Shadow Slave

Still lying on the cold stones, Sunny stared into the boundless darkness above them. There, high above the ground, the fabric of the world was torn, and the fissure he and the Vile Thieving Bird had arrived through could still be seen.

He could not enter the heart of the Estuary without Nephis, and was not sure that there was a point in trying to get inside either. So, it was all but certain that he would have to enter the labyrinth of broken time once more in order to return to his companions. It was just that…

That labyrinth was infinite in a very literal sense. It was a maze of eternity.

Sunny did not want to find out how long one could remain lost in eternity.

Delving into the fissure without some sort of guidance was no different from suicide. He closed his eyes.

‘Fine… I’ll just rest a little bit. Then I will think of a way forward, or at least of a way to find the way forward.’

He remained motionless for a short while, then sighed and opened his eyes again. His body needed time to heal enough for him to move freely, so he had to wait a little bit longer.

In the meantime, Sunny summoned his runes to occupy himself.

They shimmered into existence, and their familiar glow made Sunny experience a peculiar feeling. It was subdued, but also deep and intense, making him take a shaky breath.

He had tried to emulate these runes as best he could with the Handy Bracelet, but…

‘Nothing beats the real thing.’

Sunny inhaled deeply and looked at his runes — the real runes, as opposed to the close approximation he had been able to create himself.

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

He had to stop right there.

Just reading those three words, Lost from Light, made the intense feeling of seeing the Spell’s runes again seem mild and insignificant.

‘It’s me… I’m me again.’

He gritted his teeth.

After all these years…

It took Sunny a good minute to compose himself and continue reading.

Rank: Supreme.

Class: Titan.

Shadow Cores: [7/7].

Shadow Fragments: [7000/7000].

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Extraordinary Rock], [Endless Spring], [Weaver’s Mask], [Shadow Lantern], [Weaver’s Needle], [Nebulous Mantle].

He paused for a moment, looking at the pitifully short list of the Memories he still possessed.

That damn bird… it had really cleaned him out.

Sunny sighed heavily.

‘Damnation.’

The Vile Thieving Bird even stole the Memory he had received for killing it. The audacity!

He glanced at the shimmering runes with a dark expression.

‘…At least I still have the Rock.’

So if he wanted to talk to someone, there was always a great conversation partner waiting for him within his soul.

Sunny smiled faintly, shook his head, and glanced back at the runes.

They read:

Echoes: —

Shadows: [Jade Saint], [Soul Serpent], [Nightmare], [Shadow Fiend], [Marvelous Mimic], [—], [Vile].

Sunny’s gaze lingered on the end of the list. Slayer did not get to be named by the Nightmare Spell. She did not even get to be called -unknown-, as if the Spell denied her the right to possess a name — any name, not only the name of Orphne of the Nine. It was a little peculiar, but…

Orphne had killed Weaver, after all.

She had killed Weaver twice.

So, in a sense, the Spell had been born from her blade.

It didn’t really make sense that the Spell refused to acknowledge her, but Sunny was in no mood to ponder its attitude.

The Vile Spawn was simply called Vile. It was as good a name as any for that loathsome thing, so Sunny just took it in stride.

There was a lot about his Shadows Sunny wanted to study in detail — he had been filling in the blanks himself after losing the Nightmare Spell, after all. Even with Cassie’s help, the descriptions could not approach the level of insight the Spell possessed.

But there would be time for that later, when he was reunited with Nephis and Asterion was not devouring humanity anymore. For now, there was only one important detail that had Sunny’s attention.

Most of his Shadows were Supreme by now, and the Spell… the Spell did not offer streamlined ways of elevating them to an even higher Rank anymore. Perhaps creating deities was beyond even its ability, or possibly it was simply rationing its resources — conjuring one Fifth Nightmare and nurturing one Sacred being had to cost it more than millions of Awakened, after all. In any case, it did not seem possible to push any of his Shadows past the Supreme Rank and Apotheosis… at least for now. With the exception of Serpent — if Sunny truly mastered the sixth step of Shadow Dance, Serpent was bound to become Sacred.

And speaking of Shadow Dance…

Sunny’s eyes jumped to the corresponding string of runes, and he ground his teeth once more.

‘That damn…’

He was already tired of cursing the Thieving Bird.

Apparently, he had not mastered the sixth step just yet. However, he had mastered the fifth… and the Legacy Relic he was supposed to receive was missing!

The runes describing it said that it had been claimed, and there was no trace of it anywhere. The loathsome bird took it with the rest of the treasures it had stolen. Suddenly, Sunny was glad not to have mastered the Sixth Step yet.

He looked at Vile, then cursed under his breath.

‘If I ever catch that damn thief…’

He distracted himself by turning his focus back to the runes.

The runes read:

Domain: [Shadow].

Shadow Domain Subjects: [Dark Dancer], [Promise of a Distant Sky], [Aiko], [Kim], [Luster], [Quentin], [Tamar of Sorrow]…

All the members of the Shadow Clan were listed there, and if Sunny concentrated on a name, he could read their runes, no different from his own. That was a greater amount of information than what Sunny could receive by visiting the Soul Sea of his agents or sharing in their perception, which was quite convenient.

Below the members of the Shadow Clan, a different — and far greater, as well — list was shimmering in the darkness.

Shades: [Mountain King’s Larva], [Imperial Slaver], [Mountain King], [Carapace Scavenger]…

If he concentrated on the list, all the soldiers of the Shadow Legion — myriads of them — were listed there, and if he concentrated on any particular one, a short description appeared as well.

Naturally, the list of his shades would be too long to just be shown like the rest of them. So, the Spell somehow made it appear both compact and nearly infinite, existing in both states at the same time. It took Sunny a bit of time to get used to that peculiar sight, but he quickly learned how to navigate the vast field of runes with no more than a thought.

He could probably spend a year… or a few… simply studying the description of each shade. It was like suddenly gaining access to the descriptions of a hundred thousand Echoes, each containing an intriguing piece of information.

His hands were already itching to start working on a new exploration report…

But for now, Sunny simply glanced away and continued to read the runes.

Attributes: [Lord of Shadows], [Flame of Divinity], [Blood Weave], [Bone Weave], [Flesh Weave], [Soul Weave], [Mind Weave], [Spirit Weave], [Jade Shell], [The Curse], [Fated].

The [Fated] Attribute was back… for better or for worse.

…Or both. Most likely both.

Sunny read further:

Aspect: [Shadow Slave].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond].

He lingered for a long while, and then finally read the next string of runes.

They read:

…Master: Changing Star.