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Chapter 2334: Bitter Solitude
Shadow Slave

As Sunny worked, Kai remained silent for a while, resting. It did not seem like he was ready to sleep, and there was nothing really for him to do on the barren volcano. The charming archer glanced at the walls of the crumbling fortress for a while - or rather, through them. He was observing their enemies, most likely.

The remaining Crystal Wasps, the snow worm, the clockwork giant… 'Stop staring at the frightening Nightmare Creatures, Kai. That will only wind up more, not help you recover.'

Kai slowly glanced away from whatever horror he was observing and focused on Sunny. Eventually, he asked:

'That is a strange form of sorcery. I don't think I've ever seen anyone enchant something in that way before.'

Sunny nodded.

'I don't think there's anyone else capable of performing this form of sorcery in the world, anymore. I'm the only one.'

Kai had to have an idea of what his Aspect Abilities were. So, he would know that creating Memories was a skill Sunny possessed, not an Ability. The charming archer glanced at him with interest.

'How did you learn it?'

Sunny responded without looking up, his six hands forming the spellweave inside the black bow, one string of shadow essence at a time. 'Oh. One of my Attributes allows me to see the spellweave of Memories, while another one allows me to touch it. One time… I was in a pretty desperate situation. So I figured out how to create a rudimentary Memory to escape it.'

He smiled faintly.

'Then, it was just a lot of research, study, and experimentation. I slowly taught myself how to do more by watching what the Spell does.'

He glanced at Kai briefly.

'What about you? You seem to be perfectly suited for Shaping, with that Aspect of yours. Have you not tried to master it?'

Kai chuckled.

'Oh… I tried. I seem to be a special case, though. Some people have a talent for Shaping, while some people don't. What I have, however, is negative talent.'

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

'How so?'

Kai shrugged with a smile.'Because of my Aspect, the True Names I invoke are extremely powerful. In exchange, however, it is especially difficult for me to master them… Lady Nephis thinks that it's the way for the world to balance things out.'

He sighed.

'I can't even speak the Names as a human - at least not yet. I can invoke them pretty easily as a dragon, though, almost as if a dragon's maw is meant to bellow them. But it's of no use, really, since I can barely keep the Names in my mind. Even after years of effort, I've only mastered a meager few.'

Sunny contemplated his words for a few seconds. 'I'm not buying that someone like you is not meant to be a Shaper. Maybe you just have not met the condition to master the Sorcery of Names, yet. Things will probably change dramatically when you reach a higher Rank. Alternatively… it might be connected to your Aspect Legacy. Or not. You have not received it yet, have you?'

Kai shook his head.

'No. But I don't see how an Aspect Legacy can help me become a better sorcerer. Aren't Legacy Relics usually just powerful Memories?'

Sunny chuckled.

'Usually, yes. But not always. Oh, and technically, Legacy Relics do not need to be powerful - they just need to complement your Aspect greatly.'

He pointed to himself with one of his forty - two fingers.

'Take me, for example. My Aspect Legacy is actually a… skillset, of sorts. I developed it myself, but the Spell had helped me take the first step - or rather, take it faster. It also used to reward me with Relics when I reached certain milestones. Then there is Nephis, whose Aspect Legacy is based in understanding, and who is rewarded for it with nothing except knowledge.'

He returned to weaving the strings of shadow essence.

'So even though most Aspect Legacies are indeed Memories, or more rarely Echoes, not all of them are.'

They remained silent for a while. At some point, however, Kai studied him with a neutral expression and asked tentatively:

'Sunny… can I ask you something?'

Sunny nodded while keeping his focus on the black blow.

Kai hesitated for a few seconds.

'Before… you told me that my survival would depend on my companions, while their survival would depend on me. That no one survives in the Dream Realm alone.'

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

'So I did.'

Kai lingered for a while.

'But you were living in Godgrave all alone when we met. A solitary Saint, all alone in the world. Did… did you speak from experience, or was it simply common wisdom?'

Sunny smiled faintly.

A Saint… a Saint was someone who had braved the Dream Realm and conquered three Nightmares. As far as Sunny knew, there was only one person who had conquered the Third Nightmare alone - the Princess of War, Morgan of Valor.

Kai seemed to be curious about his previous solitude. He sighed.

'I spoke from experience. I had someone to depend on, too, in the past. I had companions.'

'You were one of them, dummy.'

Kai glanced at him mournfully, not saying anything… and yet, it seemed like he wanted Sunny to say more. Sunny chuckled.

'Well, it did not end well.'

He picked up one more soul shard and placed it into the weave, carefully anchoring innumerable strings of essence to it.

'It did not end well because I betrayed my companions, and lost them. I want to say that I had a good reason to abandon them… maybe I did… but in the end, it was a selfish reason. I am a very selfish person, Kai. I am a very greedy person as well. My selfish greed was my undoing.'

What would have happened if Sunny had stayed with his cohort and faced the First Seeker with them? If he had made a different wish? Would it have been for the best? Or would he have spent the rest of his days living in regret? Had he made an unforgivable mistake? He did not know.

He did know that he regretted losing his companions bitterly, though. Some days, it felt too bitter to endure.

Kai shook his head slowly.

'You do not look like someone who is undone, Sunny.'

There was some truth to that, Sunny was a Sovereign, after all.

He glanced at Kai and smiled.

'Looks can be deceiving.'

Shadow Slave
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  1. Offline
    Pro100zver25
    + 13 ⋅ 0 -
    Chapter — 2335: Changing Shadow.

    After that, the conversation fizzled out. Sunny focused on weaving, while Kai tactfully gave him some space.

    “This is a bit tricky.”

    Sunny had done quite a bit of weaving in his life, but he could not remember ever having to enchant something on such a strict deadline. One day was really not enough to create something worthy, but he put great effort into arming Kai as best he could.

    He also decided to design a set of enchantments for the bow that could be implemented in stages. That was a new approach for him and required a different way of creating a weave. But if Sunny succeeded here, he could potentially save himself a lot of trouble in the future.

    After all, up until now, he always had to complete the entire weave in one go — otherwise, the unfinished pattern of shadow strings would quickly collapse as soon as Sunny released his hold on it. If he could come up with a way to prevent that from happening, he would have far fewer headaches while tackling truly complicated enchantments.

    Necessity was truly the mother of invention.

    Still, Sunny felt hurried and tense while working on the bow.

    “Poor mortals… they must be struggling every day… Unthinkable!”

    Sunny scoffed, remembering his own struggles vaguely. He had grown accustomed to controlling several bodies at the same time a while ago, so the very idea of only possessing one seemed strange now. Not to mention the idea of only perceiving the world through one vessel…

    Sunny had been experiencing the world through many points of view for the past year. Suddenly finding himself all alone in his own head felt both comforting and disconcerting.

    …It was through this feeling of strangeness that he realized how far from being a human he had strayed without ever fully realizing it. Sunny knew that he was a shadow now, not a human being — but that was merely a difference of form.

    Here in Ariel's Game, however, he had no choice but to admit that his very mind was growing further and further apart from that of a human. It had nothing to do with becoming numb to human emotions, like what Nephis had experienced due to the agony of her Flaw, and more with… the nature of his consciousness itself.

    But then again, maybe it was not that different after all, on the fundamental level.

    Was it merely a matter of repetition? Sunny remembered how vivid and horrifying his first encounter with an Abomination had been. But after facing and slaying a myriad of them, he barely felt anything when encountering yet another ghastly horror. He had grown calloused to their presence.

    The same held true for human experiences. People naturally changed as they grew older and accumulated calluses on their hearts… the emotions of a wisened old man were deeply different from the feelings of a child, for whom every occasion was new and exciting.

    At the same time, there was a natural limit to a human's lifespan, as well as to the number of events they could experience at any given time.

    But what if that limit was removed?

    What if a human could live for a thousand years while experiencing a thousand different perspectives? How different would the mind of such a being become, and would it still be even remotely human?

    Sunny sighed.

    “I'm changing.”

    He was still young, and he had already changed so much. What kind of person would he become in a decade?

    The fact that his consciousness was slowly transforming to resemble that of a deity was both a promising sign and an eerie omen. It was good to know that he was well on his way to Apotheosis, but still…

    Sunny had already seen Supreme humans who had lost most, if not all, of their humanity. The example of Anvil and Ki Song was right in front of his eyes, and they were both hateful. He hoped that he would never become callous and indifferent to human suffering like they had. That he would not change that much.

    “Ah. I miss my True Name, as well.”

    A True Name was meant to serve as an anchor of one's self. Without it, the promise of unending change seemed frightening.

    That said… even in the throes of unease, Sunny knew that some things about him would never change.

    For example, his love for Nephis.

    The two of them had been separated numerous times — by the conflicting nature of their values and beliefs, by the boundaries separating different worlds, by the fatal depths of political strife, and even by fate itself.

    And yet, despite it all, they still always ended up together. Nothing had been able to pull them apart yet, and he knew that nothing would ever be able to pull them apart in the future, either.

    That was one constant in his tumultuous life.

    “Funny.”

    Maybe she was his anchor, as well.

    Taking a deep sigh, he forced his six hands to move even faster.

    In the end, he succeeded in placing the first enchantment on Kai's bow, as well as crafting two powerful arrows from the crystal shards. He even managed to enchant the charming archer's quiver.

    It was a good start…

    And there was still some time left before sunset.

    Turning his head, Sunny glanced at the altar standing at the heart of the Ash Castle.

    And at the jade figure of a Snow Beast laying on it.

    His eyes narrowed.

    “Shall I?”

    Letting Kai experiment with his improved bow and new arrows, Sunny rose from the ash and walked over to the altar. Slayer followed behind, her steps soft and quiet.

    Picking up the figure of the Snow Beast, Sunny hesitated for a while.

    How about learning why the world had ended?

    Taking a deep breath, he focused on what he wanted to learn and tossed the jade beast into the billowing smoke.
    Read more
    1. Offline
      Pro100zver25
      + 11 ⋅ 0 -
      Chapter — 2336: A Strange Truth.

      The sun was rising above the wine — dark sea. Its gentle rays caressed an island where white stones were drowning in the verdant grass, and colorful flowers blossomed in the pleasant heat.

      A forest covered the slopes of the island like a carpet, and at its highest point, a woman was resting in the shade of an olive tree.

      She wore a knee — length chiton, its pristine fabric as white as snow, with a deer's skin tied around her shoulders. Her hair was cut short, held back by a simple leather band. Her gaze was calm and sober.

      As the woman rested, a doe emerged from the forest. Instead of being scared of the human, it approached her tentatively and lowered itself to the ground, resting its head on her lap. The woman lowered her hand to caress the wild doe gently, her fingers drowning in the soft fur.

      Then, she suddenly turned her head and glanced at the sea, its surface rising and falling tumultuously.

      Far away, a sail appeared from beyond the horizon. A ship was approaching the island, struggling against the waves. The wind had brought a storm, and with it came the guests.

      —— —— ——

      Three people disembarked from the ship — an old man, a warrior carrying a round shield, and a child with red hair. They made their way along the winding path and approached an old shrine.

      Its walls were built of white marble, with rose vines covering them like a cloak. An altar stood in front of the shrine, with fire burning in a stone bowl.

      The old man made an offering to the altar, placing fresh grapes, leaves of laurel, and hawk feathers on its weathered surface. Finally, he burned incense in the bowl and stepped back, kneeling reverently on the ground.

      «Auro!»

      The boy flinched away and stumbled, his lips trembling.

      «Let him have it.»

      The woman's voice resounded from the other side of the altar. She appeared without making any noise, as if by magic.

      The forest seemed more alive in her presence, and roses suddenly bloomed on the vines behind her.

      The boy froze, looking at her with wide eyes. The old man lowered himself to the ground, while the warrior bowed deeply.

      «Why are you here?»

      The old man straightened and glanced at the woman with awe.

      «A Supreme Beast is rampaging on the northern borders of our kingdom. The Mountain Gate is no more, and several cities have already been ravaged. We've come to beseech you, as a hero, to defend our lands once more.»

      The woman's gorgeous face remained expressionless.

      «Is there no warrior left in the kingdom to defeat a rampaging beast?»

      The warrior glanced away in shame.

      The old man, meanwhile, smiled wistfully.

      «There are those who can kill the beast, my lady. However, only you can stop its rampage without spilling blood.»

      The woman remained silent for a while, then turned away without saying a word and disappeared into the shrine.

      A few minutes later, she returned carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows, a leather bracer fastened on her forearm. The old man shifted and glanced at her with glee.

      «Our ship…»

      But she simply shook her head.

      «No need.»

      She picked up a hawk's feather from the altar, glanced at it silently, and then threw it into the fire. A moment later, two wings like those of a hawk unfolded from her back, sunlight pouring through the brown feathers.

      The woman fastened the quiver to her belt and stretched her wings, preparing to take flight. Before that, however, she lingered for a few seconds.

      Taking the grapes from the altar, she offered them to the boy, and then awkwardly patted him on the head.

      «Don't let your elders kneel in your stead, boy.»

      A second later, her graceful figure soared into the air. The boy was left on the ground, looking at the sky with wonder in his eyes.

      —— —— ——

      A mountain chain lay in ruins.

      Beyond the broken cliffs and fractured land, pillars of smoke were rising into the sky from a devastated city.

      And on the plain in front of it…

      A huge boar lay on the ground, dead, a flood of crimson blood flowing from its wounds like a river. Its carcass was like a towering hill, and the woman who stood below it glanced like an ant in its shadow.

      Her quiver was empty, and her face was concerned.

      She inhaled deeply, then grimaced, as if appalled by something.

      The woman crouched faintly and leapt high into the air, landing on the dead beast's snout. She ascended its corpse like one would a mountain, eventually reaching the huge boar's vast back. There, hidden by the coarse fur, hundreds of great javelins bristled like a palisade, their metal corroded and covered in rust.

      The woman grasped one of the javelins and pulled it out of the dead beast's flesh, then studied it with a frown. A few seconds later, she frowned.

      «Imperial steel?»

      Her expression darkened.

      Turning north, she glanced at the crumbled mountains. Where a narrow mountain pass had been, now there was a wide valley. An impregnable gorge had turned into an open road.

      A shadow fell on the woman's clear eyes…
      And with that, Sunny found himself back in the Ash Castle. He gasped, then swayed faintly, disoriented for a moment.

      “What? What the…”

      Which of his questions was this truth supposed to answer? He wanted to know how the world had ended, not how a strange woman had slain a rampaging Supreme Beast.

      And more than that…

      “Auro?! Auro of the damn Nine?!”

      Now that was a blast from the past.

      As Sunny spat the name of the young imperial soldier he had killed once, in his First Nightmare, Slayer shifted faintly behind him. Turning around, he glanced at her veiled face, then studied her graceful figure.

      «That… that was a scene from your past, wasn't it?»

      Slayer tilted her head, looking at him expressionlessly.

      Sunny stared at his Shadow for a few seconds, then glanced away.

      “Right. She doesn't know what truth was revealed to me, and on top of that, she doesn't even remember her own past.”

      And even if the truth Ariel's Game had shown him was about Slayer… technically, it was not her past. Because Slayer was not the woman from the vision he had been shown, but a Shadow Creature born from the woman's shadow instead, long after the woman died.

      Still…

      There must have been a reason why Ariel's Vision had given him this truth, and not any other.

      The scene must have been important, somehow.

      As important as two daemons meeting in the middle of the Doom War.

      …If it was, however, Sunny had no idea why.

      “No… it's fine.”

      There were twelve more Snow Abominations for him to slay, and twelve more truths for him to uncover. One of those should hold the answer he sought.
      Read more
      1. Offline
        zigzagzarf
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        wonder if that means slayer knows some new kinda sorcery involving fire since that's how she grew wings
        Read more
      2. Offline
        Lost_From_Maidens
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Arua of the nine
        Read more
    2. Offline
      Farooq ahmed
      + 0 ⋅ 1 -
      First of all
      Hey dude thanks for the chapters
      What I want to say is that you replace " and ' with « which is good but it confuses what sunny is saying inwardly and outwards can you please, 🥺 replace ' with something else to lessen the confusion
      thanks ❤️
      Read more
  2. Offline
    DanielPlay
    + 7 ⋅ 0 -
    Chapter - 2335: Changing Shadow


    After that, the conversation fizzled out. Sunny focused on weaving, while Kai tactfully gave him some space.

    'This is a bit tricky.' Sunny had done quite a bit of weaving in his life, but he could not remember ever having to enchant something on such a strict deadline. One day was really not enough to create something worthy, but he put great effort into arming Kai as best he could.

    He also decided to design a set of enchantments for the bow that could be implemented in stages. That was a new approach for him and required a different way of creating a weave. But if Sunny succeeded here, he could potentially save himself a lot of trouble in the future.

    After all, up until now, he always had to complete the entire weave in one go - otherwise, the unfinished pattern of shadow strings would quickly collapse as soon as Sunny released his hold on it. If he could come up with a way to prevent that from happening, he would have far fewer headaches while tackling truly complicated enchantments.

    Necessity was truly the mother of invention.

    Still, Sunny felt hurried and tense while working on the bow.

    'I miss my shadows…' Having one paltry body to work with felt stifling. It was really quite frustrating… how did people even manage to live their entire lives in such an inconvenient way?

    'Poor mortals… they must be struggling every day…' Unthinkable!

    Sunny scoffed, remembering his own struggles vaguely. He had grown accustomed to controlling several bodies at the same time a while ago, so the very idea of only possessing one seemed strange now. Not to mention the idea of only perceiving the world through one vessel…

    Sunny had been experiencing the world through many points of view for the past year. Suddenly finding himself all alone in his own head felt both comforting and disconcerting.

    …It was through this feeling of strangeness that he realized how far from being a human he had strayed without ever fully realizing it. Sunny knew that he was a shadow now, not a human being - but that was merely a difference of form.

    Here in Ariel's Game, however, he had no choice but to admit that his very mind was growing further and further apart from that of a human. It had nothing to do with becoming numb to human emotions, like what Nephis had experienced due to the agony of her Flaw, and more with… the nature of his consciousness itself.

    But then again, maybe it was not that different after all, on the fundamental level.

    Was it merely a matter of repetition? Sunny remembered how vivid and horrifying his first encounter with an Abomination had been. But after facing and slaying a myriad of them, he barely felt anything when encountering yet another ghastly horror. He had grown calloused to their presence.

    The same held true for human experiences. People naturally changed as they grew older and accumulated calluses on their hearts… the emotions of a wisened old man were deeply different from the feelings of a child, for whom every occasion was new and exciting.

    At the same time, there was a natural limit to a human's lifespan, as well as to the number of events they could experience at any given time.

    But what if that limit was removed?

    What if a human could live for a thousand years while experiencing a thousand different perspectives? How different would the mind of such a being become, and would it still be even remotely human?

    Sunny sighed.

    'I'm changing.' He was still young, and he had already changed so much. What kind of person would he become in a decade?

    The fact that his consciousness was slowly transforming to resemble that of a deity was both a promising sign and an eerie omen. It was good to know that he was well on his way to Apotheosis, but still…

    Sunny had already seen Supreme humans who had lost most, if not all, of their humanity. The example of Anvil and Ki Song was right in front of his eyes, and they were both hateful. He hoped that he would never become callous and indifferent to human suffering like they had. That he would not change that much.

    'Ah. I miss my True Name, as well.' A True Name was meant to serve as an anchor of one's self. Without it, the promise of unending change seemed frightening.

    That said… even in the throes of unease, Sunny knew that some things about him would never change.

    For example, his love for Nephis.

    The two of them had been separated numerous times - by the conflicting nature of their values and beliefs, by the boundaries separating different worlds, by the fatal depths of political strife, and even by fate itself.

    And yet, despite it all, they still always ended up together. Nothing had been able to pull them apart yet, and he knew that nothing would ever be able to pull them apart in the future, either.

    That was one constant in his tumultuous life.

    'Funny.'

    Sunny thought of himself as an anchor that kept Nephis tethered to humanity.

    Maybe she was his anchor, as well.

    Taking a deep sigh, he forced his six hands to move even faster.

    In the end, he succeeded in placing the first enchantment on Kai's bow, as well as crafting two powerful arrows from the crystal shards. He even managed to enchant the charming archer's quiver.

    It was a good start…

    And there was still some time left before sunset.

    Turning his head, Sunny glanced at the altar standing at the heart of the Ash Castle.

    And at the jade figure of a Snow Beast laying on it.

    His eyes narrowed.

    'Shall I?'

    Letting Kai experiment with his improved bow and new arrows, Sunny rose from the ash and walked over to the altar. Slayer followed behind, her steps soft and quiet.

    Picking up the figure of the Snow Beast, Sunny hesitated for a while.

    'I wonder what truth I will learn this time.'

    How about learning why the world had ended?

    Taking a deep breath, he focused on what he wanted to learn and tossed the jade beast into the billowing smoke.
    Read more
    1. Offline
      DanielPlay
      + 5 ⋅ 0 -
      Chapter - 2336: A Strange Truth


      The sun was rising above the wine - dark sea. Its gentle rays caressed an island where white stones were drowning in the verdant grass, and colorful flowers blossomed in the pleasant heat.

      A forest covered the slopes of the island like a carpet, and at its highest point, a woman was resting in the shade of an olive tree.

      She wore a knee - length chiton, its pristine fabric as white as snow, with a deer's skin tied around her shoulders. Her hair was cut short, held back by a simple leather band. Her gaze was calm and sober.

      As the woman rested, a doe emerged from the forest. Instead of being scared of the human, it approached her tentatively and lowered itself to the ground, resting its head on her lap. The woman lowered her hand to caress the wild doe gently, her fingers drowning in the soft fur.

      Then, she suddenly turned her head and glanced at the sea, its surface rising and falling tumultuously.

      Far away, a sail appeared from beyond the horizon. A ship was approaching the island, struggling against the waves. The wind had brought a storm, and with it came the guests.

      ***

      Three people disembarked from the ship - an old man, a warrior carrying a round shield, and a child with red hair. They made their way along the winding path and approached an old shrine.

      The shrine was neither grand nor magnificent, but it emanated a feeling of solemn holiness.

      Its walls were built of white marble, with rose vines covering them like a cloak. An altar stood in front of the shrine, with fire burning in a stone bowl.

      The old man made an offering to the altar, placing fresh grapes, leaves of laurel, and hawk feathers on its weathered surface. Finally, he burned incense in the bowl and stepped back, kneeling reverently on the ground.

      The warrior stood behind him, leaning on his spear. The child, meanwhile, furtively reached his little hand to snatch the grapes. Shocked, the old man slapped the boy's hand away.

      'Auro!' The boy flinched away and stumbled, his lips trembling.

      'Let him have it.'

      The woman's voice resounded from the other side of the altar. She appeared without making any noise, as if by magic.

      The forest seemed more alive in her presence, and roses suddenly bloomed on the vines behind her.

      The boy froze, looking at her with wide eyes. The old man lowered himself to the ground, while the warrior bowed deeply.

      'Why are you here?'

      The old man straightened and glanced at the woman with awe.

      'My lady… I bring news of woe.' She regarded him silently, making the old man continue:

      'A Supreme Beast is rampaging on the northern borders of our kingdom. The Mountain Gate is no more, and several cities have already been ravaged. We've come to beseech you, as a hero, to defend our lands once more.'

      The woman's gorgeous face remained expressionless.

      'Is there no warrior left in the kingdom to defeat a rampaging beast?'

      The warrior glanced away in shame.

      The old man, meanwhile, smiled wistfully.

      'There are those who can kill the beast, my lady. However, only you can stop its rampage without spilling blood.' The woman remained silent for a while, then turned away without saying a word and disappeared into the shrine.

      A few minutes later, she returned carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows, a leather bracer fastened on her forearm. The old man shifted and glanced at her with glee.

      'Our ship…'

      But she simply shook her head.

      'No need.' She picked up a hawk's feather from the altar, glanced at it silently, and then threw it into the fire. A moment later, two wings like those of a hawk unfolded from her back, sunlight pouring through the brown feathers.

      The woman fastened the quiver to her belt and stretched her wings, preparing to take flight. Before that, however, she lingered for a few seconds.

      Taking the grapes from the altar, she offered them to the boy, and then awkwardly patted him on the head.

      'Don't let your elders kneel in your stead, boy.' A second later, her graceful figure soared into the air. The boy was left on the ground, looking at the sky with wonder in his eyes.

      ***

      A mountain chain lay in ruins.

      Beyond the broken cliffs and fractured land, pillars of smoke were rising into the sky from a devastated city.

      And on the plain in front of it…

      A huge boar lay on the ground, dead, a flood of crimson blood flowing from its wounds like a river. Its carcass was like a towering hill, and the woman who stood below it glanced like an ant in its shadow.

      Her quiver was empty, and her face was concerned.

      She inhaled deeply, then grimaced, as if appalled by something.

      'Poison…'

      The woman crouched faintly and leapt high into the air, landing on the dead beast's snout. She ascended its corpse like one would a mountain, eventually reaching the huge boar's vast back. There, hidden by the coarse fur, hundreds of great javelins bristled like a palisade, their metal corroded and covered in rust.

      The woman grasped one of the javelins and pulled it out of the dead beast's flesh, then studied it with a frown. A few seconds later, she frowned.

      'Imperial steel?'

      Her expression darkened.

      Turning north, she glanced at the crumbled mountains. Where a narrow mountain pass had been, now there was a wide valley. An impregnable gorge had turned into an open road.

      A shadow fell on the woman's clear eyes…

      And with that, Sunny found himself back in the Ash Castle. He gasped, then swayed faintly, disoriented for a moment.

      'What? What the…'

      Which of his questions was this truth supposed to answer? He wanted to know how the world had ended, not how a strange woman had slain a rampaging Supreme Beast.

      And more than that…

      'Auro?! Auro of the damn Nine?!'

      Now that was a blast from the past.

      As Sunny spat the name of the young imperial soldier he had killed once, in his First Nightmare, Slayer shifted faintly behind him. Turning around, he glanced at her veiled face, then studied her graceful figure.

      'That… that was a scene from your past, wasn't it?'

      Slayer tilted her head, looking at him expressionlessly.

      Sunny stared at his Shadow for a few seconds, then glanced away.

      'Right. She doesn't know what truth was revealed to me, and on top of that, she doesn't even remember her own past.' And even if the truth Ariel's Game had shown him was about Slayer… technically, it was not her past. Because Slayer was not the woman from the vision he had been shown, but a Shadow Creature born from the woman's shadow instead, long after the woman died.

      Still…

      There must have been a reason why Ariel's Vision had given him this truth, and not any other.

      The scene must have been important, somehow.

      As important as two daemons meeting in the middle of the Doom War.

      …If it was, however, Sunny had no idea why.

      He took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress his frustration, then slowly regained his composure.

      'No… it's fine.' There were twelve more Snow Abominations for him to slay, and twelve more truths for him to uncover. One of those should hold the answer he sought.
      Read more
      1. Offline
        DanielPlay
        + 4 ⋅ 0 -
        I don't usually post chapters, but since the heroes who edit and post here in the comments don't appear, I decided to post them myself.
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          zigzagzarf
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          thanks
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    Mando_03
    + 3 ⋅ 2 -
    new chapters on novel+bin
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    1. Offline
      zigzagzarf
      + 1 ⋅ 5 -
      well post them here than
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        Mando_03
        + 2 ⋅ 1 -
        well move your a** and go to read them
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    Borderline Coffee Addict
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    At least the last few chapters explores the human side of Sunny, just like the rest of us, the up's and down's in life, the path we never took or should take, thinking what if?
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    alex silent
    + 0 ⋅ 5 -
    BTW, the Spell can create memories, and Sunny can do it in the same way. The Spell can also help people awaken/ascend/etc. Does it mean that Sunny can turn common people into awakened too? Maybe this kind of power he will get after apotheosis?
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      ArMiks
      + 5 ⋅ 0 -
      no, at least not in the way you're thinking of.

      spell weaving is a form of sorcery created by weaver which is incorporated into the spell, and inherited by sunny through weaver's bloodline. it isn't an ability exclusive to him, but a skill sunny learned. it is a sorcery the same as shaping and runes.

      as for allowing mundanes to awaken and ascend, he didn't discover the method, as there are records of ascension before the emergence of the spell, as evidenced by eurys not knowing what the spell is. sunny merely rediscovered the normal way ancient people awakened that was lost when the divine realms were overrun by the corruption, and the spell was implemented. the spell is a crutch created to assist in the awakening seen in the comparison of the requirements and conditions of rain's awakening and the regular awakened assisted by the spell.

      anyone who knows the method to manually awaken and ascend can do so, which is what nephis and cassie are doing in the previous chapter. they are spreading the method used by rain. the major difference between spell awakening and manual one is that the spell is already systematized and ordered - one merely needs to pass the spell's test thru the nightmare and the person awakens or ascends at the end, regardless of whether they know the process or not. while manual awakening process has been lost thru time so a trailblazer needs find the proper paths again, including the process and detours.
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        alex silent
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        I was thinking about forced awakening like in "Supreme Magus".
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          ArMiks
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          sunny's method isn't forced awakening. it is actually the original method of awakening during the ancient times, which was lost during the advent of corruption and fall of civilizations.

          the nightmare spell was created as a faster alternative method of ascension, similar to printing awakened by the dozen. the spell does all, if not most, of the heavy lifting, plus the assistance of memories, echoes, and legacy items. all the aspirant has to do is survive and accomplish the requirements of their current nightmare and they will immediately awaken. no need to learn sensing their essence, or learn moving it. no need to learn how to access their core, or identify their aspects and flaws. everything is provided by the spell. if anything, the spell is the one which would be considered as forced awakening
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    Earthly Desert Fox
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    But there was no magic that granted wishes, and Weaver probably left this legend until someone came along and let the thief bird steal his destiny and break fate.
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    Sdwer
    + 1 ⋅ 3 -
    who do u need? who do u love? when u come undone^
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      Smash_Venerable
      + 6 ⋅ 1 -
      Damn, this case looks severe. Need to call Audrey or even Adam for this one.
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        orangetanktop
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        the best therapists ever to exist
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    Smash_Venerable
    + 15 ⋅ 0 -
    I'm still waiting for G3 to show Neph's runes. I'm curious how Spell interprets a Natural Ascension.
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    drodyakov
    + 9 ⋅ 5 -
    I don't understand why Sunny feels sorry. I would understand the logic if he couldn't contact his friends at all, he can. Friends with Kai and others, love with Nefis. Yes, it's not like before, but it's always better than the alternative to being a SLAVE.
    Getting rid of fate was Sunny's best decision in his live.
    Cassie respect
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      Mr.Rogers
      + 6 ⋅ 3 -
      But it is wrong for a shadow to be without his master... And he is indeed a shadow.
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      Earthly Desert Fox
      + 5 ⋅ 0 -
      Don't forget his real name, "Lost from Light." Breaking fate and living in the darkness of civilization where no one remembers him, this is his destiny, and this played a vital role in the conspiracy against the previous kings.
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      seeNovel
      + 4 ⋅ 1 -
      Honestly I think it's important to understand that Nephis not once abused her power over him, in fact the only times she used it was to save his life (when she first becomes his master and when he uses Daeron's crown) he was her slave but in name only. He was (and still is to a lesser extent) obsessed with his own freedom to the point he destroyed the bonds of everyone he ever knew and although he could make new bonds they would never be the same as before unless he reclaims his fate. It's his character arc to be able to place his very life into the hands of someone he can trust and to learn to trust because he grew up in the slums not being able to trust anybody so him trusting someone is the ultimate growth (also the reason his Flaw is telling the truth, it went against everything he stood for and thus forced him to grow not just in being able to craft better lies but to learn to trust)
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        Earthly Desert Fox
        + 1 ⋅ 4 -
        Stockholm Syndrome
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      SAILOR
      + 0 ⋅ 1 -
      This is the most braindead take i've seen
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      Bandupkyy
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      He feels sorry because his friends don’t remember him, yea he knows them now but the connection isn’t the same(if that wasn’t obvious) yes he and nephis are in a relationship but the connection isn’t as strong as it would be. He literally doesn’t even get to talk to jet and this is the first time he’s gotten to talk to Kai this much in a long time.
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    PhantomGira
    + 8 ⋅ 0 -
    Sunny laid off on teasing Kai this chapter...
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