The massive pillar plummeted down and fell right on the Black Knight. The devil turned slightly at the last moment, lowering his sword to the ground. His crimson eyes flashed with unassailable menace.
As a thunderous crash resounded in the dark hall of the ruined cathedral, pieces of stone and clouds of dust flew into the air.
'Got you!'
A feeling of savage joy ignited in Sunny's heart. Without slowing down, he dove into the dust.
Of course, he didn't think the fiend would be destroyed by his trap. But it had to do some damage to the fearsome black armor, at least.
Nearing the place where he had last seen the tall dark figure, Sunny witnessed an incredible sight. The pillar... was floating high above the ground, its crushing weight resting on the shoulder of the steel giant. In the place of the impact, its surface had cracked and shattered.
The Black Knight, however, had not escaped unscathed as well.
His heavy breastplate fractured, revealing nothing but a mass of impenetrable, living darkness within. The pauldron on the shoulder that had received the blow was practically destroyed, leaving that whole arm hanging listlessly, twisted at a strange angle.
The helmet of the devil was dented and covered by a net of small cracks, each seeping with ghostly crimson light.
The Black Knight did not look good, if utterly terrifying.
What was even better, though, was the fact that he was currently stuck under the pillar, unable to move.
Sunny had to make us of that situation…
But before he could, the devil raised his broken arm and placed it on the column. Then, he lowered his head, as though gathering his strength… and effortlessly threw the monumental stone pillar into the air.
Sunny's eyes widened.
Diving down, he barely avoided the flying wall of granite. The pillar flew above his head and crashed down onto the marble floor, then rolled several times and came to a rest in a deafening rumble of shattering stone. The length of it blocked the grand hall, cutting the way for the rest of the cohort.
And also Sunny's path of retreat.
…Not that he had any plans of retreating.
Regaining his balance, Sunny brandished the Midnight Shard and dashed toward the wounded Black Knight for a vicious attack.
Both he and the Stone Saint arrived at the same time.
However, the Fallen Devil was still a force to be reckoned with. Despite the fact that his armor was cracked and his speed was somewhat diminished, there was still enough power in his body to obliterate all of them.
Holding the greatsword with one hand, he suddenly pulled it into a fearsome slash. The black blade whistled through the air, cutting a chaotic arc around the fiend.
Sunny was forced to jump back, but the Shadow managed to deflect the blow with her shield and redirect its power, slowing down only a little.
In the next moment, she closed the distance to the Black Knight and delivered a terrible strike of her own, aiming at the base of his sword's blade.
The Knight simply moved the sword away, then violently bashed her in the head with the pommel, casing bits of the stonelike metal to fly into the air.
The Saint staggered back, the visor of her helmet shattered.
…Unlike the mass of darkness hiding in the black suit of steel armor, there was an actual face beneath hers.
Sunny allowed himself to stare for a fraction of a second. This was his first time seeing the face of his Shadow, after all.
The Stone Saint looked just how he had imagined. Her skin was grey like granite, and the features of her face were almost like that of a human — with the exception that they were just too flawless. It was as though she had not been born, but actually cut from stone by a mad sculptor, one obsessed with absolute perfection.
As the result, what should have been beautiful looked eerie and hideous instead. In fact, glancing at the inhumanly perfect face of his Shadow, Sunny felt nothing but a cold sense of revulsion.
…Fright, even.
The fact that her haunting face was utterly devoid of any hint of human emotion only made it even more disturbing.
The Shadow caught herself from falling and dashed to the side, avoiding another strike from the terrifying giant, which was effortlessly chained after the first one. The greatsword fell down once more, shattering the marble plates of the floor in the spot she had been just a moment ago.
It was then that Nephis rejoined the fight.
The three of them attacked the Black Knight simultaneously, perfectly coordinating their assault. Changing Star threw her longsword forward, aiming to sever the broken arm of the devil entirely.
The Stone Saint went after the greatsword again.
And Sunny did something crazy.
Dashing to the enormous black blade, he… stepped on its surface and ran up, using it as a ladder. He had a solid second of stability before the greatsword was pulled into another attack. Feeling it moving beneath his feet, Sunny used the momentum to jump up and grab onto the helmet of the terrifying fiend.
Mounting the devil, he hung from the Black Knight's neck and delivered a savage stab at his shoulder. His aim was just a centimeter away from the edge of the pauldron.
Sunny's hand was empty when he started the strike, but by the time it reached its mark, the Moon Shard was already grasped in it.
During their journey back to the Dark City, he had noticed that Ascended Memories received a less dramatic enhancement from the Crown of Dawn. Unlike the Awakened ones, they weren't elevated by almost an entire rank in terms of power. The augmentation, however, was still significant.
Enough to breach the gap between the ghostly stiletto and the armor of the Fallen Devil, at least.
The needle-sharp point of the Moon Shard broke through the impenetrable steel and sunk deep into the shoulder joint of the indestructible black armor.
Obviously, Sunny knew that this strike would not do a lot of damage to the fiend. But dealing damage was not his goal.
Devil or not, Fallen or not, the Black Knight still had to obey the laws of physics. In particular, having several inches of steel… glass?... stuck in the joint of his armor was inevitably going to reduce the mobility of his arm.
Indeed, with both of his arms damaged, the speed with which the fiend was able to move his greatsword around considerably diminished. It was still utterly terrifying, nevertheless.
But not insurmountable anymore.
Just a moment faster than the Black Knight, the Stone Saint stepped over the black blade and pinned it to the floor with one of her grieves. Using all of her weight to keep it down, she threw her sword aside and raised her shield high above her head with both hands.
For a moment, time slowed down.
And then the Shadow brought the shield down, delivering a devastating blow to the weakest point of the greatsword.
The rim of the stone shield hit against the black steel…
And with a deafening ringing, the greatsword shattered.
Chapter 272: Shadow and Darkness
Augmented by the shadow and with the help of nine hundred fragments that Sunny had collected, the Saint had become incredibly strong. The graceful stone body of the taciturn monster hid incredible power to begin with, and now, it was vastly enhanced.
Holding her shield with both hands, the Shadow delivered a devastating blow at the weakest point of the black blade. The blade, which was pinned between the marble floor and her greave, rang deafeningly… and shattered.
Still mounting the Black Knight, Sunny grinned with vicious joy.
Then, he let go of the dented helmet of the devil and pushed himself off, performing a backward flip and landing nimbly several meters away.
Nephis immediately disengaged, too.
Both of them knew that there nothing was more dangerous than an enemy on the brink of death. With nothing to lose, humans often relinquished any sense of self-preservation and turned berserk, taking their killer with them to the grave.
Nightmare Creatures were much the same, only more terrifying.
Despite the fact that Sunny was sure that the devil's weakness hid in his sword, he wasn't certain what would happen if the blade was actually broken. Hopefully, the Black Knight would just crumble into a pile of steel.
If not… it would be better to be far away when they found out.
As the shards of the black blade rained on the floor and the Stone Saint fell on one knee, a shudder ran through the devil's body. The darkness hiding in the corners of the ruined cathedral suddenly boiled and lunged forward in a wave.
But none of it reached the Black Knight, annihilated by the radiance of Changing Star's intricate white armor.
The devil froze in a twisted pose, his hands powerlessly hanging down, his back bent. The black steel of his armor was… rusting. It was swiftly turning dull brown, its luster gone, its once impregnable surface looking corroded and brittle.
Then, he slowly and laboriously raised his head and turned it slightly to the side. As if staring at the face of the nameless goddess whose statue oversaw the dark hall of the ruined cathedral for thousands of years.
As the devil looked at the goddess, the crimson light of his eyes slowly weakened and dimmed…
…And then, suddenly, exploded into furious red flames.
The rusty armor came apart, exposing the mass of darkness hiding within. The darkness stretched its limbs and rose above the kneeling Shadow, the parts of the armor that floated in it giving the creature a vaguely humanoid shape.
Revealing its true form.
A ghostly colossus made of darkness and rusting steel towered above the taciturn monster like an omen of death, two crimson fires burning furiously in the black depths. Another flame appeared just beneath them, like a twisted mouth made from the flames of hell.
And then, a terrifying roar shook the ancient temple.
Sunny took an involuntary step back, a feeling of dread rising from the depths of his soul. His eyes searched for Nephis and found her standing a few meters behind the Stone Saint. Changing Star was hesitating, looking at the dark apparition with an uncertain expression.
She caught his gaze, lingered for a moment and then nodded, understanding what Sunny wanted to convey without the need for any words. Then, Nephis cautiously backed away, not letting the devil out of her sight.
What was going to happen next was not something a human could survive. Not a Sleeper, at least.
With a harrowing fury, the creature of darkness crashed down on the Shadow. Its hands tore through the air and wrapped around the taciturn monster's neck, then raised the living statue in the air as if her stone body weighed nothing.
The devil brought the Saint high above the marble floor of the ruined cathedral and squeezed her neck, as if trying to strangle the her. A net of cracks streaked through the Shadow's armor, bits of stone falling down.
…Through all of it, the emotionless expression on the hauntingly inhuman face of the Saint did not change one bit.
But in her ruby eyes, a hint of a feeling appeared, much stronger than ever before.
…Disdain.
Letting go of the shield, she raised her hands, grasped the vambraces of the rusting armor, and easily shattered them in her grip.
As another roar resounded in the darkness, the taciturn monster fell back to the ground. Landing with nimble grace, she instantly dodged the claws of the apparition, which had bent down to shatter the living statue once and for all. Then, she took a step forward.
The Stone Saint was right beneath the leaning devil now.
As her ruby eyes flashed with ruthlessness, she lunged forward and delivered a crushing blow to his chest. Her gauntlet tore through the breastplate of the rusted armor and sank deep into the living darkness, right where a human heart would have been.
…Or a soul core.
A moment later, the crimson flames burning in the depths of the dark creature exploded into a wave of blinding red light.
…And disappeared.
The dark essence of the devil dissipated like fog, its remnants vanquished by Changing Star's radiance. The pieces of armor fell to the ground in a clangor of steel.
The terrifying devil of the cathedral, the Black Knight, was dead.
Sunny threw his head back and let out an exhilarated, vengeful laugh.
'Die! Die, you bastard! Die and go to hell, forever!'
Oh, revenge tasted so great!
A moment later, the voice of the Spell whispered sweetly into his ear:
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Forsaken Knight.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Sunny smiled.
'Anything else you want to add? A Memory? An... an Echo?'
However, a moment later, he forgot all about the Spell. A cold shiver run down his spine.
Because right in front of him, something very strange was happening to the Stone Saint.
Her hand was still raised, frozen in the same position as when she had pierced the heart of the living darkness with her fist.
And in it…
'What the hell is that thing?!'
Chapter 273: Chrysalis
Grasped in the Shadow's fist was a strange, beautiful, and ominous gem. It was utterly black, as though suffused with impenetrable darkness. The glossy black surface seemed to devour light, turning the vast hall of the ruined cathedral even darker than it had been before.
Deep within that black void, crimson flames burned with a menacing red glow. It was pulsating in a slow and bizarre rhythm, drowning everything around in dim red light. Painted by it, the Stone Saint seemed to be drenched in blood. The gem she held looked like a bloody, still-beating heart that she had torn out of someone's chest.
Gazing at it, Sunny felt a strange sense of foreboding.
'What the hell is this thing?'
The gem looked sort of like a soul shard, but… different. He had never seen a black shard, to begin with, or one radiating such an intense glow. It also didn't seem like a piece of a broken core. On the contrary, it appeared… whole?
'Is that what a soul core of a Nightmare Creature looks like?'
No, not a soul core.
A soul?
Stunned, Sunny counted the crimson flames burning in the depths of the black gem. One, two, three… four.
Four flames for the four cores of Fallen Devil.
The thing that his Shadow held in her hand was the Black Knight's soul… or some sort of his essence, at least. By how had it turned into a material form?
Did the Stone Saint do it? If so, how… no, why?
'What is she doing with it?!'
As Sunny and Nephis looked in stunned silence, the Shadow finally moved. Bringing the black gem close to her face, she lingered for a moment. A hint of a dark, macabre emotion appeared in her eyes.
And then, the Stone Saint… swallowed it.
Sunny blinked.
'...What?'
The Shadow opened her mouth, bit into the eerie crystal, and swallowed it.
Just like that, the soul of the Black Knight was devoured. The red glow it emanated disappeared, returning the world to its natural shade.
And a moment after that, the Stone Saint fell into the shadows and disappeared, too.
'Wait… I didn't dismiss her. What the hell is happening?'
Nephis looked at him with a perplexed expression.
"What just happened? What did she do?"
For once, Sunny didn't have to twist the truth and deceive anyone. Opening his mouth, he honestly said:
"I have no idea."
Walking over to the pile of rusty steel that remained after the devil had been destroyed, Sunny moved it around with his foot for a bit and then mumbled:
"There's no shards left. It's empty."
Changing Star remained silent for a few moments, then frowned.
Finally, she said:
"...You Echo is very peculiar."
***
While everyone was recovering from the fight and tending to their wounds, Sunny walked to a secluded corner and dove into the Soul Sea.
The tranquil expanse of still water met him with familiar silence. Glancing at the rows of motionless shadows standing at the edge of it, Sunny noticed that the Black Knight had joined their ranks.
The steel giant stood among all the other creatures Sunny had slain, just as empty as the rest of them. There was no trace of the menacing and deadly Fallen Devil left. Now, he was just one of the shadows.
Sunny grinned.
"Welcome, you bastard. Make yourself at home. You're not going anywhere else ever, anyway."
A feeling of deep, dark satisfaction grasped his heart. Staring at the motionless form of his sworn enemy, Sunny had to stop himself from kicking the Black Knight with all his strength.
He was just a shadow now, after all. Kicking him would have been like kicking the air. Plus, Sunny wasn't vindictive to that degree. Killing the bastard once was enough for him.
"Who's the one laughing now, huh? I won't deny it, you got me good. But I'm still breathing while you're dead. At the end of the day, that's all that matter."
This world — no, both this world and the real one were full of creatures that were bigger, stronger, and more powerful than Sunny. Many of them had either threatened his existence or felt compelled to treat him like dirt to show their superiority.
But he was still here despite all of them, neither destroyed nor subjugated. He was free, alive, and growing stronger with each day.
One day, they would be the ones cowering in front of him or be destroyed by him. Just like the Black Knight had been.
With a dark expression, Sunny turned away and walked to stand beneath the black sun of his shadow core. Then, he summoned the Stone Saint.
…But nothing happened.
Sunny frowned, then repeated the summon again — to the same effect. Suddenly worried, he willed the runes to appear in the air in front of him.
Luckily, his worst fears did not come true. The Stone Saint was still listed as his Shadow.
'Then what is going on with her?'
Concentrating on the runes describing her name, Sunny made it expand and read:
Shadow: Stone Saint.
Shadow Rank: Awakened.
Shadow Class: Monster.
Shadow Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark of Divinity].
Shadow Description: [Shadow Saint was created by the treacherous Lost from Light in the cursed darkness of the Forgotten Shore.]
Shadow Fragments: [80/200].
So far, everything was the same. Even the number of shadow fragments he had fed her did not change.
However, there was a new string of runes shimmering beneath that number, where nothing had been before.
When Sunny saw it, his eyes widened.
The runes read:
[...The Stone Saint is evolving.]
He lingered for a few moments, and then looked up at the Shadow Core.
Somewhere inside, his Shadow was resting in the waves of nurturing dark flames, her very being going through a mysterious transformation. It appeared as though consuming the soul of the Black Knight had allowed her to enter a stage of growth that Sunny had not anticipated.
How long would that evolution process take?
And what kind of a transformation the Saint was going through?
Sunny had no idea.
However, he couldn't wait to find out.
Chapter 274: Salvation
Evolving… the Stone Saint was evolving.
Leaving the mindscape of the Soul Sea, Sunny furrowed his brow. His eyes, however, were full of excitement.
What exactly about her was going to change, though?
There weren't that many possibilities. It could be either her rank, her class, or her attributes.
It was logical to assume that by defeating an opponent of a higher rank, the Shadow would be able to ascend to a new rank herself. However, there was a flaw in that logic.
The Black Knight wasn't the first Fallen creature Sunny and the Saint had slain. In fact, he was the third, with the Corpse Eater and the Spire Messenger being the first two. That's not even counting the two Iron Spiders the living statue had butchered before falling to Sunny's blade herself.
But she had not done anything like pulling a black gem out of their corpses before.
So, most likely, what allowed her to absorb the soul of that particular Nightmare Creature was not the mere fact of its incredible power, it was the strange but obvious kinship that the two of them shared. At least Sunny felt that this guess of his was right.
That didn't help him understand what changes would occur to the taciturn monsters, though. Still, it was a very valuable piece of information to learn.
In the future, if Sunny wanted to evolve his Shadows, he would have to find not only a powerful, but also a suitable opponent for them to defeat. A kindred abomination of higher rank or class.
Tilting his head, he tried to remember if there was another creature on the Forgotten Shore he knew of whose soul could be fed to the Saint. For a moment, the image of the walking colossus appeared in his mind.
'Yeah, no. Not gonna even think about that.'
Shaking his head, Sunny smiled slightly and walked over to his companions.
Now that their deal had been concluded…
The future he was so afraid of was finally upon them.
***
The light of lanterns invaded the spacious room that had once belonged to the priestess of this ancient temple. With six people entering its peaceful haven, however, it didn't seem so vast anymore.
Sunny looked around and sighed. The hidden quarters were just like he had left him. There were pieces of simple, but luxurious furniture carved out of pale wood, with a few mismatched things that he had scavenged from the ruins. The stone walls were decorated with intricate engravings. An empty chest that used to be full of shimmering soul shards stood dark and empty.
Feeding the Stone Saint had really bankrupted him. Sadly, being the master of a hungry Shadow was not the cheapest of ambitions...
On one of the walls, sets of lines were scratched into the stone, marking all the days he had spent living in the ruined cathedral. For a long time, this had been his home. The best home he ever had, really, which was a sad thing to say about a windowless stone room hidden in the middle of a cursed city.
But Sunny liked it a lot. He was going to miss this dark, quiet place very much.
The other members of the cohort, with the exception of Effie and Cassie, were looking around with interest. Even Neph showed a bit of curiosity.
With a strange look on his face, Kai turned to Sunny and asked:
"This… this is where you lived?"
Sunny raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Yeah. Why?"
The beautiful archer smiled with visible delight.
"No, nothing. It's just that… this place is so tasteful! I did not expect your residence to be this chic."
'What is that supposed to mean?'
Sunny frowned.
"...What did you expect it to be?"
Kai looked down, suddenly flustered.
"Oh, you know. For some reason, I always imagined you sleeping on a floor in a cave. Yeah, stupid, I know. Why would there be a cave in a temple?"
Hearing that, Effie couldn't help but laugh.
"Uh… wait till you see what's in his closet, Night."
Sunny gave her a menacing look, but thought better of saying anything.
He understood that the huntress was just trying to lighten the mood.
Knowing what was going to come next, every member of the cohort was consumed by fear and doubt right now. Effie more than the rest, because her role in the spectacle that Gunalug had planned for them was especially cruel.
Sunny sighed.
A bit later, they were sitting around the hearth, the smell of food still lingering in the air. Everyone was silent, looking at the fire, their minds consumed with dark thoughts. Sunny knew that he had to make a decision now, but felt reluctant to do so.
Instead, he just watched the shadows dance on the walls of the hidden chamber.
After a while, Nephis finally broke the silence. Turning to him, she lingered for a bit, and then asked:
"We will be leaving in the morning. Will you come with us?"
Her voice sounded even, as always. But Sunny knew her well enough to discern notes of a suppressed emotion in it.
Hope…
'Hope is the poison that will get you killed.'
But no. This was the old Sunny talking. One who was comfortable hiding behind his insanity, one who had given up. Who was too afraid to face the ruthless truth and pay the price to take what belonged to him, was his by right.
Triumph. Salvation.
...And hope.
Sunny was done being afraid.
With a calm expression, he looked at Nephis and said:
"The day after tomorrow. I still have things to finish in the Dark City. I will join you the day after tomorrow… for better or worse."
She was silent for a few moments, and then a soft smile appeared on her face.
"...Thank you. I have some preparations to make, too. We will return to the Bright Castle together, then."
He gave her a nod and turned away.
Nephis had never shown any sign of being able to feel fear, at least not that he remembered. But he knew that it was just a front. In fact, she knew fear all too well. Better than anyone here, except maybe for him.
She was introduced to it at a very young age, after all.
So he suspected that behind her indifferent face and even voice, she must have been scared, too. She was just a young girl, after all.
And it was she who was going to fight the immortal Bright Lord to the death soon, not them.
Sunny looked at the shadows.
'One day. After one day, the prophecy will begin to come true.'
Chapter 275: Secrets of the Ruined Temple
As soon as the dawn came, bringing with it the mournful sound of retreating waves, Nephis and her cohort left the ruined cathedral.
Sunny remained alone, standing on the edge between the darkness of the old temple and the light of the new day.
Lingering in the ornate doorway, he remained motionless for a while and watched as the artificial sun rose into the bleak grey skies above the cursed city. After months spent in the company of other humans, being by himself once again felt strange… just like it had felt strange to be with other people after all the time he had spent on his own here before that.
Turning around, Sunny returned into the darkness.
The grand hall of the ruined cathedral was peaceful and quiet. Without the menacing steel guardian, there was no one here to disturb the silence anymore. Even the darkness that populated the corners was empty and docile now, not at all the living entity it had been once.
…It felt sort of lonesome.
Freely walking through the echoing expanse of the magnificent hall, Sunny looked around, taking in the sight of the cathedral that had sheltered in the past from a new perspective. Despite spending so much time here, he had never seen it like this — in the same way the inhabitants of the Dark City must have seen it all those years ago. Sunny had only looked down on the hall from the height of one of the ancient temple's support beams.
It looked majestic.
But it was also not safe anymore.
With the Black Knight dead, no one was left to defend the cathedral from the Nightmare Creatures that would want to claim it as their nest. So Sunny couldn't stay here for long.
Not that he had the luxury of that choice anymore.
Throwing one last look at the beautiful dark hall, Sunny sighed and began climbing the statue of the nameless goddess.
***
Back in the hidden chamber, it was once again utterly dark. Sunny hesitated for a bit and began collecting his belongings.
It didn't take him long.
Growing attached to material things was pointless on the Forgotten Shore. There was no way to take them with him to the real world, after all — if he was even going to survive that long.
But he still felt sad leaving all of his spoils behind. Back in the real world, Sunny never had a home like this, nor a lot of stuff to call his own. He had dreamed of enjoying a lavish lifestyle after becoming an Awakened, but got stuck in this hell instead. This spacious room he called his home was a form of consolation.
But now he had to leave.
In the end, he only took the bare necessities and then tidied the place up, wishing to leave it clean and orderly despite knowing that there was little chance of anyone stumbling on this place again.
After everything was done, Sunny glanced at the tranquil room and hesitated for a bit.
Then, he walked over to the wall where he had once scratched countless lines into the stone to count the days and summoned the Prowling Thorn.
He wanted to leave a mark of his presence here. Something to tell that he had lived in this hidden chamber, in the ancient ruined cathedral, in the Dark City, on the Forgotten Shore…
In this world. A small mark to witness that he had been here, had struggled here, and then left to fight for a chance to escape.
Sunny wanted to come up with some profound words, but nothing came to mind. He wasn't really a profound person, anyway.
What he really wanted to carve into the wall was his True Name. But even now, the paranoia stopped him. What if someone would come here one day and read it out loud? What a funny disaster that would be.
Finally, he raised the kunai a carved something beneath the lines that marked the days he had spent living in the ruined cathedral.
Then, Sunny turned around and walked away.
There were two runes left on the wall behind him.
One meaning sun.
The other meaning loss.
***
There were two things Sunny wanted to accomplish before tomorrow morning. One was in the ruins of a library that he had never finished exploring, and the other one was right here in the ruined cathedral.
Returning to the grand hall with his rucksack on his shoulder, Sunny walked past the statue of the nameless goddess and dove into one of the doors leading into the temple's inner sanctum.
He had never been there before, kept away by the living darkness and the Black Knight.
But now that the devil was gone, Sunny was finally going to see what was hidden inside.
Walking through the rooms and corridors that the priests and priestesses had once used, he looked around and didn't notice anything of interest. Everything was pretty much destroyed and ruined, with only a few mundane things remaining untouched.
There was nothing here at all — at least that was what others would think.
Sunny, however, suddenly stopped in front of a certain wall and tilted his head.
There was nothing special about that wall, at least nothing that could be seen. But he could feel a heavy mass of shadows hiding behind it, as though there was a hollow space there.
After searching for a while, he found a hidden lever and pressed it.
Or at least he tried. The ancient mechanism had rusted through and disintegrated over the thousands of years of neglect, of course.
With a sigh, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard, looked closer at the hollow wall, and inserted the tachi into the seam between its moving parts. Then, he unceremoniously used the unbreakable blade as a lever and pushed with all his inhuman strength.
With a terrible scraping sound, a part of the wall slid away. The air rushed past Sunny, entering the dark mouth of a narrow corridor.
Behind it, a set of stone stairs led down.
Deep down underground.
With a resentful grimace, Sunny flourished the Midnight Shard to shake off the dust that clung to it, put it on his shoulder, and entered the secret passage.
Chapter 276: Black Door
The hidden passage led Sunny underground, twisting and turning through the mass of stone. Despite the fact that he had been cautiously walking forward for a few minutes now, Sunny felt that he was still beneath the cathedral. In fact, by his estimation, he was approaching its center.
And indeed, right beneath the spot where the statue of the goddess should have been, the narrow passage opened into a larger room. In it, a deep well leading even further down was situated, with a winding staircase spiraling down into the darkness.
Sunny frowned.
'What is it with this place and creepy dark wells?'
Going further down was going to place him dangerously close to the catacombs. He knew all to well what kind of danger that would pose — the last time Sunny had ventured into the maze of ancient tunnels below the city, he barely escaped alive.
After hesitating for a while, he stepped onto the staircase and began descending. Deep, ancient shadows surrounded Sunny, giving him a little comfort.
At least he was among his kin.
After a minute or so of walking down the stairwell, Sunny entered a large chamber that seemed to be carved into the bedrock, as opposed to being constructed by human hand. On the other side of it, a large door forged from black steel stood, illuminated by two burning torches.
Two thoughts entered Sunny's mind simultaneously.
The first one was that the metal from which the monolithic door was made looked eerily familiar. It was the same dark, lusterless, impenetrable alloy that the Black Knight had been made of.
The second thought was even more disturbing.
'...How come those torches are still burning?'
Had they been aflame for several thousand years?
Come to think of it, the torches looked very strange. They seemed to be producing light, but it was pale and ghostly. There was no heat that came with it, too.
The shadows cast by the ghostly flames were the most disturbing, though. Because of the movements of the fire, they were supposed to be dancing on the floor. But instead, the shadows were absolutely motionless. It was as though the light of the torches had trapped and paralyzed them somehow.
Sunny thought for a while, and that ordered his own shadow to stay back. The shadow did not protest — in fact, it was visibly relieved. Taking a few exaggerated steps back, it merged with the deep darkness at the exit of the stairwell and waited there, glancing nervously at the strange motionless shadows from time to time.
Sunny cautiously approached the black door and lowered the Midnight Shard into a protective stance. He was ready to face any sort of danger.
…But nothing attacked him.
The only thing that happened was a sudden shill that run through Sunny's body when he had entered the circle of light cast by the two ghostly torches.
'These torches are… they are definitely some sort of a protective charm. I am almost sure that their power can harm even shadows.'
The question he had to ask himself, though, was this — were the torches meant to keep something from entering the space that hid behind the black door…
Or were they meant to keep something in?
Well… there was only one way to find out.
What Sunny was doing seemed absolutely crazy. But in fact, it was not. He had not come into this underground chamber just because of idle curiosity or because of being blinded by greed and the prospect of finding a treasure.
What led him here and pushed him to study the black door was his intuition.
By now, Sunny had to admit that his intuition was more than a mere manifestation of his subconscious. It had turned out to be correct one too many times.
Especially ever since he had consumed the drop of ichor.
After that day, he was able to sense the presence of divinity. And sometimes, he was even drawn to it — like he was drawn to this cathedral and to the mysterious key that lay buried in the body of the Lord of the Dead. The two seemed connected…
And Sunny felt that he was about to find out how and why.
But it was not all his intuition was capable of. There were other aspects to it, too.
In fact, Sunny suspected that it had more to do with his [Fated] Attribute than it had to do with the [Spark of Divinity.] If he were to guess, he would say that after he had been changed by the ichor, that Attribute was slightly enhanced, giving him the ability to sense subtle tremors that ran through the strings of fate from time to time — the strings that were, apparently, tightly wrapped around his body.
The combination of the change that happened to his eyes and his close relationship with those strings gave Sunny a slight affinity to revelations and fate — similar to the one Cassie had possessed, but infinitely less potent.
It was enough to guide him to this door and make him want to open it, nevertheless.
Stepping close to the monolithic black door, Sunny gazed at it and came to the conclusion that not even an entire army would have been able to break through this monstrous barrier.
There was, however, a small keyhole hidden on its dark surface.
Pulling on the string tied around his neck, Sunny took off the small metal key that hung on it and gripped it tightly in his hand.
After hesitating for a few moments, he carefully inserted the key into the lock of the black door.
…It fit perfectly. As soon as Sunny put the key into the lock, the faint light of divinity it emanated suddenly became a little bit brighter.
Sunny sighed, then readied himself and turned the key.
Something clicked inside the metal door, and then it silently opened. The pale light of the ghostly torches swayed, as though moved by an otherworldly wind.
Behind the door, a small room was carved into the rock.
And in it, a corpse in a dark mantle was chained to the floor inside a circle.
Sunny couldn't tell if the corpse belonged to a man or a woman, because there was a strange mask covering its face.
The mask was made out of black lacquered wood and carved to resemble the face of a ferocious demon. Its teeth were bared, with four fangs protruding from its mouth. The mask was crowned with three twisted horns.
Inside the black chasms of its eyes, there was nothing but utter darkness.
Chapter 277: Demon of Fate
Sunny held his breath, affected by the disturbing scene in front of him.
The corpse was kneeling on the floor of the small cell, its hand chained to the floor. There was a circle carved into the stone around it, with countless symbols that Sunny could not understand surrounding it.
However, the circle was broken. In the thousands of years since the fall of the Dark City, the floor of the dungeon cell had cracked, with several fractures running straight through the intricate engraving.
Whatever it was the circle was meant to contain had either perished or escaped a long time ago.
Now, the only thing that remained was a withered corpse.
Coming closer, Sunny took another look at the person who had been imprisoned and died under the ruined cathedral, in a cell situated exactly beneath the statue of the nameless goddess.
Because of the dark mantle and the black lacquered mask, Sunny couldn't glean a lot of information about the corpse. It seemed to belong to a human, but other than that, everything about it was a mystery.
What terrible sin had this person committed to be condemned to this awful death?
Strangely, Sunny's intuition was silent. It was as though there was nothing in front of him at all. To his sixth sense, the prisoner of the underground cell appeared as an empty space.
'...Weird. This person had clearly been either hated or feared a lot to be locked behind all these barriers. Surely, finding such a creature would affect my fate… why don't I feel anything, then?'
With a tense frown, he took a deep breath and carefully stepped inside the circle.
…It was then that Sunny noticed a chaotic mess of runes drawn on the floor near the prisoner's left hand. The sight of them almost sent him into a seizure.
Staggering away, Sunny fell to his knees and threw up.
'Agh… damn it!'
Those runes… those were the same runes the Spell used to describe the mysterious Unknown. Only here, the intensity of the terrible effect they had on the mind of anyone who saw them was much, much stronger.
'What the hell?'
Wiping his mouth, Sunny grimaced and glanced at the masked corpse with a bit of resentment.
Then, he picked himself off the floor, took a deep breath… a looked at the terrible runes once again.
Immediately, Sunny felt a splitting headache and a sickening, terrible sensation spreading through his mind. It was as though all his thoughts and memories were being torn and twisted. But despite all of it, Sunny persevered and kept staring at the final message that the prisoner had left behind.
He knew he couldn't read the runes — he didn't know that particular language, and the Spell either was forbidden, incapable, or refused to translate them. But for some reason, Sunny felt compelled to try.
Fighting through the intense pain, he slowly studied the strange runes. And then, suddenly, his eyes widened.
Because right below the chaotic mess of them, a line of text was written in the script he was familiar with — the usual runic language that the Spell always used.
This time, it did not provide any translation. Luckily, Sunny had studied these runes and knew enough about them to understand what was written himself.
The last thing the person imprisoned under the cathedral wrote before succumbing to death made him shudder.
Scratched into the stone was a short prayer:
"Hail Weaver
Demon of Fate
Firstborn
of the -unknown-"
***
Sunny stared at the runes until he was on the verge of losing consciousness. Only then did he turn away and closed his eyes.
The nauseating dissonance of the terrible runes stayed carved into his mind. Only after several minutes passed did it fade a little, allowing him to breathe again.
So… the mysterious Weaver whose forbidden lineage he had inherited was, in fact, associated with fate. Just like Sunny himself.
What were the chances?
'...That's Fated for you, I guess.'
The word he translated as "Demon" wasn't the one used to describe Nightmares Creatures of the third rank, but a different one.
Perhaps calling it a spirit or a daemon would have been more suitable — a mortal, but powerful and ominous deity. One different from gods, but sharing the same nature. However, Sunny wasn't that versed in mystical terminology. All he knew was that the runic language was incredibly rich in words describing all types of monsters and creatures, while the human language wasn't.
Hence "Demon" was fine with him.
Apart from the tantalizing revelation about the mysterious Weaver, he had noticed one other important thing by forcing himself to study the runes.
Before, Sunny had thought that there was a single entity that the Spell refused to call by its name and simply described as "-unknown-" — leading him to call it the Unknown.
…Yes, Sunny was not that imaginative when it came to word choice.
Whether the Unknown were a kind of beings, a single existence, or a force of nature, he did not know.
But now, he realized that there were actually two types of forbidden runes, and two things that the Spell did not know how or did not want to mention.
One was the same as those used in the description of the Drop of Ichor, which stated that the Vile Thieving Bird was hated both by the gods and by the Unknown. It also said that the reflection of the Unknown stayed forever frozen in the depths of Weaver's pupils, and that just looking at it drove the Thieving Bird mad.
The other was the same as those used in the description of the Stone Saint, which was created by "the last child of the -unknown-", and now here by the dead prisoner, who had called Weaver the firstborn of the "-unknown-".
'What the hell does all of this supposed to mean?'
His suspicion that Weaver had something to do with the creation of the Nightmare Spell only grew stronger after learning that he… she… it?.... they had something to do with the domain of fate. After all, the Spell seemed to be weaved out of numerous strings of fate, and there was this being called Weaver, who had the blood of gods in their veins, but was also somehow connected to the Unknown.
Feeling his headache only growing stronger, Sunny winced and shook his head.
'Later. I will think about it later.'
There would be time to ponder about all this later. Or not, if he dies trying to escape the Forgotten Shore. Either way, that time was not now.
Turning back to the chained corpse, Sunny cautiously avoided looking at the dangerous runes and kneeled in front of it.
He wanted to know what was hiding behind the mask.
But as soon as he touched it, the corpse suddenly shattered and fell apart, turning into dust right in front of his eyes. Even its dark mantle rotted and disappeared, as though the thousands of years that had passed since the fall of the Dark City and the destruction of the cathedral finally caught up with it.
Soon, all that was left was a pile of dust.
…And the lacquered mask lying on top of it, its black surface glinting slightly in the pale light of the ghostly torches.
Chapter 278: Weaver's Mask
Sunny looked at the black mask and the darkness hiding in its eyes. Its features were not as much contorted as fearsome by nature. It was simultaneously fearsome and somber, bestial and regal. As though existing at the border of all things.
But most of all, the striking mask radiated a sense of mystery.
The vicious fangs, the twisting horns, the black lacquered wood of it all… once again, his intuition was silent. There was nothing he felt toward the black mask, as though it didn't even exist.
'How strange.'
Sunny waited for a few moments, then picked up the mask and brought it to his face to take a closer look at it.
But just a moment after his fingers touched the sleek surface of the polished wood, the mask suddenly disintegrated into a swarm of countless white sparks. Acting like water, the stream of light flowed toward Sunny's chest and entered into his body, disappearing into the dark depths of his shadow core.
The voice of the Spell thundered suddenly, louder than it had ever been before:
[You have received a Memory.]
***
Sunny remained motionless for a few seconds, thinking about what just happened.
By now, he knew that some Memories could exist outside of the soul cores, just like how Shard Memories did.
Was the black mask one of them? Somehow, he felt that it wasn't.
'Why I am even guessing? Let's… let's just take a look?'
The reason he was lingering was because of the magnitude of the situation. Sunny didn't know anything about the mysterious mask, but he believed that this relic of the past was truly unusual. The circumstances that had led to its discovery were too extraordinary, and the place it was hidden in was too uncanny to think otherwise.
So he was understandably apprehensive.
With a bit of tension, Sunny dove into his Soul Sea and looked up at the spheres of light floating around the black sun of the Shadow Core. There was a new one there, which seemed to be much brighter than the rest.
Summoning it down, he soon found himself looking into the eyes of the dark mask that hovered in front of him. It was as though he was facing an invisible person wearing it. Shifting uncomfortably, Sunny lowered his gaze a little and looked beneath the black lacquered wood.
A moment later, he had to suppress the involuntary desire to cover his eyes with a hand.
Inside the black mask, seven radiant embers were burning with such intensity that it almost blinded him. All around them, incalculable ethereal strings were weaved into a pattern so vast and intricate that it almost seemed boundless.
'Seven anchors… gods!'
Stunned by the visage of the mask's spellweave, Sunny hesitated for a bit and summoned the runes that described it. What he saw made him take a step back and gasp.
Memory: [Weaver's Mask].
Memory Rank: Divine.
Memory Tier: VII.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Weaver believed that knowledge was the origin of power and so always hid behind numerous lies, wearing them as a mantle. No one knew Weaver's thoughts, Weaver's face, and Weaver's heart. Even the gods could not see what hid behind the mask.]
Memory Enchantments: [Mantle of Lies], [???], [Simple Trick].
Sunny had to look away for a moment to take a breath.
'Divine Memory of the seventh tier… holy hell!'
Words weren't enough to describe his astonishment. He was, however, surprised to see that the mask only had three enchantments. Sunny expected such a powerful Memory to have dozens of them — judging by how boundless and insanely complicated the weave of it was, there had to be that much, at least.
Just what were these three enchantments to require a myriad of diamond strings to support them?
Turning back to the runes, he concentrated on the enchantments and read further:
Enchantment: [Mantle of Lies].
Enchantment Description: [Hides the identity of its master.]
That description sounded very simple, but looking at the spellweave of the black mask, Sunny could tell that this enchantment was anything but. In fact, it was so vast and powerful that his mind was failing to even comprehend the scale of it.
The enchantment was indeed designed to protect the identity of the person wearing the mask from prying eyes, but what it actually meant was that any form of detection was powerless against it. And Sunny suspected that "any" was not a figure of speech in this case, but simply a constatation of fact.
For example, Cassie's Aspect Ability, which allowed her to see a person's Attributes, would not work on someone wearing the mask. There were countless similar abilities among the Awakened... none of which would work either.
'I guess that explains why my intuition was silent about the prisoner and the mask itself. Whatever kind of fate-related sixth sense I have is also countered by that thing.'
Even more terrifying was the fact that the enchantment was not aimed at just the Awakened. The description of the Weaver's Mask stated that even the gods could not see through it, and it was honest truth. Nothing could penetrate the barriers of the Mantle of Lies, not even the sight of a god.
Sunny gulped.
'...Scarry.'
But then, this incredible and frightening enchantment did not even take up a tenth of the volume of the ethereal diamond strings hiding beneath the surface of the black lacquered mask.
The second enchantment was much the same.
It was called [???], by which the Spell was telling Sunny that it wasn't going to say anything about it. Its description was also empty.
However, Sunny could tell that it had something to do with sight just by looking at the weave. He could also tell that it was not a passive enchantment, but an active one, meaning that currently, he could not access it.
Usually, that would mean that he would be able to once he became a true Awakened, but in this case, the amount of soul essence required to keep the enchantment activated for more than a fraction of a second was so vast that no Awakened would have been able to. Only a Saint would, perhaps.
However, Sunny was not sure that he wanted to try even if he had the ability. The things Weaver saw were capable of driving Unholy creatures insane, so it was wise to avoid going anywhere near that enchantment in the future… most likely.
...Most of the spellweave of the Weaver's Mask, however, was dedicated to the third enchantment, one that was called a "Simple Trick". Judging by the mind-boggling complexity of the pattern that made it possible, that trick of Weaver's was anything but simple, though.
It was the most bizarre, intricate, and ingenious thing that Sunny had ever seen.
Curious, he glanced at the description… and froze, his eyes opened wide.
The runes gleaming in the air read:
Enchantment: [Simple Trick].
Enchantment Description: [Reverses the effect of one's Flaw.]
Chapter 279: Guilty Conscience
Sunny remained silent for a long time, staring at the black mask. The tranquil sea of his soul was still and silent... not at all like the storm that was currently raging in his heart.
After a while, he thought:
'That Weaver was one sly guy… girl… person… being? Well, the fact that I don't even know that much only serves to prove the point. And I thought I was good at deceit and manipulation.'
How devious one must be to not let even the gods, even the Nightmare Spell know anything about them?
But it was fitting, in a strange kind of way. If Weaver's domain was that of fate, there was no other way. Fate was a terrifying, but subtle tool. Manipulating it to your advantage required a very special kind of genius, one that was directly opposite to any kind of directness, straightforwardness, and brutal power.
However, if given the choice, Sunny would have preferred to face War God in battle than to make someone like Weaver his enemy.
Masterful liars were far more dangerous than deadly warriors. He knew it better than most.
…Exiting the Soul Sea, Sunny hesitated for a little and then summoned the Weaver's Mask. The cool wooden surface of the mask appeared on his face, held in place by some invisible force.
Immediately, his vision changed slightly. Everything became sharper, clearer, more vivid. Sunny could feel the mask reaching into his eyes and connecting to something — the strange legacy he had inherited by consuming the drop of Weaver's blood. He sensed his intuition becoming more potent, too.
It was as though he could almost see the mysterious strings of fate that span across the entire world.
…Almost.
Glancing at the pile of dust that remained of the prisoner, Sunny frowned slightly.
The identity of the person who had been wearing the Weaver's Mask remained a secret. Just who had this corpse belonged to, and how had they ended up chained to the floor in a hidden dungeon cell beneath the majestic cathedral?
The easiest thing to assume was that it was Weaver themselves, but Sunny dismissed that theory immediately.
From everything he knew about the original master of the mask, the power of that creature was just below that of the gods… and that of the Unknown, perhaps. If Weaver appeared on the Forgotten Shore, the whole Dark City would have been wiped out of existence before any harm was done to them.
So who could have been wearing Weaver's Mask? Some powerful carrier of the Nightmare Spell that had received it as a Memory, just how Sunny did?
'Well…'
If Weaver was really a daemon, which was a strange kind of a lesser deity, were there a cult dedicated to them? Had there been priests and followers of Weaver? The message the prisoner had left behind sounded awfully close to a prayer. Had that person been deemed a heretic and condemned to this place for that reason?
Sunny sighed. There was no way to know.
Hesitating for a bit, he turned away and left the somber dungeon cell behind. He only had this one day to finish all the things he had left undone in the Dark City. There was no time for fruitless pondering.
Once outside, Sunny walked over to the place where he had left his shadow and took a look at himself through its eyes. What he saw made him blink a couple of times.
'Huh…'
The black lacquered mask sat snuggly on his face, hiding his features. He couldn't even see his eyes, which were drowned in darkness.
What's more, even his height was somehow unclear. Sunny didn't actually become taller, but from the side, it looked as though he did… sort of? One second, it did, and the next one, it did not. It was sort of similar to how people's faces changed when lighted from different directions. In any case, he couldn't tell for sure how tall the person facing the shadow was.
'How fun!'
It was not that Sunny became completely unrecognizable, though. He would still have to be careful to hide the context clues about himself while wearing the mask. Mundane things like the way he walked, his usual mannerisms, and other subtle but unique details of his behavior could still betray his identity despite the fact that it was masked from all unnatural means of detection.
To truly make himself appear as something else, Sunny would have to put on a performance.
...Good thing he was practicing the Shadow Dance, then. Was it not designed to fully imitate someone else's battle style and physicality?
'What a wonderful coincidence...'
Finally, the moment he had been dreading came. It was time to test if the [Simple Trick] was really capable of turning his Flaw upside down.
Needless to say, Sunny was nervous. His lips became dry, and he unconsciously tried to lick them… but now there was a mask on his face, so he couldn't. That bad habit of his had to be put to rest, apparently.
'...Great. Alright, let's do this.'
Opening his mouth, Sunny said out loud:
"I am… very tall!"
In the process, he grimaced, expecting the familiar pain to invade his mind.
…But there was nothing.
Sunny froze, blinked a couple of times, and waited. Still, nothing happened.
Beneath the mask, a wide grin appeared on his face.
"I am not only tall, but also exquisitely handsome. But that is not all, I am incredibly honest and nice, too. Every girl I meet immediately falls in love with me. Boys, too! That's just how lovable, handsome, nice and tall I am. Everything I have just said is absolutely true."
His mind was peaceful and quiet. There was no pain, no pressure. In fact, Sunny felt great.
'Wow…'
Feeling an almost overwhelming desire to continue spouting lies, he laughed in exhilaration.
"Amazing! This can be…"
But then, a tremendous explosion of pain suddenly threw him to the ground. With a startled yelp, Sunny grasped his head and then groaned through gritted teeth, feeling as though it was about to burst.
'What the hell?!'
He just wanted to say how useful the ability to lie could be.
'Wait…'
The ability to lie would, indeed, be very useful. Which meant that by stating that fact, he would be telling the truth.
And the Weaver's Mask did not remove his Flaw, just reversed it.
So... it seemed like while wearing it, Sunny could not tell even a word of truth.
'Uh...'
That seemed like the right conclusion to make. But he needed to test it to be absolutely sure.
With a doomed sigh, Sunny waited for a moment and then said:
"My name is…"
A moment later, another pained scream resounded in the darkness of the underground chamber.
Chapter 280: One Last Job
Some time later, Sunny emerged from the ruins of the cathedral with a rucksack on his shoulder, took one last look back, and left.
Whatever his future was going to be, he doubted that he would come back here any time soon.
It was a bittersweet goodbye.
Cautiously walking through the familiar streets of the Dark City, where he knew every turn and every piece of rubble — in this district of it, at least — Sunny kept his guard up. Many things must have changed in the months he had been away traveling through the Labyrinth.
The Nightmare Creatures he knew and, more importantly, knew how to avoid might have wandered away or perished, and new horrors might have taken their place. He had to stay prudent and careful.
But still, his next and final goal was not that far away.
As he sneaked toward it, Sunny thought about the Weaver's Mask and the ways it could change his life. At first, he thought about simply never taking it off and walking around while delivering a deluge of lies. This way he would be safe from revealing his most guarded secret and becoming someone's slave, at least.
But after considering this seriously, he came to the conclusion that it was not the best decision in his current circumstances.
First of all, one couldn't be a part of any collective while lying all the time. Sunny had an unpleasant experience of being expelled from various groups for various reasons, and not being sincere and honest was one of the surest ways to make people want to avoid you at all cost… eventually, at least.
And no one was able to survive alone in the Dream Realm. Not in a way that a person would want to live, anyway.
Sunny knew a lot about this side of things, too.
But most importantly, he was not going to be able to keep this lying for long, anyway — not when dealing with people that already knew him. Kai and Cassie would notice the strange effect of the mask immediately: Kai because of his Ability to sense lies, Cassie because her Ability to see Attributes would suddenly stop working.
But others would catch on that something strange was going on with him pretty quickly, too, simply because of how drastic the change in his behavior would be. Especially Nephis, who knew him so well.
After that, they would inevitably have a lot of questions, and answering those questions — even with lies — would put him in more danger than he already was in.
So, sadly, Weaver's Mask was not a panacea to Sunny's current situation. At best, it would be able to help him avoid certain predicaments if used sparingly.
But really, he didn't want anyone to know that he was in possession of that Memory at all. Sunny had to think of the future.
If he was lucky enough to survive the fall of the Bright Castle and return to the real world… that was where the black mask could create miracles for him. It would allow him to have a hidden persona that was in no way connected to an Awakened named Sunless, and as such, allow him to do and achieve things that would have been impossible or too dangerous to try as himself.
To that effect, no one could know that the strange black wooden mask was connected to him, not even people whom he… somewhat… trusted.
Both for his own good and theirs.
'It is such a pity, though.'
It was. Just imagining Caster's face if he were to ever learn about what type of treasure Sunny had somehow found this time was tempting enough to change his plans.
Caster…
Sunny's face darkened.
He had not forgotten about the promise Nephis had made him at the start of their journey to the Hollow Mountains. Tomorrow, he was finally going to learn what was the deal with the proud Legacy, and what exactly the relationship between Changing Star and him was.
…And how big were the chances of Sunny having to face Caster in battle.
Despite all his dislike for the handsome scion of the Han Li clan, Sunny was reluctant to actually fight him. No matter how much progress he had made to get ready for the bloody conclusion of this disastrous chapter of his life, Caster was still not someone to be taken lightly. He was a tremendously deadly opponent just based on what Sunny knew about him.
And there were secrets that the Legacy had been keeping, as well.
'That charm of his… what does it do?'
He was certain that he would defeat Caster if push came to shove. But the cost he would have to pay for that victory would be heavy... perhaps much more heavy than he was willing to pay.
Suddenly uneasy, Sunny silently shook his head and continued on his way.
As the sun began to roll toward the western horizon, he approached his goal — the ruins of an ancient library that stood lonesomely among the decimated buildings.
Back near the end of his lonely months of hunting monsters on the streets of the Dark City, Sunny had begun exploring this ruin for bits of information about the history of the Forgotten Shore. Because of his chance encounter with the Stone Saint, and then with Kai — which lead to him abandoning the ruins for a long expedition into the Labyrinth — he had never finished this project.
There was this one vast mosaic, in particular, that Sunny was interested in. It sprawled across the entire floor of the library's main hall and was mostly covered by rubble.
In the past, Sunny was not strong enough to move the rubble out of the way. He had been hoping to make the Stone Saint do it for him, but sadly, the Shadow was currently slumbering in the depths of his Shadow Core, evolving into whatever it was she was going to turn into.
Just to be sure, he checked one more time to see if the mysterious process was still going, and sighed in disappointment.
Luckily, he had grown much stronger himself during these months. Sunny was pretty sure that now, he would be able to clear the mosaic with his own two hands.
It was just going to be a lot of work.
Sending his shadow into the library to make sure that no abomination had made its nest there during his absence, Sunny entered its cool shadow of the ruin and sighed.
'...Better get started.'
Soon, the scraping sound of heavy boulders being moved could be heard under the partially collapsed roof of the ancient building.