.
As they returned to the Citadel, they passed through the deep forest of dead trees and acid lakes, with a Transcendent on his side, Sunny didn't really need to do anything as his sister tore down any creature that approached them.
Howl was bored, so she asked about the fight she witnessed her brother do, taking the opportunity to savour her curiosity.
"You seem really strong now, facing a Fallen Tyrant head on, fearless and unrelenting, almost like you were someone else…"
Sunny nodded.
"The third step of my Aspect Legacy, the same reason I gained the [Shadow Lantern], It was like I became someone, something else."
Howl stopped and turned, for the first time in a while, she seemed serious, it was unusual.
"Not 'like', you did become something else."
Sunny's expression darkened.
"What do you mean?"
She sighed and explained.
"You know why shadows are so dangerous, Sunny? Because they are formless, they can be anything and become anyone. When I saw you fighting today, I didn't see 'you', I saw a nightmare creature."
"You're saying that…"
"I once met an Awakened with the ability to wield shadows to copy his body anything he desired, transforming into a winged beast or an Iron knight. But he could only copy, he couldn't become the monster, it limited what he could do as he needed to fight in the body of a creature as a human. That limitation made him die in the Second Nightmare."
She looked Sunny in the eyes.
"But you… You can shadow creatures, you can become them, in a way, that fight proved that. But the real question is… What happened to 'you'? Yourself when you became that being?"
He looked down at his hands, becoming lost in thought as he remembered the feeling of becoming the Forsaken Knight.
"I… Don't know.
I just focused on killing the Tyrant, I raised my weapon and advanced. I was angry for some reason… I saw that thing as an insect that didn't deserve to live."
Howl furrowed her brows as Sunny continued.
"But if there was one thing I kept thinking about was my True Name. Hollow Death kept ringing in my head, as if…"
His sister interrupted him.
"It was your anchor."
He looked up at Howl, humming in accordance.
"Yes, just like Lunae said, my True Name anchored my sense of self, not letting me lose it, no matter how natural it felt for me to transform into someone else."
Howl sighed.
"Be careful, it may be dangerous for you to do this…"
He nodded.
"Alright, let's go, mom is waiting."
She stared at Sunny for a few more seconds, and nodded as well.
— —
They finally reached the Jade Palace.
Howl opened the great doors of the throne room in her usual brutish self, announcing their arrival.
"Good afternoon!! Our dear Shade is here! Now can I please go away?"
Sunny face-palmed upon Howl's action, but entered the halls nonetheless.
Frostblade and Divine Strategist were there, talking with the Raven Queen about something, the woman furrowed her brows as Howl entered the room, the man meanwhile chuckled, entertained.
But, as always, the main person was his mother. Ki Song was still sitting on her throne, the ever-present mysterious and sweet smile on her face, and the smile only grew as he entered the throne room.
"Yes Terra, you can, but you are welcome to stay."
Howl sighed and stretched herself.
"Nah, I'm fine, It's not like you guys need me, and Fang needs some help on the edges of the territory. See you!"
Lonesome Howl turned around and went away, closing the grand doors in a loud bump, forgetting all her manners and receiving a furrowed glance from her cold teacher.
Accustomed to Howl's less than present antics, Sunny approached his mother who was sitting in her throne.
"Mother, you wanted to see me?"
Ki Song looked at her son for a moment and nodded.
"Yes."
The next moment, she gripped the armsrests and raised herself, getting up from the throne, turning to the two Saints and speaking in an authoritative tone.
"We'll continue the conversation later. Stay here, it shouldn't take long."
Frostblade and Divine Strategist nodded.
Ki Song walked forward, beckoning her child to follow her, not waiting as she left the room.
"Come."
Sunny made a confused face, not understanding what his mother wanted him to do, but considering he knew better than to disobey his mother, he followed her.
—
As they walked through the grand halls of the Jade Palace, Sunny noticed they were heading to the catacombs, where his mother's pilgrim army resided, curiously, they were using a separate entrance than Revel's room.
He couldn't contain his curiosity and decided to ask.
"Mom, why are we going to the underground? And why not the usual way? Is Revel…"
His mother turned around, and smiled.
"Revel is occupied, no need to interrupt her, now, as to why we are going underground… You'll see."
Ki Song stopped and turned to the secret door that led to the catacombs. The wall parted and the darkness from the secret hall threatened to invade the Palace. Sunny could feel the shadows there, dark, ancient, the stench of death welcomed him like an old friend.
Ki Song entered the caves, going down the stairs made of black rock, Sunless followed close behind.
As they descended, Ki Song hummed as she remembered something.
"Congratulations on your date by the way."
She didn't need to turn back to know her son was blushing.
"I-It wasn't a date!"
"Hmhm, and I'm not dead."
"Mom…"
Sunny's voice died as they reached the ground and the great army of the Raven Queen came into view.
Hundreds of thousands of corpses of dead nightmare creatures and Awakened warriors came into view, from Tyrants, Terrors, even Titans from various Ranks, Masters, Saints… All of them dead, some without heads, some only skeletons, some just hunks of flesh. All extremely powerful in control of a supreme.
Ki Song smiled at his reaction, Sunny already been here before, but only using luminous Memories to be able to see, not letting him see the whole scale of the enormous room and of the army. But now that he could see in the dark, he saw her army with all its glory.
"Oh, and remember this is just half, the rest are scattered around the Domain."
"Ah… Right… Forgot about that for a moment…"
Ki Song chuckled, tapping his head gently.
"Summon one of your Shadows."
"Ah… Sure."
Once again, Sunny was confused, but he summoned Wraith nonetheless. The shadow wolf jumped out of his own shadow and moved around Ki Song, carressing himself on her leg, like it was the most natural thing in the world. A hint of surprise invaded her face at the action of the Shadow.
Sunless paniked for a split second, desperatly grabbing the undead animal and pulling him.
"Hey! Don't do that! She hates when-!"
A chuckle resounded in the grand room. Sunny looked at his mother.
"Don't worry Sunny, let the wolf be. He'll be important."
He threw a questioning look at her.
"Why? Mom, what are we doing here?"
She smiled once again and turned to her army, immediately, various soldiers shifted and moved, letting a shape of the body of a big monster pass through, being dragged by some pilgrims.
Sunny tensed, summoning [BloodRaven] and getting into attack position. The abomanation was alive, not only that, it was a Corrupted Beast. Wounded beyond healing.
A hundred questions passed through his mind, but before he could ask any of them, his mother's slender arm appeared on his gaze. She turned her head to him.
"Order Wraith to kill it."
It finally clicked in his mind, what she wanted to do, he immediately ordered Wraith to kill the abomination.
The Shadow advanced, burrowing its fangs on the Beast's skin that was already damaged, killing it. The Spell whispered into his ear.
[You have slain a Corrupted Beast, Desert Crawler.]
[Your shadow grows stronger…]
Sunny looked at his mother as he expanded his shadow sense, he felt it, hundreds of weakened, wounded, unconscious abominations of various ranks, all captured and defeated.
"You want me to kill them all…"
Ki Song smiled.
"Yes, it took me some time, but I was able to capture a lot of them, keep one of your Shadows here, while you train and prepare for the Second Nightmare, it will kill all monsters in here. From my calculations, there's enough here for you to become a Terror, being half-way into a Titan."
She look to the ceiling, a little disappointed at herself.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get enough for…"
Sunny hugged her. She widened her eyes in surprise.
There was no warning, no asking for permission, no need.
Sunny just wanted to hug his mother.
"Sunny…?"
"I love you mom… I'm sorry for not saying it sooner."
It was about time he said that, after everything she did, after everything she gave him, after giving him a family…
He needed to say it.
Ki Song froze, her eyes widened even more. For a moment, it was as though her body was alive again, she felt warmth, her dead eyes were filled with life. She had already heard these words coming from her daughters, but never her son, it felt…
Fulfilling, like she had finally completed the promise she had made to her old friend all those years ago…
Divinity didn't seem to grasp her as strongly…
She wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"I love you too… My son."
They kept the hug for what it seemed like hours, until Sunny finally said something burrowed in Ki Song's embrace.
"Mom… Can you say my True Name?"
She hesitated for a moment, before her mouth moved, answering his question…