Anvil entered the living room. The Citadel's main manor was not insignificant to Ravenheart's Jade Palace nor Bastion's castle.
It was a luxurious and tranquil place, rarely seeing the bustle of people traveling through, so it ultimately looked incredibly peaceful.
Sunny watched Anvil scan the area, his eyes stopping at him for a moment but ultimately settling on Kai, who wasn't wearing a mask but standing behind Sunny.
Under the Supreme's gaze, Kai found it a bit difficult to be in it, but didn't shy away.
"What do you want, and what do I call you?" Anvil asked, turning his gaze back to Sunny.
'Straight to business huh? This guy really has the mannerisms of a machine.' Sunny thought.
Taking a small breath, he answered because his flaw would never let a question go unanswered.
"Simple, I need you to be my guide in the Underworld. Take me to where Broken Sword died. As for what you can call me, Mongrel is good enough." Sunny said.
Anvil let the answer ruminate for a bit before he replied.
Sunny could see the gears turn in Anvil's mind. As if he were searching for the reason why.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. I don't know exactly where he died." Anvil answered.
"That's okay, you don't need to be exact. As long as you take us near, I'm sure we'll manage. I had heard he fled somewhere right before he died, so we'll start in that direction." Sunny said behind his visor.
Anvil looked at Sunny. His eyes narrowed for a split second as he spoke. If he was shocked that Sunny knew that information, he didn't show it.
"I do not doubt your battle prowess, however, that area is Death Zone." Anvil said.
Before Sunny could reply, Anvil continued.
"I don't mean it as a Death Zone in the traditional sense either. The Hollow Mountains are a Death Zone for Awakened, see? So what the Hollow Mountains are for the Awakened is what the Underworld is Supreme's or Sacred's for that matter." Anvil Said
Without stopping, he continued his explanation.
"We called it by a different name once it was discovered, you see, we called it the Oblivion Zone." The Sovereign paused for a moment as if he was reminiscing when they had first stumbled upon it.
"Most of the creatures in the Dream realm are Nightmare Creatures that used to walk the path of ascension and got corrupted, but this place is vastly different, the creatures in Oblivion Zone were born corrupted by creatures that never walked the path of ascension to begin with. I'm sure you know how the Hollow Mountains were formed?" Anvil said
Sunny, momentarily stunned, but answered anyway.
"Yes, it was a Void creature that was struck down by the Gods. A primordial being that was responsible for True Darkness. It was most likely an unholy titan," Sunny said.
"Certainly, the creatures beneath the Hollow Mountains are mostly its offspring. They have been alive since the age of the gods, and some are so ancient they have even survived since the War between the Gods and Void beings." Anvil said.
The silence hung in the air for a moment.
It was obvious what he was saying. It wasn't even right to call them corrupted creatures. They were born like that. Meaning in every sense of the word, they were True Void Beings. It reminded Sunny of the creatures under Godgrave, but it was different because Godgrave itself was also alive in a sense. The creature that birthed all those monsters was a corrupted creature that used to walk the path of ascension.
However, it seems like there were a few points Anvil was hiding, which was what he was intending, because the most obvious questions still remained.
"So how did you and your cohort even get near the seed? Or even figure out its existence?" Sunny asked
As if waiting for this moment, he answered with a clear voice.
"It wasn't anyone average who had discovered this place. It was that despicable creature who used to be a part of the cohort. As for how we got close to it? That part is simple. The area was dangerous, even then, we had to be extremely lucky as mere saints to navigate the area. The Dreamspawn and Ki Song were crucial as they were the best scouts, but" Anvil said as he paused for a moment
Sunny waited with anticipation
"Even then, they nearly died. Ki Song and the Dreamspawn's soul and mind were both nearly corrupted and destroyed. The Dreamspawn's wicked mind powers managed to negate the effect somewhat, but all of Ki Song's puppets were shattered, and whatever destroyed her puppets had managed to inflict soul damage too boot. Ki Song was lucky as she possessed a robust soul thanks to her lineage, and she managed not to become undone." Anvil said.
That was certainly troubling to hear. A few of Sunny's plans were crushed while hearing that. Soul damage and mind damage were lethal, and some people were more susceptible than others. As a Supreme Titan, Sunny could negate most effects, but against Cursed Beings, it was a bad idea to believe he could. This was only the outer area of the Oblivion Zone as well.
"Wait, is that one of the reasons why Stone Saints are immune to mind attacks? Nether made them, and it was odd why Saint possessed such a powerful attribute despite her rank when I met her." Sunny thought. It would make sense.
He was brought out of his thoughts when Anvil spoke again.
"The real trouble when we entered the Fourth Nightmare and realized why we even made it to the Seed to begin with." Anvil said.
This time, it was Kai who spoke up.
"What do you mean? If you entered the trial, wouldn't you guys be fine?" Kai said.
Anvil shook his head.
"No Void Creatures are inherently different from Nightmare Creatures to begin with. When corruption enters a soul, it can sometimes be fought off or destroyed by achieving a new rank, and in rare cases, even purified by a stronger being. That being the Nightmare Spell or otherwise. So very rarely can a Nightmare Creature walk the path of ascension once more." Anvil said.
That was true. That was how the First Nightmare functioned as well. The seed of corruption that forms in a human is utterly destroyed when they complete their First Nightmare trial.
"For Void Beings, this distinct difference is what sets them apart from Nightmare Creatures. It allows them to be more proficient in how they handle the corruption in their soul. So they become way more capable than your average Nightmare Creature. The reason I say this is because in our nightmare, there were others who entered the seed. The Void Beings." Anvil said
That was troubling to hear as both Kai and Sunny both frowned. Kai was the first to ask the question.
"How are they even able to enter, and why would they do something like that?" Kai asked.
Anvil looked at Kai with a bit of intrigue.
"Well, for how they entered. It was simple. They aren't barred from entering seeds, you see. Seeds are filled with corruption. It is almost native and instinctual to them. Also, you do know what happens when a seed isn't conquered, right? All those beings are released, whether it's in the Waking World or the Dream Realm. As for why they would enter its obvious." Anvil said.
Continuing, he spoke.
"The Spark of Desire. Through the corruption of the seed, they can sense the beings inside. By the time we entered our Nightmare, nearly every being inside was dead. Slaughtered by the Void Creatures. Our spell trial offered us two goals to choose from. Two sides luckily, death and destruction were one of them. We sided with the Nightmare Creatures and brought the people in the Fourth Nightmare to extinction." Anvil said.
That, that was a lot to take in. It reminded Sunny of his Second Nightmare with Hope. Whether to free her or make sure that never happened. The second option would destroy the Kingdom of Hope, as her powers were already infecting the entire Kingdom.
"It wasn't easy. Void Beings in the Cursed and Great rank are typically far smarter than any Nightmare Creature of the Cursed and Great Nightmare rank. It was because they were born like that that they could keep their intelligence, while corruption takes most of their reason and sanity. At the end of the Fourth Nightmare, the Void Beings were actually trying to save the people of the Nightmare from us, since killing all the ancient horrors would be next to impossible. It was incredibly backwards and bizarre. Completing the Nightmare meant destruction for them, and they acutely realized the Nightmare Spell would kill them if the trial ended." Anvil said.
This news made Sunny shocked, and he glanced at Kai, whose mouth was agape. Kai's flaw had all but confirmed that Anvil was speaking the truth.
"There were several Great Terrors and Great Titans in our Nightmare. That was why the area we ventured into was relatively tame. They all entered the seed to chase the Spark Desire and consume all life, and then the seed would eventually spit them out. Their luck ended when we completed in slaying the final human in the Nightmare. It was an older Supreme. He had grown weakened as he had to fight against the Void Beings for decades, and he was losing." Anvil said with a smile.
His look of triumph seemed like he had done the impossible, as he continued his tale.
"You see, his domain was all but destroyed, and some of the Void Beings battled had left him with scars and wounds that would never heal. As for the Nightmare Creatures, I would eventually cut them down to receive Supreme memories that would help us tremendously. In the end, we barely held back the creatures with some of the creatures Ki Song and the Dreamspawn had accumulated and enthralled during the Nightmare, and the Supreme was cut down by Broken Sword himself." Anvil finished his epic tale of the Fourth Nightmare.
Sunny was awed, but he asked the question that was bothering him.
"Did that Supreme end up siding with the Nightmare Creatures?" Sunny asked.
It sounded odd. To be enemies with Void Beings for decades, only to rely on them.
"No, the old man turned insane. Everyone was his enemy. You see, when the Dreamspawn enthralled his daughter and grandchildren, he realized he couldn't kill the Sovereign with those vessels, so he promptly made them commit suicide. In front of him." Anvil said. His distaste was visible, but Sunny felt a tinge of anger.
The Dreamspawns powers had reached a qualitative change when he transcended. He couldn't completely enthrall people like he did when he was a Supreme, but he could scramble their brains to do some of his bidding.
"So you're telling me that Broken Sword went deeper into the Oblivion Zone and died there?" Sunny asked.
"Indeed, at first, when we turned on him as soon as we left, but as the battle went on, he would go deeper into the Oblivion Zone, and the Void Beings would eventually attack us," Anvil said.
Continuing, he said, "However, he was on a timer. With every Void Being we slayed, Ki Song would get stronger by enthralling their broken bodies, and the Dreamspawn had been gradually affecting his thoughts to force him to make mistakes. Eventually, although he destroyed Ki Song's thralls, I cut off one of his arms as a price, and Ki Song would find a gap, running right through him with her arm. Her insidious lineage also ramapaged inside him. That was when he ran. We could all sense that he was running right into a powerful Void Being. We didn't see him die, however, it seemed like Ki Song's poison had made the final blow, and the Dreamspawn mentioned that he could no longer feel a mental connection either." Anvil said.