Chapter 739: Empty Skies
While Sunny and Mordret struggled to survive as their souls were being destroyed…
A human figure emerged from the darkness of the Sky Below and shot into the sunlight, flying with incredible speed. It was a man with skin that looked like polished bark and a burned, disfigured face.
His armor was battered and painted dull by dried blood, and the quiver attached to his belt was long empty. The man had been an officer of the Sun Legion once, but now, he returned to kill its commander.
His eyes were full of resolve.
Months had passed since the terrible day when Kai and his most brave soldiers were chained to the white cliff on the Sacrifice Island and left there to be devoured by the Ivory Dragon. Who could have thought that he would be back to this cursed place so soon?
Leaving the heat of the burning city behind, Kai had hidden himself under the island where his comrades were turned to ash by the dragon's flame, waited for Sunny to get the full attention of the prince of Valor, and then dashed forward without looking back.
He did not wish to see the white cliff and the soot-covered chains hanging from its surface ever again.
Flying under the last bridge connecting the rest of the city to the Ivory Island, he avoided being noticed too soon, and then ascended into the sunlight. Behind him, a dome of shadows suddenly appeared at the entrance to the bridge, hiding his friend from sight.
With his heart growing heavy, Kai soared above the emerald grass of the Ivory City and finally saw his goal.
A magnificent dragon was laying on the ground, blood streaming from his mangled neck. His white scales were painted crimson, and one of his wings was broken. But the great beast was still alive. He was still breathing.
He was immortal, after all…
But not for long.
In his hand, Kai held a knife made of ghostly glass. Inside the knife, the dragon's fate was sealed, placed there by a ruthless god.
Was Kai breaking the will of the gods by delivering it back to its owner? Or completing their design?
He did not know, and he did not care.
All he cared about was killing the dragon.
Kai had never been very strong, or very brave, or very smart. It took him a long time to grow a little. He was not a person of great conviction, either. But if there was one thing he believed, it was that Sevirax had to die, and that his ghastly reign had to end.
The beautiful city he ruled was just too vile.
Gritting his teeth, Kai ignored the pain that had tormented him for months and lunged at the gargantuan form of the dragon.
The Glass Knife glistened in his hand…
But even terribly wounded, the immortal Transcendent was still immensely powerful and deadly. How could a mere Awakened ever hope to wound him?
Before Kai could thrust the ghostly blade into the exposed flesh on the great beast's neck, Sevirax suddenly stirred. His eyelids flew up, revealing inhuman amber eyes. His maw opened slightly, wisps of smoke escaping it…
The dragon moved his healthy wing, and a torrent of wind crashed into Kai, sending him spinning. The glass knife scratched uselessly against impenetrable scales, and he was thrown away.
A moment later, a giant claw brushed across his chest. The young man dashed away in time to avoid being killed, but just this light touch was enough to rip his breastplate open and shatter a few of his ribs.
With a groan, Kai fell on the soft grass. His speed was so great that his body slid for a few dozen meters, and by the time he rose shakily to his knees, the dragon was already looking at him, ready to attack.
A hint of confusion surfaced from the ocean of madness hidden in his eyes.
Sevirax lingered for a moment, and then, a low, tired, sonorous voice resounded from all around them:
"You… I know you…"
Kai gritted his teeth.
His surprise attack had failed… he failed.
Now that the Transcendent was aware of him, there was little chance of delivering the fateful strike. No matter how wounded and exhausted the Ivory Lord was, he would still be immeasurably faster, stronger, and more powerful than an Awakened with a weak Aspect. He would crush Kai in an instant.
The immortal was not going to die. Hope was not going to escape. The Nightmare was not going to end…
His friends would not be saved.
Kai might have been able to fly through the sky and see far and wide…
But he was no dragon.
The man with a disfigured face looked at the immortal beast towering in front of him. He shook slightly, and then lowered his head.
...And then, he lunged forward, sending bits of torn grass into the air.
He was fast, incredibly fast… but Sevirax was faster. The great beast twisted his neck, protecting the wound left on it by the fangs of the Beast of Twilight, and then opened his maw to crush the small human between his jaws.
Perhaps Kai could have dodged…
But he didn't.
Instead, he accelerated even more and flew straight into the dragon's maw, which instantly closed, giant fangs striking against each over with a deafening sound.
Just like that, the crippled man was gone.
The dragon froze for a moment, stunned by the little human's unflinching bravery.
…Then, he suddenly shuddered and let out a tortured cry.
Kai, who had plunged the Glass Knife into the soft flesh of the great beast's tongue, was thrown back and crashed heavily onto the ground. His bark-like skin was smoldering, scorched once again by the heat of the dragon's flame. His armor was disintegrating.
And the Ivory Lord, meanwhile, was becoming mortal again.
Now that his fate had been returned to him, the terrible wound on his neck was sapping him of life. A few seconds more, and it was going to kill him.
But no... not yet!
As a long, sorrowful cry of the great beast echoed across the burning city, Sevras stubbornly refused to die. Straining his battered body, he slowly crawled forward, desperately trying to reach the Ivory Tower.
Which he had sworn to protect.
Leaving a trail of blood behind, the beautiful white dragon torturously wrapped his body around the great pagoda and tiredly lowered his head to the ground in front of its gates. His eyes slowly closed.
It was his… his duty.
To protect it.
He was going to it, even in death.
He promised…
Laying on the soft grass in the middle of a burning inferno, the dragon let out a soft breath.
He imagined a different picture…
A picture of a beautiful white city, its streets bathing in gentle sunlight... full of happy and kind people... thriving, peaceful, and safe.
A few moments later, Sevras, the Blessed of the Sun, was dead.
Chapter 740: Dream is Collapsing
As the Ivory Dragon died, an invisible ripple spread through the world. The whole city trembled slightly, and then, one of the two remaining chains that bound the Ivory Island to the rest of Hope's shattered kingdom broke with a deafening ring.
The broken chain fell into the darkness of the Sky Below, leaving only a single tether holding the island in place. The island's position shifted… not by much, but enough to cause the arching stone bridge to crack, shudder, and then slowly crumble.
A cloud of stone dust rose into the air as the massive structure collapsed, enveloping the patch of grass where Sunny and Mordret lay, still reeling from the deadly soul attack.
Sunny coughed and waved his hand in front of his face, weakly trying to chase the dust away.
'Damnation…'
The Prince of Nothing, meanwhile, was slowly rising to his feet. With a stagger, he regained his footing and looked in the direction of the Ivory Tower, his old face growing dim.
Mordret remained silent for a while, and then said evenly:
"Well, that… is a bit unfortunate."
Sunny let out a hoarse laugh, causing the old man to turn around and glance at him darkly. Then, he tried to sit up, but failed.
The Prince of Nothing scoffed.
"Drop the act, Sunless. I know you are not that weakened."
Sunny cursed, then stopped pretending and sat up with a groan. He was indeed in a very bad shape, drained of essence, and barely alive because of how severely damaged his soul was. However, he was indeed not as weak as he had wanted to mislead Mordret into believing.
The old man shook his head, then smiled.
"Using my own Reflections against me… how clever. I expected something like that from you."
Then, his face abruptly grew dark, and he gazed in the direction of the Ivory Tower once again. His voice sounded quiet and uncertain:
"That, however… that I did not expect at all. It should not have been possible! I don't understand… giving one of the knives away is not in your nature. With how cynical and distrustful you are, you should have clung to them to the end… how did I make this mistake?"
Sunny grinned.
"I guess I've changed."
Mordret frowned, then slowly shook his head.
"People don't change that easily."
The grin on Sunny's face became a little brittle.
"...It wasn't easy."
The old man remained motionless for a while, then sighed heavily and turned around to face him. At the same time, his remaining Reflection did the same.
The Prince of Nothing stared at the battered shadow devil for a few moments, then said amiably:
"Sunless, my fried… please give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."
Sunny blinked a couple of times, then answered with a dark smile:
"In case you didn't notice, people who try to kill me tend to end up dead instead."
Mordret grinned dangerously.
"I am sure I can manage."
'Well… crap. I'm a bit sure myself."
He tilted his head, then said doubtfully:
"Because I still have the Divine Memory you want to get your hands on?"
The old man took a step forward, causing the Reflection to do the same.
"Normally, that would have been a good reason. But right now… to be honest, Sunless, I am starting to wonder if it's worth the effort…"
Sunny lingered for a bit, then raised an eyebrow.
"...Pretty please?"
The Prince of Nothing laughed.
"Not good enough."
Sunny stared at him, slowly circulating what little essence he had left through his body. His Shadows were damaged and restoring themselves in the nurturing black flames of his soul… his strength was depleted… his allies were far away and in even worse shape than him.
Things were looking bleak.
He sighed, and then said in a neutral tone:
"Look… sure, you can probably kill me. But make no mistake, I won't make it easy for you. More importantly, I'll make sure to resist for a long, long time."
Mordret smiled politely.
"...So far, I am liking everything that I am hearing."
Sunny grinned.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
The Prince of Nothing lingered for a moment, then frowned.
"And what might that be?"
Climbing back onto his chair, Sunny leaned on the backrest and let out a relieved sigh. Then, he pointed at the Ivory Tower:
"This Nightmare is coming to the end. There's not much time left until we are returned to the real world. Precious time that you are going to waste trying to get rid of me."
Mordret looked at him with a dark expression.
"That is alright. My schedule is suddenly free, anyway. What else is there to do?"
Sunny shook his head.
"You might have lost the opportunity to kill the Demon of Desire. But have you forgotten about the Demon of Destiny? There is a whole Ebony Tower beneath us, free for the plunder."
The old man's frown deepened.
"The divine flames are much more intense and plentiful during this time. The rift in them can't be traversed by the likes of us. Not that there's enough time to, anyway. Unless…"
His expression suddenly changed.
Sunny nodded.
"Indeed. The Sky Below cannot be traversed, but we just happen to be near the Ivory Island, and the portal that stands behind the Tower. Now… you can waste time trying to kill me… or you can try to pour enough divine flame into it, and get your hands on all the toys left behind by Nether. Just don't be an idiot like me and let the time catch up to them after the seal is broken…"
Mordret stared at him for a few moments, and then grinned.
"You are just hoping that the strange rot inside the Ebony Tower is going to devour me, aren't you? After all, it is not as starved yet, in this time."
Sunny coughed.
"Uh… guilty as charged. Still. Are you planning to kill a Sovereign without taking a risk from time to time? Hurry up and decide. The clock is ticking."
The old man studied him for a while, not saying anything.
Gradually, Sunny grew extremely uncomfortable under that gaze.
'Damned bastard… your desire to kill me can't be stronger than your desire to take revenge on clan Valor! Hope, do your thing! Come on!'
Eventually, Mordret chuckled, shook his head, and said:
"Two Sovereigns."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
The old man turned around and headed to the edge of the island, followed by his Reflection.
"Two Sovereigns! I plan to kill Asterion, too. Although that will probably be much, much harder than dealing with my father… still, I am as good at remembering grudges as you are, Sunless… so pray that we never meet again."
He stopped near the very edge of the empty abyss of the Sky Below, lingered at it for a few moments, and then said somberly:
"Although who will hear your prayers? The gods are dead…"
With that, the Prince of Nothing stepped into the darkness and disappeared, taking his Reflection with him.
Sunny was left alone on the empty island, struggling to believe that he actually survived.
He looked down, at his exquisite wooden chair, then at the rock in his hand.
Then, he let out a shaky breath.
'Damn. I can't believe that worked…'
Chapter 741: Chain Breaker
For a few moments, Sunny remained motionless, staring at the beautiful ivory walls of the great pagoda that towered above the world. Although the whole city was being consumed by immolating flame, here at its precipice, everything was calm and quiet.
He couldn't quite believe it.
Solvane, the Saint of War, was dead. The immortal prince encased in the mountain of moving steel was dead. The noble dragon that had dutifully guarded the tower was dead, as well.
They won. The Nightmare… was conquered.
More or less.
From the blood-soaked arena of the Red Colosseum, to the neverending prison of nightmares, to the numinous Temple of the Chalice, to the furious battle for the sky above the Ivory City, to confronting the Prince of Nothing… somehow, he had lived through all of it, and triumphed.
What were the chances of that?
'Just five months... but it felt like a lifetime.'
Of course, there were a few issues left.
Most of the army of the perished Chain Lords was still intact, and on its way to the city. The cohort had dealt a terrible blow to the small part of it, but hundreds upon hundreds of flying ships still remained, carrying thousands upon thousands of soldiers. Now that their commanders were dead, he was not sure what would happen to them, and how they would react.
Noctis was nowhere to be found.
And Hope was still chained, even if not for long now.
With a sigh, Sunny stood up and grimaced as a feeling of sickening weakness overwhelmed him. His soul was terribly damaged… he had never abused it to this degree before, not even during the siege of the Crimson Spire. His body was not doing too great, either. Sunny had given his all to come this far, and now, he was at the end of his rope.
But he was also so close to becoming a Master.
Slowly walking to the edge of the island, he looked into the darkness of the Sky Below for a few moments, summoned the Dark Wing, and then glided down to the last remaining chain holding the Ivory Island in place.
There was not enough essence left in his soul to turn into a swift shadow, and he was too tired to run, so Sunny simply walked forward, using his enchanted cloak to scale the uneven links of the heavenly chain from time to time. It took him a while to traverse the wide chasm of emptiness and climb to the surface of the familiar tranquil island.
The emerald meadow, the calm surface of a clear lake, the peaceful grove of ancient trees… he had been here before, in the distant future. Of course, now, the island did not look exactly the same. There were pools of dragon blood sizzling in the green grass, and wisps of smoke floating in the air, brought over from the burning city by the wind.
He looked at the Ivory Tower and saw the body of a beautiful white dragon wrapped around it, not yet reduced to weathered bones.
Sunny remained motionless for a bit, and then went to find Kai.
The young man was laying on the grass not too far away, unconscious. His armor had melted and disintegrated, and his bark-like skin seemed damaged and scorched. Many of his bones were broken, and his disfigured face was contorted by a grimace of pain.
But he was alive.
After checking on his friend, Sunny came to the conclusion that Kai's life was not in danger. His wounds, while serious, were not enough to kill an Awakened. At least not in a short time…
Not knowing what else to do, Sunny summoned the Puppeteer's Shroud, rolled it, and placed the soft fabric under the archer's head as a pillow. Then, he lingered for a few moments, patted Kai on the shoulder, and stood up.
Then, he slowly walked forward and stood in front of the dead dragon's head, looking at the closed gates behind it.
This was it.
The prison of Hope…
As he studied the gates, something suddenly rustled behind him. Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, and then slowly turned around. His eyes were dark and hollow.
...Noctis did not look as bad as he had after the battle with Solvane, but he also did not look good. The sorcerer was battered and beaten, his body covered by terrible burns. His elegant garments had turned into rags, and his raven-black hair was singed and uneven.
He also looked… different.
It was as though the burden of madness that had clouded his beautiful grey eyes finally disappeared, leaving them sparkling and clear. The sorcerer looked radiant and at ease, emanating a cool and calming aura. His friendly presence enveloped Sunny like an embrace.
Perhaps this was how he had been centuries ago, before the duty of being a shackle to Desire turned him twisted and weighed down by the curse of eternal servitude.
Noctis glanced up, at the ivory expanse of the great pagoda, and then looked at Sunny with a smile:
"Ah, Sunless! Please excuse my disheveled appearance. Looks… looks like we've won, doesn't it?"
Sunny lingered for a few moments, then offered him a silent nod.
After that, he faced the sorcerer and asked:
"So. What now? This is it? We are done?"
Noctis remained silent for a bit, then lightly shook his head.
"Well… actually, there is one small thing left to do."
A crooked smile appeared on Sunny's face, and he looked away, hiding his eyes from the sorcerer. His voice resounded from the Extraordinary Rock, tinged with a bitter emotion:
"...I thought you said that she can break one chain on her own."
Noctis smiled.
"Oh, I think that she can. However…"
The immortal's smile paled and then disappeared, leaving his face strangely bare.
"...That doesn't mean that she should."
He sighed, and then looked away, at the pillars of smoke rising above the dying city. His gaze was distant and solemn.
"Have you ever seen a wolf gnaw its paw off to escape a trap, Sunless? Ah… it's a terrible thing to behold. I wouldn't wish such a fate on anyone."
Noctis remained silent for a while, and then added in a wistful tone:
"Wolves... are meant to be free."
Then, a carefree smile appeared on his beautiful face once again, and the sorcerer turned to Sunny with sparks dancing in his grey eyes.
"So, my friend… the time has finally come for me to request something of you."
He reached out with his hand and opened his palm. Sunny remained silent, refusing to look in the sorcerer's direction.
"Will you give me the Obsidian Knife?"
'Goddammit!'
Sunny wanted to say so much. He wanted to do so much. He felt so much…
But he knew that it would have been a wrong and cruel thing to do.
A betrayal.
He sighed heavily, and then faced Noctis. A swirl of sparks appeared around his hand.
"I have never seen a real wolf, you know? And yes, I will… since you asked nicely…"
He opened the lid of the Covetous Coffer, rummaged inside, and then placed the knife cut from a single piece of obsidian in the sorcerer's hand.
Noctis received it and then calmly looked at the black blade. His fingers slowly closed around the handle.
A sad smile appeared on his face.
"Well, then… I guess this is a goodbye. Farewell, Sunless. You have been a great friend to me. And I… I hope that I have been a good friend to you, too."
He sighed, lingered for a few moments, and then added:
"Before we part, however, I must tell you something."
Sunny looked at him darkly and asked in a hoarse voice:
"What?"
Noctis silently shook his head.
"You... you really should stop wearing all black. What a terribly drab color! Ah, Sunless… you are better than this…"
With that, the sorcerer laughed and took a step forward.
He hesitated for a second, then locked Sunny in a hug. Because of the difference in their heights, Sunny had to bend down a little.
Noctis chuckled, then grew silent for a moment.
Then, he sighed and whispered, his voice suddenly low and somber.
Just four words, each carrying immeasurable weight:
"Never trust the gods."
Then, the sorcerer let go of Sunny, smiled one last time, and walked away.
Soon, he disappeared from sight.
And not too long after that, the Ivory Island trembled slightly as the last chain holding it in place broke apart.
Sunny gritted his teeth, then looked away and wiped his eyes.
His shoulders fell.
"Damn scoundrel… you tricked me again…"
Chapter 742: Hope
Sunny stood motionless for a while, feeling the ground move beneath him. Now that all seven of the chains were broken and the Ivory Tower became completely untethered from the rest of the Kingdom of Hope, it started to ascend. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the island it stood upon soared into the sky, leaving the shattered land behind.
And as it did, Sunny felt the Nightmare coming to the end.
Slowly, he walked to the edge and looked down, at the burning city below.
The beautiful buildings of white stone were melting. The aerial bridges and elegant aqueducts were collapsing, unable to withstand the terrible heat. The streams of clear water were turning into scolding steam. All around, he could see nothing but an ocean of flame.
The wind brought with it the distant sound of human cries, smoke, and the smell of burning flesh.
Thousands of people — those who still lived — were drowning in the fiery ocean, turning into piles of blackened bones and ash.
The Ivory City was dying.
Was this what salvation looked like?
…In the thousands of years to come, the scorched islands were going to crumble into the Sky Below one after another, forming the Tear. The Twisted Rock would eventually be the last one to fall.
As the Ivory Tower rose higher and higher, the sight of the dying city did not encompass all of Sunny's vision anymore. Now, he saw further and wider. The landscape of the Kingdom of Hope was laid bare in front of him.
He saw the shape of a giant steel corpse swinging below a faraway island on a broken chain, and a shape of a shattered ship laying on the ground. Effie and Cassie were somewhere there, as well… but the distance was too great for Sunny to see them.
He saw countless islands, some of them verdant and green, some of them grey and desolate. There were forests and lakes, rivers and hills, human settlements… small and large. He saw people, cattle, beasts, and Nightmare Creatures.
He saw the chains stretching into the distance as they connected the islands together.
Looking up from the ground, Sunny saw numerous flying ships rushing toward the burning city. There were hundreds and hundred of them, some with white sails, some with red. The army of the fallen Chain Lords had arrived.
As the Ivory Island rose even higher, the sky around it started to change.
The change was subtle at the beginning, but as the Ivory Tower continued to ascend, it became more and more pronounced.
The invisible power that held the flying islands above the abyss of the Sky Below was shifting. As its heart climbed higher and higher, it was slowly becoming more and more overbearing. The giant enchantment was losing its balance.
Sunny shivered as he realized what was happening.
The Crushing… the Crushing was coming to the Chained Isles for the first time.
As he watched, it descended upon the shattered remains of the Kingdom of Hope in all its vicious might.
Across numerous islands, dust suddenly rose into the air. Ancient forests were flattened in an instant, tall hills broke apart, rivers boiled and change their course, settlements were turned into ruins.
Countless humans, beasts, and Nightmare Creatures were cruelly killed, not knowing what had killed them.
The flying ships were hit the hardest, every one of them instantly turning into a cloud of splinters, debris, and broken bodies. The mighty army was gone in a second.
The scale of the destruction was too large to comprehend.
Sunny watched as the Kingdom of Hope was turned into the Chained Isles, paralyzed by the inconceivable horror of that sight. For a while, all thoughts disappeared from his head…
Then, suddenly, his eyes widened.
'Cassie! Effie!'
For a moment, he was consumed by fear, but then his hearts slowly calmed.
No... they were alright.
Cassie had always been good at predicting when the islands would enter the Crushing, back in the future. She would have warned Effie if they were in danger and taken them both to safety.
Sunny sighed with relief. Now that his paralysis was broken, however, another thought suddenly entered his mind.
He took an uncertain step back from the edge, then turned around and ran to the center of the island.
Approaching the dead dragon, he hurriedly climbed over the beast's massive head and jumped down, landing near the gates of the Ivory Tower.
The ancient doors were closed shut, as if no one had opened them in a thousand years. Sunny gritted his teeth and pulled, putting the strength of all his shadows into it.
Hope… he had to see Hope!
Succumbing to the pressure, the gates slowly moved. Torturously slowly, one side of them slid forward, creating an opening.
Not wasting any more time, he pushed himself into the narrow gap and entered the Ivory Tower.
Soon, he saw the familiar great hall, its vast expanse bathed in light that streamed through tall windows. Seven chains sprawled from the pristine white floor, as if growing out of it, each ending in a broken shackle. The shackles were bleak and marred, their metal torn.
There was fresh blood on the broken shackles, suffused with a radiant golden glow.
And between them…
Sunny staggered and involuntarily fell to his knees.
Every passion, every desire, every emotion dwelling in his heart suddenly surged forward and ignited, breaking out of control.
In the center of the great hall, surrounded by a swirling hurricane of light and darkness, a vague and graceful silhouette towered above the broken chains. He couldn't quite tell where the light ended, and where her numinous body began… perhaps Hope had no body at all, and was instead made of pure radiance, pure darkness.
He felt as if her nebulous visage was almost human-like, but also inexplicably alien. The shapes and contours were both correct and wrong… both familiar and strange… both pleasing and revolting.
And beautiful…. so beautiful…
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
She was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.
She was…
Divine, unholy, unknown, unknowable.
…A daemon.
And she was leaving.
Sunny couldn't see much, but he clearly understood that Hope was ready to disappear. Maybe she was already half-gone, and all he saw was an afterimage.
And yet, he had to… he had to…
His mind was scattered and empty, and he didn't quite remember what he wanted to do.
What he desired…
Sunny gritted his teeth, and then screamed, letting his desire dictate the question:
"Wait! Don't go! Tell me… tell me why the Lord of Light did this! Why did the gods imprison you?! Why couldn't they just kill you?! Why?!"
The Demon of Desire paid him no attention. For a moment, Sunny thought that he would not receive an answer.
But then, something changed.
Hope moved, and was suddenly beside him. Her face, which was weaved of light and darkness, encompassed the whole world. Her radiant eyes peered into the deepest, most hidden parts of his soul.
And then, a voice that sounded like the rustle of countless leaves, like a myriad of prayers, like the wind that blew between the stars whispered into his ear:
"...Because we are their Flaw."
Sunny's eyes grew wide.
And then, everything became dark.
...The Nightmare was over.
Chapter 743: Appraisal
[Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]
Once again, Sunny found himself in the space between dream and reality. The boundless black void was illuminated by a myriad of stars, with countless strings of silver light connecting them together to form an infinite, beautiful pattern.
Now that he had a nascent understanding of sorcery, Sunny saw the pattern differently. His old suspicions grew stronger, slowly turning into a certainty.
This was the inner sanctum of the Spell. And if the Spell had been created by Weaver… then what he was looking at was its weave.
The myriad of stars were the nexuses. The strings of light, however, were not the same as the threads of essence he could create himself.
…Instead, the Spell was weaved from the Strings of Fate itself.
As that realization took root in his heart, Sunny shuddered. The scale of the cosmic weave of silver light and numerous stars that surrounded him had already been too vast to comprehend. Now that he glimpsed its true nature, it suddenly seemed even more inconceivable.
Yes, Weaver was called the Demon of Fate… but harvesting its very fabric to create a titanic enchantment was too incredible, even for the firstborn of the Unknown.
For a daemon…
Sunny shivered once again.
"We are their Flaw… what did she mean?"
Hope's answer had shaken him to the very core. The implications were too… unthinkable. He did not truly understand what she had meant, but felt as though he was at the precipice of a vast and terrible truth.
Sunny was still far away from grasping that truth, however.
Were the daemons personifications of the Flaws that the gods had shed? Is that how the gods had become flawless? Or had the gods been flawless before the daemons appeared, instead?
None of it made any sense. How did the Unknown, from whom the daemons had come, fit into this? Was there a hint at who or what the Unknown had been… or was?
As always, there were too many questions, and almost no answers!
If there was one thing that became clear, however, it was that the relationship between the gods and the daemons was even more complicated than he had thought.
"How infuriating…"
Sunny had learned a remarkable secret, but had no way to understand it. He stared into the distance for some time, then sighed.
"Well, whatever. I am too small and weak to concern myself with the secrets of the divine, anyway."
…Although he was not as small and weak as he had been before.
He was a Master!
Or rather, was about to become one.
As if answering his thoughts, the Spell finally spoke:
[Awakened! Your trial is over.]
It voice continued to resonate in the black void:
[A lonesome shadow came to a land of shattered dreams. It was captured and thrown into a cage, but escaped by weaving sorceries from its own soul. The shadow beheaded itself to take the slave collar off its neck, and lost its heart to win its freedom.
Leaving the coliseum behind, the shadow traveled far and got ensnared. It lived a hundred lives and died a hundred deaths within a dreadful nightmare, forgetting what it was and where it came from. The shadow did not break, and so, the nightmare broke instead.
Free once again, the shadow befriended a mad sorcerer, a feral child, a crippled archer, and a blind prophet. Together, they collected the deaths of the immortal lords and waged a war against the holy city.
The lords were killed, the city was destroyed.
The shadow broke the chains of Hope, and set Desire free.]
[You have slain an Awakened…]
The Spell went on to list everyone and everything he had killed inside the Nightmare. Sunny felt that something strange was happening to time inside the black void, because it did not take too long for the Spell to finish with that part of the appraisal.
And there was a lot for it to list… Sunny had been busy in these past five months, after all. He had lost count at some point, but the number of his victims had to be somewhere between one and two thousand. He had slain a thousand enemies at the Red Colosseum alone…
A few of them stood out from the litany of names.
The Red Priest, Nightmare, the three War Maidens, a few high-ranking officers of the flying fleet, Solvane herself... that was the tally of his deeds. The Spell was not shy about showering him with praise, too.
Of course, his most dangerous battle had been the battle of wits against Mordret.
After a while, the Spell was ready to pass a verdict.
[...You have set free a demoness chained by a god.]
[Your achievements are remarkable!]
[Final appraisal: excellent.]
With that, it grew silent.
Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, then frowned.
"Wait… what?"
Excellent? Just excellent?
"What the hell, Spell?!"
It did not even bother to add a remark after the appraisal. He had killed hundreds upon hundreds of Awakened humans and Nightmare Creatures, including plenty of Fallen abominations and Masters! He had even killed a Saint!
He had learned true sorcery, won a battle against a whole army, caused the deaths of several immortals, and set free a daemon against a god's will! He had his head cut off and his heart ripped out, and still lived to tell the tale! Was it not enough to earn a better mark?
Not that it mattered, anyway… unlike the First Nightmare, the Second did not come with an additional boon. Sunny already had a True Name and an Aspect Legacy. All he was going to receive was the Ascension, which was the only reward he truly cared about.
But still…
Why was his performance in the First Nightmare appraised as glorious, but his performance in the Second Nightmare as just excellent? Both achievements seemed equally improbable, but this one was without a doubt much more impressive.
Suddenly, an idea entered his mind.
Sunny's eyes widened.
"Can… can this be true?"
If it was…
His heart suddenly skipped a bit.
What was the difference between what he had done in his two Nightmares?
Yes, his deeds in the Kingdom of Hope were astonishing and bordering on impossible. But almost all of them repeated the events of the original past. They had followed the current of fate…
The Temple of the Chalice had been destroyed, Sun Prince had lost his arm and ended up with his chest torn open, hanging from the Shipwreck Island with his leg tangled in a broken chain. Lord Sevras died wrapping his dragon body around the Ivory Tower.
The only substantial change he had achieved was killing Solvane instead of letting her suffer for an eternity in the grasp of Wormvine.
In the First Nightmare, however… Sunny was not sure how the true temple slave fared, but he suspected that their paths diverged quite a lot.
In other words, he had carved his own path through the Black Mountain, overcoming the current of fate to a much larger degree.
But what did all of this mean?
Sunny forgot to breathe.
…Was that what the Spell truly valued?
What that what its true purpose was?
Had Weaver created it…
To change fate?
Chapter 744: Ascension
Sunny reeled from all the information he was receiving.
He had already been exhausted after the battle against the flying armada, the race across the burning city, the confrontation with Mordret… and the rest.
Witnessing Hope in her true form and hearing her inhuman, beautiful voice had almost overloaded his mind. Looking at the Spell through the prism of his new knowledge of sorcery had been another shock.
And this latest revelation…
Sunny groaned.
'What does it all mean?'
Of course, he could not be certain of the validity of his guess. But his intuition told him that he was at least partially right… the appraisal of the challenger's performance did not depend on the greatness of the feats they had achieved, but instead on how far they had strayed from the predestined outcome. How well they had resisted the current of fate.
The Spell wanted humans to strain against the chains of fate… maybe even break them.
But why? Why would the Demon of Fate want fate to be subjugated? By mere mortals, no less.
And what was the point of manipulating fate inside illusory Nightmares? No matter how much was changed, it was never going to affect the Dream Relm and the Waking World. It was never going to reach reality. Whatever changes had been made, they were going to disappear forever as soon as the Nightmare ended.
As far as Sunny knew, no echo of the events that transpired in the First, Second, and Third Nightmares had ever affected change in the real world. The only thing that returned from the Nightmares…
Were the Awakened.
He frowned, feeling a vague hint of suspicion appearing in his mind. However, before he could grasp it, the Spell spoke again. Its voice resounded in the darkness, enveloping him from all directions:
[The Third Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
Sunny was about to Ascend.
Just as before, he felt as though something was waking up inside him. His four Shadow Cores ignited with intense heat, the power within them surging. The heat spread through his soul and his body, rejuvenating and changing them.
The feeling was familiar and euphoric. He felt his body being reforged into a stronger, better, more perfect version of itself. His soul was going through the same sublime transformation.
This process was already familiar to Sunny, since more or less the same thing had happened to him twice before. However, this time… something was different…
Instead of stopping after reaching the threshold of qualitative change and immense fortification, the transformation continued. His body and soul, both turned incandescent and malleable by the furious heat flowing through them, started to melt into each other.
They were slowly merging.
But they were not simply joining into a single whole… instead, the two parts of his being resonated with each other, reinforcing one another. The power of that resonance grew stronger and stronger, and then exploded once it reached his four cores.
Under the influence of the resonance, the threshold was demolished, pushing him even further on the path of evolution. And as his body and soul became one…
A profound change took place.
Suddenly, Sunny felt the shadow essence coursing through every fiber of his being with stark clarity. The difference was so staggering that he almost yelped. The measure of control he could exert on his essence became incredibly precise and fine.
Additionally, since his body and soul were now deeply interconnected, the effect of one on another also went through a fundamental change. He could do much more, and with much less.
This was the true boon of the Ascension.
And there was something else… a deep and vast shift in his very being that he could feel, but not understand or express with words yet. All Sunny knew was that it had to do with his relation to the waking world, the Dream Realm, and his connection to both.
Slowly, the heat suffusing his newly reforged self subsided and turned into a pleasant coldness. The coldness then disappeared, absorbed into his spirit, his flesh, and his bones.
Sunny looked at the black void with new eyes.
He felt…
Powerful.
He felt as though there was furious might boiling under his skin. He also felt calm and confident. Balanced.
As he listened to his body, the Spell spoke from the darkness:
[Awakening Aspect Ability.]
[Aspect Ability acquired.]
Sunny held his breath.
[...Aspect Ability Name: Shadow Manifestation.]
He clenched his fists.
'Is this… is this what I think it is?!'
However… to his surprise, the Spell was not done speaking.
Stunning Sunny, its voice resounded once again:
[Your Attribute has evolved.]
[Your Aspect Ability has evolved.]
The Spell paused for a moment, and then added solemnly:
[Your Ascension is complete.]
Sunny opened his eyes wide.
'What?! What has evolved?!'
He hurriedly summoned the runes and read them:
Name: Sunless.
True Name: Lost from Light.
Rank: Ascended.
Class: Devil.
Shadow Cores: [4/7].
Shadow Fragments: [744/4000].
Sunny stared at the number of his fragments for a moment, then shook his head and skipped ahead to his Attributes.
Attributes: [Fated], [Flame of Divinity]...
He had expected the [Flame of Divinity] to transform once again, but it was the same. Neither did [Blood Weave] and [Bone Weave] change.
Instead… [Child of Shadows] was gone.
A new Attribute had replaced it.
Sunny stared at the runes.
They read:
[Master of Shadows].
'...What?'
He sucked in a deep breath, waited for a moment, and then concentrated on the shimmering symbols.
[Master of Shadows] Attribute Description: "Shadows recognize you as one of their champions."
The first part was the same, but the second was new.
'Wait… does this mean that I command wild shadows now?'
He quickly concentrated on his Abilities, looking for the one that had evolved.
It was [Shadow Control].
Now, its description read:
[Shadow Control] Ability Description: "[Your shadows are more independent than most, and are invaluable helpers. All shadows respect your authority.]
'It does!'
The possibilities! If he could command natural shadows to move and change shapes according to his will, so many things would become easier. So many things would become possible!
And that new and unexpected gift was going to, without a doubt, synergized not only with his familiar Aspect Abilities, but with his new one, as well.
Finally, Sunny moved his gaze and concentrated on his Ascended Ability.
The runes shimmered in the darkness.
Aspect Ability: [Shadow Manifestation].
Ability Description: [You can manifest shadows as tangible objects].
Sunny read the description several times over, then froze for a few moments.
The visage of the Mountain King being torn apart by tentacles made of pure shadows appeared in his mind.
…After some time, Sunny threw his head back and let out a loud, triumphant laugh.
As his laughter echoed in the darkness, the Spell whispered into his ear.
[...Wake up, Sunless.]
[Your nightmare is over!]
Chapter 745: Freedom of Choice
In a dark underground chamber, a metal sarcophagus stood shrouded in silence. Nothing had disturbed the silence and no light had penetrated the darkness in a long, long time.
Until now.
Suddenly, the sarcophagus came to life, and a scattering of lights ignited on its surface. A crack appeared on the smooth alloy surface, revealing where the edges of a heavy lid were. The lid smoothly slid away, and a flood of radiant light chased away the darkness of the underground chamber.
Cold vapor shined as it rose from inside the sarcophagus. Then, a pale hand rose from within it and forcefully grabbed the metal lip, easily bending its armored alloy.
Sunny struggled to climb out of the sleeping pod for a few moments, then lowered his feet to the cool plates of the dojo's floor. A moment later, he swayed and fell down with a yelp.
"Damnation!"
Sunny remained sprawled on the floor for a few seconds, trying to understand what had happened and why he suddenly lost balance. Then, his eyes gleamed.
"Wait… I can speak again? I can speak again!"
A happy smile slowly appeared on his lips.
Of course… he was back to being a human! He had returned to his own body. Trying to move like a towering demon was not going to do his sense of balance any good…
With a mad grin, Sunny nimbly jumped to his feet and looked down, enjoying the sight of his slender, pale body. Then, he suddenly spun and performed several lightning-fast strikes and kicks.
"Ah, it is good to be home!"
He felt so light, so swift, so agile… but most of all, so himself. It was as though a giant weight fell from his shoulders, quite literally — the shadowspawn must have weighed three times what Sunny weighed. Being a tall, powerful devil had its own advantages, but he much preferred his true compact self.
Not only was Sunny much lighter, but he also presented a much smaller target for the enemies to stick their blades in. And although having only two hands seemed rather inconvenient and silly, shedding the cumbersome shell of the inhuman creature feel nothing short of exhilarating.
Besides, now that Sunny was a Master, his slender body packed more punch than the shadowspawn could ever hope to muster. Not to mention how in tune it was with shadow essence now, and how explosive the result could be.
At the moment, Sunny was incredibly happy with his natural stature and height. Only after being forcefully turned into a lumbering monstrosity did he learn to appreciate all the benefits of being light, nimble, and swift.
Inhaling the flawlessly filtered air of the underground dojo, he let out a satisfied sigh and glanced at the crumpled metal of the lip of the sleeping pod. He had inadvertently damaged the armored alloy by simply grabbing it too hard. Getting used to his new strength was going to take some time…
For a moment, Sunny felt very disheartened about the damage he had done to the expensive machine. Replacing the bent panel was not going to be cheap. It was well within his means, of course… but still…
However, then, he tilted his head slightly.
"Wait… why do I even care?"
Why would he worry about the luxurious sleeping pod?
He didn't need it anymore!
He was a Master now… a true Ascended. If Sunny wished to enter the Dream Realm, he would travel there physically. His body would not be left empty and defenseless in the waking world. More than that…
He could leave the Dream Realm behind, forever. If he wanted to, he could never go back to that hell. He could just remain in the comfort and safety of the real world, enjoying all that it offered thanks to his wealth, citizenship, and social status.
For the first time after becoming infected by the Nightmare Spell, Sunny was free to refuse it. He had won his right to have a choice. He… he was not a slave to the whims of the world anymore.
For now…
He could concentrate on his business and open a true Memory shop, just like he had wanted. With his accumulated arsenal and knowledge of sorcery, creating a thriving enterprise would not be a problem. Sunny would be able to grow filthy rich and enjoy a lavish or even decadent lifestyle without having to risk his life or think about how to sustain it even again.
He could even sleep in an actual bed, and see actual dreams.
Would it not be a beautifully happy ending for a homeless street rat from the outskirts?
Sunny froze, staring into the distance. Slowly, a pale smile appeared on his face.
"Yeah… as if that would ever happen…"
Somehow, he doubted that extricating himself from the Spell would be that easy. Even if he learned how to manage the unpredictable nature of his [Fated] Attribute, there were other factors to consider.
As a Master with a Special Strategic Asset designation, he was bound to attract the utmost attention of the forces that governed humanity. Neither the government nor the Great Clans would leave him be… especially the latter. Sunny suspected that he was going to receive a friendly visit from a representative of one of the ruling clans in the near future.
Thanks to subtle assistance from Master Jet, they had largely let him be when Sunny had been simply a promising Awakened. Now that he proved his mettle and elevated himself to the venerated status of an Ascended, the clans would not remain idle.
At the very least, they had to pass on a message that trying to become a Saint without pledging allegiance to one of them would not be tolerated.
And then there was the whole mess with the Night Temple…
Saint Tyris had said that she would smooth things out with clan Valor, but Sunny did not know how successful her attempts to shield him from the consequences of Mordret's escape had ended up being. Even though there were no witnesses left to tell the tale of what had transpired in the destroyed Citadel, he was hesitant to assume that a Great Clan had no means of finding out the truth.
And finally…
There was Nephis.
Even though Sunny was inclined to believe that Changing Star would not abuse her power over him, he could not be absolutely sure.
Worse still, whatever certainty he had was based on Nephis he knew.
Who could tell what years of solitude in the harrowing hell of the Dream Realm had done to her mind?
Sunny looked down, and then sighed.
"No… I'll still be rich and lazy one day, no matter what… you will all see!"
His train of thought was interrupted, however, because in the next moment, the whole home suddenly shook, and a strangely exhilarated howl resounded from somewhere above.
Sunny flinched, then looked up with wide eyes.
"What... the hell was that?!"
Chapter 746: First Steps
Summoning the Undying Chain and the Cruel Sight, Sunny bypassed using either the elevator or the stairs, and stepped through the shadows to leave the underground dojo behind.
No matter what kind of an abomination had found its way into his home, the creature was going to regret it dearly!
For a moment, however, Sunny felt a hint of hesitation.
…He did not know what had transpired in the waking world during his absence, after all. He had left for the Night Temple seven months ago, and had not been back since.
For all Sunny knew, humanity might have fallen in that time! The whole city could have been destroyed, with endless hordes of Nightmare Creatures stalking the desolate ruins. Any kind of horror could have been hiding in his living room…
'Well, so what? It is still my living room…'
No matter what state the waking world was in, anyone and anything thinking that they could simply make themselves at home in a home that belonged to Sunny would have to reconsider their life choices.
Ready for battle, he appeared from the shadows… and froze.
The exhilarated howl grew much louder above ground, but it was not produced by a Nightmare Creature.
Instead, it was produced by Effie.
With beads of condensation still glistening on her olive skin, the huntress was standing in the center of the room and howling like a maniac. Behind her, the door of the guest bedroom was taken off the hinges… complete with a large piece of the wall and a chunk of the ceiling.
'That wall was reinforced with armored alloy, dammit!'
Sunny stared at his friend in shock, then slowly blinked.
'Wait… Effie… is standing?!'
Indeed, the young woman was standing tall, her long legs appearing healthy and strong. There was no wheelchair in sight.
In fact, her whole appearance had changed. The weak, unhealthy girl with pale skin stretching over brittle bones and a twisted spine was gone. Instead, Effie looked almost like she did in the Dream Realm — tall, attractive, with sparkling hazel eyes and perfectly defined, lean muscles rolling under the dewy olive skin. She was radiating an infectious feeling of vitality and vigor.
Everything about her was screaming of strength, potency, and power. The only thing that changed was the length and cut of her hair, as well as the degree of her tan.
Before Sunny could realize it, a joyous smile crept up on his face.
…Of course. The Ascension was a miraculous process. It merged the physical and the spirit bodies together, taking the best parts and perfecting both. Even the Lost could return from the Dream Realm and live in the real world once more after conquering the Second Nightmare. Effie's disability was no exception to this magical rule.
That was the reason why she had always strived to become a Master, to begin with.
…A moment later, Effie ended her triumphant howl on a high note and turned around, finally noticing him. Her eyes shined. She took a step forward and grinned brightly:
"Doofus! I'm walking!"
Sunny wanted to say something, but then forced himself to look away. He cleared his throat.
"Congratulations! I am very happy for you… I am. But, please… can you put something on?"
Effie blinked a couple of times, then looked down. In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten to dress after climbing out of the sleeping pod.
Her grin turned a little sheepish.
"Ah… well… pretend you didn't see anything!"
Hearing the young woman hurriedly stomp away, Sunny let out a heavy sigh.
"I will… try…"
Effie's voice resounded from the guest bedroom:
"Sunny!"
He turned his head slightly.
"What?"
For a moment, there was silence.
"...Sorry about the doors! And the walls!"
Sunny grimaced.
"It's not a big… wait, walls? As in multiple walls?! What… what the hell did you do?!"
***
While Effie was clothing herself, Sunny looked around his house. It didn't change much.
In the seven months that passed since his departure, the cleaning systems had done a good job of keeping everything presentable. If not for the broken door of the guest bedroom and the debris of the collapsed wall laying on the floor, he could have thought that he had left only yesterday.
It was a strange feeling… so much had happened, so much had changed. He had changed most of all. He was a Master now, and that was perhaps not the greatest transformation Sunny had gone through after living through the Night Temple and the Nightmare.
And yet, here in the waking world, everything was the same. Everything was unchanged.
He did not know how to feel about it.
The permanence and safety of his home were very… comforting. But they also filled him with a deep sense of resentment, for some reason. The contradiction persisted, making him feel confused.
Shaking his head, Sunny retrieved his communicator from where he had left it and turned it online.
There was a backlog of unanswered messages he was going to have to go through, but right now, that did not matter. Only the last message caught his attention.
It was from Cassie, containing only a couple of worlds:
"I'm fine."
He quickly sent a response, and then dialed Kai.
His friend answered the call immediately, as if he was waiting for it. The charming young man was already dressed, although his gorgeous hair was wet and messy. In the background, multiple people in stylish business suits were feverishly running around with slightly shell-shocked looks on their faces. They were probably the representatives of his agency and PR team.
Kai smiled.
"Sunny! What… what happened? How did the Nightmare end? Is everyone alright?"
Sunny lingered for a moment.
"I am alright. Effie and Cassie are alive and well, too. After you dealt with Sevirax, everything… everything went smoothly."
The young man sighed with relief.
"Thank the gods. But what about…"
He grew silent, not wishing to say Mordret's name aloud. Then, Kai shook his head:
"Actually, don't answer. I'll be there in ten minutes!"
The image on the screen of the communicator shifted, and then cut off. The last thing Sunny heard was someone's voice yelping:
"Mr. Night? What are you… what do you mean, step away from the window?!"
Sunny lowered the communicator and smiled.
A piece of the broken wall caught his eye, laying on the kitchen table. Everything else was perfectly clean and spotless.
…As Sunny stared at the piece of debris with displeasure, a dark tentacle rose from below, and easily swatted it to the floor.
Chapter 747: Invisible Scars
Usually, it would have taken Kai a lot longer to fly across the city to reach the tranquil terrace district… not that he would have. But today, the famous idol neglected his habit of staying low and out of sight. It seemed that his speed increased tremendously, as well, because ten minutes later, he was already at Sunny's door.
Maybe because of that, there was no crowd of paparazzi following him.
As they waited for Cassie, Effie rummaged through the empty refrigerator, then walked away from it with a disappointed sigh.
"There's no food!"
Sunny, who was evaluating the damage the boisterous huntress had done to the guest bedroom, glanced at her darkly.
"We've been gone for months. What did you expect?"
Effie made a sad face, then shrugged.
"But I'm hungry!"
Sunny let out an exasperated breath.
"...I have some synthpaste, if you want."
She shuddered and opened her mouth to retort, but at that moment, there was a knock on the door. If not for the haughty shadow standing guard outside — reluctantly, of course, since mundane tasks such as this were grossly beneath it — Sunny would have tensed up.
However, he already knew that it was Cassie.
The blind girl walked inside, froze for a moment, then raised a deliciously smelling package.
"...I brought food."
Effie threw a quick glance at Kai and grinned:
"See! Someone has some sense…"
She did not stare at the archer for long, though.
Kai had always been ridiculously charming, but after becoming a Master, his looks assumed an almost hypnotizing quality. It was easy to get distracted if one stared at him for too long.
In fact, every one of them became much better looking, albeit to a different degree. After studying Kai and Cassie for a bit, Sunny couldn't help but shake his head ruefully, a stunned expression on his face. He finally understood why Master Jet had called herself average when they first met, at least as far as Ascended went.
Still… it felt wrong to put the word average in one sentence with someone like her. Jet possessed an intangible quality that no one he had ever met was able to match. The four of them were Masters too, now, but they were far away from matching her arresting presence.
And Sunny himself?
He wasn't sure that he qualified to be considered a flower boy, as Soul Reaper had once predicted, but even he couldn't call himself unassuming anymore. The scrawny kid from the outskirts was gone. Instead, a young man with porcelain skin and striking black eyes took his place.
Deep in their darkness, visible only to Sunny himself, golden threads of Weaver's forbidden legacy glowed with the flame of divinity.
…The four of them settled around the table and shared a silent meal.
Despite the fact that they should have been exhilarated by their triumph over the Nightmare, none of the four seemed too joyous… well, except for Effie, who couldn't stop grinning and stealing glances at her pristine, vigorous body. The huntress was overflowing with giddiness.
The other free, however, just felt… hurt, tired, and empty.
And why wouldn't they be? Inside the Nightmare, there was no time for weakness. They had to carry on no matter how deep the wounds dealt to their souls cut. Now that the danger had passed and the members of the cohort were back in the real world, all those invisible scars were starting to make their presence known.
The slaughterhouse of the Red Colosseum, the nightmares, the assault on the Ivory City… all of it was slowly coming back to haunt Sunny.
The others had their share of demons to quell, no doubt.
After a while, Kai poured himself a cup of tea, looked at Sunny, and asked with uncertainty:
"So… what happened? I don't remember much after being swallowed by Sevirax."
Effie dropped her fork and stared at the archer with a stunned expression.
"Swallowed… what? You were swallowed by the dragon?"
Kai smiled with embarrassment:
"Oh… not really. I just, sort of… jumped into his mouth. Because I didn't know how else to kill him."
The Effie blinked a few times, but didn't say anything. She even forgot about her food for a moment.
Sunny looked down, then sighed.
"Nothing really happened. I managed to stall the… the fifth challenger for a while. He fell for my deception because he had assumed that I would not trust anyone with the knives, I think. After you killed the dragon, there was no real reason for him to stay. He left to salvage at least some rewards before the Nightmare ended, and I crossed to the Ivory Island."
He grew quiet for a few moments, and then added:
"When Sevras died, one of the two remaining chains that held it in place broke. Then… then the other one did, too. The Tower rose into the sky, and as it did, the force holding the islands afloat shifted, creating the Crushing. That is how Chained Isles came to be. Hope escaped, and the Nightmare ended."
A somber silence settled over the table. After a while, Cassie asked:
"So… so Lord Noctis fell, too?"
Sunny slowly nodded.
"Yes. He asked me to give him the Obsidian Knife, and broke the last chain himself."
Effie sighed, then glanced at the cup of tea in front of her.
"Damn it. I wish we had something stronger to drink, in his honor. Some wine, maybe. Noctis, he was a devious, wicked, two-faced lunatic. But he was also… great. In more than one sense. You know?"
She smiled wistfully, and then shook her head:
"Isn't it strange? Mourning a figment of the Spell. They weren't real, after all."
Sunny looked down, knowing that Effie was not only talking about Noctis.
Then, the corners of his mouth curled upward.
He raised his cup of tea and smiled.
"...Actually, I think that enjoying some tea is what he would have wanted us to do. That was his plan, you know? Win a war against the immortal Saints, defy the gods, release the Demon of Desire from her prison… and then have a cup of tea."
Sunny took a sip, and then let out a satisfied sigh.
"So, let's relax and do exactly that. We deserved this much, at least... don't you think?"
Chapter 748: Young Masters
Some time later, Sunny left the house and sat on the porch by himself.
His thoughts were in disarray.
So much had changed, so much had happened. So much was going to happen in the next few days, as well. His life was inevitably going to transform… hopefully, for the best.
However, there were many obstacles he was going to have to overcome and many decisions he was going to have to make in order to avoid being destroyed by the changes instead. Although Sunny had grown considerably stronger, and obliterating him was not as easy anymore, there were still threats out there that he did not dare to face.
He sighed, and looked down.
'I am a Master.'
The knowledge rested in his mind, but he was yet to truly comprehend it. Ascended had seemed so distant and glorious to him, once. Not quite demigods, but also not mere mortals anymore. But now, he was one of these venerated beings himself. He could feel inhuman power coursing through his veins.
That was something he couldn't process that fast.
And yet, time waited for no one. Sunny knew that there would be no opportunity to properly get used to his swiftly shifting circumstances. He had a lot to do, and he had to do it now.
'Just take it one step at a time.'
What did he have to do immediately?
Call Aiko, for one. He had to let his business partner know that he was back and get an update on how Rain was doing.
Then, discover a way to contact the White Feather clan and find out about the fallout of the destruction of the Night Temple… although Cassie could handle that.
Finally, get in touch with Master Jet. For better or worse, she was his handler and his point of contact with the government. If things turned from bad to worse with the great clans, the authorities were the only force influential enough to shield him… for a price, no doubt.
Sunny grimaced.
'Not yet… I need to collect my thoughts first.'
He leaned back and studied the familiar, peaceful landscape of the terrace district.
Despite the fact that the Great Clans possessed incredible powers, it was not too easy to deal with Sunny and the other members of the cohort anymore. All four of them were Masters now, and exceptional ones at that… not only had they conquered the Second Nightmare, but they had also done it at an abnormally young age and after entering the Seed one measly year after Awakening.
The survivors of the Forgotten Shore were already famous, and this latest accomplishment was bound to stir up a real storm, both in the media and behind closed doors. Sunny would not be able to remain fully under the radar anymore.
Not to mention that each of them received extremely powerful Abilities.
Effie's was, perhaps, the most remarkable in how useful it was. Sunny had expected the huntress to receive another combat Ability, but instead, her new power appeared to bolster her allies as long as they could see her. It was as though they were receiving a part of her phenomenal, comprehensive physical augmentation.
Sunny had experienced that enhancement himself when Effie enthusiastically activated her new Ability, and had to admit that it was… powerful. Not comparable to what the young woman herself could accomplish, but still significant.
What was even more amazing, it could be effortlessly shared with any number of people as long as they maintained the line of sight with the huntress, without an additional cost in essence. That basically meant that any cohort, any force, and even any army could benefit tremendously from having Effie fight in their ranks.
Of course, Masters usually acted alone. There were simply not enough Masters and too much for them to do to form full cohorts of Ascended. However, that did not mean that one could not build supporting teams of Awakened or even mundane soldiers around them. Sunny had seen exactly that when Master Jet arrived to contain the Gate ahead of the government forces.
So… Effie was about to get very, very popular among the great powers of humanity.
Kai was in a similar situation, although for different reasons.
His Ascended Ability was… strange, and a little bit frightening. None of them, not even Kai himself, had the chance to explore the full range of its capabilities. However, the potential of what it could achieve was vast.
Basically, Kai's voice acquired a supernatural quality that compelled people who heard it to follow his commands. The result and the consequence depended on how much essence he poured into the compulsion and the target's resistance, as well as some other factors that no one understood.
Direct commands were hard to force on people with strong willpower or high resistance to mind attacks. For example, if Kai commanded another Ascended to drop their weapon, they would be able to refuse the compulsion.
…However, their grip might grow weaker, and their attacks might grow slower.
The same principle worked the other way around, too. The compulsion did not have to be aimed at an enemy. Kai could call upon his allies to fight with more fervor or to hold their ground no matter what. He could invoke any feeling he wanted in large groups of people, or lure them to their deaths like a siren.
That Ability made him incredibly valuable for those who held power, as well. The government propaganda machine especially was going to lose its collective mind over Nightingale and his enchanting voice.
And there was more… Kai's Aspect had evolved after he had faced and slain the Ivory Dragon. Instances like that were known to happen, but were also incredibly rare. His Awakened Aspect was now Ascended, which made his previous Abilities more potent, and maybe even introduced new facets to them.
The archer had no time to explore these changes yet, so his friends had no idea what the evolution entailed. They only knew that their friend had grown stronger, although perhaps in a way that few would notice.
And then there was Cassie.
Her new Ability was perhaps the most obscure and esoteric. The blind girl herself described it as being able to perceive the world from a different perspective.
In other words, she could now use someone else — or something else — to substitute her senses. She could smell through someone's nose, feel through someone's touch… and see through someone's eyes.
While Cassie herself was still blind, she was able to look upon the world again, and see what the recipient of the connection saw. The connection could be established with several mediums at the same time, as long as she had the mental capacity to withstand the flood of input.
What was more disturbing was the fact that the medium did not necessarily have to acquiesce to the connection, or even be aware of it — although it took much less essence to sustain a connection with a willing recipient.
Despite not being too flashy at first glance, that was an insidiously formidable Ability. After all, knowledge was the origin of power, and Cassie could potentially become a vortex of it. There were a lot of uses for such an Ability, from becoming the connective tissue between the commanders and the soldiers during a large-scale battle to establishing an invisible and undetectable spy network.
Additionally, Cassie's first Ability expanded once again, now allowing her to perceive not only Attributes and Aspect names, but also Aspect Abilities of other Awakened.
In short, she would be a boon to any clan, great clan, or branch of the government. However, Sunny knew that the blind girl was deadset on remaining independent and continuing to lead the Fire Keepers.
Perhaps she would even get a chance…
In light of all these revelations, his own Ascended Ability, Shadow Manifestation, seemed to have paled in comparison.
…But that was just if one did not look closer.
Sunny suspected that his new Ability was much more versatile, insidious, and powerful than that of the other three.
And speaking of that…
Wasn't it time to get to know it better?
Chapter 749: Shadow Manifestation
For a while, Sunny silently experimented with his new power.
Shadow Manifestation was an… interesting Ability, especially when combined with the evolved Shadow Control. It was deceptively straightforward, but held so much depth that Sunny wasn't sure that he would be able to figure out all of its potential uses in a short span of time.
The fundamental function of Shadow Manifestation was rather simple — it allowed him to turn shadows tangible.
But the devil hid in the details.
Now that Sunny enjoyed authority over all shadows, and not only his own, he could manipulate their shape and even make them move according to his will. However, that facet of his Aspect had its caveats.
Not all shadows were the same. Some were young, and some were ancient. Some were deep, and some were shallow. Most importantly, some belonged to inanimate objects, and some belonged to living beings.
Although Sunny enjoyed their respect and reverence, that did not mean that all shadows were going to submit to him implicitly. They simply chose to follow his commands due to his status as the Master of Shadows, as opposed to being forced to do it.
That was not new to Sunny. He had already noticed this pattern of behavior when inviting wild shadows to enter the Shadow Lantern. Most did it of their own free will, but some obstinate ones refused his invitation.
Now that the [Child of Shadows] Attribute had evolved, only the most ancient and deep of the wild shadows seemed reluctant to answer his call. However, not all shadows were "wild" — that was a term he decided to use when speaking about those of them that were cast by inanimate objects.
If a shadow was cast by a living being and connected to a living soul, no amount of authority Sunny had could compel it to abandon or betray their source.
So, Shadow Control only allowed him to manipulate wild shadows. The deeper and older a shadow was, the more concentration it took to command it. He also experienced more strain when commanding distant shadows — now that Sunny became an Ascended Devil, the reach of his control extended to almost ten kilometers. His shadow sense, however, did not usually extend quite that far.
His human mind would have been overloaded if it did. So while Sunny could potentially control shadows that were very far away, he simply had no way of sensing them.
…Unless they were his own shadows, of course, or those he perceived through them.
And then came the actual Shadow Manifestation.
Unlike Shadow Control, manifestation required him to expend essence. The shadows would remain tangible as long as he continued to sustain them with essence, and return to their natural state if he stopped.
This was both a blessing and a curse. For obvious reasons, Sunny would have preferred to keep his essence… however, there was an unexpected and incredible boon to this Ability.
Due to the fact that the manifested shadows were suffused with his essence, they assumed its property. In other words… all of them were akin to Memories of the Ascended Rank in terms of durability and resilience.
In other words, if Sunny shaped a shadow into a blade and manifested it, the blade would be comparable to an Ascemded Memory in terms of both sturdiness and the damage it could do.
But he was not only limited to creating weapons! Shadow Manifestation offered him an incredible measure of utility. Since shadows were formless by nature, he could shape them into anything he wanted. He could create barriers, bridges, ropes, suits of armor… the only limitations were his imagination and his reservoir of essence.
Hell, he could even create a saddle for Nightmare, or an entire house!
Of course, nothing came without a cost. The more complex and condensed a shape was, the more essence it took to sustain it. Creating a simple shadow tentacle was not too hard, but imbuing it with enough solidity to cut through an enemy like a sword was much more taxing.
Manifesting deep and ancient shadows also took a toll, although they were more powerful.
And lastly… all the things he made tangible were able to move on their own, as long as their shape allowed it. A sword was not going to fly on its own, but a manifested shadow could move around and grab his enemies. That was not a very efficient form of attack in most cases, however.
Each shadow possessed its own level of strength, which was usually not too high. Sunny was far away from being able to rip an Awakened Tyrant to shreds… for now.
And unless he really wanted to.
By experimenting a little, he found out that he could enhance the might of the manifested shadows by pouring more essence into them. The more force he wanted to exert above their natural threshold, the more essence he had to burn. That would not have been too powerful in the hands of an average Master…
But Sunny was a Devil. He had vastly more essence than almost any other Master had at their disposal. If he really wanted to, he could exert truly monstrous strength through his manifested shadows. Even though that would be grossly inefficient in terms of essence expenditure, he felt very happy to have such an option.
Who wouldn't want to rip enemies apart without having to lift a finger? Even if there were many easier and smarter ways to kill something… very few were as cool!
And as devious.
…Apart from the wild shadows, Sunny could also manifest his own. In fact, doing so was much easier, allowed him much better control, and demanded much less essence to be used. For a few moments, he imagined summoning Gloomy, Happy, Creepy, and Haughty, arming them with shadow blades, and making them fight in his stead.
'What a sight that would be!'
However, after thinking for a bit, he decided that this was not a very good idea. There was a very simple reason for that — while tangible shadows could affect the real world, they could be affected in turn. Manifested shadows could damage his enemies, but could also be damaged instead.
Since his shadows were deeply connected to his soul, making them vulnerable to physical attacks was a very stupid thing to do. Sunny did not even want to think about what would happen if one of them was destroyed.
At most, they would be able to perform simple tasks that did not pose any risk.
…Overall, Sunny was very happy with his new Aspect Ability.
It was powerful and versatile, providing him with potent means of both attack and defense, as well as incredible utility.
What made him especially happy, though…
Was how perfectly it synergized with the Shadow Lantern.
Shadow Manifestation had only one apparent weakness — the fact that he would not always be surrounded by shadows. Without anything to manifest, its worth was almost nonexistent… unless he wanted to risk his own shadows, of course.
However, that weakness was made moot by the Shadow Lantern. With its help, Sunny could carry an infinite amount of shadows with him at all times. No matter where he went, he would never be without their assistance. He would never be a master without servants.
Wherever Sunny went...
A swarm of shadows would follow.