'I wonder if that haughty guy has been noticed yet…'
Within Sunny's Soul Sea, six out of his seven cores were completely shrouded in dark clouds. Only his Devil Core — which had created the haughty shadow — was partially shrouded. He had left one his shadows out as bait, hoping the Chain Lords would take it, but so far…
'Nobody? Really? They must realise it's a trap then, oh well…'
Sunny paused.
'That, or they haven't noticed it yet, but then they'd have to be super incompetent for that to happen, which they're not…'
Rubbing his chin, he thought:
'Then they're waiting for me to make a move? Hah…'
Both parties were waiting for the other one to make a move, it seemed like. They were at a stalemate. Sunny's only advantage was the fact that the Chain Lords most likely had no clue where he was. Currently, the haughty and lazy shadows were hiding within the city, while the crazy shadow watched the entrance. He had moved the naughty shadow to the highest level of the Ivory Tower, joining the happy shadow, leaving only the creepy shadow with himself, just as a precaution — it was the only breakable core that was currently housing a Shadow, after all. Haughty's hiding position was quite obvious, as it was bait for the Chain Lords, while lazy had been moved once Sunny had woken up.
At the moment, the lazy shadow was actually hidden within the chimney of the home of the priest it had originally hidden in, following the priest from alley to alley rather than sticking with them directly. It took a bit of focus from Sunny, but it still lowered the risk of him getting caught. There had to be something in place to keep their priests monitored, or so Sunny guessed anyways. Aside from the Awakened knights he would rather stay away from, the priests were some of the only people who tended to Sevras directly.
'Still, I'll have to change my method of approach soon. Their anti-shadow traps are nearly finished.'
More and more traps made for Ascended beings had been set up, and many of them were made to catch shadows. Sunny would either have to make a move or give up his espionage sooner or later.
'Hmm… I'll think about this later.'
Because not too long ago, he had received an incredible revelation from Hope.
'The locations of the rest of the Weaves, I can't believe I found it in Nether's Tower of all places…'
Blood, bone, flesh. Soul, spirit, mind. And shadow.
A piece lost to fantasy, a piece lost to fear. A piece lost to respite, a piece lost to darkness. A piece lost to sorrow, a piece lost to rot. And finally, a piece stolen by a thief.
So far, he had blood, bone, and soul. So he had found the ones lost to sorrow, rot, and a thief.
'The rest must be hidden within… Bastion, Ravenheart, Night Garden, and the Underworld…'
Sunny rubbed his forehead.
'What a goddamn nightmare.'
He was not in position to obtain a single Weave currently. He absolutely could not risk revealing Weaver's lineage to Ki Song just yet, the Underworld was completely off-limits, as he was far too weak for it yet, so Ravenheart and the Underworld would have to wait. That left Bastion and the Night Garden.
'If I return to the Chained Isles, Bastion is actually the closest one to me…'
But then that would need him to infiltrate the very heart of a Sovereigns Domain, and the fact he had no clue where the lineage was hidden did not help in any way either.
'The Night Garden?'
He had no clue how to navigate the Storm Sea, and currently had no connections with any Nightwalkers either, so that was a no go. He hated the idea of being near large bodies of water anyways.
Sunny sighed.
'I can't get a single damn one!'
Feeling frustrated, he turned to Hope, who was currently looking through the remaining papers he had given her.
"Lady Hope."
"Yes?"
She lowered the paper she had been looking at, turning her gaze to him.
"Do you know anything about the places the Weave's were lost to?"
"I do."
Sunny perked up.
"Really? Please, any information is useful to me right now!"
Hope nodded.
"The Underworld. Before you are at least a Supreme, do not enter it for any reason. You will die."
"..."
Sunny looked at her with a deadpan stare, or at least he did in spirit.
"I… okay, understood."
Taking he deep breath, he asked:
"What about the Jade Palace, do you know anything about that?"
"I do not know what that is."
Sunny nodded, expecting that answer.
"What about the Palace of Imagination? Mirage's Castle?"
"I have never been there."
Sunny nodded slower, having somewhat expected that answer.
"The Night Garden?"
"Oh, I do know a bit about that one."
"Really?!"
Hope's head tilted up slightly.
"Before I was imprisoned, it had left on a voyage for the black skies."
"The black skies..?"
From all the knowledge Sunny had amassed so far, the name of the black skies only correlated with one thing.
Space.
"The Night Garden is in space? How does… nevermind. Do you know anything else, Lady Hope?"
"Yes. It was built with a branch from one of Heart God's avatars. It is a very impressive vehicle."
Sunny rubbed his chin. He was quite interested in its capabilities. He had never learned too much about the House of Night in the past, as they remained quite low-key.
"It can sail across the ocean, the black skies, and the depths, all the same. It also has near inexhaustible energy reserves, as Rime was the one who built it."
"I see… do you know where it was headed when it departed for the black skies?"
Chains rustled slightly as Hope looked at her own hands.
"Who knows? The black skies are a vast, vast place. It is the Domain of the Storm God. There are many places it could have gone to, but there is one place in mind."
"Really? What place?"
Hope's wings rustled.
"The Eternal City. A creation of Repose. I have never visited it myself, but Rime bragged about its progress quite a lot."
"The Eternal City?"
He had never heard of such a city in his life. The place wasn't marked in Nether's Tower either. Had it not been built yet when Nether was carving those runes? Or was it something else?
"Yes… I am not sure if it is completed yet, but she said it would be a city of immortals. One that would never be destroyed, no matter what."
"Immortals?"
Sunny shivered at the thought. Knowing the great and terrible powers the daemons wielded, the city of immortals likely still existed in the present world, only… it was most likely corrupted by now. Just like everything else had been.
'A city of gods knows how old corrupted immortals… yeah, hell no I'm never going near that damned place.'
But in the back of the mind, a deep-seated suspicion gnawed at him.
'No way, right?'
One piece of Weaver's lineage was lost to respite…
And from what Sunny had heard, the Night Garden didn't exactly sound like a place of respite. But a city that made you immortal? That sounded more like it.
'No… no…'
Sunny clutched his head.
'It's totally there, isn't it?!'
A piece of Weaver's forbidden lineage… was there.
'Ah, is it too late to just consume Shadow God's lineage instead?'
Sunny swallowed hard, his face feeling hot.
'It isn't… I just have to find a way to stop Blood Weave from devouring it. Or I just have to find a way to get rid of this cursed lineage!'
Then the problem of speeding up the Forgotten God's awakening would be gone too! It was genius!
"What is wrong, Sunless?"
Hope stared at him curiously, watching him nearly rip his own hair out.
"Oh, I- I was just thinking that… the piece lost to respite is definitely hidden within the Eternal City, right? And that… sounds like a place I would never want to visit. So, I was thinking, maybe I should just give up on collecting Weaver's lineage, and just awaken Shadow's Lineage instead."
"..."
Hope was silent for a moment.
"No."
"...No? Well, oka-"
"A daemon managed to create a lineage right under the nose of the gods. I will not allow you to give up on it.
Sunny's eyes widened.
'Is she serious?'
"I… okay? I wasn't seriously considering it… it's just anything to do with Weaver tends to end with me almost dying."
Hope made a sound of disapproval, clearly not understanding his frustrations. Feeling annoyed, Sunny decided to mess with her.
"You know, now that I think about it… since I am the blood of Weaver, wouldn't that make us kin?"
"...Kin?"
Hope's head titled, and her wings moved slightly.
"Yeah, since I am related to Weaver, wouldn't that make you… my sister? Or cousin? Or even aunt?"
"..."
The hall went completely silent.
Sunny shifted slightly.
'I… don't think she found that funny.'
Hope had gone still at his words.
In the oppressive silence, Sunny stood completely still.
'Hah… uh… how's, how's the crazy shadow doing, I wonder?'
And just before he could take a step back, a wing shot towards him at lightning speed.
'Cr-'
Sunny couldn't even react as he was pulled towards Hope at incredible speed, nearly knocking the breath out of him.
"Wh-"
"Kin…"
Sunny was now right before Hope, well within arm's length of her. A hand reached to him, grabbing the side of his face.
'Wh… I…'
Sunny couldn't even think as her other hand reached for his face while the other one held his head still. Two fingers pried his mouth open, and another one pulled his cheek outwards as Hope's head moved towards his.
She seemed to be… looking at his teeth.
A second later, she was done, closing his mouth. Then, she began squishing his cheeks, moving his head side to side so as to get a better look at him, her gaze searching and prying into his body and soul.
"Yes, yes… indeed you are."
Then, he was flipped around, and a hand was placed on his back. A second later, he felt something scry over his soul for a moment.
After being flipped around again, Hope gently placed him down.
"Good. From now on, I will call you the youngest."
"O-Okay…"
"Your lineage is not quite complete yet, but it is close enough. And I am sure you will complete it someday."
"Of course…"
Hope nodded.
"I…"
Sunny found himself speechless.
He had not expected Hope to take him so seriously! Was she insane?! He was just joking!
Were the other daemons really such poor company for her to accept him like that immediately?!
'Then again, Nether built his tower right here while his sister was imprisoned and didn't even bother releasing her. I doubt they have familial relationships like humans do.'
"For the youngest to not even be able to translate runes as basic as these, it is unacceptable."
"W-What?"
"From now on, I will teach you."
Sunny froze.
"O…kay?"
Holding up several sheets of paper, Hope looked at him.
"As you are blind, I will have to teach you in your dreams instead. Come here."
Sunny wordlessly walked forward, laying down as he had done before.
"Now sleep."
And a while later, Sunny was fast asleep.
***
"...This one… 'flame'.... 'world'.... this is…"
Sunny was dimly aware of what was going on. He could feel himself faced with many, many runes, and a thundering voice whispering to him from… somewhere, and yet, it didn't feel real, like watching his own memories play out. It wasn't at all like using Nightmares [Dreamwalker] ability.
'I just… need to get used to it…'
It wasn't something he couldn't adapt to with time. Currently, it just felt like he was having a sort of out of body experience, watching his dream progress as he unconsciously acted.
'It wouldn't be bad to learn how to control myself better in dreams anyways… I don't have Nightmare to guard them anymore.'
In a world ruled by the Nightmare Spell, such a skill couldn't be taken for granted.
Still, despite the strangeness of it all, the forced lucidity didn't seem to impair his cognition in any way, still allowing him to learn normally.
…But that didn't mean the topic was easy either.
'She… she said this was basic.'
"Youngest, are you listening?"
"I… I am."
"Good. Use this to…"
'Ah…'
It seemed that even sleep would no longer allow him to rest. Not for a while anyways.
***
"Youngest, wake up."
"G- huh?!"
Sunny shot up in surprise.
"W-What?"
They had been in the middle of a lesson, and all of a sudden…
"Ah?!"
His shadows were alerting him of something!
"Oh…"
Sunny immediately focused.
"Oh!"
The haughty shadow… was still within the shadow of the priest, except the priest was standing in the middle of a vast, open square, sunlight pouring over the surrounding hundred meters. Considering the fact that not a single other person was in the massive square, it looked extremely suspicious, and the haughty shadow was warning Sunny of incoming danger.
And sure enough…
'Here we go..'
***
A large shadow appeared overhead for a moment before rippling, turning into a much smaller human shadow. Three other human shadows appeared from it as well, dropping from the sky and landing near the priest, surrounding him. Around the square, several masters waited, as well as several Awakened who were specialized in tracking.
"Lord Sevras…"
The priest greeted Sevras, his gaze clear and focused.
"Makor, remain still."
The priest did not answer, heeding his command.
With varying degrees of seriousness on their faces, the four Chain Lords began closing in on. Taking slow and careful steps, they readied their weapons, all staring intently at the priest's shadow.
Sevras turned his head.
"Noctis, anything?"
"It's him."
Sevras nodded.
"Semos."
The Sun Prince nodded before placing his hands together, diffused light spreading across the square and surrounding buildings, leaving not a single shadow behind. The only shadows that remained were the shadows of the Chain Lords, and a shadow beneath priest Makor, its stark darkness looking massively out of place within the brightly lit square.
Sevras glowered at the sight while Noctis grinned, both of them now walking much faster than before, sharp intent radiating from them. Noctis readied his diamond sickles, while Sevras held a glass saber in hand. Semos and Aidre walked slowly, remaining further back as they readied their Aspects.
Makor was sweating heavily, his eyes closed and head lowered as he muttered a silent prayer. The shadow at his feet did not seem perturbed at all whatsoever, though. In fact, it seemed disappointed only four Transcendents had come, as if four immortal Saints were of no challenge to it.
'Monster…'
Noctis and Sevras crouched down, ready to leap forward and skewer the shadow with their weapons.
But just then…
"Mind leaving my shadow alone?"
"!"
They both froze, turning to the source of the voice.
Gritting his teeth, Sevras spoke in a low tone:
"Semos, Lady Aidre, do not look away from the shadow."
A sphere of darkness bloomed on the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the square, and a terrifying figure stepped out of it.
Covered in pitch black stone-like armour, Shadow appeared, resting a large odachi on his shoulder.
…There was no shadow at his feet.
Despite his face being covered by a helmet, the Chain Lords could feel him grinning.
"That guy's pretty much my soul, you know? I'd hate to lose him. So… how about you step away and nobody gets hurt?"
Noctis immediately turned to Sevras.
[He's stalling for something, stay alert.]
Shadow frowned.
"It's rude to exclude people from conversations like that, you know? How about we all gather around and have a nice chat?"
Noctis spit on the ground, an angry look on his face.
"Shut up and just die."
"Wow! That's rude. I thought we were friends, Noctis."
A vein popped up on Noctis' forehead, but he said nothing.
Shadow leapt from the building, the plume on his helmet fluttering in the wind as he soared through the air. Just as he was about to land-
"Brother!"
Semos yelled, causing Noctis and Sevras to turn their heads for a split second.
The shadow at priest Makor's feet shot towards Semos, and at the same time, Shadow dashed toward Semos as well.
"Semos, he doesn't have the ruby knife! Stop him!"
Semos nodded, dashing forward with light emanating from his forearms like flame.
But at the same time, Noctis gritted his teeth.
"Wait! He does have it! Semos, dodge!"
Semos' eyes widened, leaping back only a split second before a ruby knife flashed from Shadow's hand, aimed right at his throat.
"What-"
The Sun Prince gripped his throat for a moment before pulling his hand away, making sure he wasn't slashed by it.
The Chain Lords stared in stunned silence for a moment.
They had not known that Shadow had the ruby knife!
Sevras growled in anger. Noctis hadn't had the knife the entire time and had not told him?! They would have to have a long chat later… once they killed this impostor!
While the Chain Lords were busy staring in shock, Shadow did not stop moving. Completely unperturbed, he continued his dash forward until he finally retrieved his shadow once more.
"Good… that was quite a close call…"
Then, he turned around, looking at the Chain Lords who were staring at him warily, waiting to see what he would do.
"Goodness, are you all that afraid? What, has living comfortable for all these years made you go soft? Come on!"
Noctis raised his sickles.
"Bastards just asking to die…"
Sevras raised his saber.
"Just go away already…"
Then, accepting his taunt, the two divine lineages shot towards him.
Shadow laughed.
Before the two Transcendents could reach him, the sphere of darkness appeared again, consuming him and his shadow.
His mad laughter echoed across the brightly lit square, seemingly causing it to grow darker.
Even when the darkness faded revealing nobody, the laughter continued to echo.
Shadow had fled once more.
As the last echo of laughter faded, the Chain Lords looked at each other.
"He's… gone?"
Aidre nodded, a tired look in her.
"Seems so. What was his pl-"
BOOM!
An explosion shook the world around them, disrupting their balance slightly.
"No…"
A pillar of smoke had already begun rising into the sky within the city.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Three more explosions occurred across the city, more and more plumes of smoke and dust rising into the sky.
Just as Semos and Sevras were about to jump into action to defend their city, a terrified man had run towards the square, completely out of breath.
"L-Lords!"
The Chain Lords turned to him. Clear anger was present in the eyes of the twin rulers of the city.
"An attack! An attack at the gates!"
"What?! What's attacking the gates?"
The man slumped over, coughing for a second before pushing through it, saliva flying out of his mouth as yelled.
"A… A Tyrant, sir, at least! It's strong, very strong! We need your help!"
Sevras reached upwards, almost gripping his hair in frustration before Noctis interrupted him.
"Go, hurry. Me and Aidre will deal with the situation here."
Sevras gritted his teeth.
"Semos, with me"
Semos held on to his brother's back before they both jumped into the air, Sevras' human figure disappearing as a massive dragon took its place.
Noctis glanced at Aidre.
"Let's go."
***
From the gates of the Ivory City, a colossal vulture covered in adamantine feathers could be seen flying with its brood, headed straight for the city. It was the Soul Serpent, taking on the form of the Great Spirit Gatherer, a Transcendent Titan. Over the past few weeks, Sunny had sent out to hunt the denizens of the Chained Isles, building a vast army using its Tyrant abilities.
And now, Sevras and Semos were staring it down from the gates of the city.
"We can't let it enter, brother."
"I know."
"What should we do?"
"Fight it."
"And the ci-"
"I don't know, Semos! I don't know… We… We need to kill that thing first."
Semos' gaze darkened.
'Why…'
Sevras clenched his fists.
'I knew… I knew this would happen. Those damn Shadows are always like this. Snivelling cowards, using other people to get to me, rather than facing me directly. Always... Always!'
"Semos, use your transformation."
Semos turned to him in shock.
"But-"
"Just do it. We need to do this as fast as possible."
"...Understood."
His brother vanished a moment later, turning into pure light. The light then moved towards Sevras, covering him like armour forged from solid gold. A second later, he took to the skies to face the Tyrant.
Only it was not a Tyrant.
As a descendent of the Lord of Light, he had inherited The Fire, the lineage of a god. The lineage manifested itself differently from person to person, for some, it made their soul burn hotter than any other flame, for others, it made them beings of pure passion, bordering on madness. For him, The Fire manifested itself through his soul, the norm for people in possession of an Aspect that used fire. His soul burned hotter and brighter than any other, causing his flames to become lethally hot. Today though, his flames would be put to the test.
His Aspect, augmented by The Fire, allowed him to understand the foe before him. The small vultures flying around it were not minions, they were manifestations of the monster's powers.
The being he was facing was a Transcendent Titan.
'First a Supreme Devil, now this? Just who…'
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind.
It was time for battle.
The air around him began to grow darker, soul-harvesting winds present within them.
The Titan before him was not much bigger than himself, but behind trailed thousands of miniscule versions of itself. Their numbers were vast enough to cloak the entire Titans body, making it look like it was wearing armour forged of dark feathers and rot.
'Time to die, vile beast.'
He took a deep breath, and the fire came a moment later.
***
Noctis and Aidre arrived at the site of the first explosion with serious expressions.
"Anything?"
Noctis shook his head.
"No. Buildings empty, residents taken."
Before them, a large building forged of white stone was partially toppled over, much of its foundation had collapsed and turned to dust. Within it, there was not a person in sight.
Another explosion resounded somewhat far away, and the two could hear distant screams.
"Let's go."
Aidre nodded, leaping into the air alongside Noctis, both of them rushing towards the explosion.
Once they arrived…
"Nothing."
The dust hadn't even settled yet, but the building was partially toppled, and there was no one within.
Aidre turned to Noctis.
"Do you notice anything about the buildings?"
The sorcerer shook his head.
"Not really."
"I do."
Noctis looked at her in surprise.
"You do? Then why did you ask? No- nevermind. What about them?"
Aidre sighed.
"These are where Awakened work. Smiths, barracks, stations… you know."
Noctis clicked his tongue.
"Then what? He killed all of them and destroyed their homes?"
"I don't know."
And just then, another explosion resounded from across the city. The two turned to each other and nodded.