Shadow Slave

The last time Sunny had used [Where is my eye?] enchantment of Weaver’s Mask, his own eyes were burned, rendering him blind. In fact, his vision recovered fully only just recently — so, naturally, he did not want to lose it again on the eve of a perilous battle. However, there was a learning curve to everything.

The fact that he had been seriously harmed the first time around did not mean that he would suffer just as badly now. Back then, Sunny had not known what touching the Strings of Fate implied, so he treated them carelessly.

He believed that things would be different now. If he held himself back, the damage he sustained would probably be significantly reduced... granted, he would learn much less as a result, as well, catching perhaps only a glimpse or two.

And even if his expectation was proven wrong, he would still be able to fight quite well by relying on shadow sense.

The danger of witnessing something he was not supposed to see still remained, though. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained...”

With a sigh, Sunny gave Jet a poignant stare. Would he end up on the floor again?

‘No, but seriously, what is it with Jet and slapping me back to my senses?”

That was how their relationship started, and even all these years later, things were still the same.

Knowing that there was no point in stalling, Sunny activated [Where is my eye?].

Once again, the inconceivable vastness of the torn tapestry of fate revealed itself to him. And once again, he was completely overwhelmed by it.

This time, however, his experience helped him shut most of it out faster. Following the steps he had taken before, Sunny limited the scope of his perception to only one tiny fraction of the unfathomable infinity of endless threads, concentrating only on those of them that had to do with this area of the Stormsea.

He had an easier time searching for a thread having to do with the Eternal City because he knew that the Night Garden was connected to it — had been built there, even. So, the String of Fate he was searching for would pass through the living ship, as well.

It did not take him long to discover a worthy candidate. Not too far from him, a peculiar thread extended from the sky into the sea, piercing the deck of the Night Garden. There was an odd duality to it, with the upper reaches of it being woven out of silver starlight, while the lower were woven out of impenetrable darkness.

Reaching for the unusual String of Fate, Sunny brushed his fingers against it. This time, he was careful to only touch for a brief moment and instantly pull away — that way, he hoped, the truth revealed to him would be modest in scope, and therefore, his eyes and his mind would be spared most of the damage.

His hope turned out not to be unfounded. But before Sunny confirmed it, he was assaulted by an astonishing vision.

”What... what the hell is this?”

He was horrified for a moment, because what met him... was a boundless, dark void. However, thankfully enough, it was not the Void. It was merely a void...

An infinite, silent, empty expanse of vacuous darkness where nothing existed — no life, no warmth, not even air. Only lethal rays of cosmic radiation and invisible blossoms of gravity fields. ᚱâ₦o͍𝐛È𝘚

And in that darkness, innumerable stars burned with radiant silver light.

Sunny was stunned.

‘Holy hell. I’m... in space?

Indeed, this was the great vacuum of space. But at that moment, he realized something else, as well.

That this was also the Black Skies, the true realm of the Goddess of Night.

And there, among the stars, a radiant city with tall silver spires bathed in the starlight...

Sunny pulled his hand away, and the vision of the Eternal City vanished from his straining mind.

‘What the... so it’s in space?’

Sunny remained motionless for what felt like an eternity, but only lasted a brief moment.

No, that did not make sense... as much as everything never made sense in the Dream Realm. Nightwalker had managed to board the Night Garden and sail away from the Eternal City, and at the moment, the Night Garden could not fly, let alone travel between stars.

Sunny hesitated for a while, then tentatively touched the String of Fate once more.

He saw the Eternal City once again. Only, this time, it was in a state of chaos.

It was under attack.

A vast presence moved in the darkness beyond the city. Its shape were impossible to discern, since it was indistinguishable from the darkness of space — perhaps it was the darkness itself — and the only way to perceive its existence was by watching the vast swathes of stars be obscured by its passing.

The presence was horrifying, unfathomable, and full of cold, indifferent, obliterating intent.

Wherever her pale gaze fell, the immortal denizens of the Eternal City were unmade. The silver spires melted and fell, and the very fabric of the celestial abode was consumed by entropy.

But then, the city rose from the dust.

Its fabric was mended, the spires coalesced from incandescent pools of liquid matter, and the living beings were restored to their pristine youthfulness...

Only to be destroyed again.

A million cycles of death and restoration, passed in the blink of an eye.

It was an eternity of devastation.

The immortals screamed in terror as they died, and wept in horror as they were mercilessly brought back to life.

Moments flowed into seconds, and seconds flowed into minutes. Minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into days. Days... Sunny pulled his hand away and staggered, horrified.

‘What did I just see?’

Trembling, he imagined the dreadful scene once more.

Slowly, hesitantly, he realized what he had witnessed...

It was a battle.

It had been a battle between Storm God and the Demon of Repose.

Then...

There was only one thing he needed to learn.

Drawing in a shaky breath, Sunny extended his hand toward the String of Fate once more.

He saw how the Eternal City fell.