Chapter 2948: On the Threshold |
The three of them walked among the floating corpses, overtaken by a heavy and oppressive feeling of apprehension. Then, they finally reached clear waters and continued forward, toward the vague speck of darkness visible on the horizon.
This was where Sunny had confronted the Sin of Solace and saved himself from becoming the Mad Prince... in the Nightmare. Of course, no one but himself remembered that clash now. Not even a reflection of his inner struggle had remained, captured in the waters of time — it was all gone, erased from existence. Having never existed at all.
As they walked, Sunny remembered the last chapter of his journey to the Well of Wishes.
Up ahead, in the darkness, he had encountered the future version of himself. His current self, that was — or rather, a Nightmare phantom of his current self, summoned into existence by the peculiar nature of the Estuary.
Sunny smiled faintly.
It would have been fun, to speak to his younger self and experience the other side of that conversation. But it was not meant to be... that conversation had happened in the Nightmare, after all, while he was in the real Tomb of Ariel now.
What was it that he had said to his younger, foolish self?
As for being lost... well, that did not require an explanation.
In the end, Sunny told himself to turn back, because his younger self was not ready for what would come next. It was an earnest plea... the years of loneliness and desperation he had experienced after losing his fate almost drove him to the edge, after all. The pain and torment of those days still haunted him, sometimes.
But even as he was telling his younger self to turn back, he would have known that the young fool was never going to listen. In fact, the Nightmare phantom of Sunny did not really want his younger version to turn back, most likely — after all, Sunny knew what he had to sacrifice and endure in order to become the man he was today.
So, in the end, he had simply encouraged his younger self to hurry, because the Nightmare was ending by then. Nephis was already in Verge, burning the First Seeker with her flames, moments away from destroying its core... Sunny would know it because he had already experienced the end of the Nightmare when he was younger. And so, his younger self continued forward. That damn fool...
Sunny's smile widened a little.
'And now, I am back.'
The dark mountain was already looming in front of them.
It was just like he had remembered — forlorn and lonesome, crowned by two peaks. One was broken, and one was as sharp as a spear. A vertical rift split the base of the mountain, leading deep inside. Sunny stopped in the shadow of the mountain and glanced at his companions.
He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking:
"We will go no further."
Nephis and Ananke glanced at him in surprise.
"Why is that?"
Sunny studied the mountain, then sighed.
"This is a grave. It is... a sacred place. I don't want to disturb the peace of the one who is resting there with a fierce battle."
Oblivion was long dead, and Sunny wasn't one to give in to sentiment. But he had felt the sincerity and sorrow Ariel had put into building a peaceful grave for his sister... and Weaver had, too. The world itself seemed to mourn the loss of the nameless daemon. Both her life and her death were forgotten by everyone, so this grave was the only trace of Oblivion left in existence.
Sunny knew that feeling. His parents were gone, as well, and they didn't even get to have graves. All that marked their passing were two lines carved into a lonesome tree by their son...
That tree now grew in the courtyard of the Nameless Temple. Sunny knew how he would feel if some bastard accidentally destroyed it while fighting a battle, so he felt reluctant to confront a Cursed Terror inside the burial chamber.
He glanced at Ananke.
"Besides, I suspect that only those whose souls burn with the Flame of Divinity may enter the mountain. If I am correct, Ananke won't be able to accompany us inside."
Sunny turned around to the mountain and added:
“We'll lure the Vile Thieving Bird here. So, prepare for battle."
The preparations did not take long.
First, Sunny summoned the ancient shadows of the Shadow Realm from the Lantern and manifested them, covering a vast span of the lake with a thick layer of solid matter — while they could walk across water by commanding it to support their weight, fighting against a superior enemy on such a fickle surface was not the best of ideas.
Neither was engaging the Vile Thieving Bird in the air, where it was at home. Sure, they would most likely begin the battle in the sky — but if they wanted to minimize their disadvantage, they would have to bring the Terror down as soon as possible and continue fighting on the ground.
Sunny manifested the Jade Mantle, covering himself in an impenetrable black carapace. His incarnation was augmented by all six of the remaining shadows, and all seven links of the Curse were now connected into a chain, empowered by the [Underworld Armament] trait of his soulbound armor. This seamless union of a soulbound Memory and a shadowbound Memory was truly a frightening thing, but Sunny had a sinking suspicion that even their power would be insufficient in the battle to come.
Serpent slithered down his arm and manifested itself as a fearsome black odachi. At the same time, Saint and Slayer rose from the darkness, taking their place behind him — one standing to his left, the other to his right.
Then, the darkness surged, and the endless ranks of the Shadow Legion marched onto the surface of the Estuary Lake, arraying themselves in front of the lonesome mountain.
...Compared to Sunny, the preparations of Nephis and Ananke were not as grand. Nephis simply summoned the blessing and exhaled slowly, closing her eyes to ready her mind for the battle. Ananke, meanwhile, dismissed her mantle and summoned a suit of light armor instead — the armor seemed to have been made from glossy black whaleskin, decorated with pieces of nacre shell and azure thread.
A silver harpoon made from Supreme soul essence appeared in her hand.
And through all of that, Sunny could not help but think a single thought...
'We are really doing this.'
Even after braving the Nightmare Desert and sailing the still darkness of the Great River, he couldn't quite believe that they were about to fight a Cursed Terror — a profane deity far more powerful than any they had encountered before, and an especially ghastly one, at that.
Sunny chuckled inwardly.
'Huh, would you look at that. I am actually afraid.'
Sunny used to be scared of pretty much everything — most things were terrifying in this harrowing world, after all. But gradually, he lost his ability to be frightened, as if the quota of fear he had been issued at birth ended up being exhausted way too soon. The Vile Thieving Bird, though... he had encountered it back when fear was still his frequent companion, and the memory of its talons piercing his soul left a scar. That scar was letting itself be known now, making him feel like a young Master who was helpless in the face of a Cursed creature once again. But even more potent than the cold apprehension of having to face the Vile Thieving Bird was a different feeling.
Sunny could not believe that he was that close to regaining his fate and being remembered by the people he cared about, either.
The thing he had longed for and dreamed of for so many years was so close now. It was almost as if he could reach and touch it... could taste it.
'I feel like I am ready to kill a hundred Cursed Terrors, as long as it means getting back what I lost.'
Sunny exhaled slowly, cleansing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts.
In the silence that followed, Ananke asked cautiously:
"By the way, Lord Sunless... if I may ask... how, exactly, are we going to lure a Cursed Terror out of its lair?"
He looked at her sideways and smiled.
"It's easy."
With that, he raised a hand and summoned a small silver bell.
As its clear ringing washed over the entirety of the Estuary Lake, Sunny took a deep breath and shouted as loud as he could — and as a Supreme, he could shout pretty loudly:
"Hey! Come out and face me, you vile bird! You repugnant scum! You degenerate fowl! Or are you scared to show your atrocious excuse of a face here, huh?! Come get me, you wretched chicken!"
Nephis and Ananke stared at him with peculiar expressions.
Despite their lack of faith, though, they did not have to wait long for an answer to come.
Even if that answer was not what any of them had expected.
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