Shadow Slave

Soon, Nephis and her Dream Gate were gone. Sunny dismissed his as well and found himself standing alone on the scorched earth of the desolate wasteland, beneath the vast blue sky of the Eastern Quadrant. The idea that he was completely safe, for once in his life, felt alien.

”What a strange day.”

Sunny knew that the world was going to be shaken quite soon. People would learn that the desperate war against the Skinwalker had come to a sudden end — that alone was enough to cause quite a tumult.

This news would be followed by the shocking revelation that a new Sovereign had risen to the throne of Supremacy... and that he was none other than Mordret, the wayward son of the King of Swords.

The public did not know much about Mordret — except for the fact that he had betrayed his clan, destroyed the House of Night on the Queen’s orders, and nearly conquered the Sword Domain all on his own while the war was raging in Godgrave.

Actually, now that Sunny thought about it, perhaps people would not be as surprised that Mordret had become a Sovereign as he was. What mattered more was the fact that the general public was not aware of his own continued existence, and neither did many people know that Asterion was alive and Supreme, as well.

So, for most people, the King of Nothing would seem to be the only Sovereign in existence apart from Changing Star. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he would seem like the second most important person in the world...

And that person was an eerie fiend who possessed a million bodies and chose to dwell in the cold mists of the Hollow Mountains instead of living among people.

‘Poor humanity. It seems to only have two demigods, and half of all demigods it has are completely insane.’

The saddest part was that if everyone knew that there were actually four Supremes alive today, the proportion would not get any better. Arguably, it would only get worse.

Not to mention that people who regarded Nephis as a sane person were woefully wrong. So, really, all of the human demigods were some kind of unhinged.

”Ignorance is truly bliss.”

Shaking his head, Sunny looked around and took in the view of the cleansed continent. The sun was falling toward the horizon by then, so his shadow lay long on the ground. He called, and a tenebrous steed rose from his shadow, casting the chilling gaze of its crimson eyes down at him.

The sun glinted on its wolf-like fangs and adamantine horns.

Nightmare snorted quietly, and the resulting gust of wind made Sunny’s hair dance chaotically.

He grimaced, then brushed his hair away from his eyes and looked at Nightmare with a smile.

”I missed you two, buddy.”

Climbing into the saddle, Sunny sent his destrier toward the coast.

He was currently near the very heart of the Eastern Quadrant, so the two of them would have to cross the entire continent to reach the water where the Night Garden rested on the waves... so, Nightmare could cross it in a few hours at a leisurely pace.

Of course, Sunny himself could reach the coast even faster if he used Shadow Step. However, he was not in a hurry — his other incarnations were already quite busy, but this one could take a well-deserved break. After all, it was not every day that one encountered an entire continent devoid of Nightmare Creatures... that never happened, in fact.

The Eastern Quadrant was like a park at the moment, so Sunny was in the mood for a little sightseeing. He wanted to gather his thoughts before meeting Jet, as well.

A lot had happened in the last couple of months. His incarnations had not been idle during his stay in the Palace of Imagination, and he was quite busy in the weeks after regaining his senses as well. Now, there was this whole story with Mordret... gods, that devious bastard was really Supreme now... and Asterion was looming over the world, as well.

Somehow, Sunny had a feeling that he would not experience a moment of peace like this one in a long while.

”Ah... I might be forced to change my plans.”

Two fragments of Weaver’s lineage remained unclaimed — the Spirit Weave and the Shadow Weave. The former was presumably hidden somewhere on the Night Garden, or at least connected to it, while the latter was lost in the dark depths of the Underworld.

Sunny had made a tentative plan to recover all parts of Weaver’s Lineage one after another, or at least attempt to. Now, however, it seemed like an expedition into the Underworld would have to be postponed until after Asterion was dealt with. That saddened him a little. Ṝ𝘢N∅ВΕ𝘴

‘I’ve grown so much stronger after assimilating Flesh Weave and Mind Weave...’

There was also the peculiar case of the Blood Weave, Bone Weave, and Flesh Weave fusing and enhancing each other. So, he had reason to believe that a similar kind of synergy — perhaps even on a much larger scale — would happen when the entire Lineage was reassembled. And he was also sure that absorbing both Spirit Weave and Shadow Weave would hurt like hell.

Sunny sighed, already uncomfortable by simply thinking about that inevitable future.

‘Once I collect all seven fragments, though...’

Then, he would be ready to challenge the Fifth Nightmare.

If he was going to challenge it, after all, instead of searching for a way to reach Apotheosis without the help of the Spell.

As Nightmare galloped across the wasteland, Sunny thought back to what had happened in the last few weeks.

’I actually can’t believe how much transpired in that short amount of time.’ It had really been a month full of all kinds of happenings.

‘Let’s see...”

What had happened first?

‘Oh, right.’

It was the little gift he sent to Teacher Julius... the crowning achievement and the last nail in the coffin of his academic career.

His magnum opus, as far as academic research went.