2104-2106 eng

2104 Killing Tools

Sunny landed on the obsidian dust in front of the gargantuan Serpent's skull, which towered above him like an ivory mountain. The lower jaw of the immense creature was buried in the dust, but its upper jaw loomed above him like a dark portal, its arch adorned by a palisade of great, terrifying fangs.

Sunny let his wings crumble and dissolve, then allowed himself a few moments of contemplation as he studied the ancient remains.

He had a good idea of whom these bones belonged to…

They were the bones of a Soul Serpent. Not the Soul Serpent, but one of its kin.

It made sense that Sunny was not unique in having received the companionship of a Shadow Guide. In fact, Soul Serpent was too perfectly matched to someone who had received the blessing of the God of Shadows — so, Sunny suspected that all those marked by Shadow God were bestowed a Soul Serpent of their own.

Just like those marked by the Lord of Shadows received a small shadow snake.

However…

If these remains indeed belonged to one of Soul Serpent's predecessors, then it had been a far more terrifying creature than Sunny's own loyal Shadow.

His Soul Serpent had grown to truly immense size, coiling around the entire great hall of the Nameless Temple when it slept. Its maw was large enough to swallow armored APCs whole, and its scales were like precious onyx, each the size of a tower shield.

However, Serpent was easily dwarfed by the ancient skeleton, seeming like a tiny worm at best in comparison. The remains in front of Sunny were truly gargantuan, twisting as they stretched for no less than a dozen kilometers…

Sunny was a Transcendent Terror, and since Serpent's power depended on his own… he cowered to imagine to whom this enormous creature had been a companion to, thousands of years ago.

Was it the progenitor of all Soul Serpents, or simply an especially distinguished member of their kind?

More importantly, had it been able to exist in the Shadow Realm without being consumed by it, or had it come here to die after its master perished? Depending on the answer, Sunny could try to find a way to summon his own Soul Serpent here without sacrificing it to certain annihilation.

In any case, that was not the issue at the moment.

The issue at the moment was that the shadow of Condemnation was still marching despite having become a battlefield for the nebulous slayer and the harrowing dark drifters, and all of them would reach the skeleton of the ancient serpent soon.

Sunny did not have a lot of time.

'Let's do this.'

What he needed right now were deadly tools to slay his enemies, not esoteric knowledge about the secrets of the past.

Taking a deep breath, he called upon the surrounding darkness and commanded it to embrace him as a Shell. The process was both familiar and strange — it had been a long time since Sunny ventured to construct a Shadow Shell in such a crude way, remaining in its depths as a corporeal being instead of turning into an intangible shadow and becoming its natural part.

He was a little rusty.

Nevertheless, the Shell swiftly built itself, embracing his body and assuming the shape of the Shadow Colossus. Sunny had to shift his way of controlling it, though, adjusting for the fact that the manifested shadows continued to crumble. They longed to dissolve and return into the essence of the Shadow Realm, and so, he had to pull and manifest new shadows to replace them constantly.

From the side, that process looked quite spectacular — it was as if the Shadow Colossus was wreathed in a billowing mantle of ghostly dark smoke that trailed behind him and obfuscated his figure.       

For a moment, Sunny felt dire strength permeate his being.

Then, he smiled darkly deep within the Shell and moved, delivering a devastating blow to one of the ivory fangs that barred the entrance into the ancient serpent's maw.

His strength was terrible enough that the great fang was dislodged, falling to the ground and raising a cloud of black dust into the air.

The arm of the Shadow Colossus crumbled from the dreadful blow, and he pulled his hand back, reforming it in the process.

A few moments later, Sunny delivered another terrible blow, and then a third one, dislodging one more fang.

Using his newfound strength to raise them from the ground and put them on his shoulders, he looked up, lingered for a heartbeat, and then leapt into the air.

Landing on top of the ancient skull, Sunny pushed his towering Shell forward and jumped again, landing on the gargantuan serpent's spine.

From there, he could already see the shadow of Condemnation lumbering in the distance. The beautiful trail of essence was drifting behind it like a radiant river, and a furious battle was raging on its immense body.

He could not see the figure of the mysterious archer anymore, but could guess their location based on the movements of the dark drifters. There were only three of them left in the fight, while the fourth one — the Wolf — was rushing across the desolate expanse of obsidian dust to catch up with its siblings.

One of the dark drifters was sticking to the abdomen of Condemnation, tearing into it with countless appalling maws. Sunny decided to call it the Leech. One more was drifting in the air like a great veil. Suddenly, the veil shrunk and twisted on itself, enormous wings sprouting from its depths — using them, the creature dodged back and avoided the grasp of the Cursed Tyrant.

Sunny decided to call that one the Vulture.

Another one was like a mass of seething darkness, climbing the torso with countless tendrils that shot out of its body, pulled it up, and then were absorbed back — that one was obviously going after the archer, which was evident by the arrows falling upon it from Condemnation's left shoulder.

Sunny had no idea what to call that abominable thing, so he simply designated it as the Thing.

Spending a moment to study the dire situation, Sunny put the fangs of the ancient serpent down and concentrated, manifesting more shadows.

The mysterious archer seemed to be doing fine against the dark drifters with the bow and arrow. But the appalling creatures still continued to devour pieces of Condemnation, undeterred by the ruthless enemy.

'Let me show you how it's done, then...'

Manifesting a great span of tangible shadows into a semblance of a chain, Sunny altered its composition to impart a measure of elasticity to it, and then controlled the ends of the chain to wrap themselves around the bases of the ancient serpent's rib.

Then, nocking one of the fangs on the chain, he gathered all his titanic strength and slowly, arduously took a few dozen steps back, straining the elasticity of his improvised string.

That way, he had turned the gargantuan remains into his slingshot, and the fang of the ancient serpent into a dreadful projectile.

'...Taste that!'

Grinding his teeth from the strain, Sunny finally released the chain and allowed it to snap back with terrible momentum, sending the great fang barreling through the air like a missile shot by an enormous, dreadful siege engine.

There was a roaring thunderclap, and in the next moment…

The ivory comet tore through the black sky of the Shadow Realm, striking the Vulture from the back, breaking its wings, and impaling the appalling creature on the body of Condemnation.

2105 No Good Deed

The Vulture was like a pitch-black rag that was violently pinned to the nebulous surface of the shadow of Condemnation — of course, if that rag was large enough to cover an entire stadium with its dark expanse, rippling eerily in a ghostly wind. The impact tore its wings and slammed the creature into the colossal shadow, the ivory fang piercing and impaling it like a giant javelin.

Sunny was not sure if he had managed to deal a grievous wound to the dark creature, but he knew that it was hurt.

More importantly, it was immobilized, even if it was only for a few fleeting moments.

Already, the Vulture was moving, its voluminous body rippling to produce countless tendrils of darkness. The tendrils extended forward, found purchase on the flesh of Condemnation, and then strained, trying to pull the creature of the ivory fang.

Sunny was not paying too much attention to its movements, though...

That was because he was already loading the second fang into his slingshot.

There was a reason why he had chosen to use the fangs of the ancient serpent as projectiles instead of simply manifesting several great javelins, each the size of a siege ram, from the endless expanse of shadows around him. Even though the fangs weren't ideally shaped, as far as missiles went, he knew that they would be far more deadly.

For two reasons.

First of all, manifested shadows were less reliable here in the Shadow Realm than they usually were.

They were firm and solid for as long as he actively rebuilt and sustained them, but only just barely. He could summon a pair of tenebrous wings or form a Shadow Shell, yet there was a limit to their usefulness — the arm of the Shadow Colossus, for example, had crumbled after one blow when he was dislodging the fangs of the colossal serpent. That level of solidity was not exactly suitable for battle.

Secondly, Sunny was borrowing deadliness from the fangs themselves. He did not know how terrible the ancient serpent had been when it was alive, exactly, but it had definitely been a being of immense power. Even though it had perished countless years ago, its remains still carried an echo of that unfathomable power.

There was a reason why the arrows crafted by the mysterious archer were so deadly, and while being imbued with killing will played a large role, the materials from which they had been fashioned were also of great importance.

Glossy obsidian, dark wood, and black feathers — all collected here, in the Realm of Death, and thus bearing its mark.

What could be more deadly than the bones of an ancient Soul Serpent, then? Since Sunny needed help eliminating the predatory spawns of true darkness, he could as well call upon the remains of a being who had personified the very essence of death.

His gamble appeared to have paid off, considering how hurt by the ivory fang the Vulture seemed.

It struggled to free itself, arduously dragging its rippling body along the fang's length...

But before it could, the second one slammed into it, smashing the creature back down and piercing it through.

Sunny allowed himself to grin fiercely in the depths of his Shell. The shadow of Condemnation had drawn much closer by then, so hitting the Vulture for the second time had not been an easy task.

'Get away from my prey, you bastard!'

He could probably use his slingshot one more time...

With the Vulture wounded and temporarily immobilized, the mysterious archer would be free to deal with the Thing without distractions, too. Sunny would not call their forced alliance a partnership, but they had to deal with the dark drifters before lunging at each other's throats. Otherwise, the shadow of Condemnation was going to be consumed by the Dark Ones before either of them could kill it.

The enemy of his enemy was...

Before Sunny could finish the thought, something streaked across the black expanse of the sky, and an arrow pierced the chest of his Shadow Shell.

'...Huh?'

In the next moment, a terrifying impact tore the Shadow Colossus apart. A geyser of darkness burst from its back as its torso exploded violently. Bits of the Onyx Mantle shot in all directions like shrapnel, and while the lower half of the Shell was tossed down, the upper half flew high into the air, both mangled beyond recognition and bleeding shadows.

The deformed remnants of the Shadow Colossus crumbled and dissolved into nothingness, while Sunny slid across the spine of the ancient serpent, crashing into the base of its skull.

"Ah..."

He shook his head in a daze, and then threw a hateful gaze at the shoulder of Condemnation.

'That wretch!'

It seemed that the mysterious archer was not on board with the idea of a temporary alliance, no matter how necessary it seemed. They would rather just kill anything, and everything, that stood in their way.

Or just happened to be nearby.

No, but what kind of maniac instantly attacked someone who fought their enemies?!

Sunny rolled with a hiss and rose to his feet. By then, the shadow of Condemnation had already reached the remains of the colossal serpent. The gargantuan being stepped over it, passing above Sunny, and continued on its way.

It was as if a dark mountain stepped over him, covering him in its cold darkness for a few moments.

The Vulture was still impaled and struggling to free itself, the Leech was still tearing into the abdomen of the shadow of Condemnation with hundreds of maws. The Thing had reached the shoulder of the gargantuan shadow and was now too high for Sunny to see, while the Wolf was only a dozen seconds away from catching up with the Cursed Tyrant.

Sunny gritted his teeth, seething with anger.

'...Alright, I'll just kill you all, bastards!'

Summoning a pair of black wings, Sunny raised a hurricane as he launched himself into the air.

He was flying up, aiming to reach the shoulders of Condemnation.

2106 Shadow of the Colossus

It did not take Sunny a lot of time to soar into the sky and reach the shoulder of the shadow of Condemnation — the opposite shoulder from where he had seen the mysterious archer last, that was, since the promise of getting another arrow driven into his heart did not seem alluring.

But even that short amount of time was enough to let him truly fathom just how immense the shadow of the Cursed Tyrant was. Before, he had only seen Condemnation from a distance — which had been awesome enough. But now that he had ascended its great height, from the mountain-like legs to the wide plateaus of its shoulders, Sunny saw the colossal shadow in an entirely different light.

Walking across the dark expanse of the Shadow Realm, it was really like a world of its own. The black hills were barely visible from the great height, and the desolate land looked flat. There were no clouds to obscure the ground, but the great plume of silver essence bathed everything in pale radiance, making it seem like a different world from the lightless, lifeless desert below.

There were hills and valleys of their own on the immense body of the shadow of Condemnation, with a strange and alien terrain that only seemed more dreamlike because the entire immensity of it all was constantly moving. The great body of the Cursed Tyrant could have sheltered an entire city, with countless humans spending their entire lives without ever setting foot on the ground.

Which only put into perspective how astonishing the feat of the King of Swords, who had slain this ancient deity, was. It was no different from a tiny ant slaying a towering elephant.

...Of course, the shadow of Condemnation was different from how the Cursed Tyrant had been when it was alive. In fact, Sunny was starting to understand that this great body was nothing more than the vessel of the actual Cursed One, who had been more of an insidious force than a physical presence.

A force that absorbed what was around it, tearing parts from the world to make them parts of itself.

Similarly, the shadow of Condemnation had absorbed what had been around it, as well. However, the Shadow Realm was different from the Hollows and Godgrave, and therefore, its body ended up quite different from its past self.

There was no soil, no stone ruins, and no jungle here. Instead, there was just dust, shadows, and silence.

So, the shadow of Condemnation was far less substantial than the actual Cursed One had been. Its towering body was woven mostly out of immaterial things — shadows, dust, and distant light, with giant slabs of black obsidian floating in the dark abyss of its vast expanse like islands of solidity.

Sunny had landed on one of these islands, released the effect of the Feather of Truth to return to his normal weight, and folded his wings, judging that it was too early to dismiss them. Wisps of ghostly smoke shrouded his figure, and a few black feathers drifted to the ground, dissolving in streams of darkness a few moments later.

He glanced at the feathers and froze for a moment, suddenly remembering something that he would have preferred to forget... the terrible visage of Nether, the Demon of Destiny, which he had glimpsed reflected on the surface of the Great River once, a long time ago.

The figure of the Prince of the Underworld had been vague and unclear, shrouded in fog. But Sunny remembered one detail of his appearance vividly — two terrible black wings that seemed to devour the sky, drowning the world in howling mist.

Sunny lingered for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the mangled breastplate of the Onyx Mantle.

A sudden, embarrassing thought suddenly entered his mind.

Here he was, a divine shadow, in the realm of Shadow God... and yet, he was wearing a suit of onyx armor forged by the Prince of Darkness, and sporting a pair of black wings.

The Underworld was where true darkness dwelled and had originated from, and true darkness was the natural enemy of shadows. Beings born from it were also here, acting like insatiable predators. So...

Had the mysterious archer mistaken him for a Darkness Creature, as well?

If so, it was not that surprising that Sunny received an arrow in the heart instead of a greeting.

But then again, that maniac seemed like the murderous sort regardless of circumstances. The shadow of Condemnation had nothing to do with true darkness, and yet, the mysterious archer was here, fighting for the right to slay it — not at all different from the dark drifters or Sunny, intending to kill and consume Condemnation. That was the only way to survive here, in the Shadow Realm.

Maybe Sunny would have been greeted by an arrow even if he had been wearing a beautiful silk robe sewn by Shadow God's own hands.

In any case, the mysterious archer had come dangerously close to costing Sunny an incarnation, and if there was one thing Sunny was good at, it was holding grudges. He was going to find and kill the wretch no matter the cost.

The mysterious archer was a shadow creature as well, after all... the shadow of Condemnation was not the only thing Sunny could consume to gain a treasure trove of shadow fragments.

Who knew, maybe he would be able to not only form a Titan Core, but also saturate the seven cores to finality by the end of this expedition.

But he would have to kill the four Dark Ones, the damned archer, and the shadow of Condemnation first to achieve that.

'Step by step...'

The archer was currently tied up dealing with the Thing, while the Leech was in a feeding frenzy. The Wolf had momentarily fallen behind.

So, the best chance to even the odds Sunny had was to finish the wounded Vulture. It was still impaled by the fangs of the great serpent, having yet to free itself. The fangs themselves were of value, as well, since Sunny could use them as weapons again.

'Let's hunt a Dark One'.

He briefly considered summoning Saint. She was busy helping the Lord of Shadow clear the jungle... as well as keep an eye on old Jest, who had shown a tendency to wander into places he was not supposed to go as of late.

More than that, while Saint was supposed to be immune to soul attacks, she would not necessarily be immune to the Shadow Realm... to shadow attacks? To whatever law ruled this desolate land, eroding shadows and turning them into pure essence.

Sunny was not going to risk summoning his Shadows until he found proof that they would not be destroyed as a result of entering the Realm of Death.

The bones of a Soul Serpent offered some assurance, but they could be an anomaly. For now, he had to proceed alone.

Smiling darkly, Sunny took a running start and jumped, leaping to the next slab of obsidian. There were many of them scattered around, drifting chaotically in the sea of shadows that the body of Condemnation was composed of.

For now, he had to reach the edge of the colossal being's shoulder and look down to evaluate the situation.

Then, he had to kill.