Shadow Slave

’It just doesn’t end today!’

Sunny stared at the Shadow Lantern with a strange expression. Today, he had discovered the key to mastering the next step of Shadow Dance, elevated his sorcery, and now, found out that the door to the Shadow Realm had been in his pocket the entire time!

Well... technically, these revelations had unfolded over several days, as Aiko so helpfully reminded him. Still, how was his heart supposed to handle so many stunning discoveries? ’Who cares about my heart? I have six spare ones, anyway!’

Standing up, Sunny carefully picked up the Shadow Lantern and studied it, a deep frown forming on his face. He was fairly sure his theory was correct. In that brief moment of fusion with the Divine Memory, he and the Shadow Lantern had become one and the same. In that instant, he’d glimpsed a bit of what the Shadow Lantern truly was, as well as what lay hidden beneath its surface.

Although he couldn’t fully comprehend it, he was certain of one thing — the gate of the Shadow Lantern led directly to the Shadow Realm. This would explain why it could hold an infinite number of shadows, as well as why the Fragment of the Shadow Realm could be stored but not retrieved. That Fragment had been torn from the Shadow Realm when a dreadful being escaped it, and by returning the Fragment, Sunny was, in a way, mending a rift in the Shadow Realm itself.

And there was no chance he could pull an entire Divine Domain out of the Lantern, after all.

Just thinking about all of this made Sunny feel incredulous. The Shadow Realm... His gaze grew distant, his mind wandering to the implications.

Out of the six Divine Realms in existence, only the Seventh — the Shadow Realm — remained. When the Dream Realm was born, it slowly consumed the mortal realms, absorbing them into itself, along with five of the six Divine Realms... or so Wind Flower had told him. Sunny strongly suspected that the Stormsea had once been the Divine Realm of the Storm God. Godgrave had likely belonged to the Sun God. The Burned Forest may have been the Divine Realm of the Heart God. As for the Beast God, fragments of its realm lingered in the Song Domain. Finally, Earth seemed to have once been the Divine Realm of the War God, humanity’s patron deity.

While five Divine Realms had been accounted for, the Shadow Realm had always remained a mystery. Where was it? Had it been swallowed by the Dream Realm? If so, where in this nightmarish world were the remains of the Shadow God’s Realm?

Sunny had never seen or heard of a place resembling the Realm of Shadow. So he’d always wondered where it went. And now... he could go find out.

The thought made him shudder with a sense of profound dread. Could he? Should he?

The first question was simple — yes, he could. His shadow had entered the Shadow Lantern back when he first acquired it. Now, with Shadow Incarnation and the ability to control his shadows directly, he could do it himself. In fact, he probably could have done it even before becoming a Saint, simply by using Shadow Step to assume an incorporeal form. The only issue had been the unknown inside the Lantern, and that there would be no one to summon him back.

But now, one of his avatars could hold the Lantern while another ventured inside. He could maintain at least two avatars indefinitely, and Shadow Step no longer drained his essence passively.

The possibility was certainly there. But should he?

The reason for caution was obvious. Venturing blindly into a fallen Divine Realm was asking for trouble. Godgrave, Stormsea, and Burned Forest were all deadly, representing some of the most nightmarish corners of this harrowing world. Sunny had no reason to assume it, but somehow, he felt that the Shadow Realm might be the most dreadful of them all.

Yet, there was a compelling reason to explore it, too — his missing Titan Core. His Aspect had always made it harder to saturate his soul, and that difficulty seemed even greater now that he was a Saint, especially given the absence of Shadow Creatures to hunt.

Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume there were plenty of them in the ruins of the Shadow Realm? Entering the Shadow Realm was the most certain way he could think of to become a titan.

If Sunny managed to become a Transcendent Titan, he’d gain another core, another shadow, and another avatar — and Serpent would also ascend. That would allow Serpent to take on the forms of titans Sunny had slain, like the Fallen Titan Goliath or the Winter Beast. Such a power would add a valuable trump card to his arsenal, and he desperately needed those, especially with the Sovereigns to face.

A long sigh escaped Sunny’s lips.

”Damnation...”

He had so much to do already! Crafting Memories was his immediate plan, but there was also the looming war, his need to learn about the Sovereigns before facing them in battle, and Nephis was finally coming back to camp. That meant he could finally see her again.

Now, exploring a dead god’s lightless realm had been added to his list of things to accomplish.

Sunny covered his face with a palm and groaned.

“What the hell?”

With seven bodies, how was he busier than ever? Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling.

For now, the only question was... what was he going to do first?

Sneak into the Shadow Realm or make a breakthrough in weaving?