Shadow Slave

Sunny had begun the Third Nightmare in the mists of the Estuary. However, that was only because the Mad Prince had ended his last cycle there — in truth, Sunny was always meant to begin the Nightmare in the same place where his future, Supreme version fell into the Great River after entering the Tomb of Ariel.

He was that Supreme version now. The point where he had fallen into the Great River roughly corresponded to the current era, which meant that Nephis had to be somewhere close by — they were contemporaries, after all. The two of them had just been separated when the Chain Breaker overturned, throwing them both overboard.

That was why he had been able to find Nephis relatively quickly in the Nightmare. That was also why they had to sail past Weave and brave the time storm before finding the Chain Breaker further downstream, where it must have crash-landed after losing its helmsman.

Of course…

Sunny wasn’t sure that any of his knowledge about the Great River applied anymore. It was not in a normal state, so there was really no telling what would happen and what he would encounter.

‘Let’s see…’

First, there was the Great Beast who had been Daeron of the Twilight Sea once. Then, there was the Black Turtle — that was where Sunny had found Nephis in the Nightmare. Then, there was the Nightmare Butterfly, the swarm of abominable krill, and countless more Nightmare Creatures they had to escape from.

Sunny did not know what fate had befallen the Serpent King in the real Tomb of Ariel, but he prepared himself for battle just in case.

He hesitated for a few moments, then placed a tether on the dark waters of the Great River around him. He was not sure that he could come back to the waking world from the Tomb of Ariel… he wasn’t sure of a lot of things, actually. But at least that way, he would know where exactly now was.

Turning into a shadow and building the Onyx Serpent Shell around himself, Sunny sent his colossal body downstream, cutting the still water with the palisade of adamantine spikes that served as his dorsal fin.

That was the problem, though. The water was still — or at least flowed so slowly that he couldn’t feel its current — so he had no idea where downstream was. Where the future was, and where the past was.

It was as if only the present remained in the Tomb of Ariel.

‘Troublesome.’

For all Sunny knew, he could be moving in the opposite direction from where Nephis was. He could also be barreling toward the edges of the Great River, about to be swept up by the powerful currents of the unceasing waterfall and thrown into the dark abyss of Ariel’s Tomb.

That wasn’t too dangerous, of course, since he could simply change his shape and fly back up. However, it did add time to how long he would have to keep searching before finding Nephis.

And at any point, the powerful abominations of the Great River could attack his battered, broken form.

‘I wonder… do I look as bad as Daeron had looked, back there at the end?’

Sunny suppressed his frustration and kept swimming. Remembering the distance he had traveled in the Third Nightmare, he evaluated his current speed — which was incomparable to the endlessly slow crawl he had been capable of as a Master — and set the time limit to how long he would continue moving in the same direction.

If there was no sign of Nephis by then, he would turn back and swim for twice the amount of time. If that did not work either, he would return to the point where he had first surfaced and explore the Great River slowly, moving in a widening spiral.

That could take some time.

In the end, however, it did not — because Nephis gave him a sign.

As Sunny rushed through the boundless darkness at tremendous speed, a pillar of light suddenly shot into the dark sky in the distance, momentarily illuminating the dark expanse of the Great River. Enthralled by the reflections of the beautiful white radiance on the dark water, Sunny allowed himself to drift aimlessly for several seconds and then changed direction, moving toward the vanishing light.

‘It’s strange, though.’

He had been ready to battle the Nightmare Creatures of the Great River, but there seemed to be none around. Nothing had attacked him, and he had not even sensed terrifying shadows moving in the distance.

It was as if there was nothing living left here. As if there were nobody alive left in the Tomb of Ariel, except for Sunny and Nephis.

Well… and millions of loathsome butterflies that fed on the nectar of Nightmares, of course.

‘Nephis started the Nightmare on the shell of the Black Turtle. Daeron killed it. He doesn’t seem to be here this time around, so is the Black Turtle still alive?’

Would Sunny have to slay it?

No, Nephis would have killed it herself already.

That was an odd feeling as well. Just a few years ago, during the Third Nightmare, the Great abominations who dwelled in the endlessly flowing waters of the River had seemed… insurmountable. They had been like mythical giants, far too powerful and immense to be challenged, let alone defeated.

But now, both Sunny and Nephis could easily take them on. In fact, the Black Turtle stood no chance against either of them, no matter what sorry state they were in. Naturally, a Great Monster like that was still a threat — but only if Sunny and Nephis allowed it to be.

If they were on top of their game, the Black Turtle would inevitably fall, just like myriad other Great Nightmare Creatures had fallen to their blades.

‘In fact, Great Nightmare Creatures… have been nothing but a disappointment.’

Sunny bared his fangs, feeling amused.

It was true that abominations of the Great Rank had not offered him the same kind of dreadful challenge as those of lesser Ranks. Very few of them had been truly memorable, and only a handful managed to leave him with mental scars.

There were two reasons for that. The first one was that Sunny himself had become exponentially more powerful as he climbed the Ranks. At the time he became a Saint, the boundless potential of his Divine Aspect was letting itself be known. He was also already a Terror by then, soon to become a Titan.

The second reason was far simpler… it was the fact that Sunny had been lucky not to run into more than a handful of truly sinister Great Ones. Most of the Great Ones he faced were from Godgrave, after all — they had been born and bred by the scarlet jungle long after the end of the world, and were therefore different from the true horrors of the ancient past.

From the creatures like the Flesh of Kanakht, the Ember Queen, the Skinwalker, and the other Gate Guardians whom the Sovereigns had battled in Antarctica.

So, quite ironically, the most terrifying foes of that Rank Sunny had faced were Supreme beings, not Great ones. They were Aster, Song, and Vale.

And now, the Great Nightmare Creatures had more or less lost their chance to take a bite out of him.

Because Sunny was a Supreme Titan now, and creatures like the Black Turtle did not worry him that much anymore. They were the ones who had to worry about him, instead.

‘Why do I feel… like thinking that thought aloud just cemented the fact that I’ll have to really worry about some damn Great abomination soon?’

He cursed inwardly.

Sunny felt it then…

The taste of the water around him changed. It tasted of blood now.

He pushed a little further and finally sensed the shadow of the Black Turtle in the distance. He sensed Nephis on its carapace, as well… only things were very different from how they had been in the Third Nightmare.

Back then, Daeron had killed the Great Monster after a fierce battle, rending a ghastly gash in its neck and tunneling inside its gargantuan body to kill the enormous abomination from within.

Now, however…

There was no Black Turtle anymore. Instead, two islands of bleeding flesh were drifting in the dark water — the impregnable shell of the colossal Great Monster was breached, and it was cleanly severed in two.

Each half of the slain abomination spanned more than five hundred meters, unleashing a deluge of blood into the Great River. Nephis was near the head of the dead Monster, sitting on an obsidian ridge with a small flame dancing on her hand.

‘She’s safe…’

Releasing the Onyx Serpent Shell, Sunny assumed his human form and climbed onto the carapace of the Black Turtle — what used to be the Black Turtle, rather — as well.

He walked over to Nephs and planted himself on the ground near her, letting out a relieved sigh.

“That was quite intense, wasn’t it?”

Sunny couldn’t help but smile.

Some would say that his smile was unwarranted… after all, he was stuck in a tomb that stood in the middle of Hell, sitting atop the bleeding corpse of a dead monster, surrounded by boundless darkness… with millions of Great Nightmare Creatures resting on the stone walls somewhere above his head.

On his way to fight a Cursed Terror.

But what could Sunny do? He was simply too glad to find Nephis. Seeing her was enough reason to smile.

He felt at peace.

Nephis turned to look at him, the feeble white flame reflecting in her eyes. There was no emotion in them, just a hint of recognition — the battle must have taken a lot out of her, and it would be some time before her humanity returned.

She nodded slowly.

“Quite intense, yes.”

Nephis put on a faint smile, then looked around.

“Some things are different. Some things never seem to change.”

Looking down, she stomped on the obsidian surface of the Black Turtle’s shell lightly.

“I found myself atop this Great Monster at the start of the Nightmare, as well. In fact… I seem to recall that I spent a long time here. Granted, the abomination was in one piece back then — I think it was, at least. My memory of those days is vague. I do remember being more comfortable, though.”

The Black Turtle had been cut in half, and the halves weren’t quite as good at staying afloat as the entire Great Monster had been. So, the one they were sitting on was skewed, drowning slowly in the still water. Sunny remained silent for a few moments, hurt by the fact that she did not remember that it had been the two of them, not just her, spending time on the carapace of the Black Turtle back then.

Sunny and Nephis… had always been drawn to each other. But life had other plans, so that attraction remained sealed deep in their hearts for a long time. They were more often apart than together, and when they were side by side, there was always some dire peril either around or on the horizon, preventing them from exploring and addressing their mutual feelings.

Strangely enough, Sunny felt like the days the two of them had spent on the corpse of the Black Turtle were where it all really started… perhaps because it was the first moment of peace they found together in the endless sea of calamities. It was here that they tentatively allowed themselves to acknowledge how they felt, even if they weren’t quite willing to admit it — even to themselves.

So, even if he was used to it by now, knowing that she didn’t remember any of it — yet — suddenly seemed unbearable.

‘He warned you, the Mad Prince… to be careful of what we wished for.’

Eventually, Sunny pushed down the unexpected bout of bitterness and looked away with a chuckle.

“Well, you shouldn’t have cut it in half then. Splitting an enormous Great Monster down the middle with one blow, huh? Show-off.”

Nephis gave him an odd look.

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

She lingered for a moment, then said in an even tone:

“Why do you think that it was me?”

Nephis shook her head.

“It wasn’t. The Black Turtle was already dead when I landed — so, I have no idea what killed it. Or what could have cleaved it in half…”