Shadow Slave

Sunny and Nephis — and all of humanity, by extension — were racing against time. It was unclear how long it would take to reach the Tomb of Ariel, enter it, and find the key to defeating Asterion inside, so they had to depart as soon as possible.

However, abandoning the Human Domain was not a simple matter.

They knew that their absence would cause harm to humanity. That was unavoidable, considering how dependent everyone was on the two Supremes who ruled the world — one from under the sun, the other from the shadows. Now that the plague of Asterion was spreading like a wildfire, the damage their departure would cause was difficult to imagine.

However, that damage could not compare to the complete annihilation that letting Asterion win would cause. Neither did it compare to the widespread devastation that engaging him in a direct battle would entail. So, all Sunny and Nephis could do was find ways to mitigate the harm their absence would cause. They needed to prepare all kinds of countermeasures to unexpected calamities, delegate as many of their responsibilities as possible to competent people, pull back the forces of the Human Domain and establish firm defensive lines on the frontiers of the Dream Realm, and so on.

They needed to prepare for the dangerous journey to the Tomb of Ariel, as well.

A team of masterful engineers, smiths, carpenters, and enchanters was gathered to refit and reinforce the Chain Breaker for the nearing battle. Sunny began establishing a series of failsafes and contingencies for the Shadow Clan, while simultaneously withdrawing his forces and concentrating them in one place. Nephis sharpened her Will for the battle against a Cursed Terror. There was a particular reason why Sunny had asked her to accompany him to the Tomb of Ariel. Needless to say, he needed help — the Nightmare Desert alone was a harrowing obstacle, there was no telling what hid inside the Great Pyramid on top of that, and the Vile Thieving Bird was a daunting foe. But beyond simply being his most powerful ally, Nephis could help in an unexpected way.

The loathsome bird had stolen Sunny’s fate, therefore causing him to lose his True Name and be forgotten by the world. Since his fate was still in its possession, there was a good chance that the Shadow Bond would constrain the avian horror. And since Nephis had been his master, she was the only one who could make use of the Shadow Bond.

If the Vile Thieving Bird was indeed beholden to the fate it stole, defeating it could prove far easier than they anticipated, thanks to Nephis. Of course, Sunny doubted that something that nice would happen to him... still, even if Nephis could not order the odious Cursed Terror around, she might be able to weaken and slow it down.

The preparations were taking time, but progressing steadily. Naturally, Sunny would have preferred to leave immediately, but he knew that the schedule they had established after meticulously considering every little detail was solid.

Humanity was being swallowed by the Hunger Domain, but...

Things were going according to plan.

Until a certain bastard who called himself the King of Nothing blew the plan to pieces. Mordret’s massacre of Red Hill and his intention to destroy the source of Asterion’s power threw a wrench into their plans... mainly because that source was people. Therefore, what Mordret really wanted was to annihilate humanity, which he considered to be lost already, so that it would not fuel Asterion’s already terrifying power.

With a demented Supreme in the south and a mad Sovereign in the north... Sunny and Nephis had no choice but to abandon their preparations and ready themselves for immediate departure, even if many of the measures they had wanted to put in place were not ready yet.

Before, they only needed to accomplish their goal before Asterion enthralled all humanity, consolidated his power, completed his own preparations, and found a way to attempt Apotheosis.

Now, they needed to accomplish their goal before Mordret destroyed all of humanity in his quest to defeat the Dreamspawn.

Unlike those enthralled by Asterion, people taken by the King of Nothing were lost forever. He cared not about Apotheosis, either, so his unexpected attack created a far more dire sense of urgency in Sunny and Nephis.

So, just a few days later, they simply left.

It felt too strange.

Sunny had not even noticed when he became responsible for so many things. For him, it had almost always been going from one crisis to another, and at some point, he simply found himself responsible for numerous people... for all people, really, as well as the fate of existence itself.

The caravan of forty thousand refugees he had led across Antarctica once seemed like child’s play now.

He did not even know it, but the weight of that responsibility always rested on his shoulders, pressing down with crushing force.

That was why abandoning that responsibility felt both liberating and appalling.

Someone else might have been happy to be free of it, but Sunny had chosen to carry the burden himself. He had made the decision to become responsible for everything of his own free will, so abandoning humanity in its time of need — even if it was to save it — made him feel torn and uneasy.

But there was nothing else he could do. This was the best choice he could make at the moment, both for the sake of humanity and for the sake of himself.

Still, he could not turn his back on the people he wanted to protect entirely. So, he left two of his Shadows behind.

Fiend was meant to guard Kai and Ravenheart, while Nightmare was meant to guard Effie and Bastion. Rain was under Cassie’s protection, who could guard her better than any Shadow would... on top of that, the Ivory Island was still in the sky above Bastion, so Nightmare could help if something were to happen, too.

Sunny did leave Nightmare and Fiend behind, but he was ready to summon them back before the battle against the Vile Thieving Bird. After all, he could simply dismiss them and call them to where he was at the moment’s notice, so... leaving without them was not an irrevocable decision.

‘Although I hope that there would be no reason for them to act while I am away.’

As Sunny thought that, the Chain Breaker passed through a radiant Dream Gate and entered the waking world.