1763-1764 eng

1763 Sea of Dust

Sunny left the underground cell in a complicated mood. To be honest... he was a little rattled.

'Weaver said... that they would open the Gates.' Who were the "they" Weaver had spoken about? The gods? The daemons? Or someone else entirely?

There was one thing that made Sunny restless. It was the fact that no one knew who Weaver was, so the nebulous daemon was never referred to as "he" or "she". Instead, the Spell used the neutral "they" to describe the Demon of Fate.

So... had it been Weaver who unsealed the Void, perhaps?

That did not make a lot of sense, though, since the runes described something that the elusive daemon had said. So, it would have been "I will open the Gates", not "they will"... unless Weaver had had a habit of referring to themselves in the third person.

There was the issue of the runic language itself, as well, which did not necessarily follow the same pronounce conventions as the human language did. The runes written by the prisoner of the ruined cathedral did not hint that Weaver had been speaking about themselves.

But still, still...

'Until it was too late.'

What did the description of Bone Weave mean, exactly?

If Sunny knew one thing... it was that Weaver had been the most frightening of deities, despite not being the most powerful. He did not trust the devious Demon of Fate one bit.

Shaking his head, he walked over to the stone stairs, but then halted and remained motionless for a while.

Walking back, he stopped in front of the cell once more.

Summoning the Covetous Coffer, Sunny violently tore the massive steel door off its hinges and tossed it into the wardrobe's terrifying maw. Then, he pulled one of the torches from its slot and carried it away, seemingly unperturbed by the ghostly flame.

A person who had been tossed away by the world had to be practical. Why leave good things behind?

***

Sunny spent a few more days in the Dark City, exploring the ruins curiously. Before, he had been limited in where he could go and what he could see — there had been Nightmare Creatures everywhere, and his power had been woefully insufficient to walk around freely.

But now, Sunny was powerful enough to cleanse the entire Dark City in a matter of hours. Sadly, all the abominations he had not been able to hunt down were already dead, slain either by the Crimson Terror or Nephis.

Still, he could at least explore all the places he had wanted to visit. There wasn't much important information left to be found here, but there were plenty of things he could learn that would be only interesting to a researcher like him.

The rituals, the mundane details of everyday life, the culture... stuff like that. By the end of it, Sunny collected many pieces of information that would have made the Exploration Report on the Forgotten Shore more comprehensive. Sadly, all of them would have had to be placed in the "Not Related to Combat" addendum, which most Awakened never bothered to read.

"Barbarians..."

Finishing his business in the ruins, he left them behind. Next, Sunny started on the long tour of the remaining six statues of the heroes of the Forgotten Shore.

He visited the Priestess first, since she was just outside the walls of the city. Sunny climbed onto her hand and sat there for a while, remembering the day he had reached the Dark City with Nephis and Cassie.

He had been... barely seventeen back then, knowing nothing of the world. He had just learned that there was more to life than bitter survival.

Sunny watched the black sky for a while, feeling regret that the sun of the Forgotten Shore was gone for the first time. He would never see it rise again from the palm of the Priestess again.

Eventually, he wrapped himself in shadows and jumped down, gliding on dark wings to the distant ground.

Next was the statue of the Hunter, where the cohort had once burned the nest of the Iron Spiders. Sunny visited the giant arch of white marble on top of which they had rested and played games on the way, as well as climbed to the bottom of the canyon from where the Builder's statue had emerged.

Strangely enough, that rest stop on the white arch etched itself in his memories most vividly. Sunny felt remorse for never taking the members of the cohort to a real beach... now, it was too late. He would never have such an opportunity again.

Were there even real beaches left in the waking world? There had to be. Rich folk loved their leisure.

After that, he circled the distant city from the west and reached the monument of the Lord. That one, he had seen while marching with the Dreamer Army to the Crimson Spire. Sunny did not have any particular memories about this statue, but it was still quite significant.

That was because, if he was correct, the First Lord of the Bright Castle had once defeated a powerful abomination here, receiving the Dawn Shard as a reward. That Memory, altered by Sunny, was still one of the most powerful tools in Neph's arsenal.

It was the very reason why they had managed to escape the Forgotten Shore... a piece of precious inheritance they received from those who had fought against this cursed place before them.

Sunny bowed to the statue of the Lord and continued on his journey.

After spending some time exploring the vicinity of the stone colossus, Sunny moved on and found the statue of the Slayer some days later. This one, he had never seen — Nephis, Cassie, and Effie had formed an expedition to acquire a Shard Memory here while he was living alone in the Dark City.

'What a pity.'

Sunny felt a bit regretful about not participating in that expedition. As a shadow user, he felt a special affinity for the Slayer, who had been a stealthy assassin. Her stiletto had served Sunny well before being destroyed when he lost the connection to the Nightmare Spell. It was thanks to its ghostly blade that he had defeated Harus, the monstrous servant of the Bright Lord.

Funnily enough, this place was also where Cassie had earned the Quiet Dancer. Sunny had never learned what kind of bizarre Nightmare

Creature could leave such a strange Echo behind... was it really a sentient rapier? If so, the battle must have been quite a tough one.

After exploring the vicinity of the statue, Sunny had indeed found countless broken blades buried in the dust. He could imagine the monument to the Slayer being surrounded by a vast sword grave...

By then, there were only two statues left on his list.

The unfinished statue of the Stranger was far to the south, on the precipice of the Underworld. Sunny hesitated for a while, but eventually decided to skip that one.

He did not want to go anywhere near the Hollow Mountains anytime soon — or, preferably, ever.

That only left the statue of the Knight.

...Which, ironically, was where he had spent his first night on the Forgotten Shore.

Smiling faintly, Sunny summoned Nightmare and sent the dark destrier over the edge of the colossal crater.

He had crossed the crater on a makeshift boat made from demon bones the last time around. This time, the Dark Sea was gone, and the terrible wound left on the Forgotten Shore by the fall of the radiant being could be traversed on foot.

Sunny was curious to see what was hidden at its bottom, so he took his time exploring it at a leisurely pace.

He had found many hideous bones, but nothing that ignited his interest. Closer to the center of the crater, the ground had turned into black glass, and at its very heart, a round hole led into the depths of the earth. That must have been where the Dark Sea had come from at night, and where it had retreated to at dawn.

He stared into the darkness for a while.

'There must be several cavernous hollows below the Forgotten Shore, right? All that water had to go somewhere. Unless it spilled directly into some other hellish realm.'

If there were such a hollow, the entrance to one of them would be right in front of him. And with the Dark Sea gone, it would be empty. The idea of climbing down and spending a few months exploring the underground caverns seemed rather attractive... what kind of derelicts would he find there?

But eventually, Sunny decided against it.

He was sure that the great cavern, if it truly existed... would be incredibly dirty.

Plus, he had already been wandering the Forgotten Shore for a while. Visiting the statues was taking longer than Sunny had expected, mostly because he was taking his sweet time and exploring many interesting places on the way.

Now that the labyrinth of crimson coral was gone, many things had been revealed from beneath it. Old ruins, ancient bones... all too damaged to provide him with any useful knowledge, but still fascinating.

In any case, a lot of time had passed. His birthday was... when was it?

Sunny counted the months and realized that it was almost upon him. He had celebrated the previous one sometime during the hellish track over the Hollow Mountains, so he did not want to celebrate another one in a musty cave.

And... he had an appointment.

Looking east, Sunny smiled darkly.

There was a reason he had carried a creepy torch with him all the way from the Dark City...

He had a promise to keep, and a debt to repay.

1764 Never Be Afraid Again

A long time ago... Sunny had made a promise to himself. A promise to come back and destroy the Soul Devouring Tree one day.

Now, many years later, he was here to fulfill that promise.

He had been descending into the colossal crater for a while, but now that its heart was behind him, the ground was slowly starting to slope upward. Sunny rode Nightmare with a cold expression on his face, holding the ghostly torch in his hand.

The light of the eerie flame reflected from the polished surface of his armor and danced wildly in his onyx eyes.

It took some time to traverse the crater, but eventually, Sunny saw it. The branches of a great tree covering the black sky.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

'It lives.'

He had a feeling that it would.

Sunny... had changed greatly since leaving the Ashen Barrow. The Soul Devourer had changed, as well.

The insidious fiend had already been enormous back then, but now, it had grown even taller, reaching into the black sky with its obsidian branches.

This tree towered above the sea of ashen dust like a majestic mountain. Its bark was as black as the lightless sky, while its leaves were as red as blood... of course, Sunny could not really see color in the darkness. But he remembered their crimson splendor vividly.

The crimson crown of the magnificent tree had used to cover the Ashen Barrow in its shade, but it was much richer and more expansive now, reaching far into the crater.

'That thing... has evolved.'

Sunny sighed.

It was understandable. Since the Soul Devourer had managed to survive the rays of the annihilating sun, it would have been left with no competitor on the Forgotten Shore. The Crimson Terror was gone, and so was the Dark Sea. The other powerful abominations, like the Lord of the

Dead, had been slain by the Sleepers of the Dark City.

The insidious fiend growing on the Ashen Barrow would have used the vacuum to enhance its power.

Sunny shifted his gaze, looking beneath the obsidian bark. Then, a sad chuckle escaped from his lips.

'A Fallen Terror...'

He was more or less sure that the Soul Devourer had been an Awakened Terror before. It seemed to have risen to a higher Rank... or rather, fell to a lower one? Sunny wasn't sure what the correct wording would be for a Nightmare Creature.

He did feel a certain sense of... disappointment, though.

He had been so terrified of that thing once. But now, it seemed so weak, and insignificant.

Dismissing Nightmare, Sunny landed on the ground, then walked up the slope of the crater. The ghostly light of the torch illuminated his way.

From the Ashen Barrow, he must have looked like a small mote of light in the ocean of darkness... drawing closer and closer, growing brighter, and more chilling.

Sunny might have been illuminated by the pale flame, but his presence drowned the area in deathly cold. Outside the small circle of light, the absolute darkness seemed to become even deeper, darker, and more impenetrable.

Inescapable.

He heard the leaves of the magnificent tree rustle in the wind, their murmur seemingly anxious.

It was as though the rustling leaves were saying:

"Stay away! Don't come closer!"

Untouched by their alarm, Sunny stepped through the shadows and appeared on the Ashen Barrow.

Instantly, he felt an insidious influence trying to subtly twist his mind. The tree was beautiful... the tree was generous... the tree was kind.

It was weak and benevolent, and its fruits were sweet.

'Huh...'

The fruits of the Soul Tree were indeed sweet. More importantly, they were quite useful... each contained a shadow fragment for Sunny to consume, after all. Best of all, the ancient fiend could grow them indefinitely.

Perhaps he should collect the fruits and keep the Soul Tree intact. Otherwise, there would never be another harvest...

Sunny smiled subtly and shook off the mental hex. It was too easy to do.

He had been a mere Sleeper the last time. But now, he was a Transcendent Terror. The Onyx Mantle was augmented by five shadows, and the measure of protection against mental attack it provided him with could not even be compared to that of the Puppeteer's Shroud.

Resisting the manipulation of the Soul Devourer was quite trivial. Its attempts to save itself... were a bit pitiful, really.

As soon as Sunny shrugged off the hex, the leaves rustled again, this time full of panic.

He sensed movement all around him.

Hideous figures rose from the ash... one, two, three... a hundred. Nightmare Creatures — new thralls to replace Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie, who in turn had replaced the Carapace Demon.

The Soul Devourer needed someone to protect it. The abominable tree must have worked hard, luring so many of the Nightmare Creatures that had survived the annihilating sun under its branches. Sunny would not have been surprised if these were all of them, really — every single creature that had avoided being consumed by the Crimson Terror, either through strength or by luck.

Nephis must have avoided this place because she had no means of protecting herself against the hex back then.

But what could all these abominations do to Sunny? Most of them had come from the coral labyrinth, and were therefore merely Awakened. There were a few Fallen creatures among them, but none of a high enough Class.

This time, it was his turn to be the horror.

This time, it was Sunny who was terrifying, inevitable, and full of murderous frenzy.

...The shadows stirred, and a hundred inky-black hands rose from the darkness. They grabbed onto the thralls, onyx claws sinking into their flesh. The next moment, the air was filled with the smell of blood. The massacre was harrowing and thorough, the silence broken by howls of agony and the revolting sound of flesh being torn apart.

Sunny walked through the mayhem calmly, not even sparing the dying abominations a glance.

Soon, he reached the trunk of the Soul Devourer.

The leaves were rustling, and the branches were swaying, their sound full of desperate fear.

He placed one hand on the obsidian bark and closed his eyes for a moment.

Then, Sunny poured his essence into the eerie torch. Opening his eyes, Sunny sighed... and set the magnificent tree aflame.

'You really chose the wrong person to enthrall...'

Then, he walked back to watch it burn.

The view was breathtaking.

Bright flames were climbing the towering trunk. The obsidian bark cracked, blooming with smoldering embers. Soon, the fire reached the leaves and exploded, spreading across the swaying crown of the Soul Devourer with tremendous speed.

When that happened, the darkness shrouding the Forgotten Shore was dispelled by the colossal ball of flame burning above it.

There was a cacophony of sounds. The roaring of the fire, the hiss of leaves being turned to ash, the cracking of dying wood. All of them fused into a chilling litany of pain, as if ten thousand souls were shrieking at the sky in agony.

It was... incredibly disturbing.

Sunny almost felt as if he was really hearing the ancient tree scream.

...It screamed for a long, long time.

The Soul Devourer was huge, so it took a while for it to burn down. The beautiful crimson leaves had turned to ash. The branches did, too, falling down in a whirlwind of sparks. The delectable, juicy fruits were ruthlessly incinerated.

The trunk had taken a few days to die, but it eventually turned into a scorched, broken, hollow husk.

But it was only when the roots died that Sunny felt... nothing.

He didn't feel anything at all. He was of a higher Rank than the Soul Devourer now, and so, killing the insidious fiend did not even give him a single shadow fragment.

A few days later, Sunny was still sitting on the ground, looking at the smoldering remains of the great tree. He could feel that the creature was dead.

He thought that exacting his revenge on the Soul Devourer would bring him joy, but it didn't. If anything, Sunny felt... sad.

Such a death was... almost humiliating. It was unworthy of the creature that had haunted his nightmares for so long. He never wanted to humiliate an enemy that had earned his respect.

'When have I become so strong?'

He wasn't sure.

He wasn't that strong, either... but he did outpace most of the things in two worlds, as far as the acquisition of power was concerned.

Finally, Sunny stood up, summoned the Endless Spring, and washed the ash off his face.

The Soul Devourer was no more, and so...

'That is done. Now what?'

There. He had kept his promise.

Somewhere in Ravenheart, the sun was rising.

Which meant that Sunny was twenty-four now.

It was his birthday.

Sunny stared at the ghostly torch, which looked like it was on its last leg.

With a sigh, he walked around and collected a few pieces of charred wood. Then, he used the last of the eerie flame to make a fire.

Summoning the Marvelous Mimic, he pulled an alloy pot from its maw, as well as a tin can. The tin can contained his last spoonful of coffee powder.

Pouring the coffee into the pot, he filled it with water from the Endless Spring and placed it on the fire. A few moments later, a delicious smell spread in the air.

Sunny summoned the Shadow Chair, sat on it, and waited for the coffee to be ready. Then, he brought the pot to his face and inhaled the fragrant aroma.

"Ah..."

He remained silent for a while, and then smiled.

"Happy birthday to me."

Relaxing in an opulent chair that stood on top of a tall hill, surrounded by boundless darkness, Sunny sipped his coffee and enjoyed the view of fiery sparks dancing in the boundless black sky.