Uriel manifested his Sword of True Darkness, ignoring Jerom's desperate screams. Without the slightest fear in his movements, he began cutting him again and again, weakening him and continuing to reduce him until only a small, trembling, pathetic mass of darkness remained.
When only that tiny sphere of darkness that had been the fearsome Jerom remained, Uriel summoned a special memory. Black sparks gathered in his hand, materializing a toy castle with the appearance of an imposing fortress. The castle had pointed towers, thick walls, and a main gate that seemed to grin sinisterly.
Placing the castle in front of the dark mass that was Jerom, the fortress opened its gates and began to suck everything around it. Jerom tried to escape by merging into the surrounding darkness, but it was useless. The castle swallowed him as if he were a mere morsel, and once its work was done, its gates closed with a dull thud that sounded suspiciously like a burp.
Taking the castle, Uriel let out a long, deep sigh.
"Well, that was... intense," he murmured, looking at the small fortress in his hand.
He was incredibly exhausted. He had used all his power without holding back to deal with Jerom. Even with everything he demonstrated, his current power was on par with that of a sovereign. Maybe a little stronger, or maybe not—he really didn't know. He only knew that had the battle continued elsewhere, he would have drawn more attention than he already had.
Returning the toy castle to his sea of souls, Uriel looked at his surroundings. Everything was destroyed, but it was beginning to regenerate. New nightmare creatures were being born from the shadows, and within hours, they would be corrupted beasts again. The nature of God Grave was relentless.
Turning around, he prepared to return to Doom. However, he heard the sound of hooves.
From the shadows emerged a horse of pure black color with twisted horns that gleamed like dark ivory. Mounted on the horse was a man dressed in black who radiated a sense of death and power. The man wore a lacquered silver mask in the shape of a three-horned demon.
That was none other than the lord of shadows, the saint who lived in God Grave, his old friend and ally.
Uriel sighed.
"Damn," was what he murmured—he could no longer escape. His plans and preparations had gone down the drain. Sunny had discovered he was alive.
Slowly, Uriel waved his hand, his best forced smile on his face.
"Hey Sunny, long time no see. You won't believe it, but I just killed a creature of darkness and also destroyed some citadels along the way. Isn't that amazing?" he said, his tone exaggeratedly cheerful.
Sunny remained silent, watching Uriel with an intensity that would make any being tremble. After a moment, he brought a hand to his mask and removed it, revealing a face that mixed confusion with disbelief.
"How the hell are you alive?" he asked in bewilderment.
Uriel laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
"Uh, well... I..." Uriel was visibly nervous. His eyes darted back and forth as if looking for an escape. "Can we talk somewhere else?"
"Yes. Follow me, and don't even think about running."
"Of course not!" Uriel replied with feigned indignation. "Do you think I'd use the darkness to escape when you're not looking?"
Sunny shot him a piercing glare.
"You do. Now shut up and walk."
"Fine," Uriel murmured, shrugging.
Uriel followed Sunny for a long time. They left the ribs of God Grave and reached the chest area, where a massive temple stood surrounded by deep shadows. The place was so vast it seemed to contain an entire universe within.
Upon entering the temple, Uriel observed how spacious and gloomy it was. Gigantic columns rose toward a ceiling that seemed to have no end. Looking at the columns, he saw Fiend, the ancient queen of nightmares, her form imposing and threatening. He also saw Saint, the saint of shadows, standing beside a throne. Behind it was the soul serpent, which was much larger than he remembered, its scales gleaming with a hypnotic luster.
Sunny walked toward the throne and sat down with the grace of one who has ruled for millennia.
Uriel, for his part, summoned his dark chair and sat down as well, as if he were in his own home.
"Alright, speak now," Sunny said, his voice echoing in the temple.
"First of all, congratulations on becoming a transcendent," Uriel commented lightly, crossing one leg over the other. "Ariel's tomb must have been quite difficult for you."
"Thanks," Sunny replied, though his tone showed no gratitude. "But speak now."
"Speak about what?" Uriel asked with feigned innocence.
Sunny became visibly annoyed. His dark aura intensified, and the shadows around him began to stir.
"How the hell are you still alive?" he demanded, his voice sharp as a blade. "We killed you in the third nightmare after you were corrupted. We burned your damn corpse!"
Uriel blinked several times, processing the information.
"Oh, so that's how it ended," he murmured thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "Well, as for how I'm still alive... it seems there's a big misunderstanding."
"And what would that misunderstanding be?"
"The reality is, Sunny," Uriel said, leaning forward, "I never died."
Sunny felt as if he'd been doused with ice water. His face paled, and for a moment, the lord of shadows seemed to lose his composure.
"What?"
"What you heard. I never died in the first place," Uriel repeated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"But..." Sunny frowned before realizing. "The spell. Yes, that must be it. Why did I never realize it?" Sunny sank into his throne, his mind processing the revelation. "What we killed was just a recreation of you made by the nightmare spell. It wasn't really you."
"Exactly," Uriel replied, nodding with satisfaction.
"But how did you get to Ariel's tomb? How are you even able to remember me?" Sunny asked, his voice full of curiosity and confusion.
"To begin with," Uriel began, adopting a narrator's pose, "after that happened in Antarctica, I traveled to the realm of dreams like you and the others. However, for some reason, I was sent to where both Song and Valor longed to reach: the true tomb of Ariel."
He made a dramatic pause, and Sunny rolled his eyes.
"Sunny, let me tell you, I almost really died in that place," Uriel continued, his tone becoming serious. "That thing is infested with millions of great monsters in the form of moths. I had to make explosions five times more powerful than the one I generated in Antarctica during my fight with the winter beast." He paused again. "Anyway, I somehow managed to survive and reach the interior of the great river of time."
"I see," Sunny murmured, processing the information. "However, that doesn't explain how you're able to remember me."
"That has an explanation," Uriel said, raising a finger. "I am what you could call an 'alien' being in this world. So I can remember you even if you no longer have a destiny."
Sunny wrinkled his face but nodded, sensing no lies in his words. Although the concept was strange, it made sense in the context of everything he knew about Uriel.
"Well, anyway, continuing with..."
"Wait," Sunny interrupted him. "If you didn't die, why did you never appear again?" he asked, curious.
"Oh, about that," Uriel said, a sly smile forming on his lips. "It's a good cover."
"Excuse me?"
"Sunny, my foolish friend," Uriel said, placing a hand on his chest. "If I reveal that I really didn't die years ago, it would be an abysmal problem. I had agreed to join the Song clan after the nightmare chain in Antarctica. With all my achievements and actions, I was considered humanity's greatest hero. My value is so great that Song and Valor would go to war just to have me on their side, and that would cause countless deaths and weaken humanity. By letting everyone believe I died, I prevent all that from happening."
"Besides..." his tone became serious, "there's that guy on the moon. He had me well watched. By letting everyone believe I'm dead and not appearing anywhere, he would focus his attention elsewhere, which would allow me to move more freely."
"I understand," Sunny said, nodding slowly. "You had all of this premeditated."
"Exactly," Uriel confirmed.
"But what about the others? Do they know?"
"No," Uriel replied, shaking his head. "As I said before, that guy already believes I'm dead. If I reunite with the other cohort members, he'll know of my existence again. It's better they keep believing I'm still dead. Besides, you decided to sever ties with everything and be forgotten by the world."
Sunny had no way to argue against that, since it was true. He had chosen his path, and he couldn't blame Uriel for doing the same.
"You mentioned earlier that you reached the true tomb of Ariel," Sunny said, changing the subject. "How did you get out of that place?"
"Oh, it was simple," Uriel said with a smile. "Before the day of the war, I sent my supreme devil Skady, an ancient supreme, with the members of the Night clan. She simply beat them all, took control of the ship, and using the connection we share as a bond, she tore through space, opening a door through which we escaped."
"Escaped?" Sunny repeated, his eyebrow rising. "Wait, what did you open?"
"Yes, we escaped," Uriel confirmed. "Turns out there was an entire civilization inside there, so I took it with me. And as for the door, the Night Garden is a ship made by a demon. It's more than just a ship—it can sink into the water, it can even fly."
"Yes, I get it, shut up," Sunny said, massaging his temples.
Sunny felt his head beginning to ache from all the information being dumped on him. This was all too ridiculous. However, considering that the one saying all this was the craziest, strangest, and most peculiar person of all, he had no choice but to believe him.
After a moment of silence, Sunny looked at Uriel, who was eating a peach that he had no idea where he got it from.
"Where did you get that?" Sunny asked, pointing at the fruit.
"What?" Uriel asked, looking at his hand confused.
"That," Sunny said, pointing at what was in his hand.
Uriel looked at his hand as if seeing something for the first time.
"What?"
"That fruit you're eating," Sunny said, exasperated.
"I'm not eating fruit," Uriel replied, his face showing genuine confusion. "Are you okay, Sunny? Do you need to see a psychologist?"
"No, argh," Sunny rubbed his face with both hands. "Forget it. You're insane."
"Oh, no, Sunny," Uriel said, his voice taking on a mystical tone. "I'm not insane. The world is the one that's gone insane."
A ghostly wind moved Uriel's clothes and hair, giving him the air of a mountain sage. His eyes gleamed with a flash of wise madness.
'Where did the wind come from inside this place?' Sunny thought, completely baffled. He would never understand where that mysterious wind came from. Perhaps it was a mystery he would never discover the answer to.
Uriel stretched, cracking his bones.
"How I missed saying that phrase," he said, a nostalgic smile on his face. "God, it feels good to say it after so long."
Sunny observed Uriel for a moment, his eyes scrutinizing every detail.
"Have we run into each other before today?" he asked, a suspicion forming in his mind.
"Well, there's no point in hiding it anymore," Uriel said with a smile.
Uriel was surrounded by darkness. When it dissipated, Sunny's eyes widened like saucers. Before him stood that cook from Bastion who had wanted to make him his kitchen slave to earn more money.
"Are you... Sun Jin-Woo?" Sunny asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"Oh, I am that too," Uriel said, pulling out a smooth black mask with two eye holes.
"You're also the Dark Lord?"
"I'm also the creator of Naruto and the successful writer Blurose," Uriel added with an ear-to-ear grin.
"What the hell, Uriel!" Sunny exclaimed, rising from his throne. "How many identities do you have?!"
"Several, actually," Uriel said, shrugging with feigned modesty. "I have a small problem with boredom. You know? Being immortal has its downsides. One has to find hobbies."
"Hobbies?!" Sunny nearly shouted. "Creating a culinary empire, writing novels, inventing manga, and being a dark lord are hobbies?"
"Well, when you put it that way..." Uriel smiled. "Yes, basically."
Sunny slumped back into his throne, his mind processing the avalanche of revelations. Uriel stood up, stretching once more.
"Hey Sunny, let's talk again in Bastion," he said, his tone becoming more serious. "I have some things I need to take care of."
Sunny nodded, watching as Uriel pulled up his hood and walked toward the exit of the nameless temple. Before disappearing, Uriel stopped and turned his head.
"Ah, and Sunny," he said, his voice echoing in the temple. "Welcome back to the world of the living. I've missed you, old friend."
And with that, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Sunny alone with his thoughts and an endless number of unanswered questions.
Sunny remained silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, a smile formed on his face.
"You crazy bastard," he murmured. "I've missed you too."
The soul serpent moved behind him, letting out a soft hiss that sounded like laughter. Fiend and Saint exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of confusion and amusement.
The temple fell silent again, but for the first time in a long while, that silence wasn't heavy.