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Chapter 2322: Beast Sacrifice
Shadow Slave

Sunny considered the peculiar vision he had received for a while. Eventually, his eyes gleamed darkly.

'They were playing for truths.'

Ariel had been a collector of truth, but one mystery he could never solve was Weaver. Weaver, meanwhile… seemed to have been interested in finding a way to change fate.

That truth alone was priceless. Sunny had suspected that the Demon of Fate had a complicated relationship with their own… source element? Domain? Aspect? In any case, the Nightmare Spell seemed to have been designed with the explicit purpose of training its carriers to defy and twist fate.

Sunny firmly believed that the appraisal the Spell gave to those who conquered Nightmares was connected to how much they strayed from the original flow of fate, at least. But having a strong suspicion and hearing it with his own two ears were two different things. Granted… Sunny only learned that Weaver was searching for a way to change fate, not why. He did not know what the Demon of Fate had discovered, either.

In any case, the two daemons had played Death Game - the winner was supposed to be rewarded with a truth. And Weaver had utterly crushed Ariel, in the end.

'Rewarded, huh?' Was that what had happened to him? He had sacrificed the figure of a slain figure… and received a truth as a reward.

But why that truth, in particular?

Sunny stared at the remaining Snow Beast figure, then at the pit opening into the main vent of the volcano.

'Wait,' Was it simply because he wondered who the players of this game had been? 'My head was full of questions, though. Why this one in particular?' Was the answer given at random, or did the strength of a sacrificed figure play a role?

Would he learn something far more important if he sacrificed a Snow Monster figure? A Demon, A Devil…

A Tyrant?

Suddenly, Sunny was very glad that there were twelve whole Snow Abominations left on the board. He had many questions.

Sunny had spent a decade slowly learning the secrets of the world. By now, he knew more about the truth of existence than almost anyone… but he still desperately wanted - needed - to know more. Why had the Doom War started? How did it end? How did the gods die? How did daemons perish? Was the Forgotten God still imprisoned in the Void? Where had the Nightmares and the Dream Realm come from?

What had been Weaver's goal? Why was the Nightmare Spell created? To what end? And countless less grandiose questions, as well… For example, what did he need to do to kill Eurys? What lay at the heart of Shadow Realm? When had the Demon of Oblivion died? How could she have been dead before Nether and his siblings rebelled against the gods?

'I think…'

A strange smile slowly bloomed on Sunny's face.

'I think that coming here may have been the best idea of my life, Kai.'

Twelve Snow Abominations, and the Snow Beast figure in front of him…

Sunny had just discovered a way to pry thirteen truths from Ariel's Game.

Kai gave him a peculiar look.

'Sunny, can you please snap out of it? You're scaring, uh… your elegant Shadow over there. Yeah.'

Sunny blinked a couple of times and glanced at Slayer. Slayer seemed perfectly at ease. Kai, however, looked a little nervous. Sunny chuckled.

'Alright, alright. It's just that I discovered a use for the figures of slain Snow Abominations. I'm a little excited.'

What answer would he receive next?

Sunny reached for the remaining Snow figure, but then halted.

His expression turned guarded.

'Am I… letting my curiosity trump caution?'

They had just recently talked about how some truths were too dangerous to learn. Sunny did not need to think too much to remember a dreadful example… they were the runes containing the knowledge of the Void that Ariel had left behind in the Estuary of the Great River.

The closer one's soul was to being Divine, the more resistant it was to the corrupting influence of the Void. That was why Awakening could destroy the Seed of Nightmare blooming in an Aspirant's soul… that was also why Sunny could endure knowing more about the Void as a Supreme as he could as a Master or a Saint. But that did not mean that he could endure much of such knowledge… not at all. And he definitely could not endure what Weaver and Ariel could. Even they had not been entirely immune to Corruption, so what hope did Sunny have?

If Ariel's Game granted him a truth that he could not endure, what was he going to do?

Sunny hesitated for a while.

'Wait. Isn't it wonderful, though?'

This incarnation of his was currently separated from the other six. Their minds and memories would fuse once again after Sunny escaped Ariel's Game… but not before it. So even if his mind was infected by Corruption as a result of learning something he was not supposed to know, he could simply kill himself. That way, his other incarnations would never come in contact with the forbidden knowledge.

Kai frowned a little.

'What… are you thinking about?'

Sunny shrugged absentmindedly.

'Killing myself…'

Kai was suddenly standing very near, looking at him intensely.

'No, you mustn't!'

Sunny glanced at him in confusion.

'Huh?'

Kai grabbed his shoulders, a rattled expression on his face.

'You… we don't know each other that well, and I won't presume to know what scars lay hidden in your heart… but you must not, Sunny! In this world we live in, a human life can be lost in an instant. But that only makes it more precious - just like your life is precious, too…'

Sunny scowled.

'What are you on about, fool?'

Then, realizing how his words must have sounded to Kai, who could feel their sincerity, he winced.

'Oh, you misunderstood. I wasn't really thinking about killing myself… just this version of myself, should the need arise. It's not that big of an issue. Plus, this wouldn't even be the first or second time I killed myself. As you can see, I'm still perfectly alive!'

Kai stared at him silently for a while, then slowly let go of his shoulders, turned away, and coughed a couple of times.

'Oh. Oh, I see. Never mind, then.'

Then, his expression turned cold and wary, full of concerned apprehension.

Sunny sighed.

'This guy… such a handful, really!'

'Listen, why would I kill myself? I am filthy rich, drop-dead gorgeous, have an awesome castle, and my girlfriend is literally the most gorgeous woman in the world. Who would want to die and leave all that behind?'

Kai glanced at him and shook his head.

'No, it's not that. I just looked beyond the castle.'

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

'And?'

A dark expression appeared on Kai's face.

'Do you remember saying that we'll have to wait for the adversary to make the first move? Well…'

He sighed.

'I think they're making the move now…'

Shadow Slave
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Comments 58

  1. Offline
    Bobmelon
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Sunny should ask where the next weavers legacy is.
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  2. Offline
    AINZOOALGON
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Noice
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  3. Offline
    『 』 Hollow
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    'Salve Tejedor... Primogénito del Dios Olvidado.'
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  4. Offline
    Atlas
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    damn i hope he doesnt have to kill himself hes already down to 7 incarnations
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    1. Offline
      confused-reader2
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      Eh, he’d just reform the soul core and get his incarnation back. He’ll be fine
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  5. Online Offline
    usersayta2
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    Who else thinks that Snow Domain and Ash Domains very closely resemble Ravenheart with its volcanos fighting that other very cold region of Dream Realm from consuming it entirely
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  6. Offline
    ChaoticDestroyer
    + 4 ⋅ 1 -
    What if one of the truth is corruption?
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    1. Offline
      Grim Reader
      + 9 ⋅ 0 -
      This incarnation of his was currently separated from the other six. Their minds and memories would fuse once again after Sunny escaped Ariel's Game… but not before it. So even if his mind was infected by Corruption as a result of learning something he was not supposed to know, he could simply kill himself. That way, his other incarnations would never come in contact with the forbidden knowledge.

      FamilyGuy057
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  7. Offline
    Unholy_Titan
    + 10 ⋅ 0 -
    Sunny used to say Cassie and Beastmaster were the most beautiful people he's seen when he was a saint. So I guess Nephis becoming Supreme must have elevated her beauty lol
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  8. Offline
    Sumer
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    Kai is the most beautiful soul in the world, two worlds even.
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  9. Offline
    Bryan Templa
    + 0 ⋅ 25 -
    latest are f#cking bullshit, game mechanics is too confusing... sunny is showing stupidity, etc... what a disappointment..
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    1. Offline
      ArMiks
      + 14 ⋅ 1 -
      chill man, we're barely half a dozen chapters into the game, and sunny's basically groping his way directly into modded hardcore while skipping the vanilla tutorial. can't expect much with the situation he's in right now unless we wait for the rules to be fleshed out in the succeeding chapters
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  10. Offline
    Lucas Silva
    + 8 ⋅ 0 -


    2325 Crystal Hive



    Although Sunny insinuated that he was not going to join the battle, in truth, he knew that he would have to. His carefree demeanor was nothing but a facade.

    The situation was quite bleak.

    In the west, the enormous worm had finally emerged from the billowing wall of snow. Its massive head reached the ethereal glass bridge, and as its pale body rippled, the Cursed Beast speedily crawled across the abyss of gilded clouds. The clouds were painted in vibrant shades of gold and magenta, while the gossamer bridge glistened in the sunlight. The sight of it was as gorgeous as the Snow Worm was grotesque.

    Its massive body extended and extended from the snowstorm, already spanning several kilometers in length. And yet, Sunny still could not see its tail. In fact, he had a peculiar feeling that he might not see it at all, as if the Cursed One's body defied the concept of finality.

    As if the length of the ghastly Nightmare Creature was simply infinite, becoming as great as it needed to be. A Beast like that could probably devour the roots of an entire realm.
    And yet, Sunny felt far more pressured by the clockwork giant marching across the fantastical bridge of glasslike snow in the east. Now that the creature had drawn closer, he could discern a few details of its appearance. The giant did, indeed, look somewhat similar to the toy knights they had seen in the Jade Palace. However, that similarly was shallow.
    The Nightmare Creature was clearly a construct, its massive body assembled from wood, brass, and weathered hide, shaped to resemble a mighty warrior wearing a suit of heavy armor. Thousands of scars marred its surface, as if the giant had survived a myriad of terrifying battles, as if it had survived every war that had ever been waged, felling myriad enemies with its sword.
    The giant did not resemble a toy at all, if anything, it resembled a training dummy that had served some warmongering deity before coming alive and subsequently succumbing to Corruption. Maybe it had.
    The giant was marching across the bridge with measured, heavy steps, and even from a great distance, Sunny felt pressured by the unhurried inevitability of its approach. Luckily, the two Cursed Ones were heading for the two volcanoes that Kai and Slayer had abandoned.
    The detestable Ice Hive, however, was heading directly for the Ash Castle.

    By now, the first of the crystalline abominations were already emerging from the vast network of caves they had perforated the mountain with. Their transparent bodies seemed to ignite under the sun, shining with reflected light. The first few were already on the glass bridge - they stopped, shook the snow and ice of their crystal carapaces and then leaped into the air. Translucent wings unfurled behind them, glowing like golden panes of stained glass.

    As soon as the first of them rose into the air, its wing shattered, broken by Kai's arrow. The Nightmare Creature plummeted down, doomed to disappear into the sea of clouds - before it could, however, two of its kin swooped in, tearing the struggling beast apart and devouring its crystalline flesh. Sunny frowned.

    'Not quick enough.'
    Kai and Slayer were like a two-man… well, one man and one shadow lady… artillery battery. The amount of devastation two Transcendent archers could unleash was truly frightening. With each shot, hurricane winds rose and ravaged the slopes of the towering volcano, making the ground shake. Roaring thunderclaps tore apart the silence, making Sunny's ears ring.

    And they were rapid, too. When he imagined what the two of them could have done to the great alloy ramparts of Falcon Scott, he felt a chill run down his spine.

    Slayer rapidly killed several abominations, piercing their crystalline bodies without discrimination. Kai, however, had learned his lesson and tried to aim for more vulnerable spots, like the wings or the eyes. He managed to send a few insect-like Beasts plummeting into the clouds, as well - two of them were torn apart by their siblings, while the third landed on the ethereal bridge and scurried across its surface, only to die half a dozen moments later when Slayer's arrow pinned it to the glistening glass.

    Thinking back to the battle against Asuras of Condemnation, Sunny was surprised by how efficient the two archers were in slaying Great Beasts. And yet, their startling lethality was nowhere near enough to prevent the Ice Hive from reaching the volcano, let alone annihilate it. At best, they would dispose of a couple dozen of the eerily gorgeous crystalline abominations before being forced to engage them in melee.
    And once the swarm of Great Beasts descended upon them, they would be overwhelmed in a matter of moments.

    Sunny had to prevent that from happening. However, even Sunny himself was not sure that he could contend against scores of Great Beasts. Perhaps if he had his shadows with him and could amplify his body, he would have stood a better chance.

    Alone as he was, however, Sunny was only marginally stronger than each individual crystal Nightmare Creature. He had some advantages thanks to his Aspect, naturally, but while it was enough to face a dozen or two Great Beasts, fighting the entire hive could easily get him killed.

    'Fighting against overwhelming odds, a hair's breadth away from death… ah, how nostalgic…'

    Sunny's expression crumpled. He would rather not revisit this particular part of his tumultuous past. There had to be some trick, some strategy he could come up with.

    There was about half a minute left before the dwellers of the Ice Hive reached the volcano. Great Beasts could move with startling speed, but Kai and Slayer were aiming for the swiftest ones first - so, the abominations were slower to reach their target than they would have been otherwise.

    'I have thirty moments to come up with a plan.'

    Sunny began to craft another arrow and then rushed forward, grabbed Slayer, and pulled her into the shadows.

    'Kai, dodge!'

    Kai was already in the air by the time Sunny finished the sentence. In the next moment, the slope of the volcano exploded, drowning in vicious white radiance and incinerating heat.
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    1. Offline
      Lucas Silva
      + 7 ⋅ 0 -
      2326Attack and Defense





      Sunny was tossed out of the shadows and rolled across the melting rock, still holding Slayer in his embrace. A moment later, he pushed himself off the ground and carried both of them dozens of meters away, to safety.

      Kai was in the air, embers burning in his auburn hair. The bronze elements of his ivory armor had turned radiant on the left side, and wisps of smoke were rising from beneath his pauldron.

      There was a long scar left on the slope of the volcano. The layer of ash had been burned away, and the rock beneath had turned to lava, flowing down like a red river.

      'Hell…'

      Sunny came to his senses when Slayer's elbow connected with his ribs, pushing him away. A moment later, she was already drawing her bow without sparing him a look. Kai was doing the same in the air, using only the strength of his core to pull the string.

      Far away, the crystalline swarm was speedily devouring the distance between the snowy peak and the volcano. The insect-like abominations had assembled into an odd formation in the sky, their translucent wings almost touching each other.
      These wings were like lenses, focusing the light of the rising sun into a beam of pure white destruction. Each individual beast might not have been too dangerous, but when scores of them worked together… The defenders of the Ash Castle could very easily be turned to ash themselves.

      Sunny blinked a couple of times, appalled. It seemed like the crystalline nightmare creatures were not as easy as they looked.

      'Fifteen moments, perhaps.'

      Cursing under his breath, he called out:
      'Kai, are you alright?'

      The archer responded from above, his voice sober:


      It seemed that his words were both an answer and a command - as soon as he finished speaking, the fiery embers shining in his hair were extinguished, and the smoke rising from beneath his armor was blown away by the wind.

      Sunny smiled darkly. 'Keep dodging, then!'

      Another beam of incinerating light illuminated the slopes of the volcano, but this time, all three of them evaded out of the way in time. None of them were burned… however, Slayer and Kai had to slow down their barrage for a brief moment.

      Sunny frowned. 'Are we actually going to die here?'

      Even if they had more time, Kai was running out of arrows. Slayer, meanwhile, was recalling hers - but each one took some time to return.

      After all, these arrows were not Memories. Unlike Saint, Slayer could not summon and dismiss Memories, so her armaments were merely enchanted in ingenious ways to resemble them. Her bow could turn into a slender chain and wrap itself around her arm like a vambrace, while her quiver was enchanted to summon arrows back through a special spatial storage.
      Actually, quite a fascinating piece of sorcery went into marking the arrows and connecting them to the hidden dimensional layer of the quiver, as well as into making sure that they could be summoned back from a distance… But Sunny had no time to admire his own handiwork at the moment.

      He hesitated for a split second, then glanced into the shadows. What Sunny wanted to do was reach his hand into them and retrieve the corpse of the first Great Beast that Slayer had killed, which was still laying on the slope of the distant mountain. However, as he moved faintly to do just that, he suddenly was overwhelmed by a cold, dreadful sensation. It was as if something vast and frightening was looking back at him from the shadows, warning him to stay back.
      'What… is going on?'

      Sunny was startled. This was the first time he had felt something like that… the dark expanse of shadow was supposed to be his home, so encountering something far deadlier than him there was an unwelcome novelty.
      It almost felt as if a titanic tentacle would rise from the darkness to grasp him if he dared to step foot or even lay a finger on the snowy mountain.

      'Are we prohibited from attacking the enemy peak?'

      Why would the being hiding beneath the clouds allow their arrows to land, but forbid them from moving across the sea of clouds personally?
      Sunny shifted his reasoning, forcing himself to think about what was happening as a game.

      The Snow Domain was attacking, so the Ash Domain was defending? That made a peculiar kind of essence.

      Shooting at the attackers was considered an act of defense, but moving to the snowy peak seemed to be against the rules.
      'What happened to offense being the best defense, though?'
      Sunny's gaze turned darker.
      While he was considering what to do next, Kai and Slayer had managed to slay a dozen more abominations. The crystalline beasts were quite near by now - enough so that Sunny could actually see shattered crystals and ancient bones resting inside their transparent bellies.
      If there was one good piece of news, it was that the insect-like abominations had dove under the clouds of ash by now. The rising sun was obscured by the dark clouds, so there were no devastating beams of focused sunlight blasting the slope of the volcano anymore. Still, time was short.
      Sunny inhaled deeply, preparing himself for the battle.

      'Hey, Kai! Remember how I said that our castle was absolutely horrible?'
      Kai landed on the ground near him, sliding on the ash and nocking another arrow on the string.


      Sunny glanced at the approaching swarm of Great Beasts and smiled.

      'I changed my mind! Let's retreat into the castle, right now!'

      Kai sent his arrow flying, looked at him briefly, then shot toward the Ash Castle without saying another word. Slayer followed, rushing into the caldera with breathtaking speed.

      For a few seconds, Sunny was left alone on the pinnacle of the fuming volcano, looking at the swarm of Snow Beasts chillingly.

      'Weaver, you bastard…'

      Had Weaver known that someone would come to retrieve a part of their Legacy from Ariel's Game, one day? They had to - otherwise, it wouldn't have been hidden here in the first place.

      So why the hell couldn't that damned daemon make retrieving their Legacy a little easier?

      Cursing the Demon of Fate, Sunny called upon the shadows. In the next moment, hundreds of long spikes grew from the slope of the volcano, each ending in an awfully sharp tip.

      And then, all of them shot into the dark sky, rising to meet the descending swarm like a welcoming salvo.

      Using the barrage of shadows as a cover, Sunny retreated toward the Ash Castle.
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    2. Online Offline
      Mitch
      + 0 ⋅ 5 -
      But not 2323 or 2324?
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      1. Offline
        Ашидо
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Below
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