Shadow Slave

The fallen immortals of the Eternal City could not be destroyed, but they had to be contained.

So, of all the measures available to Sunny, Nightmare and his Dream Curse seemed like the best choice.

Dream Curse Ability Description: ”This Shadow is a master of a lesser dream domain. It is capable of lulling living beings to sleep and imprisoning their souls in a labyrinth of nightmares. The souls destroyed within the nightmare maze feed the Shadow; the more powerful the Shadow grows, the faster and further the dream curse spreads.”

It was an insidious and terrifying power, made only more eerie by how closely it resembled some traits of the Nightmare Spell. It was also what made Nightmare a Terror.

No two Terrors were alike, but there were similarities between all of them. Just like Tyrants were usually distinguished by their ability to rule lesser creatures and control territories, Terrors were distinguished by their ability to influence the world and spread. They were more akin to frightening phenomena than singular beings, and it was that escalating nature of their influence that made them so perilous.

Curiously enough, most Titans did not seem to possess a similar kind of spreading influence, and while some were followed by swarms of Nightmare Creatures, they did not really rule or care to rule them. The abominations were simply drawn to them like crows that followed slaughtering armies, while Titans usually regarded them with indifferent disinterest.

They were aloof and solitary creatures that seemed to exist in a world of their own. Strangely, that seemed like a downgrade compared to the vast swarms of detestable minions that served Tyrants or the exponentially expanding influence of Terrors... and yet, nobody who had ever faced a Titan on a battlefield would think them weaker than beings of a lesser Class. The process of Terrors evolving to Tians was shrouded in mystery and largely unknown, but there was a reason why becoming a Titan was the final and most difficult step that a creature could take on the path of evolution. There was also a reason why another, less frequently used word to describe Titans was Calamities...

That said, Titans were exceedingly rare. And while Terrors were rare as well, Sunny had suffered far more while encountering the few he did meet. Some of the most harrowing foes he had ever clashed with were Terrors: the Soul Devourer, the Terror of the Crimson Spire, the Terror of LO49, Skinwalker... that odious Thieving Bird... And Nightmare.

The Dream Curse could spread like a plague, both consuming his prey and making the tenebrous steed stronger. It was insidiously effective, as well, capable of subduing even creatures that were far stronger than its source — that was how Sunny had collected an army of Great Nightmare Creatures in Godgrave and dropped a Cursed Devil on Mordret’s head. Dreadfully of all, the Dream Curse was subtle. Its victims did not even know that they were under attack until they were lulled to sleep and locked in an inescapable labyrinth of nightmares — and by then, it was already too late. That was the reason why Nightmare could prey on abominations of higher Ranks than him.

Even if the Dream Curse failed to lull a creature to sleep at first, he could continue to subtly influence them until their defenses were weakened, and they could not resist anymore.

However...

There was a limit even to that insidious power, naturally.

Nightmare was merely a Transcendent Terror, after all. It had taken Sunny and him close to two years to gradually assemble the swarm of Great Nightmare Creatures in Godgrave, and it had not been an easy feat either.

The fallen immortals from this district of the Eternal City alone were greater in number than those abominations, and each of them was furiously powerful. There would be numerous more before the expedition was over, and Sunny did not have years to slowly subdue them all... so, he was not entirely confident that Nightmare would be able to lull them all to sleep.

Even if he could, there was no guarantee that his steed would be able to contain these monsters in the maze of nightmares indefinitely. Sunny himself had escaped that maze once, after all, shattering its walls during his battle against Nightmare.

Those walls were made from the nightmares that served the black stallion. Nightmare planted their seeds into the hearts of living beings and then harvested them, turning them into his minions. The fallen immortals would endure quite a few, no doubt... but they would dream their own nightmares as well.

In the end, Nightmare would have to subjugate the dreams of ancient immortals faster than his minions were destroyed, building his own legion of nightmares terrifying enough to contain them. Subduing the grotesque abominations and keeping them subdued — these were the two problems facing Sunny, and he was not sure that a Transcendent Terror could manage both, at least not in a timely manner.

But while Nightmare had not evolved to a new Rank since Godgrave, Sunny had.

He had grown stronger in numerous aspects apart from Rank, as well. And five of his incarnations were here.

With five Supreme shadows augmenting Nightmare, he had a good chance of solving at least the first problem — infecting the restrained immortals with the Dream Curse.

From that point onward, though, Nightmare would be on his own. No one but the dark destrier himself could keep his victims lost in the labyrinth of harrowing dreams.

‘Come on, Nightmare...’

While many shades struggled to restrain the fallen immortals, Nightmare lowered his head and cast his terrifying, crimson gaze at them. Sunny could not see the Dream Curse spreading, and he could not even sense it...

But the world around them suddenly felt dark and terrifying, and an eerie chill seemed to permeate the air.

Far above, perched atop the Dark Castle, the Puppeteer moved its antennae, as if wary of something.

Jet glanced around with a slight frown, her gorgeous face growing a little paler.

Time seemed to stretch, flowing slowly... But then, eventually, there was a subtle change to the strange and eerie scene in front of them.

Just a few meters away from Nightmare, a gorgeous youth was sprawled on the ground, held firmly in place by black chains and the mandibles of several Obsidian Wasps. Despite his calm and benevolent expression, the immortal was straining to free himself forcefully, the stone around him cracking and mending itself without stop.

Gradually, though, his struggles seemed to grow less intense. His gaze grew dimmer, and his eyelids grew heavy. The young man blinked a few times, his eyes remaining closer for a bit longer each time.

And then, they did not open.

His struggles ceased.

He was asleep.

Sunny let out a relieved sigh.

‘It seems to be working:

After that fist success, numerous more followed, as well. Soon enough, an eerie silence enveloped the plaza.

The shades were standing without movement, and on the ground between them, the distressing immortals of the Eternal City were sleeping peacefully, the black currents of the Stormsea glistening with silver light in the sky above them.

..Or possibly not so peacefully, at all.