Ranobes » Shadow Slave » Chapter 1749: Leave It All Behind.
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Chapter 1749: Leave It All Behind.
Shadow Slave

The battle had just ended, and the Winter Beast was gone.

The dark ecstasy of having killed the butcher of Falcon Scott had washed over Sunny's heart and receded like a tide.

Leaving it cold and hollow. Dark and utterly devoid of light.

There was nothing binding him to the world anymore. He was banished from the Nightmare Spell, fate, and existence itself. In the whole world… two worlds, actually… not a single soul cared whether he lived or died. No one even remembered that he existed.

Facing the cruel truth of that loss was too painful, and so, Sunny longed to leave it behind.

…He opened his eyes in a familiar hall. Warm sunlight was pouring through the stained-glass windows, painting the ivory walls with vibrant colors. Heavy chains lay on the floor, arranged into a flawless circle. The sky was vast and blue outside.

The Ivory Island floated on the sea of clouds, enveloped by a peaceful silence.

Sunny had not wanted to come here. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to avoid this place at all costs, However, this was where his soul was anchored to the Dream Realm, and so, this was where he had arrived after giving up on the waking world.

Standing in the center of the chain circle, Sunny shifted slightly and dissolved into the shadows.

The Ivory Tower was mostly empty right now — most of the Fire Keepers were still lost in the depths of their Nightmares, while Nephis and the rest of the cohort were too busy to visit it often. Still… he didn't want to be seen by anyone.

They could not remember him even if he told them who he was, so there was no point.

Sunny glided across the floor as a shadow, hiding in the darkness near the gate. Then, he extended his shadow sense outward and froze. On the emerald grass outside the great pagoda, two people were walking toward its gate.

The sunlight suddenly seemed brighter.

He kept himself hidden when they entered the sunlit hall. Nephis was frowning, while Cassie followed her with a strangely lost expression on her delicate face.

Sunny remained motionless as he unwillingly eavesdropped on their conversation.

Are you sure?»

Cassie nodded slowly.

«Yes, I.,, I think I am. The future has grown too… elusive to decipher.»

Nephis halted and remained silent for a few moments.

«Can it be connected to your Transcendence? Or witnessing that thing in Verge?»

The blind girl hesitated briefly.

«That was what I thought, as well. However, I've reached out to several seers in confidence. They all seem to be having trouble glimpsing anything from the future, as well… all over the world.»

Nephis' scowl deepened.

«What can be the reason? An aftershock of the Dream Gates being open? The Chain of Nightmares itself?»

She shook her head and continued walking.

«We will have to investigate it later. Right now, there is too much to do… it is pure pandemonium out there, with so many people suddenly arriving in the Dream Realm. The refugee camp outside Bastion is lacking provisions and manpower, with too few Awakened to guard them against the Nightmare Creatures. At least there is no lack of water, but… all of it was too sudden. The situation can swiftly descend into a disaster.»

Cassie sighed.

«I heard that they are going to build a city on the lake shore, And with the Sleepers of Antarctica having Awakened, there are much more capable warriors now than before

Nephis nodded.

«Still. I am going there to help.»

The blind girl remained silent for a moment.

«I see. I'll go with you, then.»

Sunny hid in the shadows, listening to the news about the tribulations of humanity without Interest. What did it have to do with him? Nothing at all… not anymore.

Nephis shook her head.

«Someone has to stay here to welcome our people once they return from the Nightmares. Plus… you have another important task to accomplish.»

Cassie raised an eyebrow.

«You… you really want to do it?»

Nephis gave her another nod.

«It is time to abandon the Chained Isles. We are too far away from everything important here. I want you to fly the Ivory Island south, toward Bastion.»

With that, she turned around and walked into the circle of chains.

Standing there, Nephis frowned and briefly touched her face. She remained motionless for a while, then said somberly:

Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?»

Cassie did not answer, simply standing there with a confused expression.

Eventually, Nephis grimaced.

«That other issue… have you been able to discover anything?»

Cassie slowly shook her head.

«No. I talked with Effie and Kai again, Jet too. But it's hard to dispel the fog that's clouding some of our memories. I think… It must have been Torment who had done something to us. But what? And why? And when? There is no answer yet.»

Nephis sighed.

«Keep digging. I'll do some research, too.»

Soon, she was gone, returning to the waking world.

Cassie did not move for a while, standing there with her head lowered.

Eventually, she whispered quietly:

«What has she done to me?»

With that, she turned around and descended into the basement of the Ivory Tower, where the runic controls of the island were located.

Sunny was left alone.

He exhaled slowly and emerged from the shadows, looking in the direction where Cassie had gone.

Torment… did she really believe that her Defiled twin had been capable of doing something like that? The timeline didn't make sense, and Cassie knew it.

Well, it was a reasonable theory to make. Torment's power… Cassie's power… had to do with manipulating memories, after all.

For a moment, a desperate hope ignited in his heart. What if Cassie could restore the memories of him with her Transcendent Ability? What if he could make them remember?

But no… he knew that it was impossible. if it was, she would have already done so, restoring her own lost memories first.

I'm sick of it.»

He gritted his teeth and walked out of the Ivory Tower.

By now, the Crushing was of no threat to him. Sunny wasn't sure if he could endure its terrible pressure, but he also did not need to. The range of his shadow sense had grown enough to reach the distant islands, so he could simply step through the shadows to leave the Ivory Island behind.

He contemplated for a few moments, considering if he should.

What was he going to do, anyway? Live like a hermit in some godforsaken corner of the Dream Realm? Leave to travel the unexplored regions of this dreadful world, away from where any human could see him?

Jump into the Sky Below and try to reach its bottom out of curiosity?

Each alternative was as good as the next one.

Well, jumping into the Sky Below was probably a bit worse than the rest…

Sunny remained still for a while, thinking.

In the end, he did not use Shadow Step to reach the flying island far below.

Instead, he circled the great pagoda and headed toward the graceful gazebo, where the portal to the Ebony Tower stood.

If he remembered correctly, there was a chamber in Nether's scorched tower where the walls were engraved with countless runes.

Sunny had not been able to understand those runes before, or at least retain the understanding of the ancient daemon's words.

After his visit to the Estuary, however…

Who knew what he would be able to learn?

Shadow Slave
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Comments 36

  1. Offline
    Dadadai Shukosha
    Dadadai Shukosha
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    Quiet kids, time for Sunny's flashback.
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  2. Offline
    Gerhman_Sparrow23
    Gerhman_Sparrow23
    + 3 ⋅ 15 -
    Chapters are shortening and fillers are increasing and people still wonder why people pirate light novles, like no shit if I'm paying per chapter I need more words and less fillers
    Read more
    1. Offline
      rekicchi
      rekicchi
      + 17 ⋅ 0 -
      How could you even complain? You're just a reader, and of a pirate site at that, and obviously not the writer either. At least feel shame.
      Read more
      1. Offline
        Gerhman_Sparrow23
        Gerhman_Sparrow23
        + 3 ⋅ 8 -
        Well call me anything you want but this is the reason I started pirating. At first I also thought of buying chapters but my experience with earlier novels (those were pirated too) helped me learn the truth that after one point there will be more filler chapters and less words per chapter forcing you to pay for more chapters with less content. Thats a classic gimmick.

        And yeah I'm shameless and a hypocrite.
        Everyone in this world wants value for money. And when vendors starts being unreasonable people start stealing. You know how things are with ott platforms.
        Read more
        1. Offline
          rekicchi
          rekicchi
          + 8 ⋅ 0 -
          just enjoy the book
          Read more
  3. Offline
    Pro100zver25
    Pro100zver25
    + 24 ⋅ 1 -
    1751: Why Did the Flame Wane?

    The work progressed slowly.

    There was no day or night in the Sky Below, and Sunny did not particularly care for tracking time anymore. He only knew how much of it had passed because of the happy shadow, which continued to act as Rain's guardian somewhere far away.

    The task of learning how to read the forbidden runes was engrossing.

    Sunny was not trying to decipher the ancient script blindly. He was familiar with many variations of the runic language that had been used in the Dream Realm… or rather, in the multitude of realms that would one day become its various regions. The languages the people of the bygone eras had spoken were different, and so were the writing systems they had used.

    However, they all shared a common root… Hope, who had invented the concept of writing and the original runic script. Being familiar with that script and many of its descendants, Sunny could somewhat infer the meaning of derivative runic languages, and learn how to read them.

    That task was not an easy one, even for a Saint but after spending a few weeks in the Ebony Tower, doing nothing but studying Nether's writings, he was making quick progress.

    Sunny studied the runes, took walks along the edge of the scorched island, slept, and lay idly on his cot, staring at the celling. His life was tranquil, easy, and entertaining.

    Truly free of all burdens.

    …Sometimes, he felt the desire to claw at the walls of the Obsidian Tower.

    In those moments, he visited the lightless shrine and stared at the statue of the Goddess of Black Skies.

    The face of the statue was obscured by a veil, but the sculpture was so exquisitely carved that the veil seemed to be made from fine silk, not cold stone. He could see a vague silhouette of a divinely beautiful face, outlined by its delicate folds and creases.

    Sunny couldn't help but feel that it shared a close resemblance to the faces of the broken porcelain dolls that piled into a mountain on the lowest level of the tower… as well as Saint's inhumanly beautiful visage.

    Had Nether been obsessed with Storm God, or simply too lazy to sculpt a multitude of faces when there already was a perfectly fine one for him to copy? He had been a very practical man, after all… as well as the most impractical of them. Why else would he rise in rebellion against the gods?

    As Sunny made advancements in his understanding of the forbidden runes, he was able to make a rough estimate of when exactly the Demon of Destiny had resided in the Ebony Tower.

    It had been in the latter half of the Golden Age, during Hope's imprisonment. Nether seemed to have already fallen out with Storm God, but was not contemplating going to war against the heavens yet.

    Instead, he had turned his back on the world and dedicated himself to his misguided passion — trying to create living beings, which was an authority exclusive to the gods.

    Much like Sunny had turned his back on the world and dedicated himself to studying these forbidden runes.

    The Ebony Tower seemed to attract disheartened men.

    Most of the runes carved into its walls were… esoteric, to say the least. Sunny slowly learned how to understand their meaning, but that did not mean that he understood what they meant. It would be the same if someone had given him a highly advanced scientific paper on quantum physics to read — knowing human language would not help him comprehend the contents.

    The fact that Nether's writing had never been meant to be read by anyone except the Demon of Destiny himself did not help, either. He had left these notes for himself, so they weren't very detailed.

    There were many passages like:

    «Dissected. Structure, pathways, flow, Basic mechanics hide the deep complexity of process and function. Material?»

    «Correlation or causation? Potential hints at obsolescence. Source unknown, observation flawed.»

    Sunny could not really understand the meaning of these passages, but he did discern several underlying themes.

    Nether's goal was to create a living being, and as such, his research had been developing in two directions — the creation of a body, and the creation of a soul. The former was purely time-consuming, but the latter seemed to vex the daemon to no end.

    How did the gods will souls into existence? Why were the creatures created by the gods able to propagate, giving birth to new souls? What was the secret? There was no answer.

    The Demon of Fate had created weaving, while the Demon of Desire had created runic sorcery. The Demon of Destiny, however, had not authored an original school of sorcery of his own, taking elements from wherever he felt useful and bending them to serve his purpose.

    However, he had possessed the deepest understanding of soul power out of everyone Sunny had known, except for the gods themselves. Nether had been able to manipulate souls and soul essence to a frightening degree, accomplishing things that should not have been possible.

    And yet, he had not been able to create a living being out of nothing, no matter how Ingenious his methods were and how great his determination was. That was one thing that the Demon of Destiny could not build.

    For a time.

    Sunny knew that the daemon had eventually succeeded, creating Saint and her people. His perception was influenced by knowing the end result, but back then, Nether must have been daring to the point of insanity, to pursue something that had never been done before, and was not supposed to be possible.

    What had motivated him to persist in his seemingly hopeless endeavor?

    Sunny did not know, and doubted that he would learn the answer in the Ebony Tower. The runes carved into its walls were Nether's research notes, not a personal diary — there was no mention of the daemon's feelings or emotions, as if he had not been capable of having them at all.

    That said… not everything written on the black walls was dry and void of feeling.

    After weeks of studying the runes, Sunny concentrated on three fragments, all unlike the rest of the passages he had translated.

    The first one seemed like a poem or a short story that Nether had written down for some unknown reason.

    It read:

    [Why does the flame wane?]

    [I asked the black skies.]

    [«What is life?»]

    [The skies answered in a subtle voice.]

    [«A mother is watching her children die slowly of starvation. There is only enough food for one of them, but she is hungry, too. That is life.»]

    [«The war is over, and those who discarded their weapons to surrender are made slaves. They are brought to an arena and told to kill each other. A young warrior looks at a sword, his hand trembling. That is life.»]

    [«A man loves his wife, but feels lonely in her company. One day, walking the market, he sees a beautiful stranger smiling at him sweetly. He hesitates to return the smile. That is life, as well.»]

    [I pondered.]

    [«So… life is a choice?»]

    [The skies laughed.]

    [«Life is desire. It's a desire to be alive.»]

    [The skies were illuminated by a myriad of stars, burning in the beautiful darkness.]

    [Like the flame of desire had burned in the hideous void, giving birth to the seven gods.]

    [Why does the flame wane?]

    Sunny thought about the strange story for a long time, Was it a fable Nether had written down on a whim? Or the transcript of an actual conversation between him and Storm God?

    In any case, it had to have meaning. The Demon of Destiny was not someone who would have carved runes into stone without a reason.

    He had been trying to create life, so the story could have been a contemplation on the nature of life. However… to Sunny, It seemed like there were many layers to this passage.

    The Goddess of Black Skies had described three situations. One was about hunger, one was about the desire to survive, and the last one was about lust. So, had she been trying to say that life was hunger, fear, and lust?

    He did not think so. It seemed that the exact situation did not matter too much… what mattered was that the character of each anecdote was faced with a choice. Nether had been the Demon of Choice, so… was that the true meaning of the story?

    Somehow, Sunny felt that it was not that important, either.

    The truly important part was the first and the last lines of the story.

    Why did the flame wane?

    The waning flame was, presumably, desire — the primordial desire that had been born in the Void, and gave birth to the gods in turn.

    Sunny remembered the murals describing the origin of the daemons clearly, both those that he had seen in the drowned library of Fallen Grace, and those he had seen in the Estuary.

    On one, a golden flame was burning in the darkness. On the next, seven figures — the gods- were surrounding the greatly diminished flame, Sitting on the edge of the Ebony Island and looking at the sea of divine flames above, he blinked.

    «No, wait… but really…»

    Why did the flame diminish?

    The divine flames that had created the Sky Below waned slowly over thousands of years, until only this much was left. One day, they would be extinguished altogether.

    But why had the primordial desire waned after giving birth to the gods?

    Did it have something to do with the secret of life?

    Nether had built the Ebony Tower because he wanted to use divine flame to create living beings, but he eventually abandoned that path and returned to the Underworld. Had he been trying to substitute the flame of desire with the flame of divinity?

    All of it seemed too… interconnected, somehow, and encapsulated in the strange story to be a mere coincidence.

    However, even if it was, Sunny could not, for the life of him, understand what it actually meant.

    He summoned Saint, shared his theory with her, and asked for her opinion.

    …Saint, of course, remained silent, simply staring at him with indifference.

    «Thought so.»

    Sunny clicked his tongue, dismissed the Shadow, and returned to the tower with a sullen expression on his pale face.
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    1. Offline
      Pro100zver25
      Pro100zver25
      + 24 ⋅ 1 -
      1752: Reading About Nothing.

      The second passage he was keenly interested in was much less poetle, but tantalized Sunny much more. That was because it mentioned the other daemons… most of all, the nebulous Demon of Fate.

      The runes read:

      [Gods created all living creatures, but not all creatures they created carry a divine lineage. Only those born of the gods do, and those born of their descendants. Why have the gods forbidden us seven to sire offspring? Why are we destined for loneliness?]

      [Is it because we are of the Forgotten One, who slumbers in the Void?]

      [Where is the Void, and where is its Gate? How did Weaver enter it, and what did Weaver see?]

      [Why did Weaver decide to break the will of the gods and create a lineage?]

      [Blood, bone, flesh, soul, spirit, mind and shadow.]

      [The gods shall discover the transgression, but they cannot.]

      [That is because, having created a lineage, Weaver does not possess a lineage. It has been lost and will be lost, therefore having never been in Weaver's possession. One cannot be punished for something that has never been.]

      [A piece is lost to fantasy, a piece is lost to fear. A piece is lost to respite, a piece is lost to darkness. A piece is lost to sorrow, a piece is lost to rot. And finally, a piece is stolen by a thief.]

      [Weaver's defiance is elusive, just like Weaver is. But mine will be different.]

      Sunny stared at the runes for a while, his eyes burning with wanderlust.

      Nether seemed to have been considering the difference between him, the youngest sibling, and Weaver — the oldest. Both had decided to defy the gods, but in a different way.

      «Gods created all living creatures, but only those born of them carry a divine lineage…»

      It seemed that Weaver had pursued the latter, while Nether had pursued the former.

      But more importantly…

      «Weaver's lineage.»

      Finally, he knew the remaining parts of the Weave. He had already found Blood Weave, Bone Weave, and Soul Weave. Flesh, Mind, Spirit, and Shadow Weaves remained.

      «Shadow Weave!»

      Would absorbing it make up for Shadow God's lineage that Blood Weave had so unceremoniously devoured?

      And if he managed to collect all seven, would the broken lineage of Weaver restore itself to an unblemished state, granting him its full power?

      Sunny finally understood why the Weave had been shattered into many fragments, to begin with. It was because Weaver had hidden its existence from the gods by scattering it across the tapestry of fate.

      Its fragments had always been fated to be lost, and so, it was as if Weaver had never possessed them at all. The fragment destined to be lost to sorrow was Soul Weave, which Sunny had found near Oblivion's grave. The fragment destined to be lost to rot was Bone Weave, which he had found here in the Ebony Tower.

      The fragment destined to be stolen by a thief was Blood Weave, which the Nightmare Spell had granted him for slaying the Spawn of the Vile Thieving Bird.

      At the time when Nether had been carving these runes, Oblivion was still alive, while Weaver had not lost an arm. Therefore, the Demon of Fate had foreseen these events in advance… or maybe even reached into the tapestry of fate to attach the fragments of the Weave to its strings.

      One had to be inventive to avoid the gaze of the gods.

      But where had the other four fragments ended up? Sunny looked back at the runes.

      «A piece is lost to fantasy, a piece is lost to fear A piece is lost to respite, a piece is lost to darkness…»

      He contemplated for a few minutes, then turned and gazed at the map where the strongholds of the daemons were depicted.

      «Fantasy, Fear, Rest, Darkness, Imagination, Dread, Repose, Destiny?»

      Were the remaining four fragments of the Weave located somewhere in Bastion, Ravenheart, Stormsea, and the Underworld?

      He was suddenly overcome by the desire to travel to Bastion and check himself.

      However… that desire quickly dimmed.

      Going back to Bastion, Ravenheart, and the great citadel of the House of Night that drifted on the waves of Stormsea meant diving back into the boiling cauldron of humanity.

      Sunny had just escaped it. Why would he go back?

      The Underworld was a better choice… but also a suicidal one. Sunny was not ready to venture into the depths of the Hollow Mountains. His strength might have increased explosively after the Transcendence, but true darkness was the natural enemy of shadows. Out there, below the jagged peaks, was the realm of darkness…

      Sunny would be nearly powerless there. Blind, weakened, and without an ally.

      He could imagine himself braving a Death Zone, but not the Underworld.

      «Forget it, then.»

      Deeply disappointed, Sunny turned away from the passage and tried to never look at it again.

      «Maybe someday In the future.»

      The third passage that interested him, coincidentally, had to do with the Hollow Mountains.

      But… it was a strange one.

      The runes read:

      [What can contain the Void? Nothing can.]

      [Gods used nothing to envelop the void, and placed the cage of desire above it.]

      [In the places where the cage is thin, nothing slips through its seams. The Underworld is one such place, shrouded in nothing.]

      [It is like mist.]

      [However…]

      [Nobody can exist in the mist.]

      [Nothing can contain the Void, and nobody exists within it.]

      [I am wary of nobody, and fear nothing.]

      Sunny was utterly bewildered by what he read, and thought that he had messed up the translation at first. But after going over it one more time, he confirmed that the translation was correct.

      «Was Nether having a stroke?»

      He reread the runes several more times, his bewilderment growing.

      «No, he was not someone who would write down nonsense.»

      So, the passage must have had meaning. But what was the meaning of nothing?

      Sunny pondered the question for a few days, until a tenuous idea surfaced in his mind.

      What if nothing… was literally something?

      Not the absence of everything, but the presence of nothing.

      Just thinking about that made his head hurt.

      But it seemed very much like something that the gods would be involved in. These beings operated with ideas and concepts, after all, having shaped the very universe into existence.

      So, if nothing could contain the Void… the gods could have gone and literally used nothing to contain it. Enveloping the Void in a layer of nothingness, which the Void Beings could not cross, because nothing could stop them. And bringing down the cage of existence on top of that layer.

      That would be a godlike thing to do, wouldn't it?

      That nothingness seemed to seep into the universe, though…

      Like mist.

      Weren't the Hollow Mountains always shrouded in a strange mist?

      Sunny opened his eyes wide, remembering how the cohort had escaped a flood of mist on the outskirts of the Hollow Mountains. Back then, they felt a terrible threat emanating from it, not knowing why.

      If that mist was literally nothingness… would they have been erased from existence if it swallowed them?

      Sunny also remembered the eerie creature that had come from the mist and demanded that he open his eyes on the Ashen Barrow.

      «Nobody exists within it…»

      Were there… actual beings born from and dwelling in nothingness?

      He suddenly felt a chill running down his spine.

      The Demon of Destiny… was wary of nothing, and feared nobody.

      Wasn't Nether actually admitting that he felt wary of nothingness and feared the beings dwelling in the mist?

      «Goddammit.»

      As if the world wasn't scary enough already!

      Sunny already had his hands full dealing with the Nightmare Creatures. There were also the Void Creatures, which were infinitely more harrowing than the familiar abominations… luckily, they were locked away by the gods.

      And now, there were also Nothing Creatures? Nobodies?

      No… he simply refused to deal with that.

      «Time to get some sleep.»

      Sunny shook his head and left the fifth level of the Ebony Tower, returning to his living quarters.

      The translation… was mostly complete.

      He had already determined which passages he could understand, which he couldn't fathom, and which spoke too much about the Void, meaning that he had to avoid them at all costs.

      Staying in the Sky Below was slowly becoming meaningless.

      Perhaps it was time to start thinking about his next destination.

      «I'll consider it tomorrow.»

      Just before falling asleep, Sunny wondered where he would go, and a sudden thought crossed his mind.

      «I don't exist in the memories of the world anymore, so am I a Nothing Creature, too? A nobody…»
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      1. Offline
        Dummybaron
        Dummybaron
        + 6 ⋅ 0 -
        Goosebumps
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      2. Offline
        ZEXOS
        ZEXOS
        + 6 ⋅ 0 -
        That was a good advertisement of Nothing Phone 📱 right here
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      3. Offline
        Uchia-Madara-Pathway
        Uchia-Madara-Pathway
        + 8 ⋅ 0 -
        So that's why sunny wants to enter Bastion. To get the part of weaver's linage that was lost in fantasy.🤯
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        1. Offline
          Dummybaron
          Dummybaron
          + 11 ⋅ 1 -
          I thought it was obvious but ok.
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          1. Offline
            Uchia-Madara-Pathway
            Uchia-Madara-Pathway
            + 3 ⋅ 0 -
            It is obvious. Not suprised.
            I'm just impressed by the author
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      4. Offline
        6pain
        6pain
        + 4 ⋅ 0 -
        G3 has a way with words
        Good chapters
        It 1am, I’ll go to sleep now.
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        1. Offline
          Dummybaron
          Dummybaron
          + 3 ⋅ 0 -
          good night
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  4. Offline
    Tutengut
    Tutengut
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    A theory what if weavers "stronghold" was in the original domain of the forgotten god ?
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  5. Offline
    Turnc4406
    Turnc4406
    + 5 ⋅ 0 -
    I want Sunny's Sovereign ability to be creating permanent physical items from Solid Shadows. He can already create temporary structures, so why not permanent ones? You know, like an underworld tower made entirely of a black substance stronger than Obsidian and filled with the remnant of partially woven Shadow Saints, or a pyramid made of the same solid black material capable of withstanding blows from a Transcendent and filled with an artificial domain populated by the dead from the past.
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    1. Offline
      ArMiks
      ArMiks
      + 7 ⋅ 0 -
      i think he can technically maintain the permanent physical form of his shadows. his only constraint is the shadow essence expenditure over time of actually maintaining them.
      i'd prefer it if his supreme abilities would relate or give sentience to the army of shadow-souls in his soul sea. i think those are the foundation of his future domain, the same way nephis collects the longing or inspiration of other people to create hers
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      1. Offline
        Turnc4406
        Turnc4406
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        I just meant to create them and not have to constantly supply essence to them. Just, have them stay after he built them.
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        1. Offline
          Dummybaron
          Dummybaron
          + 2 ⋅ 0 -
          It sounds more like Improved version of [Shadow Manifestation] rather than Domain power
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    2. Offline
      DanielPlay
      DanielPlay
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      And what is the use of this? Eventually he will be able to maintain his shadow constructions indefinitely, like Shadow Step, which he can maintain indefinitely due to the expense being much less than his passive essence regeneration.
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    3. Offline
      ninja9999
      ninja9999
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      Winter beast managed to freeze some of the shadows sunny manifested, they became permanently physical without sunny needing to maintain them.
      When Sunny becomes a titan, serpent will be able to transform into the winter beast, and freeze any shadow sunny manifested, that way, he can create perfectly shaped, extremely durable materials to craft memories
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  6. Offline
    Pro100zver25
    Pro100zver25
    + 26 ⋅ 0 -
    1750: Nothing But Time.

    The Ebony Tower was just like the last time Sunny had seen it — floating ominously in a boundless black void, with a sea of fire burning above it relentlessly.

    The Fire Keepers had established an outpost here, but after the Chain Breaker gained the ability to brave the Crushing, they only maintained a token presence in the Sky Below. Now that Neph's followers had left to challenge the Nightmares, there was not a soul around.

    He stepped out of the black arch on the highest level of the obsidian pagoda and remained there for a while, staring into the distance. Somewhere far away, in a different world, one of his shadows was following Rain… Sunny had to think of a way to approach her openly, but his current mental state was too volatile to try.

    «…I'll think of something later.»

    Nothing moved in the Sky Below. Nothing disturbed the cold silence. Rid of the suffocating pressure of human company, he felt… comfortable, for the first time in a while. Or at least numb.

    There was consolation in solitude.

    Sunny exhaled slowly, then allowed the Onyx Mantle to retreat back under his skin. With his military bodysuit in tatters, he was left practically naked — after hesitating for a bit, Sunny allowed the wild shadows to envelop his lithe body, and manifested them into a semblance of soft fabric.

    Summoning the Endless Spring, he satiated his thirst and left the sixth level of the Ebony Tower.

    The fifth level consisted of one large chamber. It was shrouded in darkness, with countless runes covering the obsidian walls. These runes were the reason why Sunny had chosen to come to this place.

    He stared at them emotionlessly.

    «I knew it.»

    Before, Sunny had been unable to read the forbidden runes. In fact, simply beholding them had almost killed him… but things were different now. Not only had he grown vastly more powerful since his day as an Awakened, but he had also received the revelations of madness from the Sin of Solace.

    Thanks to that, he glimpsed the secrets that Ariel had left behind, and was seemingly inoculated against the power of the forbidden runes by the knowledge of the Forgotten God.

    And so… Sunny did not feel repelled by the runes carved into the walls of the Ebony Tower anymore. All he felt was a slight sense of discomfort.

    Of course, he still had to be careful when studying them — the knowledge of the Void that a daemon was capable of enduring could very well plant seeds of Corruption into his Transcendent Soul, and there was not telling if any of it was mixed between the passages concerning the Forgotten God.

    There was also a bit of a problem…

    Nether had not used the runic alphabet Sunny was most familiar with while leaving the notes on the wall, and since the Spell never translated the forbidden runes, he could not do it himself from memory. After years of wandering the Dream Realm and exploring ancient ruins, he could somewhat decipher the meaning, but a proper translation would take a lot of time.

    Which was fine.

    Sunny had nothing but time, these days.

    He did not get to work immediately, though. What was the rush?

    Instead, Sunny left the fifth level behind and descended lower. He passed the solemn shrine on the fourth floor, the workshops on the third floor, the divine flame reservoir on the second floor where Weaver's arm had once been left to burn, devoured by the harrowing rot — and finally reached the first level of the Ebony Tower.

    That was where the Fire Keepers had established their living quarters.

    The central chamber had been shrouded in darkness once, but now, it was brightly lit by a multitude of enchanted lanterns. Sunny counted them calmly and smiled.

    Each of the lanterns was a Memory belonging to one of the Fire Keepers. They had been left behind here for a reason. For as long as the master of the lantern was alive, their lantern would continue to glow. If they perished, the lantern would dissipate into a rain of sparks, destroyed with the rest of their Memories.

    There was a similar chamber in the Ivory Tower, which could tell if any of them had died.

    From the look of it, the Fire Keepers were doing well in the Second Nightmares. The number of lanterns had not dwindled at all… at least not yet.

    Looking away, Sunny walked over to one of the cots and fell on it heavily. As soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes closed on their own.

    He was tired…

    It was time to sleep.

    Tomorrow, his new life as an aimless wanderer would begin.

    —— —— ——

    Sunny woke up feeling refreshed.

    It was still strange to him, to sleep while one of his incarnations stayed awake. In such moments, his consciousness seemed to split, one part of it functioning normally, the other drifting in the comforting embrace of slumber. He even dreamed sometimes, while simultaneously observing his dreams from the side.

    In any case, his mental fatigue lessened no matter which incarnation slept, as long as one of them did.

    Rising from the cot, Sunny looked around groggily.

    There was nothing pressing he had to do, so he was not in a hurry. He summoned the Covetous Coffer, took out some supplies, and seasoned some monster meat. While it was roasting, Sunny brewed himself a pot of coffee.

    Then, he took the pot and the plate of meat outside and ate breakfast while dangling his feet above the bottomless abyss of the Sky Below.

    The sea of divine flames above made for a spectacular sky. He enjoyed the views for a while, sipping coffee and not thinking about anything in particular. Eventually, though, Sunny grew bored, and finally returned to the fifth level of the Ebony Tower.

    He looked at the runes for a while, eventually stopping near a familiar section of Nether's writings.

    Out there on the obsidian wall, a strange map had been carved into the stone.

    The Ivory Tower, the Tomb of Ariel, Ravenheart, Bastion, the great vessel that served as the Citadel for the House of Night, the Underworld… and Weaver's Mask placed above the other six landmarks, with a question mark next to it.

    The other six strongholds were only marked by a single rune each.

    Desire, Oblivion, Dread, Imagination, Repose, Destiny… and “Fate?”

    Sunny studied the map with amusement.

    It had seemed a bit strange before — after all, there were no borders, no terrain, no measure of distance between the strongholds. They all seemed strangely disconnected, as if there was no map at all.

    Now, of course, Sunny knew the daemons had built their citadels in different realms, and so, it could as well have been a realm map. It was only after the Dream Realm had assimilated all mortal realms and five of the six divine realms that the daemonic strongholds ended up connected by land.

    Finally, his gaze settled on the carving of Weaver's Mask.

    Nether had not known where his eldest siblings dwelled, or if there was such a place at all.

    Perhaps Weaver had been a homeless wanderer, just like Sunny.

    Smiling darkly, Sunny looked away from the map and turned his attention to the runes.
    Read more
  7. Offline
    ZEXOS
    ZEXOS
    + 31 ⋅ 0 -
    1750. Nothing But Time


    The Ebony Tower was just like the last time Sunny had seen it - floating ominously in a boundless black vold, with a sea of fire burning above it relentlessly.

    The Fire Keepers had established an outpost here, but after the Chain Breaker gained the ability to brave the Crushing, they only maintained a token presence in the Sky Below. Now that Neph's followers had left to challenge the Nightmares, there was not a soul around.

    He stepped out of the black arch on the highest level of the obsidian pagoda and remained there for a while, staring into the distance. Somewhere far away, in a different world, one of his shadows was following Rain... Sunny had to think of a way to approach her openly, but his current mental state was too volatile to try.

    ‘...I'll think of something later.'

    Nothing moved in the Sky Below. Nothing disturbed the cold silence. Rid of the suffocating pressure of human company, he felt... comfortable, for the first time in a while. Or at least numb.

    There was consolation in solitude.

    Sunny exhaled slowly, then allowed the Onyx Mantle to retreat back under his skin. With his military bodysuit in tatters, he was left practically naked - after hesitating for a bit, Sunny allowed the wild shadows to envelop his lithe body, and manifested them into a semblance of soft fabric.

    Summoning the Endless Spring, he satiated his thirst and left the sixth level of the Ebony Tower.

    The fifth level consisted of one large chamber. It was shrouded in darkness, with countless runes covering the obsidian walls. These runes were the reason why Sunny had chosen to come to this place.

    He stared at them emotionlessly.

    'I knew it.'

    Before, Sunny had been unable to read the forbidden runes. In fact, simply beholding them had almost killed him... but things were different now. Not only had he grown vastly more powerful since his day as an Awakened, but he had also received the revelations of madness from the Sin of Solace.

    Thanks to that, he glimpsed the secrets that Ariel had left behind, and was seemingly inoculated against the power of the forbidden runes by the knowledge of the Forgotten God.

    And so... Sunny did not feel repelled by the runes carved into the walls of the Ebony Tower anymore. All he felt was a slight sense of discomfort.

    Of course, he still had to be careful when studying them - the knowledge of the Void that a daemon was capable of enduring could very well plant seeds of Corruption into his Transcendent Soul, and there was not telling if any of it was mixed between the passages concerning the Forgotten God.

    There was also a bit of a problem...

    Nether had not used the runic alphabet Sunny was most familiar with while leaving the notes on the wall, and since the Spell never translated the forbidden runes, he could not do it himself from memory. After years of wandering the Dream Realm and exploring ancient ruins, he could somewhat decipher the meaning, but a proper translation would take a lot of time.

    Which was fine.

    Sunny had nothing but time, these days.

    He did not get to work immediately, though. What was the rush?

    Instead, Sunny left the fifth level behind and descended lower. He passed the solemn shrine on the fourth floor, the workshops on the third floor, the divine flame reservoir on the second floor where Weaver's arm had once been left to burn, devoured by the harrowing rot - and finally reached the first level of the Ebony Tower.

    That was where the Fire Keepers had established their living quarters.

    The central chamber had been shrouded in darkness once, but now, it was brightly lit by a multitude of enchanted lanterns. Sunny counted them calmly and smiled.

    Each of the lanterns was a Memory belonging to one of the Fire Keepers. They had been left behind here for a reason. For as long as the master of the lantern was alive, their lantern would continue to glow. If they perished, the lantern would dissipate into a rain of sparks, destroyed with the rest of their Memories.

    There was a similar chamber in the Ivory Tower, which could tell if any of them had died.

    From the look of it, the Fire Keepers were doing well in the Second Nightmares. The number of lanterns had not dwindled at all... at least not yet.

    Looking away, Sunny walked over to one of the cots and fell on it heavily. As soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes closed on their own.

    He was tired...

    It was time to sleep.

    Tomorrow, his new life as an aimless wanderer would begin.

    ***

    Sunny woke up feeling refreshed.

    It was still strange to him, to sleep while one of his incarnations stayed awake. In such moments, his consciousness seemed to split, one part of it functioning normally, the other drifting in the comforting embrace of slumber. He even dreamed sometimes, while simultaneously observing his dreams from the side.

    In any case, his mental fatigue lessened no matter which incarnation slept, as long as one of them did.

    Rising from the cot, Sunny looked around groggily.

    There was nothing pressing he had to do, so he was not in a hurry. He summoned the Covetous Coffer, took out some supplies, and seasoned some monster meat. While it was roasting, Sunny brewed himself a pot of coffee.

    Then, he took the pot and the plate of meat outside and ate breakfast while dangling his feet above the bottomless abyss of the Sky Below.

    The sea of divine flames above made for a spectacular sky. He enjoyed the views for a while, sipping coffee and not thinking about anything in particular. Eventually, though, Sunny grew bored, and finally returned to the fifth level of the Ebony Tower.

    He looked at the runes for a while, eventually stopping near a familiar section of Nether's writings.

    Out there on the obsidian wall, a strange map had been carved into the stone.

    The Ivory Tower, the Tomb of Ariel, Ravenheart, Bastion, the great vessel that served as the Citadel for the House of Night, the Underworld... and Weaver's Mask placed above the other six landmarks, with a question mark next to it.

    The other six strongholds were only marked by a single rune each,

    Desire, Oblivion, Dread, Imagination, Repose, Destiny... and "Fate?".

    Sunny studied the map with amusement.

    It had seemed a bit strange before - after all, there were no borders, no terrain, no measure of distance between the strongholds. They all seemed strangely disconnected, as if there was no map at all.

    Now, of course, Sunny knew the daemons had built their citadels in different realms, and so, it could as well have been a realm map. It was only after the Dream Realm had assimilated all mortal realms and five of the six divine realms that the daemonic strongholds ended up connected by land.

    Finally, his gaze settled on the carving of Weaver's Mask.

    Nether had not known where his eldest siblings dwelled, or if there was such a place at all.

    Perhaps Weaver had been a homeless wanderer, just like Sunny.

    Smiling darkly, Sunny looked away from the map and turned his attention to the runes.
    Read more
    1. Offline
      Zrilla
      Zrilla
      + 6 ⋅ 0 -
      Ахахахаха представьте как на это реагирует Кэсси, этот теневой чëрт пришëл на их базу как к себе домой, поспал, поел и читает)
      Read more
  8. Offline
    Dummybaron
    Dummybaron
    + 16 ⋅ 0 -
    Unrelated to the chapter, but I want to say this. Nephis gave Sunny false Ideology, I mean whole this phrases like "We are destroyers. We can only destroy, but somewhere in the world other people can create things and we exist so they can create in peace" are bullshit that applyes only to Nephis.

    Its Nephis who can't create, she can inspire but thats all. Sunny is better than this, he is better than Nephis because he can create things, if he wanted to he would create enchated machines that could create electricity out of Essence or Soul Shards, he could make few Balls with Pocket Space(Like Effie has) for agricultural needs, or put water in few to create environment for Sea products.

    Sunny has a student(Sister) who he teaches how to survive in this world, he raises her to become someone in the future. Sunny also studying different cultures, history, and Mythology of the past, if its not gathering knoledge for future generations and creating the better future then what?

    Sunny is better than Nephis because he is more than her, Nephis limited by her abilities and view on world, Sunny limited only by view on world and Imagination(Both Sunny & Nephis are limited by Sovereigns but that issue will be solved "soon"). Sunny is not only the destroyer of things.
    Read more
    1. Offline
      Precious Randel
      Precious Randel
      + 6 ⋅ 0 -
      Very true
      Read more
    2. Offline
      Pro100zver25
      Pro100zver25
      + 14 ⋅ 0 -
      I couldn't agree more. Sunny is really capable of a lot, unlike Nephis, who can only destroy. And at the same time she constantly says what is right and what is wrong. She says: «Sovereigns impose their laws on everyone!» — and what does she do if she doesn’t impose her point of view on everyone? Everyone has their own truth, and to say that someone is doing wrong just because you don't like someone's actions is a incorrect statement. Yes, the Sovereigns may act unfairly, but they also have their reasons. Nephis, from the very beginning of the volume, tries to say: «I’m better than them!» — although she is no different from them, and is also ready to go over heads and broken destinies, just to achieve her goal.
      Read more
    3. Offline
      ArMiks
      ArMiks
      + 6 ⋅ 1 -
      so true, aside from the main memory weaving, sunny excels in the basic crafts ie black/gold smithing, leatherworking, tailoring, carpentry, etc. he's basically a one man production line.
      i am ofc assuming here that although the valor guys also "Craft" memories, they mostly specialize in a single craft per person, in relation to their aspects. eg anvil-mostly forges metal armor and weapons. others may specialize in leather, cloth, accessories, and others.
      Read more
    4. Offline
      Tutengut
      Tutengut
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      I think he ment his lord of shadow persona
      Read more
      1. Offline
        ArMiks
        ArMiks
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        what, please expound.
        Read more
        1. Offline
          Dummybaron
          Dummybaron
          + 3 ⋅ 0 -
          Tutengut, saying that when Sunny said about his motivation to Nephis, he "lied" and told only a part of it that works with his Lord of Shadows persona, but his real motivation is something else.
          Read more
    5. Offline
      Guru
      Guru
      + 1 ⋅ 2 -
      Give up man, sunny forever be under nephis heel. Whatever nephis wants sunny wants, whatever she thinks he think. Which is not that bad honestly, gotta catch a fish somehow. Game is game.
      Read more
      1. Offline
        Eightsixtwo_
        Eightsixtwo_
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        I don't think so, I've got this feeling that in the end it will be Neph vs Sunny again
        Read more
  9. Offline
    Dheeraj singh
    Dheeraj singh
    + 4 ⋅ 1 -
    As the nah I'd win said to (leave it all behind)


    kef
    Continue the cycle
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    1. Offline
      Foggy
      Foggy
      + 6 ⋅ 0 -
      Your comment takes way too much brain power to comprehend
      Read more
  10. Offline
    DanielPlay
    DanielPlay
    + 6 ⋅ 0 -
    I hope this memory is quick. I'm really interested in the war and Sunny telling the truth.
    Read more