Shadow Slave

In an instant, a thin white line seemed to cut the fabric of reality. Starting in the air above the highest spire of the Palace, it plummeted down and plunged into the dark waters. A cold wind blew across the Eternal City, and the lake rippled.

For a moment, silence enveloped the world. Then, the radiant line burst open, expanding into a vast, towering Dream Gate.

For the first time in thousands of years, pure sunshine illuminated the vast expanse of the Eternal City.

Sunny grimaced, shielding his eyes from the bright light. Standing in the runic circle, Nightwalker stared at the radiant rift in the fabric of reality with wide eyes.

“What... kind of Nightmare Gate... how is this...”

Just then, a dark silhouette revealed itself from the blinding radiance, and his eyes widened even more.

”A... a ship? It’s a flying ship!”

His tone, which was usually aloof and oddly indifferent, sounded genuinely excited. In fact, it was almost enraptured.

The Chain Breaker appeared high in the dark sky above the Eternal City, the branches of the sacred tree growing on its deck swaying in the wind. A graceful figure stood on its bow, her silver hair fluttering as two white wings shone behind her with a radiant light. She turned her head calmly, looking down at the Night Garden. Nightwalker stared at her with wide eyes. ”Is that... an angel?”

Looking up, Sunny smiled silently.

”That is the cavalry.”

Turning his head, he gave Nightwalker a scathing look.

“Meet the queen of humanity, old timer. She is also my girlfriend, so pick up your jaw.’ Nightwalker blinked a few times.

”That’s Immortal Flame’s grandkid? Huh. Such a lovely young lady. She does not seem like a complete lunatic, though...”

Sunny coughed, but wisely chose not to comment.

‘Ignorance is bliss:

It was probably better not to mention that her first step on the Path of Ascension had been to set herself on fire, and that thing only got progressively worse after that.

In any case, their reinforcements had arrived.

The Night Garden was battered, and the Chain Breaker seemed in dire need of repairs as well — after all, Nephis had been fighting her own battles in the Death Zones west of Bastion. That campaign had barely ended, allowing the Ivory Island to reach the basin of the River of Tears in time.

The waters of the great river were now flowing into the cold expanse of the Palace Lake. Luckily, the abominations populating the Eternal City could not cross over, since they were imprisoned by its sorcery. The Flesh of Kanakht, meanwhile, was imprisoned by Daeron’s seal.

The nightmare creatures could not escape their radiant, nightmarish prison... however, the Night Garden could.

When embarking on the expedition to the Eternal City, the main reason why Sunny had dared to take the living ship and millions of people living aboard it with him was that they could be brought to safety at any moment.

That was because the Night Garden belonged to Neph’s Domain, and because it granted her the ability to open her Dream Gate between two points in the same realm. So, if the expedition faced too dire a peril at any point during the voyage, the living ship could retreat to safer waters with relative ease.

All they needed to do was coordinate their escape with Nephis, which was possible because Cassie connected the members of the cohort like a mental web.

Now that the vast swarm of immortal abominations, the Dutchman, and the mysterious third contender were all closing in on the Palace Lake, the peril facing the Night Garden became dire enough to call the retreat — especially because the living ship had already received an infusion of vitality from the Wharf, and because Aether could not protect it with starlight anymore. So, Jet was right to insist on bringing her people to safety.

That said, the fact that the Night Garden was retreating did not mean that Sunny had to escape, too. Actually, he was determined to stay and finish the job. But since the Dream Gate was already open... why would he not call in reinforcements?

Nightwalker had been staring at the graceful silhouette of the Chain Breaker with glowing eyes. Just then, however, his gaze shifted to the Dream Game, and a stunned expression appeared on his youthful face.

”Wait, what is that?”

Behind the flying ship, another, far greater silhouette appeared in the blinding radiance. Then, slowly, the majestic form of the Tower of Hope and the Ivory Island revealed itself from the light.

“It’s... a flying island...”

Nightwalker studied it for a while, then let out a sigh.

“lonce read a report about a lethal region of the Dream Realm that supposedly exists somewhere far north, and is made up entirely of flying islands. I guess somebody reached it, after all.”

The Chained Isles had only been conquered by humanity during the crusades led by Anvil and Madoc, so he would have only heard rumors about them before vanishing in the Eternal City. Seeing the Ivory Island must have been a bitter reminder of how the time had passed him by.

Nightwalker lingered for a few seconds, then asked:

“So, what powers does your girlfriend possess? No, let me guess. Considering whose granddaughter she is, she has to be a pyromaniac who goes around setting things on fire. Right?”

Sunny shook his head.

”No...”

Nightwalker let out a relieved sigh.

He did not let Sunny finish the sentence, though.

”.actually, she mostly just blows things up.” The youth paled.

High above the Palace Lake, Nephis regarded the frightening vista of the sunken city and then turned her head slightly. Sunny could not see, but he somehow felt that she was looking directly at him.

Nephis was indeed fond of solving problems with destructive explosions. Of course, she was also a powerful healer and someone who could instill her allies with profound strength.

Her Supreme power alone was not going to solve the particular problem facing Sunny and his companions, though — at least not in a decisive way.

Instead, Sunny put his hopes on something else.

There was a moment of silence as the Ivory Island came to a halt, hanging directly above the central spire of the Palace.

And then, the Crushing descended upon the Eternal City.