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Chapter 3007: New Meaning
Shadow Slave

The Vanishing Lake was overflowing with turbulent water, so Rain and her companions had to wait for the ferry to arrive on its shore. They dismissed their Echoes and rested on the ground, knowing that it could take a while.

Rain looked at her reflections briefly, but there was nothing there. The King of Nothing had left her alone now that their lesson was over.

Tamar, Ray, and Fleur were looking at the lake as well, their faces betraying a hint of distant wonder. They were still coming to terms with becoming Ascended, so Rain remained silent, giving them time to grow accustomed to their new reality.

June might have been excited as well, but he maintained his usual nonchalant demeanor. Telle, meanwhile...

Now that the excitement of their return had died down, she was slowly starting to look distressed. Eventually, she grabbed her head and looked down.

“Oh. I should probably let my mother know that I am back, shouldn't I?"

The young heiress of the White Feather clan did not seem to be happy about becoming a Master. If anything, she looked strangely terrified.

A quiet groan escaped from her lips.

Rain looked at Telle and shrugged.

“You know what to do, don't you?"

She smiled faintly.

“Just hide behind your father. He'll probably absorb the worst of the impact."

Telle sighed heavily, prompting Rain to add in a consoling tone:

“For what it's worth, your parents probably won't have time to be angry with you."

She paused for a moment, then said gingerly.

“The whole world is falling apart, and every Nightmare Creature north of the Black Mountains is on the move! So, I doubt that you'll be punished too severely. You're a Master now, after all — and a powerful one at that. Nobody can afford to sideline a Master these days, even for the sake of parental discipline."

Telle raised an eyebrow.

“The world is falling apart? Do you mean more than it was falling apart when we left?"

Rain nodded.

"Yes — in more senses than one, really. The Nightmare Creatures are migrating because of the King of Nothing and the... actually, never mind. Point is, someone flattened a good portion of the Black Mountains and forced the River of Tears to change course. So all Citadel Cities are under immense pressure right now, including the Sanctuary."

She spent some time explaining the difficult situation the human settlements all across the Dream Realm faced.

The human settlements in the waking world were not faring any better. In fact, one could say that they were faring even worse. In the end, Rain finished her explanation and looked at Tamar.

She remained silent for a long while, and then sighed.

“I am sorry, Tamar. I have some bad news to deliver, as well."

Tamar raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly.

"This wasn't the bad news yet?"

Rain studied her for a moment before answering.

“You must feel like you are one step closer to your goal now that you are a Master. I know that you wanted to reclaim your clan's Citadel one day... sadly, that won't be possible anymore."

Tamar frowned.

“Why? Who is ruling it now?"

Rain shook her head.

"No one is ruling it. I am sorry, Tamar, but the Citadel... it's simply gone. It was destroyed in the Second Domain War."

Tamar remained silent for a bit, then looked away.

"I see."

She gazed at the distant silhouette of the Vanishing Lake Citadel — the blackened ruins that had once been a beautiful temple — and smiled.

"You want to become a builder, don't you? Well then, I guess you will just have to build me a new one. Sorrow will rule the Weeping Goddess once again, someday... one way or another."

Rain chuckled.

"I think you are overestimating me, Tamar. I might be a student of practical engineering, but I doubt that I can build a true Citadel."

Still looking away, Tamar shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. The Citadels don't matter as much as they used to, these days. And in the future, they will mean even less."

This time, it was Rain's turn to be surprised.

"They will?"

Tamar nodded.

"Yes. Why do people live in Citadel Cities here in the Dream Realm? It is because the Awakened and Ascended warriors protecting these cities need a Gateway to travel between the Dream Realm and the waking world. That is why Citadels became the first human settlements in the Dream Realm, and it is why cities grew around them as well. However..."

She gave Rain a poignant look.

"Didn't you say that the world is falling apart? The Dream Realm is slowly consuming the world, and once it swallows it entirely... Awakened and Masters won't have the need to travel between two worlds anymore. The Gateways will lose their meaning, and Citadel Cities will lose their necessity."

Tamar shook her head.

"Each Citadel offers a unique boon, true, but there are plenty of things just as important as ancient sorcery. How easily accessible a stronghold is, how long it takes to travel to the settlement from the next one over — and so on. These things will matter more than the Components of most Citadels."

She looked at Rain and smiled.

“The old Citadel of my clan was supremely defensible, and as for how easy it is to travel to and from... it stood at the source of the Lake of Tears. So, naturally, it was connected to all the other Citadels in the basin of the River of Tears.

Tamar chuckled.

"So, there will be a human settlement at the Lake of Tears sooner or later, even if it won't be a Citadel. The only question is who will rule it.”

Her smile widened a little.

"Me. It is going to be me, and I hope that you will help me make it possible."

Rain remained silent for a long while, then nodded solemnly.

“I didn't think about it like that, but you are right. Fine... if you reconquer the Lake of Tears in the future, I will help you build a stronghold there — even better than the old one!"

She smiled.

Rain had indeed not thought about what would happen to Citadels after their main function was rendered useless. Once the Gateways lost their power, humans would be able to settle the Dream Realm wherever they chose.

And wherever they could survive, as well. So, who knew? Maybe she would help build one or two of such settlements herself, putting the great Citadels left behind by the ancient people of the Dream Realm to shame.

Rain smiled.

“It seems like our ferry is here."

Far away, a small boat was moving across the lake. It was time for them to finally leave Godgrave.

Shadow Slave
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  1. Offline
    Lightningsdr
    + 2 ⋅ 0 -
    Noooo
    I'm catching up forwhat
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  2. Offline
    Atlas
    + 2 ⋅ 0 -
    the new gen squad moving out
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  3. Online Offline
    AINZOOALGON
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Noice
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  4. Offline
    Rei-absolute
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    Chapter 3008

    3008 Beautiful Dream

    The Citadel that had stood in the center of the Vanishing Lake for thousands of years was all but in a battle between Changing Star and Moonveil. Now, it resembled a blackened ruin, with only the underground chambers remaining intact.

    After the war, those who refused to join the Human Domain had been exiled to the charred ruins. They cleaned most of the debris away and used them to raise a makeshift rampart, then built a modest settlement inside.

    The homes built by the exiles still remained, but the exiles themselves were gone. Instead, a strange mix of people populated the Citadel now — some of them were Awakened warriors of the Fire Keepers, some were mundane humans, and some had no discernable affiliation. Rain even thought that he noticed the characteristic garments of the River People among them.

    The settlement had been expanded and improved, with many new structures standing between the flimsy hovers. The hovels were built from the blackened wood, but the new additions were composed of stone and alloy.

    Everywhere Rain looked, strange piles of stones were laid on the ground in neat rows. The stones made her skin crawl, so she looked closer and recognized them for what they were — the shattered remains of the ancient asuras that could be found in various ruins across Godgrave.

    Some were hoisted on thick chains, hanging above ground like broken giants.

    Tamar studied him with a subtle frown.

    "What is all this? And where are the exiles?"

    Rain hesitated for a moment before answering.

    "Most of the exiles are dead, and those who survived the war are not exiles anymore. As for what these guys are doing... I am not sure. None of this stuff was here when I visited a few months ago."

    But it wasn't difficult to surmise that whatever was happening in the Vanishing Lake had something to do with the encroaching apocalypse... simply because almost everything was. Now more than ever, it felt like humanity was at war — it was fighting for survival on countless fronts, and all things people did were meant to sustain and develop the war machine in one way or another.

    "Let me find the person in charge of the Gateway. I'll get you guys back to the waking world in no time. Right... think about where you want to establish your tethers while I am gone. You are Ascended now, after all — you will never have to see the inside of a sleeping pod ever again."

    Rain went to talk to the nearest Fire Keepers. Officially, the members of the Shadow Clan were all special government envoys, so they could travel anywhere they wanted without drawing attention.

    This time, too, it did not take long for them to gain access to the Gateway. Standing in front of it, Rain sighed.

    "Are you ready?"

    Her friends answered by nodding silently.

    She smiled.

    "Then let's go."

    Traveling between the realms was not a simple affair these days. It used to be that only two types of Awakened populated the Dream Realm — those who had entered it in their sleep, and those who were Lost.

    The former returned to their physical bodies after touching a Gateway, while the latter were doomed to remain in the Dream Realm forever — or until they conquered the Second Nightmare, at least.

    But things were different now. Countless people had entered the Dream Realm through the Dream Gates, crossing the realm boundary in the flesh instead of merely in spirit. So, there was no sleeping body for them to return to.

    The Gateway still worked for them, though, albeit the process was more complicated.

    The Masters returned to the place where they had placed their tether. Awakened were not capable of leaving a mark on the world yet, however, so the Spell did it for them — it sent them across the realm boundary to the spot in the waking world where they had been last. There were only two exceptions from that rule. The first exception were the Lost, who did not possess a true body, and therefore could not return to the waking world. The second exception was mostly a theoretical one — it was the people who had never been to the waking world at all.

    Before, there had been only two humans like that. One of them was Saint Ling, Effie's child — she carried him across the realm boundary herself, allowing him to leave an imprint on Earth. The other one was the Dreamspawn, who had been born in the Dream Realm. No one knew how the crossed the realm boundary for the first time, only that Clan Valor assisted him in that undertaking.

    Now, however, there were countless humans who had never been to the waking world. They were the River People... Rain was not sure if anyone attempted to throw one of them at a Gateway and see what would happen, but believed that there wasn't.

    In any case, she and her companions could use the Gateway of the Vanishing Lake to return to Earth. All of them had entered the Dream Realm in the flesh, which was why the Spell sent them to the vicinity of the Seed they destroyed instead of returning them to their sleeping bodies before fusing the Dream Realm manifestation and the original physical shell together.

    But they had come from the waking world, which meant that they could return home without the help of a Saint... or a friendly Supreme... if they wished to.

    In fact, the friendly Supreme in question was in a more troublesome position.

    Sunny usually accompanied Rain by hiding in her shadow, and he was about to cross the realm boundary with her. However, unlike her and the members of her cohort, he wasn't welcome on Earth. The waking world rejected his presence and strained to push him out, so he could only ever visit briefly.

    So, Rain had not been spending a lot of time in the waking world. She was only planning to use it as a waypoint between Godgrave and Bastion today, though, so it was not a big problem.

    "It feels strange."

    Tamar's voice was uncharacteristically subdued.

    Rain glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.

    "Whate"

    Her friend lingered for a moment.

    "Just... returning to Earth. We spent so long in the Nightmare that, at some point, it was our lives in the real world that felt like a dream." Tamar looked down at her hands and slowly made them into fists. "NQSC with its enormous alloy towers, maglev trains, and PTVs suddenly seems like a strange fairy tale."

    Rain studied her for a bit, then shrugged with a smile.

    "Yeah, I know what you mean. I have never challenged a Nightmare, but after spending most of my adult years in the Dream Realm, my previous life in the waking world feels like a dream."

    Looking into the distance, Rain let out a wistful sigh.

    "A beautiful dream... one that will be dispelled soon, disappearing without a trace."

    She turned to the Gateway.

    "It is strange to think that the waking world will only remain in our memories one day soon, isn't?"

    But not yet.

    Soon, the six of them crossed the realm boundary and returned to Earth.
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    1. Offline
      Rei-absolute
      + 11 ⋅ 0 -
      Chapter 3009

      3009 Dreamscape 2.0

      The waking world met Sunny with the usual inhospitable pressure. In fact, it was stronger than usual, because, due to Rain unexpectedly returning to NQSC, there were two of his incarnations here at the moment.

      One was about to leave — the Dream Gate connecting NQSC to Bastion was about to close according to schedule, so his sister and her friends had to use their cover identities as government agents and hurry through.

      The second incarnation, however, was going to linger for a while longer.

      At the moment, he was quietly walking down the street, sticking to the shadows.

      NQSC was changing with unnerving speed. It was different every time Sunny visited, and the shift that had happened after the Dreamspawn's crisis was especially dire. The city had never felt that tense, fragile, and warlike...

      But not today. Today was Remembrance Day, and people were actually in a festive mood — after all, they got to rest from the demanding burdens of their jobs and spend time with their loved ones. The atmosphere was somewhat bittersweet because of the solemn nature of the holiday, and many passerby had wistful expressions on their faces... but mostly, people were excited.

      That was because Lady Changing Star was set to deliver a speech i na few hours. Her fame was as staggering as ever, and since most subjects of the Longing Domain did not get to see their goddess often, her public appearances were always highly anticipated events.

      The people in the waking world were going to watch the speech on the public screens in the squares or in the privacy of their homes. The people in the Dream Realm, meanwhile, were split between two groups: those who lived in Bastion or Ravenheart could try to see Changing Star with their own two eyes, while the rest of them were going to see her in their dreams.

      Quite literally.

      Instant communication had always been a problem for the inhabitants of the Dream Realm, and it only grew more pressing as more and more settlers arrived. The Citadel Cities were separated by the vast and dangerous expanse of wilderness, but they often needed to exchange information in real time.

      For the longest time, the most convenient form of communicating information across vast distances was to use the waking world as an intermediary.

      An Awakened in the westernmost Citadel City of the Tear River Basin and an Awakened in the easternmost Citadel of the former Sword Domain could be living in the same apartment in NQSC, so they freely exchanged information as soon as they climbed out of their sleeping pods.

      In fact, the government had long established special communication dormitories, which housed one resident from each of humanity's Citadel Cities — Legacy Clans had their own chains of Awakened in place, as well. But even that method involved too many steps and was too slow for the reality of the encroaching apocalypse, not to mention its inherent limitations.

      So, a new method of communication has been developed to hasten the process.

      That method was created by Saint Thane, the Dream Merchant. Thane had suffered greatly during the Dreamspawn crisis, but life went on, so he had to move on with his life as well.

      The issue he had to solve was safety. After all, there were too many strange and powerful abominations in the Dream Realm, and even dreaming was not always safe here — especially not dreaming a vast shared dream. Thane was stuck in a dead end... until Sunny came along and helped finish the project.

      Now, there was a powerful guardian protecting the Dreamscape... it was Nightmare, a being just as dreadful as any potential threat to the lives of the dreamers.

      Thanks to Nightmare's presence, the version of Dreamscape for the Dream Realm was finally complete and deployed, allowing for people living in distant Citadel Cities — mundane or Awakened — to communicate in their dreams. All they had to do was fall asleep in a special runic circle.

      There were special dormitories built in each Citadel City, each fitted with scores of private quarters where the runic circle had already been drawn. Alternatively, affluent individuals could commission a sorcerer to create the enchantment in their own residences.

      Sorcerers were still a rare breed, but there were more and more of them with each year. That was because the knowledge of runic sorcery, which had been fervently guarded by the Great Clans before, was now being freely taught to anyone who wanted to learn. Special courses were established at the Awakened Academy, and there were Runic Schools opening up in various Citadels as well.

      So, the speech Nephis was about to give would be shown both on countless screens in the waking world and in the Dreamscape, making it available for everyone who wanted to hear it.

      Of course, Sunny was going to hear it with his own two ears. In fact, he was going to be on the stage with Nephis when she delivered the speech — even if no one would know that he was there, hidden in the shadows.

      Well, at least one of his incarnations would. This incarnation, meanwhile, approached the door of an unassuming restaurant and walked inside.

      The waiter guided him to a private booth, where three people were waiting for him.

      Seeing him, they rose and straightened their postures.

      Sunny smiled faintly.

      "At ease."

      The people he was meeting today, on Remembrance Day, were Quentin, Kim, and Luster — the last living soldiers of the First Irregular Company.

      "You made it, Captain."

      Kim smiled and saluted him.

      It was strange to hear her address him that way again. Sunny was already used to being called "boss" by the agents of the Shadow Clan, so a bittersweet emotion momentarily rose in his chest.

      He remained silent for a moment, then scoffed.

      "How many times do I have to say it? It's Major, damn it. I was promoted ages ago."

      Chuckling, they sat down.

      There was a bottle with strong liquor on the table — the expensive stuff brewed especially for the Awakened. Sunny knew that it would have no effect on him, still, but today... today was not a day for tea, coffee, water, or wine.

      It was a day for something bitter.

      He glanced at Quentin, who reached for the bottle.

      "Beth couldn't make it?"

      Quentin nodded with a smile.

      "You know how she is, Captain. The festivities are expected to put an unprecedented strain on the electrical grid, so Beth is stuck in her office."

      He poured the liquor into the glasses.

      Before the Irregulars could raise a toast, however, Sunny stopped them.

      "Not yet. We are waiting for one more."

      A few minutes later, the door opened again, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop by a few degrees.

      The members of his cohort jumped to their feet again... far faster than they had when he arrived.

      "Colonel!"

      "Lady Jet!"

      "Uh... wow!"

      Jet looked at them, her icy-blue eyes emanating a palpable chill. Then, she smiled wryly.

      "I hope I am not too late."

      The five of them settled behind the table and raised their glasses. Sunny inhaled deeply and remained silent for a few moments.

      In the end, he said:

      "To the First Irregular Company. Bottoms up!"
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      1. Offline
        Rei-absolute
        + 13 ⋅ 0 -
        Chapter 3010


        3010 Remembrance Day

        "...And then Belle, that bastard, looks me right in the eye and says — you look like someone who will die first. Let's be friends. Can you believe him?!"

        The sounds of laughter filled the private booth as Luster waved his empty glass in the air.

        "Because having me around meant that he would not be the first, you see! What kind of messed-up logic is that?!"

        He put his glass down and huffed a few times.

        Luster was pretty fired up, but his excitement slowly drained away. He stared at the table for a short while, and then said in a much more withdrawn tone:

        "Hell. Now I feel kind of guilty for not staying with him until the end. Maybe if I did, he would have really been alive today."

        Sunny, Jet, Kim, Luster, and Quentin — they were all that remained of the First Irregular Company. The seven cohorts of elite soldiers were reduced to only five people, and since today was Remembrance Day, these people had decided to gather and remember their fallen comrades fondly.

        ..Or grumpily, in Luster's case

        Kim pushed him lightly.

        "No one could have survived that. Only the Captain."

        Jet, who was leaning back in her chair, smiled lazily.

        "Hey, I was there as well."

        She shook her head.

        "But you're right. No one could have survived the Winter Beast."

        Jet leaned forward, intending to pour herself another glass. Before she could, however, Quentin hurriedly grabbed the bottle with both hands and did it for her.

        She gave him a pleasant smile, then raised the glass and gulped the fiery liquid down.

        "Aaahh."

        Jet winced.

        "I went back to Antarctica after becoming a Saint, you know. I wanted to hunt that cursed thing down. But... no luck. The Winter Beast was nowhere to be found — someone had already killed it."

        She looked at Sunny and smiled.

        "I couldn't figure out who it was for the longest time, until my memories of this guy were restored."

        A corner of Sunny's mouth lifted briefly.

        He looked away.

        "Indeed. That was the first thing I did — sail across the ocean and hunt down the Winter Beast."

        Luster stared at him with wide eyes.

        "But how did you kill that thing, Captain?"

        Sunny gave him a deadpan look and shrugged.

        "I bit it to death."

        There were a few moments of silence, and then Luster let out an emotional sigh.

        "Ah, it's so good to have you back, Captain! I mean... boss. I mean, Captain Boss! Boss Captain?"

        Sunny gave him a dubious glance and turned to Kim.

        "I think he's had enough."

        Luster shook his head.

        "No, you don't understand — I was like a lost chick without you, Captain! Even if I couldn't remember, I still felt it. The absence. And then some shady bastard came along and offered me to work for him... oh, but he could never! Ever! Replace the Captain... that crazy bastard..."

        Kim cleared her throat.

        "Yes. I think that he's had enough."

        She remained silent for a few moments and then added:

        "But he is right. It is good to have you back, Captain."

        Quentin smiled.

        "I'll drink to that."

        Jet pushed her glass in his direction silently.

        "Indeed. You probably don't know, but I've known him the longest. In fact, I was the government Awakened assigned to monitor him during the First Nightmare. And do you guys know what was the first thing he said after coming to his senses?"

        Sunny shifted on his chair.

        "That, uh... I don't think they need to hear that particular story..." Kim raised an eyebrow.

        "Why? What did you say, Captain?"

        Jet laughed.

        "Your breasts. Those were his first words."

        Kim's eyes widened.

        At the same time, her hand rose to prevent Luster's head from turning in Jet's direction.

        Not paying it any attention, Luster cried:

        "That's my Captain! I knew we were kindred spirits!"

        Sunny sighed and covered his face with a palm.

        Jet, meanwhile, grinned.

        "And guess what he said next?"

        Sunny let out a groan.

        "I think this was a bad idea..."

        Sadly, their time together came to an end soon. All of them were incredibly busy — especially on a day like today, when the Shadow Clan was on the move in the shadows of humanity to make sure that the celebration did not end in disaster.

        Quentin left first, and Kim and Luster soon followed. The latter was a bit drunk, but his Awakened physique was already sobering him up — in an hour or two, he would be back to his usual self.

        Only Sunny and Jet were left in the booth, sitting across from each other at the table.

        Jet stretched and let out a satisfied sigh.

        "This was nice. Honestly, I don't think I had sat down once in the past year — there was simply too much to do. So, this get-together was my first break since the Dreamspawn."

        Sunny nodded with a dim expression.

        "Yeah. I have seven bodies, and even I feel a bit spent."

        Jet studied him for a short while, a relaxed smile playing on her lips, and then asked:

        "How much longer can you stay?"

        She knew that remaining in the waking world was not easy for Sunny, so the question had more than one meaning.


        Ads by Pubfuture
        He shrugged.

        "A while longer. Why?"

        Jet considered something for a bit, then stood up.

        "Come with me, then. I have a small surprise for you."

        Sunny raised an eyebrow, but followed her without asking any questions.

        They settled the bill, exited the restaurant, and walked toward Jet's PTV. Soon enough, the PTV was gliding along the streets of NQSC, traveling from one district to another.

        Eventually, the surroundings began to look familiar to Sunny.

        "Wait. Isn't this the way..."

        Jet took a turn, passed the tram tracks, and entered a secluded residential district — one where green lawns seemed to cascade down a series of terraces.

        It was the terrace district where Sunny had lived ones, next to Rain and her adoptive family.

        A minute later, the PTV stopped in front of a familiar house. Jet climbed outside, and Sunny followed.

        "Jet? What are we doing here?"

        He studied the house for a while, then turned to him and smiled. "Here."

        Jet reached into the pocket of her uniform jacket and produced a set of keys. They glistened in the sunlight and then landed in Sunny's hand, who stared at them in confusion.

        She let out a satisfied sigh.

        "You are officially dead, so you can't really own a domicile. But it wasn't too difficult to pull some strings, assign you a fake identity, and register the house as yours."

        Jet smiled.

        "Happy Remembrance Day, I guess. This is your house again, Sunny." He gripped her keys in his hand, suddenly touched.
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        1. Offline
          Harsh Handore
          + 2 ⋅ 0 -
          Rei-GOAT
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        2. Offline
          synn
          + 2 ⋅ 0 -
          i love you bro
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        3. Offline
          Fellow reader
          + 1 ⋅ 0 -
          You have my deepest gratitude cutie 12

          ……..

          …….
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  5. Offline
    Kai_the_Son_of_G3
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    So this volume will be about 5th nightmare, weaver's lineage in underworld and coharts supremacy, right?. I think we are going to see azarax and VTB in next volume
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  6. Online Offline
    ZionCrestZero
    + 4 ⋅ 3 -
    I finished editing my Act I of the book, since I don't have an official editor I do everything from imagining, writing and editing the work. Let me know what you guys think
    Quote: Act I: TSOOVI

    The atmospheric inversion over the obsidian wastes of Vanguard Prime was a phenomenon of pure, bleeding friction, the predictable consequence of a world baked to a brittle, volcanic stillness. The sky seemed to fracture like cooled glass, smelling faintly of scorched copper and sulfur.

    Eighty miles above the cracked basalt, the Aethelgard Beta-201 hung suspended in absolute, almost sacrosanct immobility. This was no crude machine reliant on the volatile thrust of chemical fires or anti-gravity plates. It was a localized singularity. By folding space into its central apex, the ship anchored itself with pure, unyielding gravity, leaving a suffocating pressure in the surrounding air.

    The hull was an unbroken cylinder of matte-black, tachyon-dense alloy. Discarding the vulnerabilities of lesser civilizations, it possessed no seams, rivets, or viewports. Instead, it swallowed the feeble light of the dying red star, absorbing every stray photon within a mile to cast a shadow of absolute nothingness upon the sky. To the nomadic tribes on the plains below, it appeared as a horizontal scar, a void in the heavens that demanded worship or dread.

    Deep within the vessel's core, Legate Theron stood motionless. Theron bypassed the flawed, easily deceived limits of human sight, connecting directly to the universe through sub-dermal neural implants that fed telemetry straight into his brain.

    The physical room dissolved. In its place, his mind awakened into a hyper-rendered digital expanse, an infinite, silent white void.

    Then came the data.

    Cascades of mathematical strings and glowing algorithms tore through the emptiness, constructing a flawless, simulated reality around his awareness. With a subtle, subconscious twitch of his thoughts, Theron grasped the floating windows of light. He brushed away the atmospheric static of the planet below, dragging vital system readouts into his central field of vision.

    He perceived it as a vibrating, logical grid. Shifting bands of thermal radiation painted the landscape in harsh infrared. Wireframe vectors mapped the quantum mass densities of the basalt below, revealing the planet's hidden flaws. Jagged gravity lines bent in real-time around the hull, tracking the invisible weight of the universe.

    The system made sense. Every variable had its proper place, and within this sphere of absolute awareness, Theron was master of its logic.

    "The organic matter is proliferating, Biomass accumulation has reached critical density in Sector 4," a sharp, perfectly synthesized female voice echoed directly inside his mind.

    It was Axia. The ship’s highly advanced artificial intelligence; her intricate digital architecture was completely integrated with Theron’s own neural network, a pinnacle of modern biomechanical engineering that bridged the gap between human thought and digital precision.

    Theron turned his head toward the eastern horizon. It was a rare, stubborn gesture of organic habit that he refused to abandon, even in an age of pure data.

    Through the high-resolution thermal telemetry blooming across his vision, the landscape was undergoing a horrifying metamorphosis. The dead basalt rock was vanishing beneath a writhing, bioluminescent carpet.

    The Swarm of Chitin had arrived in style.

    True to their brutal doctrine, they bypassed conventional dropships and simply rained down from the heavens. Hours earlier, thousands of living, calcarapaces, had breached the planet's atmosphere. They had buried themselves deep into Chitinized drop-pods, massive, armored gastropods protected by heat-shielded che volcanic soil before opening their biological hatches to release the living vanguard of the Biocracy.

    They were an ancient civilization who had mastered an impossible feat, bending evolution itself into a weapon of war.

    Towering ground-striders, standing an imposing four stories tall with razor-sharp crystalline bone blades for limbs, patrolled the perimeter of the landing zone. Their massive legs were packed with hyper-dense actin filaments, organic fibers capable of snapping a reinforced titanium chassis with a single, devastating stride. Beneath these titans swarmed millions of needle-ticks. Their tiny, translucent bodies pulsed with volatile, acidic enzymes, a bio-engineered chemical compound designed to dissolve synthetic armor on contact.

    Above the moving horde, the air grew thick with a yellow, spore-laden smog. It was a localized, breathing atmosphere, an aggressive biological agent designed to terraform the planet in real-time.

    “The target bio-mass presents an unacceptable deficit to efficiency,” Theron muttered aloud. His voice was flat, ruthlessly modulated by internal sub-vocal implants that precisely regulated his vocal cords to eliminate human error. “A chaotic mass of carbon and fluid, from there on.”

    “Correct. Their reproductive cycle follows a strict exponential progression,” Axia replied within his thoughts, her digital voice carrying an analytical chill. “The vectors will occupy the entire planetary surface within forty-eight hours if left unchecked.”

    “They will not be left unchecked,” Theron shifted his internal focus, recalculating the central coordinates of the plain to parse the anomalous data. “Isolate the third variable, from there on.”

    Suddenly, the telemetry feed sputtered.

    The clear stream of data died for a heartbeat like a candle caught in a sudden draft. For a fraction of a second, the quantum sensors in Theron’s mind registered a violent anomaly.

    It was a void. An absolute absence of matter where the universe simply broke.

    On the exact center of the plain, where the mechanical perfection of the spaceship Beta-201’s shadow met the creeping, foul edge of the Biocracy’s spore cloud, a single structure stood. It had not grown there, nor had it been built by the hands of men or the claws of beasts.

    A millisecond prior, the ground had been bare basalt; now, it simply was. It had folded into existence, bypassing the ship’s deep-space sensory grid as easily as a thief slipping through a broken gate.

    It was a spire of white, polished marble, pale as old bones and completely unmarred by the acidic fog or the heavy radiation that rained down from the ship above. The stone shone with a cold, clean light that felt entirely wrong in this dead place.

    At its base stood four figures. They wore no vacc-suits, no reinforced plates of alloy, and no breathing apparatus to keep the rot out of their lungs. Instead, they wore simple, unspun fibers of golden silver cloth. The fabric drifted and swayed in the toxic breeze as if the poisoned air were as sweet as a Terran spring, unmindful of the death that swirled around them.

    Theron felt a cold weight settle in his gut.

    The Sacred Order of the Void Initiators. The Tsootvi, the name of an old wives tale used to scare their children to bed, when and if they dared speak the name at all.

    "Sensors report zero technological output from the spire," Axia warned, her digital tone tightening. "Furthermore, cellular analysis of the four entities indicates zero genetic modification, zero cybernetic enhancement, and zero physical weaponry."

    "Then how are they breathing the spore cloud, from there on?" Theron asked, his ocular implants zooming in on the group.

    "Unexplained," Axia said. "The atmospheric toxicity within a ten-meter radius of their forms is precisely zero. The molecules are... refusing to bond with their lungs."

    Theron exhaled a sharp breath. Technology could be calculated. Biology could be mapped and exterminated. But the Order operated on a hidden ledger his algorithms could never balance.

    "Prepare the atmospheric descent," Theron ordered, bracing himself for what lay ahead. "Let us see what the Sacred Initiators want with this rock, from there on."

    The air warped, screaming under the sudden thermal spike as the descent module’s phase-displaced Theron onto the basalt plain. He landed with a heavy, metallic crunch, the shock-absorbers in his Alpha Kappa 5 Rho 10 power armor instantly compressing to bleed off the kinetic energy. Even with the internal dampeners engaging at ninety-eight percent efficiency, the sheer weight of his kinetic-barrier plating forced his boots an inch into the brittle obsidian, sending a web of fractures rippling across the dark stone.

    Bypassing physical sight, his neural telemetry translated the clearing into a hyper-rendered digital expanse.

    To the east, the environmental sensors flagged a massive biological signature pushing through a localized spore cloud. A Matriarch of the Biocracy slithered into the open. Her upper anatomy mimicked human geometry with terrifying precision, but her lower half was a massive, segmented length of serpentine chitin, each plate overlapping to form an evolutionary armor that the ship’s database categorized as completely bulletproof. Her multi-faceted, gemstone eyes caught the dying light of the red sun, tracking Theron's plasma-arc projectors with cold intent. Beneath her jaw, a translucent green sac rhythmically expanded and contracted, hissing softly as it compressed a bio-engineered neurotoxin that the HUD flagged as highly corrosive. Behind her, two heavily muscled guard-beasts lowed, their jaws dripping a low-pH digestive fluid that audibly hissed as it ate away at the basalt.

    Standing perfectly still between the two rival powers were the Initiators. Devoid of physical armor or biological adaptations, the anomalies utilized an unclassified energy signature drawn from the void to neutralize the toxic atmosphere. The speaker stepped forward, an elegant being whose sharp, angular features carried the distinct lineage of an ancient elder race. Geometric runes etched into her skin pulsed with a soft, steady gold light, humming at a specific spiritual frequency.

    But it was the entity flanking her that made Theron’s internal power grid spike. The being possessed no solid flesh, no face, and no discernible anatomy. It was a shifting, incandescent silhouette composed entirely of concentrated white and gold radiance. Its silence projected a crushing, physical aura of pure authority that pressed against Theron's external kinetic barriers, causing the suit's energy meters to drop by a steady, measurable fraction of a percent every single second.

    Slightly behind them stood their apprentice, a young woman named Freyja Astra Selene, le Xara of Valen de Rox. Or Fry, for short.

    To anyone looking, Fry was a statue of flawless, ascetic discipline. She held her chin at that precise, maddening angle the Order demanded, high enough to imply she could see the cosmic threads of fate, low enough to ensure she wasn't looking at the ceiling. Her silver robes billowed in the toxic wind like calculated poetry. She looked terrifyingly serene.

    Inside her skull, her mind was throwing a violent, screaming tantrum.

    Don't drop the rock… don't rock the drop… rock the drop don’t. Please, pretty please, whatever sacred initiator gods are left out there, please do not let me drop this stupid rock. Fry squeezed the raw, uncut crystal in her fist until her knuckles throbbed. She locked her jaw to keep from trembling. Look at Master Dharma. Look at her doing the mean lean. She’s doing the 'I have lived a thousand years and know the exact weight of gravity' mean lean. I literally watched her practice that exact tilt in the temple courtyard mirrors yesterday for three hours. If I trip over these ridiculous silk hems right now, I am passing away on the spot. The bugs won't even have to kill me; I will simply dissolve from cosmic embarrassment. Master D would tell me “Humility and acceptance would only materialize upon reaching Rock Bottom or the Bottom of that dropped Rock.”

    She didn't dare turn her head, but she cut her eyes sideways to gauge the newcomers.

    This is a disaster, her inner voice muttered, panicking furiously beneath the serene mask. On my right, Her Royal Bug Highness looks like a giant centipede had a tragic accident with a swimsuit model. And on my left... well.
    She peeked through the sensory layers of her crystal, the cosmic frequency stripping away the heavy kinetic plating of the Legate’s armor like peeling an onion. Beneath three tons of terrifying, weaponized alloy, the actual pilot was... surprisingly aesthetic. Sharp jawline. Messy, dark hair plastered with sweat. Piercing eyes locked in a furious glare.

    Oh, great, Fry thought, her internal monologue taking a sharp, flustered nose-dive. Mr. Shiny-and-Chrome is actually kind of cute. Like, brooding-doomed-soldier cute. Why does the genocidal cyborg collective get the hot ones? Stop it, Fry. Focus. He is literally trying to find a way to glass your entire hemisphere. Do not get a crush on the killer kitchen toaster appliance. Why did I think skipping meditation class to play diplomat on a dead rock was a good idea? I could be back on Valen de Rox eating honey-cakes right now. Instead, I'm breathing sulfur, hoping my robes don't catch fire, and blushing inside my own skull over a guy who wants to turn me into data. Regulate your breathing Fry, deep inhale for 8.8 celestial counts, hold for 3.3, exhale for 6.6. What would master D say? “This too, shall pass.”

    "Legate Theron of Alpha Omega Prime-7563, Sector 348, Block 12, Unit 4 Beta" Master Dharma spoke. Her voice didn't need the air. It bypassed Theron's external com-links entirely, landing straight in the man's auditory cortex with the soft weight of a falling leaf. The Matriarch hissed, her tail lashing the cracked stone, proving the telepathic echo had struck her too. "And Brood-Mother Vane of the El Drazi Deep Mire. You bring your weapons to a cradle."

    "This planet holds the ruins of the First Builders," Theron said. His external speakers boomed, a synthetic roar designed to rattle bones. "Its geometric archives belong to our collective. We will catalog the data. We will harvest the core. Your presence is a trespass, from there on."

    Vane’s jaw split sideways, unhinging to reveal rows of wet, translucent needles. "The stone is old meat," she hissed, her voice a clicking chorus of a thousand invisible mandibles. "The bones of the old ones belong to the soil. We will feed them to the nurseries. We will grow stronger. The metal-men cannot eat the data. You only hoard it."

    "Your evolutionary track ends here, beast," Theron replied. The plasma cannons on his shoulders whirred, tracking her vital organs. "We have the firepower to glass this hemisphere before your spores can take root, from there on."

    The Matriarch reared back, her chest swelling as her chemical sacs began to ignite with a green, volatile bio-plasma.

    "ENOUGH…" Master Dharma whispered in a hushed explosive blast.

    The word wasn't loud, but it hit the plain like a tectonic hammer. A ripple of displaced air tore outward, flattening the dust and reaching the horizon in a single, impossible heartbeat, completely ignoring how sound and distance were supposed to behave. She didn't shout. She just raised a long, rune-carved finger. Beside her, the being of pure light flared into a blinding, oppressive sun.
    Through their mental bond, Fry felt Master Dharma’s consciousness push against hers. It was not a voice, but a sudden, vast memory of a room that had never existed, cold and heavy with the scent of starlight.

    “Exhale the shore, little spark. Let the tide of the unmade carry the stone.”

    Oh, spectacular. No pressure at all, Fry’s mind shrieked, her inner monologue squeaking in terror. Just rewrite the fundamental laws of physics in front of a giant killer cyborg and a prehistoric hyper-evolved centipede. Sure. If I get the multi-tonal vibrations wrong, I'm pretty sure my lungs will turn into liquid jello. Master D would tell me, "First Things First."

    Externally, Fry closed her eyes. She drew a slow breath of the toxic air, which her master’s passive aura was mercifully converting to crisp oxygen, and began a low, rhythmic chant. She forced her throat to mimic the hollow, echoing resonance she’d been taught, making herself sound like an ancient goddess speaking from the depths of a canyon. She poured every ounce of her frantic energy into the crystal, anchoring her mind to the absolute nothingness of the Void.

    An unseen distortion shuddered through the stone. It defied technology and bypassed chemistry. It was a cold, fundamental revision of cosmic law, reshaping what could exist.
    The plasma cannons on Theron’s shoulders died with a hollow click. The glowing power bars on his visor dropped to absolute black. His kinetic barriers vanished like mist. Across the clearing, the green fire in the Matriarch’s throat went cold. Her guard-beasts collapsed into the dirt, their legs buckling as their involuntary muscles simply forgot how to contract.

    A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the plain.
    "Holy stars, I did it. I actually did it, I believe in the higher power and it pays off, I guess."

    Fry’s inner voice cheered, doing a frantic, joyous backflip inside her brain.

    Take that, Order of the Silent Veil. Who’s the weakest initiate in the sector now, Grandmaster Guru Rin Roveche? I am literally holding down a planetary nullification field. Wait... my forearm is already cramping. Please don't let my hand shake. Keep the spooky goddess face on, Fry. Maintain majesty. If you sneeze right now, the spaceship falls and we all become pancakes. As the master would say, "Do your things right and everything else will follow accordingly."

    Theron tried to flex his fingers, but the cybernetic neural bridge linking his brain to his suit was dead. He was trapped inside three tons of unpowered alloy, a prisoner in his own armor.

    Master Dharma stepped forward. With every stride of her sandals, the cracked basalt split further, tiny white flowers bursting from the stone, not grown from seeds, but pulled directly from the creative will of her mind.

    Look at her go, Fry thought, her internal panic turning into pure, dark amusement as she watched her master glide across the field. She loves this. She is such a drama queen. Meanwhile, I'm standing here holding a radioactive brick of pure cosmic will, trying not to pass out because I forgot to breathe.

    "The metal-born counts the stars to catch the rain," Dharma hummed, her voice vibrating through the stone rather than the air as she looked up at the sinking Aethelgard. "The flesh-born digs the soil to find the sky." She looked down at the Matriarch, who was dragging her heavy tail through the dirt. "You gather at the shore to split the waves, blind to that ocean that gave source to your desire."

    "What... did you do... to my grid? … from there on?" Theron forced his physical tongue to move, his vocal cords straining against the dead weight of the suit.

    "We gave your machine its oldest mirror, Theron," Dharma said softly. She stepped back, gesturing for Fry to take the lead.
    The young apprentice stepped forward, her crystal blazing with a soft, internal gold fire that illuminated her expressionless face.

    Alright, Fry. Final line. Don't stutter. Make it sound like you've done this a thousand times, she told herself, taking a mental deep breath as she pointed the glowing stone toward the center of the plain. A proper quote from Master D for this would be, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

    A massive fissure tore open between the factions. No steam rose from the dark. No magma. Only a quiet, golden light that made the technical sensors of the ship and the biological senses of the Swarm utterly irrelevant.

    "The archives are not data, and they are not food," Fry said. Her voice carried that strange, multi-layered echo, ringing with a heavy authority that shocked both the Legate and the Brood-Mother. "They are an awakening that neither of you are ready for."

    Boom. Nailed it, her inner voice cheered triumphantly, even as her physical fingers began to go numb from the strain. Now... seriously, how do I turn this thing off before..
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    1. Offline
      Kai_the_Son_of_G3
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      story has potential but aren't there too many complicated words in it, I couldn't understand few things there were going on
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  7. Offline
    IrRelevant
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Wheres Rei with the chapters
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  8. Offline
    pnzrhk
    + 2 ⋅ 1 -
    This slice of life is cool, but when will we go to the underworld to complete Weaver's legacy?
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  9. Offline
    spike_spiegel097
    + 21 ⋅ 2 -
    Hey guys, isn't rain the actual protagonist of this story?
    Trained by three supremes each with divine rank aspect.
    First one in modern age without spell.
    Sacred rank aspect.
    Nepotism sister of a supreme.
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    1. Offline
      alex silent
      + 7 ⋅ 0 -
      Since Sunny and Nephis have no children yet. Rain is required to show fatherly side of Sunny's character.
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      f001er
      + 5 ⋅ 2 -
      And it used be Nephis. She was so OP, tragic backstory, but now? Other than Ananke she feels like the least threatening supreme, and her journey to power is the least impressive one. Her closest confidant scheming behind her back and doesn't ask her opinions, her own slave seduced her, she rules only because others don't want to and decided to help her instead.
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      1. Offline
        Syream
        + 5 ⋅ 0 -
        That was a time where we didn't know her true intentions even tho she made Sunny leave. That unknown and her greater power at the time made her give off a feeling of dread

        Now she's clear as the walls in the mirror hell. Laid bare, her strength has gone from threatening to reassuring. Just like Sunny, we are putting our trust in her
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      2. Offline
        Tartaruhs
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Nephis is kind of nerfed by her "humanity."

        Nephis of the Forgotten Shore wouldn't have let Asterion finish his first sentence before blowing up half of Bastion for what he did to Cassie.

        While the other Supremes don't make an effort to be themselves, Nephis has to continually strive to remain human.
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      3. Offline
        SH1V4
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        Uhh, let me get this right... You're calling Nephis, the walking nuke, the one with the most explosive power in the cohort, figuratively and literally, the least threatening Supreme???
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        1. Offline
          f001er
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          Nukes? In this economy? What good did the nukes do against Asterion? You know what was really effective? Cassie's endless schemes and [Fated] Sunny. What do you even do against them?
          Mordret is playing solo against everyone and always a menace. Nephis has a support of the whole world and barely do anything by herself.
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            less
            + 1 ⋅ 0 -
            "nephis has support of whole world" nigga it's opposite whole world has her support.
            Cassies almost every scheme is based on nephis and sunnys power so don't cancel her out just yet.

            You're acting like Nephis has not been playing an important role from the start. Like she didn't kill ki song on her own, didn't nuke half of the nightmare desert on her own without even cores. Like she didn't almost killed the vtb and even sliced vtb wings when she was Nerfed as hell. And bird had steal her healing to literally get a little better so that sunny could kill him. Like she didn't one shot asterion transcendent form multiple times (asterion just kept reviving himself).

            It's easy yo forget nephis role when it's sunny pov mostly because he stopped chasing her plus he also has his trouble to deal with.
            You're acting like Cassie and sunny didn't support nephis because they believed in her that she is crazy enough to do what she wants to do.
            Yes Cassie and sunny helped alot. But it doesn't change the fact nephis is still the one sitting on the throne.

            1v1 against Nephis there's no supreme winning it. Asterion can just keep reviving himself he can't even get to her mind now that she possess knowledge of corruption and void in it. Modret is not winning simply because he's not a attack type supreme obviously he can run tho.
            And than there's sunny he'll put up a great fight. Like his domain won't do a thing against her cursed shade or not they are not a whole being that could much against her. Nephis will have trouble against sunny and his shadows but she just have to restrain them and than nuke a core or two. And she can restrain them she's literally best counter against sunny yes light and shadow opposite side of same Coin but shadow can never overpower light when light literally can dictate where even shadow will fell. She can maybe even light sunny up like she did with chainbreaker and lit up most of forgotten shore. Making him unable to use shadow step and manipulation.


            And now after all this talk of mine you'll say something like you're wrong nephis will not win sunny will win blah blah. When you yourself know that sunny mostly always cheat to win. He ain't winning a fair fight against her. But that's not the point sunny can also win against her too but what my point is, she's not as weaker you think she is. She is definitely strong enough to run shade against anyone if it comes down to it
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              Rei-absolute
              + 1 ⋅ 0 -
              posted the chapters. You may have already seen it, but for safety's sake I'll say it.
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          2. Offline
            SH1V4
            + 1 ⋅ 0 -
            Dumb ahh comment. What do you want? A one solution, fix all type of character? They have their own strengths and weaknesses. The cohort probaly won't be where they are without Nephis.

            Smh. You live up to your name. Fool.
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      4. Offline
        less
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        So let's get through some of her feats.
        She as saint when nuked her six core in godgrave sunny called it a global catastrophe,also compared it to meteor size of nqsc falling on earth. Just so you know meteor that size could wipe all life on earth.(Avengers age of Ultron skovia smaller than nqsc was said to be extinction level threat too) And now she's a supreme.
        Who can nuke more than half of the realm with her cores
        She with full domain power can literally light up half of the realm without breaking sweat.
        She with her domain full powered is strong that when unleashed is enough that even shockwaves from from her attack are enough to make almost every shade in sunny possession stumble.
        She literally did nuked more than half of nightmare desert without even cores and you're saying she's weak.

        She played a significant role in killing vtb sunny wouldn't have done that without her. She literally sliced whole wing of it in the fight that also when she was totally Nerfed without a domain. She being able to do multiple killing blows on a cursed without even a domain just shows how powerful she is

        She one-shot asterion transformation with blessing multiple times it just each asterion revived himself.

        She's the reason kai, Effie and jet are still alive.
        Also people tend to forget modret is a single person domain fellow.
        Sunny mostly has shades.
        But Nephis domain possesses human who unlike shades and Modrets vessels possess wll of their own. Just so you any saint or awakened in her domain has more potential than any of the vessels and shades.
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      73timur16
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      She was also trained by Kessie and Kai.
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  10. Offline
    Eternity of Reading
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    I can’t wait for fifth nightmare
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    1. Offline
      Lewy
      + 6 ⋅ 5 -
      Imagine that cohort will chalange a fifth nighmare the same that took Nefs mother in the past and Sunnys first lines to his mother-in-law will be ,,I f#cked your dauther''. ASOLUTE FLAW/FATED moment
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        InvalidData
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Why would he say that? 🫩🫩
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        1. Offline
          Rei-absolute
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          I posted the chapters.
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    2. Offline
      Rei-absolute
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      posted the chapters. I don't know if you've seen this, so I'm letting you know as a precaution.
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