Shadow Slave

In the end, they reached the Northern Quadrant without much trouble. The voyage took less time and was much less eventful than any of the previous times Sunny had crossed the ocean—most Nightmare Creatures seemed to be wary of the Night Garden and kept their distance, while those who did not were absorbed by the living hull of the titanic ship.

It was quite a chilling sight.

The living wood was like quicksand, refusing to let go of anyone who touched its weathered surface. The abominations who recklessly tried to assault or scale it would get their limbs caught in its impenetrable bulwark, and then slowly pulled into the hull of the Night Garden, never to be seen again. They struggled desperately as the living wood absorbed them—but to no avail. A few managed to escape by tearing off their trapped limbs, but most only became caught more thoroughly because of their frantic struggles. Whatever scratches they managed to leave on the surface of the titanic ship soon vanished without a trace, with all evidence of its existence gone.

So, the horrors of the depths had a good reason to be wary of the Night Garden... or perhaps they were wary of Sunny himself, sensing the vast darkness hiding in his shadow.

In any case, there were not as many attacks on the convoy as Sunny had anticipated. Which was not to say there was no danger at all: the battleships following the Night Garden were still vulnerable, and there was also the threat of aerial attacks. The Great Citadel did not only carry millions of mundane people, though, it also carried countless Awakened warriors—most of them seasoned veterans of the Evacuation Army. Jet and the Saints of the House of Night were there to keep the situation under control, as well, so every assault on the convoy was repelled with relative ease.

Some of the confrontations with the doomed Nightmare Creatures were more memorable than the others, though.

‘I’ll be damned:’

Shifting his focus away from the search for the traces of Weaver, Sunny glanced ahead with a concerned expression.

Out there, in front of the Night Garden, the ocean had turned entirely black. The stain of oily black water stretched in all directions, far and wide, darkening the distant horizon. Tall waves crashed into the bow of the huge ship violently, reaching toward it like the blackened fingers of an unknown monster... it was the Black Water, a mysterious and malevolent phenomenon that haunted both the Stormsea and the oceans of Earth.

Nobody knew what the currents of the Black Water were, really. Some considered it to be a kind of Abomination, some thought it to be the remains of an ancient Terror who had been torn into thousands of pieces. Some even believed that it was the blood of an Unholy Titan spilled by the gods at the dawn of time.

Regardless of what it was, however, seeing the water turn black often meant death for those who entrusted their lives to the sea. But not this time. Sunny could vaguely sense something about the Night Garden change when it entered the black waters, as if coming awake. Then, the titanic ship crushed the violent waves and continued sailing forward, cutting the ominous darkness with its bow.

Some time later, the ocean cleared.

‘W—what?’

It was not that the convoy had crossed the area tainted by the Black Water and escaped into clear waters. Rather, the oily darkness infecting the waves simply vanished.

The Night Garden had absorbed the Black Water, just like it would any other Abomination or source of sustenance.

Forgetting about his search for a few seconds, Sunny stared at the pure aquamarine expanse of the ocean with an incredulous expression.

‘I never thought I’d see the day when that thing perishes... never once:’

His first encounter with the Black Water had transpired on the way to Antarctica, just before the Chain of Nightmares consumed the Southern Quadrant. Back then, it seemed utterly indestructible... in an entirely different category than the things that could be destroyed, even. Like a force of nature.

But now, the Night Garden had torn apart and absorbed that force of nature, erasing it from the surface of the world.

‘Come to think of it... forces of nature are not what they used to be:’

People naturally treated natural disasters as the epitome of inescapable calamity and unfathomable power. But Sunny was a being who could weather any mundane storm, remain standing during the most destructive earthquake, and topple erupting volcanoes now. He was indifferent to floods and couldn’t care less about droughts, let alone something as trivial as wildfires. He himself could cause a calamity much more frightening than anything nature could muster. So, it should have come as no surprise that the Night Garden absorbed the Black Water—this current of the Black Water, at least.

Somewhere in the Stormsea, there were a thousand more.

‘I still have a score to settle with the Dark Sea, too..!’

Eventually, the naval convoy led by the wandering Great Citadel reached the coast of the Northern Quadrant. The titanic ship spent several days near a port fortress, watching over the refugees disembarking from the battleships and loaded up on supplies. РÃNÒＢƐS

Considering how impossibly tall the hull of the Night Garden was, it took quite a lot of effort and several complicated systems of lifts and pulleys to raise the cargo containers all the way up to the deck. Once all of that was done, the radiant rift of the Dream Gate opened in front of the giant ship, calling it back home, into the nebulous expanse of the Stormsea.

Sunny, who was at his limit, felt glad to escape the unwelcoming pressure of the waking world and return to the Dream Realm... strangely enough, it felt as if the Night Garden was relieved to abandon the barren expanse of the War Realm, as well. Pushed by invisible winds, the huge ship sailed into the white inferno of the Dream Gate and disappeared from the undulating surface of the ocean, leaving Earth behind.