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Chapter 1580: What You Wished For
Shadow Slave

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  1. Offline
    Lrb
    + 3 ⋅ 0 -
    Faz sentido, como o pássaro ladrão praticamente roubou o seu destino Sunny tenha praticamente "sumido" da mente dos outros, ele foi literalmente arrancado das cortas do destino, então ele teoricamente é uma incógnita agora. Parabéns Cassie
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  2. Offline
    Pro100zver25
    + 37 ⋅ 0 -
    1587: Dream Gate.

    Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, staring at the distant figure wearing a bright vermilion cloak.

    The clouds veiling the sky were not clouds, but a myriad of flying swords. The man standing on the ruined wall of the siege capital was not a mere mortal, but a Sovereign.

    One of the three Supreme humans in existence…

    Anvil of Valor, the King of Swords.

    The Sovereign was facing a Great Titan. Sunny recognized that harrowing creature from the Battle of the Black Skull, where it had decimated the armies of both Valor and Song. The Titan was vast and abominable, its power inconceivable…

    But the King of Swords was no less terrifying.

    He was more like a force of nature than a human being, a walking cataclysm that tolerated no defiance. Where Anvil stood, his will was the law. Wherever his sword pointed was his kingdom.

    And within the borders of his kingdom, his authority was absolute.

    Whoever dared to disobey would be obliterated by a flood of slaying swords.

    Sunny took a stifled breath.

    «Crazy… it's crazy.»

    That was what Nephis wanted to fight against?

    He slowly shook his head and forced himself to look away from the awesome visage of the rain of swords. If each of them was infused with the power of a Supreme being… then Anvil was much more powerful than Sunny had ever imagined.

    Considering that he was effortlessly controlling enough swords to cover the entire sky, this whole siege capital could be destroyed by the tyrannical Sovereign in a matter of seconds. There was no one in the waking world strong enough to stop him.

    Well… except for the other two. Ki Song and Asterion.

    Sunny wondered:

    «Are they here, in Antarctica, as well?»

    The Queen of Worms had to have descended, too. As for the most mysterious of the Sovereigns, who knew? His ways were inscrutable.

    Finally, his gaze settled on the titanic Gate.

    A Nightmare Gate… no, not quite.

    A Dream Gate.

    Something clicked in his mind, and Sunny's eyes widened slightly.

    «Of course. It makes sense…»

    Sunny had been wary of the Sovereigns for many years, but he did not really know a lot about them — and about their power. What did it mean, exactly, to be Supreme? He had learned that the Sovereigns possessed a unique ability to create, rule, and expand their Domains. Even this piece of information was vague and shallow at best.

    However, that was not what Sunny was currently thinking about.

    Rather, he was thinking about a more subtle characteristic of those carrying the Nightmare Spell.

    Awakened traveled to the Dream Realm when they slept. Masters could enter it at will and physically, leaving a tether behind. Saints were like miniature Gateways, able to come and go between the two words as they pleased, and even carry people with them.

    What about the Sovereigns, then? How did this facet of their power evolve when they rose to the Supreme Rank?

    Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that theirs would be a continuation of the power that all Saints possessed? That they would not only contain a Gateway within themselves, but would actually be capable of creating a stable external bridge between the two worlds?

    …The opposite of a Nightmare Gate.

    Nightmare Gates allowed abominations to leave the Dream Realm and enter the waking world. A Dream Gate, then, would allow living beings to enter the Dream Realm from this side.

    «…He is evacuating civilians.»

    Indeed, that was what the King of Swords was doing. The Evacuation Army had spent close to a year ferrying refugees over the dreadful expanse of the ocean to other Quadrants. The process was slow — after all, the seafaring alloy behemoths could accommodate only so many people, and it took them more than a month to make a round trip.

    Not to mention all the dangers that the naval convoys faced at sea.

    The government had evacuated as many refugees as they could, and the operation would have probably ended in a semblance of success… if not for the three Category Four Gates that had opened during the Battle of the Black Skull. With the Great Nightmare Creatures roaming East Antarctica, there was no hope of anyone surviving — the civilian population, the Evacuation Army, the small contingents of Legacy Awakened… all of them were destined to die.

    East Antarctica would have ended up the same way the Antarctic Center had, with everyone who was not already evacuated perishing in the flood of abominations.

    And so, the two Sovereigns must have descended, holding back the Great horrors and opening a new, much more efficient path to salvation. The Dream Gates.

    Perhaps it was because they could not allow their children — Morgan, Seishan, Beastmaster, and Silent Stalker — to die.

    Perhaps it was because Mordret had been right, and the Sovereigns could not abandon humanity that easily. The new world they were building in the Dream Realm had to be populated by someone, after all, and hundreds of millions of refugees with nowhere else to go were the perfect fuel for strengthening their domains and nurturing more Awakened.

    In any case, here it was.

    Antarctica's salvation.

    Sunny felt both incredibly relieved and indecribably bitter as he looked at the towering Dream Gate. Relieved because his worst fears had not come true, and his mission… the Evacuation Army's mission… was not doomed to fail. All the sacrifices that he and his soldiers had made were not in vain.

    At the same time, he felt incredibly bitter because the unexpected salvation had come from those whom he despised the most — the Great Clans, whose conceited indifference created this terrible situation, in the first place.

    If only they had moved sooner… if only they had not wasted so much time secretly fighting each other instead of preventing the Chain of Nightmares from claiming countless lives.

    He could already see the mighty propaganda machine spinning its wheels, burying the truth in the clamor of triumphant fanfares. Look at the noble heroes of the Legacy Clans, who had selflessly come to the rescue of the Southern Quadrant in its darkest moment! Just like these faithful guardians of humanity always did.

    Come to think of it, the Sovereigns had finally chosen to reveal their existence. That would also be spun into a fitting tale, no doubt. Probably something about the champions of the two great clans rushing to conquer the Fourth Nightmare in order to assist the people of Antarctica. That would also explain why they had been so late to offer genuine support.

    They had not been tardy at all, but had instead been risking their lives in a Nightmare.

    A dark expression appeared on Sunny's face.

    «Ah. I hate it.»

    But at the same time, he couldn't hate it. As long as people were saved, did the hypocrisy of the Sovereigns really matter?

    Of course, he still had many questions. Would all these refugees be infected by the Nightmare Spell as soon as they entered the Nightmare Spell? What were the limitations that made it difficult for the Sovereigns to enter the waking world, and how had they bypassed these limitations to appear in Antarctica?

    How would the world change now that the existence of the Supremes was revealed, and millions of mundane people crossed over to the Dream Realm?

    And so on.

    Well… he could take his time finding the answers to all these questions.

    For now, the situation did not seem critical. With Anvil holding down the fort, the siege capital was not on the verge of being destroyed. Judging by how orderly the soldiers and the civilians were moving, the situation was under control, or at least not critical. Therefore, Sunny's first priority was to find the members of the cohort.

    Since he had been sent back to where his tether had been placed in the waking world, the rest of them would be, too. Which meant that Mordret and Jet had been sent to the siege capital controlled by Song, while Effie and Kai had been sent to the Evacuation Army headquarters.

    Nephis and Cassie, though, were supposed to be right here. Probably somewhere in the same ruins he had just crawled from.

    Taking a deep breath, Sunny looked around, studying the crater.

    It was then that he was thrown to the ground, and a massive explosion tore the center of the crater apart.
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    1. Offline
      Pro100zver25
      + 34 ⋅ 0 -
      1588: Unchained.

      The ground shook, and some parts of the crater's slope collapsed. Sunny, who was standing on the edge of its mound, lost his balance and rolled down, dirt and pieces of debris raining on him from above.

      «Ouch.»

      Coming to a halt much further down the slope than he had been before, he could not see the Dream Gate and the King of Swords anymore. What he could see, however…

      Was a towering pillar of white flame rising from the torn depths of the wide crater.

      It moved and twisted, as if alive. As though a giant made from pure flame was stretching its shoulders after being trapped underground for a long time. For a moment, Sunny was entranced, thinking that he could make out the shape of a winged being woven from dancing flame, hidden in the depths of the incandescent pillar.

      Then, the whirlwind of flame collapsed on itself, and slowly formed into a humanoid figure.

      The radiant being looked like a beautiful, pure spirit of immaculate light, her graceful body contrasted against the dark soil of the deep crater. With wide wings spread behind her like a blinding mantle, she slowly glided down. The moment her feet touched the ground, it started to melt.

      Slowly, the brilliance of her skin grew dimmer, and was then extinguished. Without the blinding light, Sunny could finally see who had just escaped the ruins.

      Of course, he had already guessed who it was.

      It was Nephis.

      She looked just like the last time he had seen her… but also different.

      Not only because the white metal of the Starlight Legion armor was torn and scorched, breached in half a dozen places…

      And not only because her presence seemed to illuminate the world, so much stronger and tantalizing than it had been before.

      And not even because she had grown even more beautiful after undergoing the rebirth of Transcendence.

      No… it was because Nephis had wings.

      A pair of white wings extended from her back, looking too majestic and pure to be a part of this mortal world.

      Sunny stared, enthralled.

      «…Partial transformation?»

      There were Transformation Abilities that had several steps to them. From the looks of it, Neph's had at least three — the winged form, the brilliant spirit of light whose radiant body seemed to contain an ocean of furious flame, and the vast mass of unleashed fire that could seemingly assume any form, or no form at all.

      At least that was what Sunny surmised after catching a glimpse of Neph's striking arrival.

      There had to be more to this Transformation, of course. Sunny doubted that a Divine Aspect would be limited to enhancing one's might and granting one the ability to fly.

      He stared for a few more moments, then sighed.

      «Well, I can ask her later.»

      For now…

      Sunny had to do something very unpleasant.

      Namely, explain himself.

      What was one supposed to say after leaving his partner to face the last challenge of a dreadful Nightmare alone?

      Sorry, I had to step out to break fate really quick?

      He winced, not looking forward to that conversation at all.

      Shaking his head, Sunny stood up and spent a moment evaluating his appearance through the shadows.

      He would lie if he said that he wasn't apprehensive about his looks at the moment. Becoming Transcendent had improved his body once again, after all. So… he was certain that he was now reasonably attractive. Even though it was a bit childish, he wanted Nephis to see him in the best possible light the first time they met after escaping the Tomb of Ariel.

      Sadly, it did not really matter.

      No matter how beautiful the Transcendence had made him, it was impossible to tell what he looked like right now. Because Sunny was completely covered in dirt, dust, and soot. His face was almost entirely hidden beneath a layer of grime.

      «Ah… curses…»

      He hastily rubbed his face, but only managed to spread the dirt around.

      «Goddammit.»

      It was too late, however, because that movement attracted Neph's attention.

      She turned her head and looked at him, her eyes shining with radiant white light.

      Sunny smiled nervously, then hesitated and took a step in her direction.

      He had more than one reason to feel nervous.

      There were the complicated intricacies of his relationship with Nephis and the consequences of the choice he had made, yes.

      But there was also the reason he had made that choice.

      His connection to the Nightmare Spell was gone, and his [Fated] Attribute was also gone.

      What about Shadow Bond?

      As Sunny walked, considering what he would say, Nephis spoke in a calm, even tone:

      «Stop.»

      He took a couple more steps and froze, stunned.

      First, because she had broken her promise once again and given him an order.

      And second, because he had not felt compelled to follow that order.

      «It's… it's…»

      It was gone.

      The connection between him and Nephis was gone.

      Even though Sunny had stopped, it was of his own volition. When she told him to do so, there was nothing forcing him to stop walking. Nothing had overwritten his personal will, nothing had violated his freedom and agency.

      Even though he had received a direct command, there was no reaction at all.

      Sunny took a shaky breath.

      «It… worked. It worked!»

      An involuntary smile found its way onto his face.

      «I'm free!»

      Sunny had been a bit scared to face Nephis after abandoning her at Verge… but he was much more scared that his decision to leave had been for nothing. That would have been a really, really bitter pill to swallow.

      But, luckily, it had not been in vain.

      Everything had worked just as promised.

      [Fated] was gone. The chain of Shadow Bond wrapped around his neck was gone, as well.

      His wish had come true.

      His smile widened, refusing to go away… which was a bit awkward, considering the nature of the conversation they were about to have.

      Sunny opened his mouth, trying to say something…

      But Nephis beat him to it.

      Looking at him coldly, she frowned slightly and asked:

      «Who are you?»

      There was no hint of recognition in her voice.

      «…Identify yourself.»
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      1. Offline
        MTL Ancestor
        + 19 ⋅ 0 -
        Sunny was erased from their memories? There is no way some dirt could stop them from recognizing each other.
        Is that the reason sunny was back in the tomb?
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      2. Offline
        James005
        + 20 ⋅ 0 -
        'be careful what you wish for' i guess fated is unstoppable gloom
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      3. Offline
        Dummybaron
        + 12 ⋅ 0 -
        I KNEW IT! I FKING KNEW IT
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      4. Offline
        Dr.FranXX
        + 5 ⋅ 0 -
        f#ck... hokage
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      5. Offline
        Xedvig
        + 10 ⋅ 0 -
        Sunny's karma was destroyed by the Vile Thieving Bird. All lost memory about Sunny, or all records was destroyed(and no one can pay attention to the recordings). As if the Sunny had never existed
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      6. Offline
        Akarah
        + 10 ⋅ 0 -
        Damn, let’s hope he can talk with Kai and salvage the situation by proving he is speaking the truth
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        1. Offline
          MefetraN7
          + 5 ⋅ 0 -
          Да кэсси все разрулит, так как она уже все видела, она уже думаю подготовилась к этому, и будущее обьяснение санни она видела, значит поможет
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      7. Offline
        caroline
        + 12 ⋅ 0 -
        People, have you noticed a pattern?

        The seventh god gave birth to 7 demons - Sunny has 7 shadows, which may become more independent in the future and these 7 shadows may be similar to 7 demons.

        Weaver inherited the power to weave spells from his creator - Sunny can do this too.

        Nobody remembers the seventh god - Nobody remembers the Demon of Oblivion either - Now no one remembers Sunny.

        Gradually, Sunny began to acquire all the unique skills of the seventh god and all 7 demons. He already received the Demon of Oblivion and Weaver.

        Do you think this makes sense? The author makes Sunny the heir to the seventh god, not just Weaver.
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        1. Offline
          Guru
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          Btw man, sunnys true name, lost from light. what 7th trapped in the void infected by corruption.
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      8. Offline
        Ombrage
        + 7 ⋅ 0 -
        "It's indeed a good theory. And it also needs to be added that I think Sunny's real name has been erased. Or it has been more or less stolen by the Vile Thieving Bird.
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      9. Offline
        Vernaidia
        + 7 ⋅ 0 -
        Read more
      10. Offline
        Maquiavelis
        + 5 ⋅ 0 -
        Oh my word I cant even gloom my poor heart cant take this rollercoaster no more what that being said... See you guys on the next one wish
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      11. Offline
        Ryuk
        + 3 ⋅ 0 -
        Did everyone forgot about him or just her ?
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      12. Offline
        N3reus
        + 3 ⋅ 0 -
        Did she again nuked herself in the final battle and forgot her memories or is sunny's erased from memories because of the cursed terror . Or cause he ate the fruit above oblivion's sarcophagus (even though it was due to wearer's tears but still)
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      13. Offline
        BlankDjinn
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        Thank you for the chapter :)

        You know what I think I have an idea I think the bird not only broke the nightmare spell no it took something and to break fate Sunny needed to not be himself I think the bird took his true name “Lost From Light” and since he is no longer “Lost From Light” everyone who knew him no longer does!!!
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    2. Offline
      ChimaOfTheNine
      + 13 ⋅ 0 -
      Thank you!
      Annnnnddddddd we're f#cked. It's over. Gg. They really did forget him. Wow. Damn. Let's see how it works with certain key memories though. Sunny's presence is a requisite for having dealt with Caster and the Soul Stealer. In the movie, his presence is also recorded. Or perhaps Fate rewrote itself without Sunny? Such that Nephis beat Caster herself (or believes she did) and all messages from Rain and whatnot are also gone from Sunny's communicator? We will see!
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  3. Offline
    ChimaOfTheNine
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    Chapter was posted 6 minutes ago. Now , we wait! It'll def be here in an hour or so! Thanks in advance to the heroes!
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  4. Offline
    6pain
    + 6 ⋅ 0 -
    Of course sunny would not be allowed to shine, just as he becomes the strongest Saint a Sovereign appears
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  5. Offline
    MTL Ancestor
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    Valor gives me the vibes of a Sword Immortal.
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  6. Offline
    Cj.17
    + 7 ⋅ 0 -
    I feel like the author is baiting us again with the thieving bird saying that demon of fate couldn't do anything. What if demon of fate let it happen. I mean his eye, his corrupted hand and everything was left conveniently at places sunny would stumble upon with the "fated" attribute so I would say even tho it might be hated by the gods and demons, demon of fate couldn't have possibly done nothing if he knew it was coming.

    I would even go as far as to say that he let his hand be corrupted intentionally. Or it was inevitable.

    Now that I think about more, I feel like we are even been baited that weaver might be a man while he might really be a woman. Idk I hope he is a man.
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  7. Offline
    ErectileReptile
    + 12 ⋅ 0 -
    After its first mention 1400 chapters ago, the Vile Thieving Bird finally appears…
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    1. Offline
      Dummybaron
      + 2 ⋅ 0 -
      Yeah and it is absolute Terror, now when you mentioned that I have a question, If Sunny find sutable body and using 4 great soul shards turn this body in echo(he technically can considering the fact that all his memories either created by him or modifyde stayed with him) Can he create a Shadow from Vile Thieving Bird's child?
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      1. Offline
        Jru
        + 5 ⋅ 0 -
        He probably could have, but he doesnt have the Vile thieving bird’s spawn anymore because it just snatched it from his soul sea
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  8. Offline
    ZEXOS
    + 20 ⋅ 0 -
    1585. Climbing Out of a Grave


    Sunny looked at the ceiling, extending his shadow sense upward. At the same time, he allowed his mind to drift back to the very end of the Nightmare.

    ...And what a Nightmare it had been.

    Sunny did not know how long he had spent wandering the dreadful currents of the Great River, trying to escape the Tomb of Ariel. The last cycle had taken... how long was it? Close to a year? And that was only his subjective time. For some people, like Cassie and Mordret, it had lasted for much longer.

    But that was only the final of the countless cycles. So, he could not even guess how long of a journey it had been.

    What he did know, however, was that it ended in the very heart of the Estuary, past the silent lake where Ariel's heretical testament had been inscribed. Near the forgotten grave of the Demon of Oblivion...

    Where a Cursed Terror had been waiting for him, hidden in the darkness.

    That Terror...

    Sunny was more or less sure who it was.

    'The loathsome Thieving Bird, hated both by the gods and the beings of the Void...'

    It was the thieving miscreant who had stolen the Weaver's eyes, and whose spawn he had slain on the Forgotten Shore, thus receiving the [Drop of Ichor] and Weaver's lineage.

    That single event had started the chain of falling dominoes that intertwined his fate with the nebulous Demon, as well as the rest of the daemons and the dead gods.

    Wasn't it very ironic, then, that the Thieving Bird would be the one to break that fate?

    And Sunny... was pretty sure that that was exactly what the vile thing had done.

    The moment the Thieving Bird's talons plunged into his chest, he felt it taking something from his soul. But then... he vaguely sensed it taking something else, from somewhere that lay even deeper.

    It was a hard thing to describe. Even now, Sunny felt somehow different, in addition to all the changes caused by the Transcendence. It was as though a burden he did not even know he was carrying had been lifted, making him feel both unburdened and scarily untethered.

    Had the Vile Thieving Bird stolen... his fate?

    That would certainly be one way — an indescribably bewildering and roundabout way — for Cassie's promise that he would gain freedom in the Estuary to come true. It would also explain whose True Name Torment had delivered to the blind seer at the cost of her life.

    But what did it mean, exactly, for his fate to be stolen?

    Did it even work? Did he lose the [Fated] Attribute? Was he really free?

    What about Shadow Bond? He had been banished from the Nightmare Spell as a result of losing his fate... would his mystical connection to Nephis be severed, as well?

    Sunny frowned, knowing that he would find out soon.

    'One thing is certain, though...'

    If the Nightmare had not ended at just the right moment, he would have certainly been killed. Sunny could justifiably be proud of his power and prowess, but he was a mere ant in front of a Cursed Terror... and a very special Cursed Terror at that. If even Weaver had fallen victim to the vile Thieving Bird, what hope did he have to resist it?

    'What was that thing even doing in the burial chamber? Why did it enter the Tomb of Ariel? And how did it get past the guardian of the lake?'

    The last question was the easiest to answer. The vile thing had even been able to steal from the Demon of Fate, so bypassing a guardian left behind by Ariel would certainly have been easy for it.

    As for the other two...

    A piece of Weaver's soul had been left in the heart of Ariel's Tomb. Perhaps the Thieving Bird had become obsessed with the Demon of Fate? The description of the [Drop of Ichor] said that it had been enamored by Weaver's beautiful eyes, after all. Not to mention that it had gone mad after witnessing the reflection of the Void frozen in Weaver's pupil.

    Had it stolen Sunny's fate because it was connected to the enigmatic daemon?

    If so, it would have probably taken his body and soul, as well, given the chance. He had inherited three parts of Weaver's lineage, after all.

    'Was the Nightmare ending just at the right moment simple luck, or the last gift from [Fated]?'

    Sunny did not know. Nor did he care, really.

    If he was truly free from that damned Attribute, he would rather never remember that it had ever existed at all.

    'Let's go.'

    He had already extended his shadow sense as far as he could — which was much further than before, now that he was a Saint. Sadly, all he could feel was a mess of compressed concrete and alloy for dozens of meters above. That was only logical, considering that Valor's stronghold in Antarctica had been largely built underground.

    He was, more or less, buried alive.

    'Figures...'

    Still, there was no reason to worry. Sunny could not simply use Shadow Step to reach the surface, but he was more than strong enough to burrow through the ruins — mundane concrete and alloy could not stop a Saint.

    However, there was a simpler method.

    Sunny lingered for a moment, then dismissed his avatars and wrapped the shadows around his body. Then, he dissolved into the darkness, becoming a shadow himself.

    The collapsed stronghold was not a monolith. Even after it crumbled, there was plenty of space left between the debris — perhaps not enough to accommodate a human body, but more than enough for a formless shadow to slip through.

    Gliding up the wall, Sunny slid into a thin crack between two concrete plates and slithered upward for a few meters, eventually reaching a dead end where the debris was compressed too tightly, leaving no gaps. There, he simply used shadow sense to locate another tiny pocket of empty space nearby and teleported to it, still maintaining the form of a shadow.

    Just like that, he ascended higher and higher, slowly approaching the surface. In the process, Sunny discovered something remarkable.

    Now that he could absorb the ambient essence while in the embrace of shadows, the rate at which his own essence was being consumed to keep himself intangible was lower than the rate at which it was being replenished. In other words, Sunny could remain in the form of a shadow indefinitely now, for as long as he stayed away from bright light and true darkness.

    'Amazing...'

    Eventually, he reached another large pocket of space and temporarily assumed corporeal form to look around.

    By some luck, the level of destruction was much lower here, enough so that there were mostly intact pieces of furniture strewn around the floor, covered in dust. Sunny observed the dark, claustrophobic space for a few moments, then took a step forward and bent down, fishing out a small device from under the dust.

    It was a standard-issue military communicator, its screen cracked. Nevertheless, the communicator was still working — when Sunny picked it up, the broken screen lit up, revealing a fragmented image.

    The thing seemed to be malfunctioning, but he could still make out what he needed — the time and date.

    Staring at the blinking screen, Sunny opened his eyes wide.

    '...Huh.'

    According to the broken communicator...

    Today was roughly a week since the disastrous Battle of the Black Skull.

    Considering the time the members of the cohort had spent traversing the harrowing desert, the Spell sent them back to the exact moment they had entered the Seed of Nightmare.

    While they were wandering the dreadful depths of the Tomb of Ariel, time stood still in the waking world.
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    1. Offline
      ZEXOS
      + 18 ⋅ 0 -
      1586. Grey Sky


      Sunny let out a long sigh and tossed the broken communicator away.

      'I see.'

      He felt a strange mix of profound relief and tense apprehension.

      The reason for being relieved was obvious. Sunny did not know how many cycles it had taken them to conquer the Nightmare, but from what he had seen in the Estuary, it was at least thousands. Therefore, he had been secretly afraid to return to the waking world only to find out that humans there had gone extinct thousands of years ago.

      That Rain, and everyone else he knew, were long gone.

      Alternatively, the strange nature of the Great River could have resulted in them leaving the Nightmare in the time corresponding to where they were in relation to the Estuary — namely, in the Age of Gods. Which would have been terrible in its own right.

      So, the fact that their Third Nightmare had taken no time at all, from the point of view of the waking world, was one of the best possible outcomes.

      However...

      It also meant that Sunny and the other members of the cohort had been sent to a continent where an unknown number of Great horrors were currently roaming freely.

      Now that they were Saints... did they stand a chance in a battle against the terrifying creatures that had entered the waking world during the Battle of the Black Skull?

      That was the reason Sunny felt tense.

      'I wonder if we'll meet Skinwalker again...'

      He smiled somberly, and then dissolved into shadows once more.

      'At least I didn't miss years of Rain's life.'

      Encouraging himself like that, Sunny continued slithering through the ruins.

      After a while...

      He finally reached the surface.

      Sunny found himself on the slope of a vast crater, under a stormy grey sky. Even though the situation was more than a little ominous, he suddenly felt a strange sense of comfort.

      It was a privilege many people never thought about, to have a familiar sky above their heads. To be home.

      Without wasting any time, Sunny scaled the slope and escaped the embrace of shadows at the top of the tall mound formed by the crater. Standing there, he looked around, at what he had expected to be the ruins of an obliterated siege capital.

      To his surprise...

      The siege capital did not look particularly obliterated.

      Sure, there were signs of destruction here and there, with a few buildings having collapsed... but Valor's stronghold seemed to have sustained the worst damage. Most of the city was still intact, and there were crowds of people moving through the streets in an orderly manner, escorted by the soldiers.

      As Sunny assessed this scene, two details attracted his attention...

      Both shaking him to the very core.

      The first one was near the center of the city, where a large park sprawled. There... a giant Gate pierced the sky, dwarfing the tallest building in the siege capital. It was like a vertical fracture in the fabric of the world, instilling him with terror.

      'Here, too? But why...'

      Then, he noticed that there was something strange about the giant Gate.

      It was entirely, utterly wrong.

      Usually, the Gates looked like tears in reality, revealing nothing but vile darkness in their depths. But this one was different. Not only did Sunny not feel an instinctive revulsion toward the strange Gate, but there was also no darkness within it.

      Instead, he could see to the other side.

      There, clearly visible through the fracture of the Gate, a beautiful lake sparkled under bright sunlight. And from that lake... rose a magnificent castle.

      It was Bastion.

      Sunny was still struggling to comprehend that stunning sight when he noticed something else. There was an orderly column of refugees slowly entering the Gate.

      He shuddered.

      'That... that is impossible...'

      A Nightmare Gate was not something one could enter. It was a door that only opened one way — from the Dream Realm into the waking world. Therefore, anyone trying to pass through a Gate from that side was destined to fail. More than that, approaching a Gate was lethal... Sunny had briefly brushed against one himself, in Falcon Scott, and it was a memory he did not wish to revisit.

      So how could countless refugees be passing through the strange Nightmare Gate?

      Was it even a Nightmare Gate? Or something else entirely?

      The answers to these questions were, perhaps, connected to the second detail Sunny had been stunned to see.

      And that one... was far more chilling.

      Out there, far away from him, the great wall of the siege capital stood, broken and torn. Long spans of it had collapsed, and beyond them, a mountain of black flesh was rolling across the plain, devouring everything in sight.

      There were no soldiers, no Awakened, and no lumbering MWPs on top of the damaged wall.

      However, there was a single human there, facing the Great horror with indifferent resolve.

      From that distance, Sunny couldn't see who it was, exactly. All he could tell was that it was a man. The man was stall, with broad shoulders, his posture as straight and sharp as a steel sword. A long vermilion cloak fluttered in the wind behind his back.

      The man did not move, but the stormy clouds seemed to follow his will, flowing across the sky. A rustling haze connected the clouds with the crawling mountain of black flesh, as if rain was falling from the sky.

      That rustle...

      Sunny looked up, at the clouds that obscured the heavens like a grey veil.

      'N—no... it can't be...'

      It was only then that he understood that they were no clouds at all.

      Instead, they were countless flying swords, enough of them to form a storm front, all moving with clear and hypnotizing, lethal intent.

      The haze he saw in the distance was not rain, but thousands of swords falling on the colossal abomination like a bombardment of slaying steel, shredding and slicing its profane flesh apart.

      Sunny paled, forgetting to breathe.

      He suddenly realized who the man facing the Great horror was, what the strange Gate was, and why the siege capital had not been destroyed yet.

      ...The King of Swords had descended into the waking world.

      And with him, the harrowing might of a Sovereign's Domain had descended, as well.
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      1. Offline
        EVOLT
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Thank you!
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      2. Offline
        Dummybaron
        + 9 ⋅ 0 -
        Valor on his way to make Malevolent Shrine 2.0
        By the way: No Weapons, No snake, No clue how being fateless can affect you and the world, No usefull memories, No clue about Trancendet ability. Looks like Fate doesn't like anomaly without Fate walking around, so it spawn Sovereign close to Sunny.
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      3. Offline
        HeikyZX
        + 3 ⋅ 0 -
        Wow... it had been such a long travel, that I'm still trying to recall what they had been doing before the Desert/Tomb's arc. For those as lost as I am, here are the chapters before they ended up in the love-love desert:
        Chapter 1204: Battle of the Black Skull (18)
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        1. Offline
          MefetraN7
          + 2 ⋅ 0 -
          Забытый берег, мрачный город, летающие острова, колизей, ноктис и битва с титаном и драконом, тюрьма мордреда, антарктида, тёмный бесконечный туннель, ужас 049 тотальный контроль мозгов, и битва за столицу.
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