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Chapter 2774: First Symptoms
Shadow Slave

Instead of simply hiding in Rain's shadow, Sunny wrapped himself around her body to augment her. Godgrave might have been somewhat safer now, but it was still more or less a Death Zone — with other people around, he could not use his powers freely, which meant that his sister could use an additional layer of protection.

Letting out a sigh, she summoned her bow and a quiver. Then, she began walking east. Before too long, the mighty merchant caravan had caught up with her. Enormous Echoes were pulling rolling fortresses across the Road of Shadows, each of the scarred wagons protected by several cohorts of seasoned Awakened warriors. The procession looked fearsome, and the head Echo especially so — the Master in charge of the caravan was riding on its head, and was now looking at Rain.

She walked to the side of the road and waved at him.

"Greetings!"

The Master gave her a suspicious look. "Greetings. You startled me, girl... what is a young Awakened like you doing in Godgrave alone? Walking through the darkness with no lantern to light the way, on top of that.” Skinwalker was gone, but people were still wary of strangers met on the road. This Master, too, was on edge.

Rain simply grinned.

"My cohort decided to challenge a Nightmare, but I chose to stay back. So, I am walking to Red Hill by my lonesome now. And I can see in the dark, so I don't need a lantern... plus, I can take care of myself. I know these parts well."

He looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her powerful Memories.

"You're a veteran?"

Rain nodded.

"Seventh Royal Legion, from start to finish. Oh, and then I stayed back to build this road."

She gave the Road of Shadows another satisfied stomp.

The Caravan Master whistled.

"A royal legionnaire, huh?"

He hesitated for a moment, then asked: "Are you any good with that bow?"

Rain gave the Beast of Prey a little shake. "Would I still be alive if I weren't?"

He laughed.

"True, true. Well, if you're not in the mood to walk all the way to Red Hill, hop aboard. I'd be crazy to refuse the company of one more experienced Awakened. A caravan can never have enough defenders, you know." Rain gave him an exaggerated bow.

"Much obliged!"

Soon enough, she was climbing over the battlements of the head wagon. There, a group of grimy Awakened welcomed her with tense greetings.

Introductions were short.

Rain stared at one of the guards intently, then said in a tone of disbelief:

"Holy hell. Pill, is that you?"

Out there among the merchant guards, a bearded man with harsh eyes was leaning on an enchanted spear. He gave Rain a confused look, then did a double take. "Huh... Rani?"

She stared at him with wide eyes.

"Since when are you Awakened?"

The rest of the guards seemed amused. "Pill, do you know this girl?"

He suddenly seemed excited.

"Of course! We were on a survey team of a road crew together, back in the Song Domain. We were both mundane people back then. Gods, I never expected to see you again... I thought you were dead!"

Indeed, he was one of the laborers Rain had shared the woes of surveying the Moonriver Plains under Tamar's command with during the construction of the road to Godgrave.

She smiled.

"Well, as you can see, I am very much alive. It's good to see you, too... but weren't you going to open a family shop in some nice city south of Ravenheart? What happened? How did you end up guarding a merchant caravan?"

The conversation flowed naturally from there, and soon, Rain was accepted by the grumpy caravan guards as one of their own. Some time later, she asked:

"Judging by the scars on the armour of your wagons, it's a bumpy ride. I have to admit, I've never traveled with a caravan before... how dangerous is it, exactly?"

The guards looked at each other, then sighed.

Pill offered somberly:

"As perilous as you can imagine. The Dream Realm is not what it used to be, but it's by no means tamed. Sometimes, we get a few whole days of peace and quiet, but usually, there's at least several skirmishes with Nightmare Creatures each day... some worse than others."

Another guard looked into the distance wistfully.

"Still, by Immortal Flame's mercy, all of us will reach the destination alive."

A third one chuckled.

"The Ivory Island is far away, so Changing Star's grace is unlikely to reach us all the way here, in this cursed place."

He surreptitiously looked north, where the Hollow Mountains were hidden beyond the darkness.

"The King of Nothing is much closer. Although that one is a madman who likes to kidnap people... so, I wouldn't be hoping for his help, either."

It was then that one of the guards — an older man with greying hair and a wry squint to his eyes — spoke from his station at the battlements.

"There is a third Sovereign now, haven't you heard? And he is partial to wanderers like us. A vagabond priest of the Moon Church told me all about him."

Rain shifted slightly, sparing him an evaluating look.

The man smiled.

"His name is Asterion."

Rain frowned.

At the same time, her brother's voice whispered into her ear:

[Be wary of that one.]

Rain moved her hand to shape a subtle sign. [Why?]

He lingered for a few moments before answering.

[Whether these people set out from Ravenheart or from the Weeping Goddess, they would have been on the road for weeks. But that bastard only revealed himself today. The news travels fast... but not that fast. I don't like it.]

Rain's frown deepened.

‘Asterion...'

She had heard that name before. In fact, she had heard it too often, in recent months. And every time she had, the circumstances were a little odd.

Perhaps because Rain was both a Shaper and a giver of Names, she was very sensitive to them.

And that name, Asterion, made her skin crawl.

More than anything, it made her feel like she should never speak it aloud, and most of all, should never allow it to take root in her mind.

She looked at the older guard somberly.

He was smiling happily.

"Changing Star and the King of Nothing might not help us. But Lord Asterion will."

An uncomfortable silence settled between the guards.

Eventually, they laughed.

"A third Sovereign? Did you hit your head, fool?"

"Even if there is a third Sovereign, he is probably a rotten bastard. All of them are — except for Lady Changing Star, of course."

"No wonder you've been borrowing money recently. Did you donate your pay to that Moon Church crook?"

Pill shook his head and gave the man a derisive smile.

"Stop embarrassing me in front of Rani, will you? Goodness, she'll think that we wanderers are all weak in the head department."

But the older guard just continued to smile.

"You'll see."

Shadow Slave
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Comments 77

  1. Online Offline
    AINZOOALGON
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Noice
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  2. Offline
    Avid Reader
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    I would kill this guy myself if I were there.
    Read more
  3. Offline
    Djloading
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    VTB, Rani, Nephis combined ult to remove this mf from the verse immediately
    Read more
  4. Offline
    Eternity of Reading
    + 5 ⋅ 0 -
    Someone slime out Asterion IMMEDIATELY I want more Rain Sunny chapters they’re so good
    Read more
  5. Offline
    Atlas
    + 3 ⋅ 0 -
    shoot maybe Rain will end up being clutch in the war against Asterion
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  6. Offline
    Pathway of shadows
    + 10 ⋅ 1 -
    Theory time...

    Maybe rain will be the next God to house all of humanity.


    End of Theory
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    1. Offline
      just_a_guy
      + 34 ⋅ 0 -
      I aint reading allat.
      can you give a summary?
      Read more
      1. Offline
        Dust Dust Sans
        + 9 ⋅ 1 -
        You can read!?
        Dam a truly skilled person in today's world
        Read more
        1. Offline
          Kiyopon702
          + 5 ⋅ 0 -
          It's not Dam
          It's
          Damn
          Read more
          1. Offline
            Dust Dust Sans
            + 5 ⋅ 1 -
            Such a good idea to swear in comments, huh
            Read more
            1. Offline
              Kiyopon702
              + 6 ⋅ 0 -
              I'm just educating you on behalf of lord asterion boast
              Read more
    2. Offline
      Charlatans_Requiem
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      Funny as it is, this is honestly the least likely possibility. We know natural ascension takes way longer than by nightmare and if sunny and Neph can't do it quickly enough, how the hell would she? Even if we ignore the rest of the path like transcendent and supreme, for her to attain natural apotheosis, she would have to either find herself in a time loop situation like the main cast did or do it "unnaturally" like the dream spawn. I'm assuming you can pull it off with nightmare creatures as well as humans but the inherent risk is probably much higher given their corruption.
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      1. Offline
        Pathway of shadows
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        I'm sure she can do it though, it's not like she has to do it right now
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        1. Offline
          Charlatans_Requiem
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          Yeah there's plenty of scenarios in which it's technically possible. I just feel like Neph is just a better representation of humanity. I think rain has the potential to become an interesting god, just not for the same reason
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          1. Offline
            Pathway of shadows
            + 1 ⋅ 0 -
            Nephs goal isn't really that good for housing humanity, and might risk extinction especially since she wants to go after dream god which we don't know how he'll affect humanity... while rain is a builder who wants to build for humanity, so she's the safe bet.

            She is promise of a distant sky after all
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            1. Offline
              Charlatans_Requiem
              + 0 ⋅ 0 -
              It's not like Neph wants to kill fg just for the smoke. He's an inevitable threat to all of existence as they know it. He's a corrupted god who's domain is essentially all of the dream realm. It's always been about survival. Revenge on the spell is essentially just a side quest
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              1. Offline
                Pathway of shadows
                + 0 ⋅ 0 -
                She wants the smoke with the spell... she's always been saying that
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                1. Offline
                  Charlatans_Requiem
                  + 0 ⋅ 0 -
                  Saving humanity>killing the forgotten god>destroying the spell≥getting revenge. It just so happens that all of her interests align perfectly. Her revenge is actively saving humanity so it seems like it was unintentional
                  Read more
                2. Offline
                  Pathway of shadows
                  + 1 ⋅ 0 -
                  Did you remember her conversation with sunny after he came out the game... about the last nightmare?... and what she said when sunny said they could be safe and strong enough to look after humanity without going into the 7th nightmare?
                  Read more
                3. Offline
                  Charlatans_Requiem
                  + 0 ⋅ 0 -
                  I mean I vaguely remember they had a similar conversation. Don't really remember specifics seeing as it was like a year ago
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                4. Offline
                  Pathway of shadows
                  + 0 ⋅ 0 -
                  Same I read it when it came out, but nephis was intent on going after the forgotten god, even if there was a safe option available...

                  Nephis was never about protecting humanity, but protecting humanity was needed for her to be able to achieve her revenge and destroy the spell... she needs humanity for her domain, the star of ruin is no bleeding heart after all, she'll use anyone who's follows her to achieve her goals
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  7. Offline
    Jiros
    + 1 ⋅ 2 -
    I wonder how much power there is from the shadow of the supreme when you are awakened.
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    1. Offline
      Least honest man
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      I think rain said it felt like double which is okay when sunny is buffing himself but rain is 4 ranks and 6 classes lower than sunny
      Read more
      1. Offline
        Jiros
        + 0 ⋅ 2 -
        Alternatively, we can consider an analogy with the crown of dawn, which, being an ascended memory, enhanced awakened memories almost to the ascended ones.
        Read more
  8. Online Offline
    Rei-absolute
    + 6 ⋅ 1 -
    Released chapters

    Chapter 2775 Glass Hell


    The gargantuan beasts pulled the armored wagons across Godgrave, traveling with daunting speed. Here on the Road of Shadows, the caravan could allow itself to move quite fast without compromising its safety — once they reached the Glass Hell, however, they would have to slow down to avoid being ambushed by Nightmare Creatures.

    Not that no Nightmare Creature attacked the wagons before they left Godgrave. Rain had proven her worth in these few fierce skirmishes — being able to see in the dark, she could usually notice the enemy from a great distance.

    Then, it was just a matter of drawing her bow, taking aim, and sinking a luminous arrow into their hide. Illuminated by a blinding radiance in the depths of darkness, the Nightmare Creatures were revealed to the entire caravan long before they could launch an attack.

    So, dealing with them became much easier. Spared from having to spill their blood by Rain's arrows, the guards swiftly grew fond of her. Just a few days later, she was everyone's favorite person... well, except for the seasoned Awakened warrior who had spoken about the Dreamspawn. Rain kept a distance from him, and he seemed indifferent toward her, as well.

    The man had not spoken about Asterion since that first time. The rest of the guards, however, still teased him about it from time to time. They did not treat the name of the supposed Supreme with any kind of reverence, and seemed amused by the idea instead.

    It was to the point that an imaginary Sovereign by the name of Asterion became a running joke among the guards stationed on the head wagon — and as they were rotated to safer sections of the caravan, that joke spread to its very tail as well.

    Rain did not like hearing that joke at all. Soon enough, they reached the end of the Road of Shadows and crossed to the humerus of the titanic skeleton. As they descended from the height of Godgrave and reached the bridge connecting the humerus to the radius, a beautiful vista of the Glass Hell revealed itself far below them.

    The Glass Hell looked... quite like the name suggested.

    It was a vast plain made entirely out of glass. There were tall ridges and deep crevasses scattered across its polished surface here and there, but by and large, this region of the Dream Realm was flat and smooth, ignited by the sunlight that reflected from the surface of the glass like a river of molten gold.

    The transparent glass reminded one of ice and vast glaciers, summoning memories of winter and refreshing cold. But actually, the Glass Hell was like a sweltering oven — that was because the glass absorbed the heat of the sun throughout the day, then radiated it outward during the night. Worse than that, there were countless focus points scattered across the plain, acting as lenses.

    If one was not careful, they could be burned to death by focused sunlight, blinded by its radiance, or simply suffocated by the heat. However, that was not why this region of the Dream Realm was called the Glass Hell. The real reason lay beneath the surface of the glass, in the transparent depths of the region.

    There, myriad tunnels could be seen stretching far into the darkness. And sometimes, one could just barely discern the shapes of transparent creatures scurrying along those tunnels like glass ghosts.


    That was because this entire region of the Dream Realm was one enormous hive, populated by a great swarm of peculiar Nightmare Creatures. The abominations were insect-like in nature and possessed transparent bodies that made them difficult to detect.

    Their scythes and mandibles, however, were as sharp as razors.

    Worse than that, they moved underground and could burst from the glass anywhere on the plain, either in small hunting groups that dragged unfortunate prey into the depths of the Hive, or as great hordes that poured onto the surface and devoured everything in their path.

    Needless to say, surviving in the Glass Hell was not an easy task.

    Humanity still conquered it, though — or at least its surface.

    The jagged black wall of the Hollow Mountains rose from the ground far in the north, while the sole Citadel in the region was located closer to its southern boundary. That Citadel was called the Red Hill, and that was where the merchant caravan was headed

    "Ah."

    Taking off his helmet, Pill smiled and raised his head to bask in the sunlight. Despite the dangerous nature of the region, the caravan guards were still happy to escape Godgrave, where the very sky was a deadly threat.

    "Isn't it nice to see the sun, Rani?"

    He looked at Rain and chuckled.

    “Cherish the feeling. You'll be missing the Road of Shadows once we reach the plain and feel the heat."


    Rain simply pointed to a piece of polished volcanic glass hanging on a leather cord around her neck — the Memory that her brother had creatively called the [Piéce de Résistance].

    "This charm keeps me cool. How else do you think I survived in Godgrave?"

    Pill gave the charm an envious look and mumbled in a wistful tone:

    “I should get myself one of those..."

    Not all Awakened had vast arsenals of Memories — in fact, most only had a few. A charm like that was a real luxury.

    The caravan crossed the bridge and descended toward the Glass Hell. As they did, the temperature of the air grew steadily until Rain found herself feeding the Piece de Résistance a bit of essence to keep herself from sweating.

    Pill wasn't that fortunate.

    Hiding in the shadow of the battlement, he looked up at Rain and forced out a smile.

    All around them, the Glass Hell was shining like an ocean of molten gold.

    “It's noon. The heat is at its worst at noon... things will be better once the sun moves on. A little better, at least. Angles and reflections, or some such."

    Rain nodded, looking over the glowing plain somberly. All around her, the guards were pulling makeshift goggles from their armor and putting them on. Some looked like pieces of wood with narrow horizontal slits, others looked like pinhole glasses — things that one would use to protect their eyes from snow blindness, more or less.


    "Ah, yes.”

    Pill put on a pair of goggles, as well.

    “You should wear something to protect your eyes from the glare, Rani. Otherwise, you'll go blind. Uh... I'm sure somebody has a spare pair. I can ask around."

    Rain smiled.

    “No need”

    She summoned the Bag of Withholding and pulled a pair of fashionable luxury brand sunglasses out of it. Putting them on, she grinned.

    "Always come prepared, you know?"

    The sunglasses were actually a prank among the members of the Shadow Clan, who at some point had developed a habit of gifting each other absolutely useless items when meeting each other on the Forgotten Shore. Sunglasses and sunscreen were the most popular gifts, and Rain had half a dozen pairs by now. This particular one had been gifted to her by Tamar.

    Pill chuckled.

    “I see you're doing well for yourself, Rani... I'm glad."

    She did not respond, though.

    Instead, she turned and stared into the ocean of molten gold intently, then swiftly pulled an arrow out of her quiver and nocked it on the string of her bow.

    Chapter 2776 Red Hill


    Far away, almost invisible, an eerie creature was hiding in the golden glow. Rain had almost not noticed it, but a subtle movement betrayed its presence. The ethereal creature was two... no, about three meters in length, almost entirely transparent, and vaguely resembled an enormous woodlouse made of glass.

    As if sensing that it had been noticed, the abomination launched itself forward with stunning speed. Its fourteen long legs bit into the glass, pushing the ghostly body forward — the wind carried over a melodic sound of the segments of its clear carapace scraping against each other, as if crystal chimes were ringing quietly in the breeze. Suffused with a golden glow, the Nightmare Creature was almost invisible on the glistening plain of glass.

    Rain's arrow still found it, though.

    It struck the joint of one of its legs, severing it cleanly. A split second later, the second arrow struck, and then another, and another...

    Some took a limb, while some took a couple. In the span of half a dozen seconds, all fourteen legs of the abomination were shattered or severed, leaving it writhing on the ground.

    Rain lowered her bow, breathing heavily, and spared a crippled creature a cold look. She might not have been able to kill her enemies, but that did not mean that she could not maim them.

    ..Or mangle and torture them, for that matter, if need be.

    Pill jumped to his feet and looked at the disarmed... dislegged?... abomination. Then, he turned to Rain in astonishment.

    "That was some fine archery, Rani."

    A confused frown creased his brow, and he raised an eyebrow.

    “But if you are that good with a bow, wouldn't it have been easier to just kill it?"

    Rain remained silent for a few moments, catching her breath, and then looked at him with a smile.


    "Target practice, Pill. I might be good with a bow, but I can always get better — right?"

    He scoffed.

    “So young, so ambitious..."

    Shaking his head, the older man looked back at the crippled abomination.

    "I should probably finish it off, then. Uh, only... it's quite far away. I don't think I can hit it. Perhaps you should do the honors, since it's your kill anyway."

    Rain kept smiling while trying to come up with a reason not to.

    At that moment, a familiar voice sighed in her ear.

    [There's no need.]

    She frowned slightly and looked at the writhing abomination.

    ‘Is he going to...’

    In the next moment, something plummeted from the sky and pierced the Nightmare Creature.

    No, it didn’t just pierce it — the force of the impact was terrible enough to simply splatter it across the glass, turning the massive creature into a vast puddle of transparent slime and glass-like shards.

    All that remained was an enormous arrow, several metres in length, rising from the shattered surface of the glass plain at an angle.

    Rain stared at it incredulously.

    ‘What... kind of sniper ballista...’

    Her brother sighed again.

    [Ugh. It's that guy. That bastard is showing off.]

    Pill scratched the back of his head.

    "Or not."

    Rain studied him for a moment and pointed to the giant arrow, which was already collapsing into a whirlwind of sparks.

    "Hey, Pill. What the hell was what?"

    He let out a nervous laugh.

    "Oh. It's the Lord of Hell — The Saint who rules Red Hill. He probably shot that arrow all the way from the Citadel.”

    Rain looked at him with an unamused expression.

    "That Citadel is like a thousand kilometers away.

    Pill coughed awkwardly.

    “Well, you know how Saints are. What, do you expect their powers to be reasonable?" Shaking his head, he walked away.

    Left alone, Rain glanced at her bow... which had felt mighty just a minute ago... and sighed.


    Then, she made her shadow sign a question.

    [A friend of yours?]

    Her brother scoffed.

    [As if!]

    He paused for a moment, and then added in a satisfied tone:

    [He's Dar of the Maharana clan. I crushed his skull and splattered his brains all over the ground once. Ah, that felt so satisfying...]

    Rain sighed again.

    ‘...Of course he did.’

    The caravan moved on.

    After that first welcoming arrow, the Lord of Hell did not assist them anymore. So, the days of traveling to Red Hill were tough on the Ascended merchant and his guards. The heat was oppressive, the hazards of the Glass Hell threatened to damage the wagons, and the elusive abominations of the Hive attacked them incessantly, making one skirmish blend into another.

    Still, they made good progress. None of the guards lost their lives, even if one of the gargantuan Echoes had to be dismissed in order to prevent its complete destruction. The speed of the caravan fell after that, but they still reached the city in one piece — just as the sun touched the western horizon.

    Rain studied Red Hill with interest, since this was her first time visiting it.

    It was... a peculiar place.

    The Citadel itself stood on a tall hill of glass. In fact, it was carved from the hill, resembling a tall, vertical fortress made up of different structures and narrowing to a sharp spire. Even if Rain knew that it was carved from glass, she could not help but think that she was looking at clear ice instead.

    A fiery sunset ignited the vertical fortress, making it glow with a spectacular scarlet glow — that was where the name of the Citadel had come from, most likely.

    The city surrounding the Citadel was built on the lower slopes of the hill and around its base. It was large, but not nearly in the same category as Bastion, housing no more than a million people.

    Curiously enough, the only building material readily available here was unnaturally clear glass, so the houses were mostly transparent. In fact, one could easily determine how wealthy a citizen was by how opaque their residence seemed.

    The rich people living on the slopes of the hill could afford to import materials and cover their houses, making them both private and less prone to turning into glass ovens. The poor folks could barely afford to board their bathrooms, though, and lived their entire lives in broad view of their neighbors.

    Rain felt that this nearly absolute lack of privacy was extremely bizarre, but the locals seemed to have grown used to it, going about their lives as if nothing was the matter.

    Humans were truly the most adaptable creatures.

    ‘How would it feel like, to live in a city almost entirely devoid of secrets?’

    Maybe it was the influence of her brother... But Rain thought that it would feel absolutely horrible.

    She smiled.

    “Now I see why these huge wagons are loaded to the brim with nothing but stone from the Moonriver Plains and lumber from Godgrave."

    Pill nodded.

    "We'll sell it here, load up on glass, and then resell it at a profit further down the line. Hell Glass is amazingly durable, crystal-clear, and can even repair itself. It's dirt-cheap here, but goes for a pretty penny in Bastion."

    Rain nodded.

    ‘No wonder.'

    The caravan rolled toward the city gate. The wall surrounding Red Hill was formidable, but just as transparent as everything else — so, Rain could easily see the lively streets beyond.


    Actually, they were a bit too lively. There was a peculiar energy suffusing the population of Red Hill, as if something impactful had happened.

    The Caravan Master noticed it, as well.

    As his Echo reached the gates, he shouted to the Awakened guarding it.

    "What is going on? Is the Hive swarming?"

    The tunnels under the city were blocked off, but a massive enough attack could still breach the seals.

    The guard looked up, grinned, and shook his head.

    "You've been on the road for a while, huh? Then you mustn't have heard!"

    The Ascended merchant frowned.

    “Heard about what?"

    The guard let out a laugh.

    "A new Sovereign emerged in Bastion! What was his name again... Asterion? Right, Asterion! These days, the whole world is talking about him!"

    Behind Rain, the older guard smiled quietly. And at the same time, she felt an ominous feeling squeeze her heart.
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  9. Offline
    Unknown(fateless)
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    Rain is already aware without someone saying it to her now we know asterion really is a bum
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    1. Offline
      Least honest man
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      She has power over names and is attuned to the world
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  10. Offline
    kingdiamond
    + 3 ⋅ 1 -
    Quote: fergusc
    She grew up as a sheltered mundane. It’s not crazy to think she was averse to killing but it’s a bit much to say she HATED killing. She was ready to kill when she became an Awakened chapters ago. there’s no real law that the flaw must be a hindrance for your entire life either. Sunny is doing just fine. Anvil and Ki Song became Supremes. Mordret is a Supreme that should have died a billion times by now.

    The shattered mirror's supreme fragment does not contain his death. (shattered mirror is my head cannon for what the spell calls mordret akin to sunny's trecherous shadow title)
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