Nephis stared at him for a while, unblinking and apparently uncomfortable.
The silence had overtaken the space where the battle was raging just minutes ago.
It was kind of short and fairly easy, he mused.
Sometimes he couldn’t understand how the lower to middle rankings worked at all.
One day you simply destroyed some Corrupted abomination; the next you almost died from some Fallen Beast.
These ones were of the first kind — not very strong, lacking experience, and stupid.
The only ones who put up any kind of struggle were the Fallen Monsters — those with nasty spikes on their backs.
The last two Monsters gave them the most trouble, as they were a fair bit smarter and worked in pairs with some primitive tactics.
Toward the end of the battle he got a few more wounds — most of them from the spikes again.
And he was lucky, to be honest.
Well, he wouldn’t call it luck, since Nephis was the one who saved his skin while he was too engrossed in his mad dance — and she had gotten wounded in the process too.
So it wasn’t a freely won battle, but fairly easy anyway.
The Tyrant had thrown leftover trash at them.
It was probably done with the purpose of giving them a false sense of security — to give them hope that the next battle would be just as easy, and then to crush that hope completely.
But they already knew, so his plan didn’t work that well.
As he was musing on their state of affairs, Nephis suddenly approached him and put her hand on his chest as she activated her Aspect.
The pleasant warmth spread through him as he felt his wounds being mended slowly.
Even his mind was feeling better.
Yeah, he had made a mess of that too…
But he felt sick feeling physical pleasure while watching her face twist into a painful grimace.
He always felt awful seeing her torture herself for him.
Especially in this life.
She knew that too, but right now they couldn’t afford to be wounded or limited in their movements.
Changing Star withdrew her hand and then started healing herself, squeezing her eyes shut.
It was a strange display of vulnerability from her, but it looked like their earlier conversation had shifted something within her.
She exhaled in relief the moment she deactivated her Aspect.
Nephis looked tired and a fair bit uncertain, but she composed herself quickly and then shifted her gaze to him.
“You are the most infuriating person I know, not that I know many,” she stated simply.
Then she pressed her lips a bit tighter, not knowing how to proceed.
“Sunny…” she started slowly, a slight edge of concern in her tone.
“What did you do to yourself?” And there was the question.
He hesitated for a moment and then answered.
“I… may have dove a bit too deep into my… powers. And I may also have fried my brain a bit,” he said, scratching the back of his head.
And that answer was an understatement of the year, at least.
He had indeed dove too deep — into his subconsciousness, behind the doors of multilayered trauma.
Wounds that would never heal, and those that were too fresh still.
And there, at the core of it all, was the person he hated the most.
Him.
The version of himself responsible for all of that.
The one who had lost everything; the one who had destroyed everything he loved, again and again and again.
The one who had failed.
But he was strong.
Even though he had failed, that Sunny was very powerful.
Very skilled.
And very, very crazy.
Driven by rage, revenge, and tearful sorrow.
No matter how much he hated him, he needed him still.
So he reached what was left of that monster and dove into his shadow — that was one of his trump cards.
What he needed was his Third Step of Shadow Dance.
If things had gotten worse, he could dive and shadow his future self.
And it was an insane thing to do as a mere Sleeper — to dive and try to shadow a semi-Cursed creature.
A being that possessed a Will and a presence so vast you could wrap the whole world with it.
Yet he had done it, frying his brain cells and nervous system in the process.
And he would have to do it again…
“Sorry to worry you, but there is no other choice… I had promised, didn’t I? To fight with everything I have,” he said.
She blinked and shifted uncomfortably — a movement barely perceptible, but not to him.
“I… You did good, Sunny. We wouldn’t have managed… if not for whatever you did,” she stated, composing her expression back into a perfect steel mask.
“Don’t sell yourself short!” he exclaimed, clapping her on the shoulder awkwardly as they quickly made their way toward Cassie.
“I would be dead if not for you when that Monster volleyed his spikes at my back. And sorry… it must have hurt a lot.” An awkward smile tugged at her lips as she shook her head slightly, accepting his gratitude.
They ran for a few minutes toward where they had left Cassie, until Sunny suddenly stopped her.
His expression was dead serious.
“Neph, you wouldn’t like this, but… If everything had gone wrong — which we’ll try our best to prevent, of course. But if… if I didn’t make it…” Her pupils widened at those words, her jaw tightening.
“I want to ask you for a few things… When you return to the Waking World, there is a friend of mine — a Master, but she might already be a Saint by the time you return. Her name is Jet and she works for the government. Approach her — she would help you… with a lot of things,” he explained, watching carefully as her expression shifted from one state of confusion to another.
“And second… please take care of my sister.” Her expression softened considerably at those words.
“Her name is Rain. I had already asked Jet before I was sent here, but my soul would rest better knowing there would be not one but two competent people I trust looking out for her. Jet will fill you in on the rest. Can you promise me that?”
She looked at him carefully for what felt like an eternity to her, but in reality was just a few seconds, and then smiled somberly.
“You should care for her yourself, Sunny,” she said softly.
“But if… if that happens. It’s the least I could do.”
***
“…you’re the only anchor in my life.” The sweet voice whispered in his ear.
“…I love you more than anything.” The voice continued after some time, filling every cell of his being, wrapping around his heart.
He swallowed.
His insides were shaking.
He already knew what would come next.
“And that is why… I would do it again.”
He wanted to scream.
“…don’t you think you’re too old to behave like that?” a different, cheeky voice whispered next.
He heard his heart hammering like a ram against his ribcage.
That voice continued to speak but he couldn’t hear — couldn’t decipher what it was saying.
Most parts of the conversation missed his ears; he couldn’t concentrate on it long enough to follow.
But he still heard them.
Those whispers.
Even though he couldn’t register some of them, they continued to speak.
And the pain that came with them…
that he could register alright.
“Isn’t it time, you know… Have you ever thought about starting a family… of your own?”
He wanted to scream.
But he couldn’t.
He simply continued to walk.
Whispers receded into the background, but he still heard them.
The pain, however, only continued to escalate.
Then came the images, flashing through his broken mind again.
He watched the happiest moments of his life shift into disaster.
One after another.
Year after year.
He wanted to scream.
After that came the laughter and other voices, but they were different.
Small.
Happy.
Ones that he had never heard, and would never hear.
He wanted to scream.
Everything mixed into a cacophony of whispers, laughter, and broken flashes of his memories.
He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t scream.
He couldn’t even die, in the end.
‘Sunny.
Sunny.
Sunny.
Sunny.’ — the voices whispered one after another.
He pressed his hand to his chest, opened his mouth, but he couldn’t breathe.
He knew how, before, but he had forgotten.
What was he even doing here?
Why was he suffering so much?
Oh, right.
He deserved it.
That was the only thing he knew for sure.
‘Sunny.
Sunny.
Sunny.
Sunny.’ — the voices continued to recite his name, one after another — was it even his name, though?
— but louder.
His throat was dry.
He wanted to drink.
He wanted to breathe.
He wanted it to stop.
But he deserved it, didn’t he?
‘Sunny!
Sunny!
Sunny!
Sunny!’ — the voices screamed in his mind.
His head pounding, vision blurring and spinning around him.
He felt sick.
He could barely think anymore.
His mind was failing.
That was familiar somehow…
Suddenly he felt something cold press against the skin of his face.
Voices kept screaming; his head kept pulsing; his heart continued to be ripped apart.
But through all of those shouts he could hear something softer.
Something familiar.
Almost a whisper.
That was enough, though.
“Sunny, get over it!” — the other voice demanded, cutting through his broken mind.
He blinked — at least he thought he did.
Something was wrong with him, he knew.
He had known for a while, but now…
He looked — and he meant really looked — into the distance.
At the far end of the flashing images and cacophony of sounds he could barely make out a single, static shape.
He remembered that one.
‘Oh, yes…’ — that was the last thought before stillness and complete silence finally filled his being.
Had he just died?
Then suddenly an electrifying feeling ran through him, from the tips of his toes to his brain.
Then he felt warmth flowing through him.
It almost burned, but somehow he felt an overwhelming pleasure in that moment.
He closed his eyes, letting that feeling consume him.
There was so much heat; so much delight; so much love.
His whole body went completely still again.
Only cold darkness and the absence of anything surrounded him.
And then suddenly he could finally breathe.
He inhaled painfully and shot his eyes open.
Blinding light assaulted his vision for a moment, but he didn’t pay it any mind — his senses were finally coming back to him.
His brain had restarted.
And in front of him she stood.
Holding his head between her palms, with both hands on either side of his face — looking at him with her grey eyes, concern twisting her beautiful face into an unimaginable expression — was Nephis.
Yes, he remembered now.
They had left Cassie just a few minutes ago as they finally made their move to confront the Tyrant and his flock.
Or had it been longer?
He couldn’t know how much time he had spent in that state.
His eyes shifted to the sun and he sighed in relief.
It seemed that his brain failure — which had felt like a lifetime in hell — hadn’t lasted more than a couple of minutes in reality.
“Sunny, are you okay?” Nephis asked, her voice shaking a bit.
He took a moment to drink in the sight of her.
Gratitude mixed with regret as he could tell she was still feeling the aftereffects of her Aspect’s use.
He hated it every time she did it.
He hated that pleasure he felt, especially knowing how much torture she subjected herself to in order to heal him.
He didn’t deserve it.
He took one more deep breath and then answered.
“No… No, I’m not,” he chuckled mirthlessly.
“But considering everything… as well as I can be. Thank you.” He smiled toothily, a painful expression on his face.
It seemed that even without the Bond, she could still put his mind back together.
***
It took them a few hours to reach the vast open field that spread for hundreds of meters on all sides and led to the next high ground on their way.
It was one of the many parts of the Forgotten Shore caught in the crossfire of some grand battle that had taken place countless years ago — not unlike the one around the stone giant they had taken refuge on a few weeks back.
It was also the place the Tyrant had decided to finish his hunt.
Before they moved on, Sunny, as usual, sent Gloomy to scout.
And there they were, standing as if they owned the place — an inner circle and the sadistic King himself — spread in a semicircle just before the potential refuge.
All of them were Fallen, as expected: five Monsters, three Demons, and the Tyrant, in the flesh.
The Monsters he was already familiar with, but he could tell even from here — these ones were different.
They were bigger; much older and consequently more experienced; and much, much smarter.
He could tell not only by the way they conducted themselves, but also by the sole fact that they were here — serving as the Tyrant’s royal guard, not that he needed any — that they would be far more problematic to deal with.
The Demons were larger — eight feet tall or so, but also much more muscular than Monsters — and different in other ways too.
They had two horns protruding from their disfigured heads; their skin was much thicker, darker, and denser, covered with hard calluses.
They had two more fingers on their hands, and their knuckles — well, all of their joints — protruded with bone-white, hard spikes.
Their backs were covered with marble carapace that would take significant strength to break through.
And the way their presence spread, he could tell all of them were fairly intelligent — that even a single one of them, in their current state, would probably be an insurmountable adversary.
The Tyrant, however, was the most outstanding of all.
He was tall — a bit taller than the Demons but not nearly as muscular — with a strong, humanoid figure.
His main body bore no spikes.
Instead, it looked as though all his bones — obsidian-black and most likely harder than any human metal — protruded from the surface, covering him like some kind of skeletal armor.
His face looked almost human, impossibly thin — just skin and bones — very long and sharp, with two pairs of eyes and just two holes where his nose should have been.
It looked like the crown of some barbarian king.
Well, he might as well have been one.
The Tyrant was sitting at the center of the field, legs crossed, looking at his surroundings with boredom.
The presence he exuded could be felt even from Sunny’s position a few kilometers away — not even considering his shadow — and that gave him shivers.
‘That’s probably unheard of…
But it looks like it’s true.’ The sadistic King then lazily turned his head, looking directly at him — well, at his Gloomy shadow, really — with his four blood-red eyes half-closed.
And then he smiled.
Something flashed before Sunny’s eyes.
He took a step back immediately, commanding his shadow to return.
A headache assaulted him and he could feel blood starting to leak from his nose.
The surroundings started to spin a bit in his vision.
‘Damn, it’s true…
The bastard has a Nascent Domain.
As if everything else wasn’t already enough…’
The sudden mental attack confirmed it.
It was probably the first Fallen creature he had met — in either life — that had a Domain capable of exerting influence on the world around it.
Yes, it was very weak and very primitive, but the fact that he even possessed the thing in the first place was already a dead giveaway of his opponent level.
And it meant only one thing…
‘He is about to evolve into a Corrupted one…’ He was probably the last step away from reaching the next Rank.
And that was very bad.
Not only was it a very, very intelligent creature with a powerful army behind its back — it was also probably stronger than any Fallen Tyrant had any right to be.
Or so he believed.
That was almost two hours ago, before they had split from the blind girl again.
He had shared his discoveries, of course, but in vague terms — only explaining that the Tyrant had some influence over his surroundings — as neither Changing Star nor Cassie knew what a Domain was yet, with Nephis being only familiar with the word and having no idea what it actually meant.
There was no need to mention that both of them were deeply disturbed by this information.
Well, at least now they had some idea of the Tyrant’s ability.
His best guess — supported by both girls — was that it was connected to mental manipulation.
That was probably why his flock looked so diverse; he didn’t need to create his subordinates, he just needed to seize control of their minds.
And that was a problem for the three of them too — one they couldn’t completely solve for now.
He had done something about it, though.
He had given the [Voice of Reason] to Nephis for the duration of the battle.
She was a bit surprised that he possessed an Ascended Memory, and even more surprised by the fact that he had received it as a gift from Jet…
She gave him a somewhat suspicious look — not of a malicious kind though…
He shrugged — there was no time to think about such things.
It was a hard decision — he had other ways to protect himself against the Tyrant, after all — but it was the right one.
Or maybe it wasn’t…
Diving into his future self’s shadow in the prior battle had left his mind in quite a state of disarray — one that would persist for weeks at the very least, possibly longer, as he would be forced to do it again.
Being mentally assaulted by the Tyrant had significantly worsened his condition.
And almost immediately after he gave away the [Voice of Reason] — which he had summoned before the first battle in case he needed the [Shapeless Thief] — he had some kind of brain seizure.
It was only thanks to Nephis that he was standing right now.
She had been able to connect the dots when she saw his state — and after he gave no response for a few minutes of staring blankly into space with bloody eyes, she had started to heal his broken mind with her flames.
He could tell she was reluctant to let him into the battle afterwards, but there was no other way to go about it.
Only two of them were fighters, and for her to go alone would mean certain death.
Even together, it probably would too.
Still, their chances were much better that way.
And so — just the moment their feet crossed the boundary of the field — everything exploded into action.
The Demon standing to the far left was the first to attack.
It took hold of the bones protruding from its elbows and yanked them both out, hurling them immediately.
Sunny gritted his teeth in pain as one part of his mind resisted, but it was already too late — he was already shadowing his future self.
The other half of his mind spread itself across the battlefield, diving into the shadows of their opponents to get a read on them — all except the sadistic King himself.
His eyes widened.
“Neph, fire in the hole!” he screamed immediately, diving as far as he could.
The bone-spikes exploded into dozens of pieces of shrapnel.
He barely dodged the worst of it, receiving only a few deep cuts across his body, and the next moment he was already jumping back to evade a Monster’s sharp claws.
He feinted at the next strike and shifted his body out of the way, trying to make the creature lose its balance even for a moment.
But it was for naught — the abomination pulled its strength away, reading his plan.
He hissed, dodging the attack of one more Monster.
They were smart.
Much, much smarter than the previous ones.
They also knew how to work together, and that was an even bigger problem…
And so he was like a dancing monkey: spinning, dodging, rolling, and attempting his own attacks from time to time — mostly unsuccessful, managing only to slightly wound one Monster out of the three that were circling him and attacking endlessly.
And as expected, he was slowly accumulating wounds — small at first, but now he had taken a few deep ones.
Nephis wasn’t faring any better.
She was being attacked by two other Monsters simultaneously — it seemed the Tyrant had correctly identified him as the more dangerous of the pair — and was slowly being pushed into a corner, toward the coral walls.
They were also being bombarded by the Demons from afar.
The Demons couldn’t attack endlessly — they had to wait for their torn-off bone-spikes to grow back — but that was giving them almost as much trouble as the weaker abominations.
And since the Monsters didn’t need to cover longer range, they had no reason to expend their spikes.
In the previous battle he and Neph had created a strategy of baiting those two Monsters into volleying all their spikes, then picking them apart from both sides.
But now, that strategy not only didn’t work — they couldn’t even attack from the back at all, being completely surrounded.
Something had to change…
And then it finally did.
As the Monster was about to bite his head off, an armband wrapped around Sunny’s left hand unclasped from it and flew toward the creature’s face.
The next moment it shifted shape, turning into a huge double-sided axe that split the abomination in half and then continued its flight.
The [Thief’s Instinct] was already spreading its influence on him, but he ignored it for now.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster, the Hound of The Burned Wastelands.]
Sunny didn’t register the Spell’s whisper as he was already diving to the ground, dodging the slash of the closest creature, and leaping away from the encirclement.
At least for a few seconds.
But that would be enough.
As Sunny had figured out in his long experiments with the [Shapeless Thief], there was one more way to overcome its Curse, though not completely — it was to turn it into something that had a mind-protecting enchantment.
The strongest Memory he knew with such an enchantment he wasn’t planning to summon for now, so he had to use the next best one.
This armband — [Nameless Hero’s Devotion] — was a Supreme Memory of the Second Tier.
It didn’t belong to him in his previous life, but he had taken a long time to familiarize himself with its enchantments.
Besides the mind-protecting enchantment, it also had one more useful one: it spread the wielder’s enemies’ attention, preventing them from fully concentrating on a single target.
And it was the only reason they were still alive after those few minutes of intense battle.
This enchantment was an active one, so it was consuming essence — which was why he had to keep Serpent on himself again — but he wasn’t feeding it continuously.
That was also why the Fallens’ minds hadn’t been completely crushed: Sunny would need every bit of essence he could manage for the mad plan he was about to realize.
As the axe flew across the battlefield, the Tyrant’s gaze followed it with interest.
He was still sitting cross-legged at the center, motionless, unbothered by the death of one of his generals.
The axe circled the field, then shot upward — at least fifty meters into the air.
It stopped for a second, and then fell like a comet.
And halfway through its descent — not unlike the bone-spikes of the Demons — it exploded into thousands of splinters.
Though there was a difference: those splinters, guided by [Covetous Eye], found their mark in all of their enemies.
One Monster — the one that had tried to tear his head off a moment ago — was killed instantly.
Two of Nephis’s Monsters were wounded enough for her to finish one and then finally turn the tide of her fight with the other.
Sunny shot a quick glance around as he finished one of his own Monsters and sidestepped the lunge of the other — this one also worse for wear, one elbow broken from the impact, bleeding from a handful of holes and deep cuts.
One of the Demons was missing a hand and had suffered a few deep cuts and a chunk or two of missing flesh, being the closest to the epicenter and having used its body to shield its lord.
The other two had only a few shallow scratches and were more or less intact.
The Tyrant himself had finally stood up, a deep scratch across his monstrous face.
His eyes met Sunny’s, and then he sneered.
Just a moment before his slash would have connected with the Monster’s neck, three things happened.
First — the Tyrant’s presence made itself known across the entire vicinity, mentally assaulting both him and Nephis.
Second — his Monster finally decided to volley its spikes at him, as he was well within range having gotten behind the creature, forcing him to dodge and ultimately being hit in his left arm anyway.
And third — the Demons finally moved.
Even though — as with the Monster — he had read the move through its shadow, he had no time to react.
The next moment the Demon’s armored leg connected with his stomach and sent him flying like a ball across the field.
Sunny wanted to retch but suppressed the urge as he was already rolling away from the creature’s next strike.
It seemed that the Awakened Demons he and Nephis had slain before were being inspired by their Fallen older siblings’ approach to combat.
And while the Awakened ones had been pretty awkward and unskilled, these were a different matter entirely.
Even though they were mad, not nearly at the human level of intelligence, and almost entirely controlled by the Tyrant — they had the strength, speed, and reflexes of the Ascended.
As Sunny dodged one strike to one side, he was hit from the other and sent flying like a ragdoll again.
As he rolled to evade one leg, he was instantly hit by the other.
He had simply no time to react and no speed to fully dodge the creature’s strikes.
It was using everything it had — fists, legs, claws, even its head, trying to skewer him with its horns.
He was losing badly.
And he was slowly being turned into a sack of blood and smashed flesh.
To predict all of those attacks he would need to dive even deeper into his own and the beast’s shadow, but his current mental state and the constant assault from his cursed weapon made that akin to suicide.
As he was about to summon the black smoke of the [Shapeless Thief], the Demon’s fist connected with his gut, blowing all the air and a mouthful of bloody spit from his mouth.
And then the bastard caught him by the throat, squeezing its massive hand, almost crushing it, and lifted him into the air to its eye level.
He could swear he heard his spine crack.
But it didn’t kill him.
It turned its head to look at its lord.
The sadistic Tyrant cackled in delight, taking a step closer.
Sunny shifted his gaze to the side — Nephis had managed to kill the other wounded Monster but was completely overwhelmed the next moment and was about to have her head crushed under the weight of another Demon’s leg.
The third wounded one was still following close behind the Tyrant.
Sunny gritted his teeth.
They were about to die.
And even if they weren’t, they were still up against a wounded Fallen Monster and Demon, two completely intact ones, and — as the cherry on top — the Fallen Tyrant himself.
‘There is only one thing left to do.
Well, two, I guess…’ he chuckled internally.
There were two suicide decisions left, after all.
In the two months since he had gotten Serpent back, Sunny had been doing a great deal of experiments with his essence and his Dormant Core.
The reason was simple — he wanted to figure out a way for a Sleeper to awaken naturally.
The original process of awakening differed from the one provided by the Nightmare Spell in one key respect: there was no such thing as a Dormant Core.
If you managed to gain control of your Soul Essence and form a Core with it, that meant you had become an Awakened.
Sleepers were different, though.
They already had a Core, but lacked complete control over their essence, as the Core itself didn’t provide such a thing.
There were many other problems too, but he digressed.
Sunny had come up with a way to slowly reshape his Core into the image of an Awakened one, as he could still vividly remember how it had felt.
It would have been a long and arduous process — something he would have done with great care.
He hadn’t wanted to take that road until he had at least three Cores overall, as it would have dampened the speed with which he gained Fragments significantly.
Now, though, that option was out the window.
There was also one other way to naturally awaken, of course…
Sunny chuckled as he gritted his teeth, preparing for the pain that would follow his idiotic — or perhaps ingenious, given their situation — choice.
He dove into his Soul Sea and reached his lone Core.
He concentrated, wrapping his meager Will around it and directing all of his essence too, using Serpent as a conduit.
And then, he crushed it, completely destroying it.
The pain that followed was deeply familiar — he had lost all of his shadows before after all.
That didn’t make it any more bearable.
He wanted to scream, but he defied the pain and continued, already feeling Gloomy’s presence around his body beginning to fade.
He pushed the essence he had left, along with what was being continuously provided by the [Pilfered Vitality] enchantment of the [Shapeless Thief] — stealing the essence and vitality from his wounded enemies, which at this point was all of them.
And then he started to shape it.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Remembering every detail of how his old Awakened Core had looked and felt.
It wasn’t easy — the essence refused to solidify at first — but he was nothing if not persistent.
And just a moment before he lost his shadow completely, he felt everything click into place.
He could swear Gloomy took a breath at that moment.
He felt his Will solidify and grow stronger.
His essence becoming more potent, spreading through his entire body.
He could also feel his newly created Core quickly filling to nearly half.
That was too little.
But maybe…
maybe it would still be enough.
His body was changing too.
It didn’t heal completely, but he could feel his muscles growing stronger, bones denser, mind sharper.
It was just a moment in reality, but an eternity of euphoria mixed with torture to him.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
But he didn’t hear what came next, because he already knew everything he needed for now.
The shadows darkened around him.
The Tyrant stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing.
As he was about to give the mental command to kill him, it was already too late.
The [Shapeless Thief] shot through the battlefield in smoke form, wrapping around the Demon’s hand that held his neck and turning into a miniature guillotine — severing the limb in the same moment — then immediately shot to Sunny’s waiting hand, turning into a long black odachi as he fell to the ground.
Serpent finally slithered from his arm and lunged at the wailing creature, biting deep into its flesh.
Sunny dove into the shadows as he hit the ground and stepped out behind the Demon that was trying to crush Nephis’s head, decapitating it instantly and pulling its body aside so the dead weight wouldn’t crush her.
Nephis coughed violently, looking at him from the ground as if he had grown a second head.
He was already shadow-stepping again — this time to slay the Tyrant from behind.
The sadistic King was not one to be caught off guard, though.
As Sunny materialized in beast’s shadow, three things happened.
First — the Tyrant spun around on the spot, instantly.
It tried to obliterate his head with its massive claws, but Sunny managed to dodge that hit — however, the next strike to his side he could not.
As he flew through the air once again, the wounded Demon’s leg connected with him mid-flight.
‘Damn it, is it some kind of Sunny-ball day or something?!’ he thought furiously as he finally met the ground and shadow-stepped closer to Nephis, shielding her from the wounded Monster’s assault.
And then the third thing happened.
The Tyrant intensified the presence of his Nascent Domain, diving deeper into his mind, shrieking in its mad, Corrupted tongue — attacking it and trying to seize control.
Sunny smiled with that crazy, toothy smile of his.
First, he defied every command the creature was trying to impose on him.
No one could control him — not even Fate, least of all this arrogant piece of trash.
The shock was evident on the Tyrant’s monstrous face.
He was more and more certain with each passing second that this creature had once been human, long, long ago…
But there was no time for such thoughts.
While the Tyrant was still rummaging in his head, Sunny opened the well of his most horrific memories and pushed the bastard in…
toward what lay at the bottom.
Sunny laughed in delight — evading the Monster’s strike — as the creature screamed, two of its eyes bursting and blood shooting from what passed for its nostrils.
Its wailing stopped fast, though.
It looked at Sunny with such hatred that it filled him with even more glee.
His delight didn’t last, however — he saw Nephis fall to her knees, screaming, her mind seemingly being torn apart.
Just because he could defy the Tyrant didn’t mean the others could.
Even an Ascended Memory of the First Tier wasn’t enough to stop this Tyrant’s Will and Nascent Domain.
Shivers ran down his spine.
‘Oh no…’ The Tyrant was going to evolve right now.
If he didn’t kill it within the next two minutes, it was over.
He felt a pang reach his mind.
He shifted his gaze — Serpent was fighting not one but two Demons and losing badly, on the verge of dying any second.
It seemed the Tyrant had decided he no longer wanted to play.
He had been postponing his evolution just long enough to finish his hunt, and now that his mind had been violated, he was desperately trying to crush them as quickly as possible.
Sunny cursed, dismissing his Shadow.
‘Bad, bad, bad.’ His thoughts were running in overdrive, trying to find some other solution, but nothing came.
There was no other choice.
Sunny looked at Nephis — already feeling the [Thief] shift into the shape of a familiar chain, its cold metal sending a tingly feeling down his hands — and screamed.
“Neph, get out of here! It’s about to turn into a bloodba—” His voice suddenly stopped.
In his complete focus on the battle, he had neglected to watch his farther surroundings.
First, he felt a new presence announce itself on the field — from the direction they had recently come from.
Cassie was walking in like a broken doll, eyes bloodshot and full of tears.
She was moaning silently and incoherently, but he could swear she was trying to say ‘sorry.’ ‘Damn it all!’ — Sunny screamed internally, locking eyes with the Tyrant.
The abomination’s expression spread into a gleeful sneer.
The bastard had decided to play dirty.
The second thing, though…
The presence at the corner of his mind.
That source of the nostalgic feeling.
It had started to move.
And it was moving toward them at astonishing speed.
***
The lone figure of a forgotten Shadow stood just a dozen kilometers south of the place where the battle was ongoing.
Its mind was raging in and out of itself — as it had been for the past few thousand years.
This was one of those rare moments of clarity it could still manage.
It couldn’t see past all those corals from here — couldn’t see what was happening in that place — but it could feel.
And as expected, the small humans were losing miserably; their opponent was simply that overwhelming.
They had never had a chance from the very beginning.
Yet they had still come, and were fighting for their lives, for their freedom, with everything they had.
The lone Shadow could respect that.
The figure was old.
Very, very old.
And tired.
Well, it should be.
Yet it was still moving.
Still longing.
Even the all-consuming Corruption couldn’t take that away from it.
The Shadow remembered its old kind, fearless, proud, and honorable master.
Those memories still held warmth in its mad mind.
He was long dead, but the figure still held him deep in its heart.
The love.
The loyalty.
The Shadow was very loyal and proud too, after all.
And as the figure looked out into the distance, it felt the longing intensify.
The other one was still here.
Still alive.
Still young.
And doing something absolutely ridiculous and crazy yet again.
The figure made a sound not unlike a chuckle.
He probably didn’t remember this lone Shadow — but it didn’t matter.
The Shadow remembered.
And that was what mattered most.
The boy was ruthless; he was mad; but he was also kind and caring.
And so very, very broken.
And very lonely too.
He was also about to die.
The Corruption whispered into the Shadow’s mind: ‘Let him die.
Let him writhe in pain.
Or better yet — kill the boy yourself.
Taste his sweet, fresh blood and flesh.’ But the Shadow crushed that thought and tore it apart completely.
It would definitely come back later.
This moment of lucidity wouldn’t last long.
And so the proud Shadow could hesitate no longer.
It exhaled sharply, feeling that the already unwinnable battle was about to turn for the worst.
There was no time to lose.
The figure had been waiting for this moment for thousands of years, after all…
And so the proud figure dissolved into the shadows around it and moved across the land at terrifying speed.
To the open field where the battle was raging.
To serve its purpose.
To cleanse itself of the disgusting Corruption.
And most of all…
to protect its young master at all costs.
***
The presence on the battlefield changed in mere seconds.
The Tyrant stopped his gleeful cackling, his voice freezing in his monstrous throat.
The presence was moving so fast — so unstoppably, so swiftly.
The longing and nostalgia intensified in his chest.
He looked at Nephis, struggling to stand, and then at his own hands holding the chain.
If he used it now, he would kill the Tyrant and all his minions.
But he would also die — and take Nephis and Cassie in the crossfire.
What should he do?
The Nightmare Creatures around them weren’t faring well too for some reason.
He could feel it — the terror reaching into their corrupted hearts.
His heart skipped a beat, his pupils widening, eyes almost falling from their sockets.
A strange sound escaped his throat as the figure approached close enough for him to decipher its shadow.
‘It is…
it’s impossible!’ his mind screamed.
But the evidence was approaching him at tremendous speed.
It was a Fallen Terror.
But he knew that Fallen Terror.
He knew it so, so well.
His eyes were watering.
‘Is my broken mind playing tricks on me?’
But the very next second he had his answer.
The Shadow entered the field, transforming instantly.
Nephis, who had only just regained a semblance of control, lost all color from her face.
‘It is all over…’ Her revenge on the Ghouls.
Her plan to restore her clan and destroy the Spell.
All over.
At least she had fought to her last breath, she mused bitterly.
Sunny, however, suddenly laughed like a madman.
Happy tears streamed down his face.
He couldn’t believe it.
Nephis looked at him — not expecting such a reaction at all — but he ignored her completely.
Cassie dropped heavily to her knees, her breath shaky.
But he paid her no mind either.
His thoughts were filled entirely by the newcomer.
“Now, all of you bastards are totally fucked!” he laughed, transforming the [Shapeless Thief] into the shape of a lance.
The Shadow moved through space in a fraction of a second, obliterating the head of the nearest Demon as if he weren’t even there.
The Monster lunged in that direction the next moment, responding to its master’s mental command.
But Sunny paid it no mind — ‘That won’t help you anyway,’ he thought — as he dove into the shadows and emerged a few dozen meters away, standing just before the newcomer.
Their eyes met for a moment and they understood each other completely without a single word.
And then Sunny jumped — onto the back of the beautiful Black Steed.
He had come.
Nightmare.
His Nightmare!
Nightmare was back with him!
He had found him in this hell, and was here in his most desperate moment, once again.
Even Corruption hadn’t stopped him!
He laughed as they lunged through the battlefield, diving into the shadows.
First they emerged near the remaining Demon, slaying him in a single thrust of his lance.
The Spell whispered in his ear, but he ignored it with a wide smile on his face as they flew toward their next goal.
Now it was the Tyrant’s turn.
There wasn’t much of a fight after that, to be completely fair.
Only complete humiliation and agony.
“How does it feel, you son of a bitch?” he laughed as he jumped from the back of his Steed, transforming his weapon into an odachi once again and cutting the bastard’s arm clean off as Nightmare tore a piece of flesh from his shoulder.
“How does it feel to be completely helpless and hunted? Do you feel smart now?” The creature was wailing, thrashing, trying to attack, then trying to run — but they were having none of that.
The Tyrant wasn’t as physically gifted as the Demons he controlled — his true power lay in controlling other beings’ minds, after all, and the arrogant bastard was too reliant on it and having a strong guard to protect him.
And Sunny seemingly being immune to such mental attacks and him not having neither opportunity — as he was continuously ripped apart by Sunny and Nightmare — nor ability to completely possess Nephis — as she still had a the [Voice of Reason] on her — he was completely outmatched.
But that was enough fun, he could see it in Nightmare’s eyes.
The Corruption was clouding his mind more and more with each passing second, so Sunny pushed his essence into the sword, feeling the remnants of the Sun God’s rage burning within.
And then he slashed the Tyrant in half.
Just like that, the rule of the sadistic King was over.
[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant, the Priest of The Great Hunt.]
[Your shadow grows stronger!]
And then…
[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]
Oh, it seemed that [Thief’s] boost was not a small one at all…
Just in time, he chuckled, as he felt himself being torn apart and fell to his knees.
He just hoped Nightmare would stay lucid for one more minute.
[Your shadow is taking shape.]
He could hear Nephis’s approaching footsteps — she had composed herself quickly and finished the Monster in the end.
That was good.
He was hurting like hell right now, so he couldn’t congratulate her yet.
[…Your shadow is complete.]
He exhaled, looking at the setting Sun far in the distance.
He could already feel the world trembling slightly, but that could wait.
Finally, it was over.
He could almost relax.
Well, there was only one thing left, he mused as he stood up.
He looked at Nightmare.
He was struggling.
Whatever had been helping him was running out.
He would soon turn back into another Nightmare Creature.
And they were in no condition to fight a Fallen Terror now.
They both knew what needed to be done.
He was afraid, though…
Very, very afraid.
They had just reunited, after all.
What if Nightmare didn’t turn into a Shadow?
What if this was the last time they would ever meet?
His stomach turned at that thought, but there was no other way.
Nightmare took a step forward, lowering his neck, and Sunny’s heart squeezed so painfully he thought he might stop breathing.
Yet he lifted his blade upward anyway.
“Thank you. For everything. You have no idea how much it means to me…” he mumbled, as Nephis approached, holding Cassie tenderly in her arms.
Both looked exhausted, but they stood there behind him, not saying a word — though worried out of their minds.
And he appreciated it very much.
“See you soon, I guess. And just in case… goodbye, good friend,” he said, swallowing the bile in his throat, and activated the same enchantment on his blade — swinging it down and freeing his friend from the all-consuming Corruption.
He stood there, hands trembling, tears rolling down his cheeks, heart being squeezed painfully with every passing moment.
But his worries were for naught.
[You have received a Shadow.]
He exhaled, closing his eyes for a second.
He was back.
Now, once and for all.
He was happy — happier than he had been in a long while.
His heart was bursting.
Then he turned slowly and smiled widely at the girls, even though Cassie couldn’t see it.
“I… I promise to answer your questions once we reach the platform…” he started, his voice husky and eyes red from tears and a recent mind-break.
The aftereffects would be awful for a few weeks, at least.
Even his forceful awakening had left marks on his body, as he had been forced to rush the physical transformation significantly — to say nothing of destroying his Core.
Gloomy was somewhat gloomy about it, and rightfully pissed.
But he was still happy.
They had prevailed once again in an unwinnable situation — not without help, of course, but they had.
And that was all that mattered.
And also…
Nightmare was back!
“… but I also have some very good and personally happy news to share,” he said as his Shadow expanded and a beautiful Black Stallion emerged from it, making Nephis take a step back in surprise.
“We have finally found our fast way to the City.”
Hey, everyone.
How y’all been?
Its past 2 a.m.
here again (its a bad habit I have to start getting rid of I guess).
I was hoping to give you two separate chapters this weekend, but some irl circumstances happened and also this one is just like two chapters in size anyway.
Well, there is a chance that I would still post tomorrow, but I wouldn’t raise my hopes too high.
Also, the Nightmare is back!
The goat had saved Sunny’s skin once again.
Hail the Lord Nightmare!
Would like to hear your thoughts.
And see you soon.
Bye!