Ch. 23

Sunny smiled brightly. He had been pretty sure he would've managed to get Saint back, but had never had any guarantee that he actually would. It was a great weight off his shoulder.

However, he had no time to bask in relief and joy. They were in the Dark City, and while the plaza was clear of abominations, it wouldn't be for long. The battle that had taken place between the children of Nether and the Fallen Monsters would impact the power dynamics of the cursed city greatly. Not only had two of the most powerful forces annihilated each other, thus leaving an empty void ready to become part of the other strong Nightmare Creatures, but the Spiders' corpses were also desired by every abomination in the Dark City. Their alluring scent- alluring for the corrupted, at least; Sunny didn't find it as desirable- permeated the air. It hadn't passed much time since the creatures were slain, so the wind hadn't spread the smell of blood around the forsaken city yet, but the noses- or what the hell some creatures smelled the world with; Sunny had met all kinds of dreadful monsters, and some of them perceived their surroundings with means he could not understand- of the predators would pick up the scent soon.

Sunny was confident they could deal with whatever attacked them: Caster was one of the strongest Sleeper to have ever existed, and his battle technique had been refined since he was a kid. Sunny and Nephis were a different race altogether, and they had Saint and Serpent backing them up. Nevertheless, those thoughts would become the 'Famous last words' if he was to become arrogant. He had way too many experiences with Fated to let himself be caught of guards, so they tried to harvest everything they could as fast as possible.

Nephis' voice resounded in his mind as he told everyone to start taking what they could.

Did you get Saint back?

Sunny spared a glance in her direction. The Starlight Legion was covered by blood that wasn't Changing Star's, and not even scratched. She was extracting the Shards from another of the Spiders' carcasses.

Yes.

Good.

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Caster still had a stunned expression on his face as he retrieved the shards from the piles of stone pieces that were the corpses of the knights. They, three Sleepers, had just slaughtered a bunch of Awakened and Fallen Monsters. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. Of course, they had taken them off guard and ambushed them when they were damaged and battered from fighting each other, but still…

He shook off his stupor to observe Changing Star and Sunless. He was using that eerie black sword of his, which had appeared from nowhere, to cut down as much meat as he could and retrieve the Ascended Shards. He put them in one of the makeshift bags they had brought with them. The scion's green eyes narrowed. He might be a bigger threat than he had deemed him.

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While the they took the shards and cut the edible meat from the corpses of the spiders, Sunny had sent his shadows to make sure nothing approached them. One of them had just seen a horde of Blood Fiends sniffing the air and coming in their direction, so he warned the others.

When he had relearnt to access his Soul Sea as a Saint in the Hollow Mountains, and to control different bodies as well, he had found that he could also divide his conscience and enter his Soul Sea with only a fragment of it. Even if now he was a Sleeper, he was still able to, and did while they traversed the street of the abandoned city.

Two black suns hovered in the distance, multiple lights surrounding them. Normally, Serpent would reside in one of his Shadow Cores, but at the moment, he was summoned.

Sunny read his runes.

Shadow Fragments: [70/2000]

Memories: […][…]… [Endless Spring]

Echoes: [Stone Saint.]

He sighed as he looked at the Endless Spring.

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The outer dwellings were graced by the light of the rising sun.

In one of the outermost huts, three figures were standing, ready to go out to hunt. A fourth was a few meters away, watching as the prepared. However, Sunny wasn't about to let Cassie stay alone, defenceless and blind in the outskirts. He approached her before they went, and wordlessly touched her shoulder. The oracle startled as she felt an item enter her soul. She looked at Sunny, or pretended to.

"What was that?"

Sunny smiled.

"A gift."

Cassie summoned her runes, and as soon as she saw the addition, she yelped in surprise:

"Why did you give me the Carapace Scavenger Echo?"

"To keep you safe when we're away. And it's not like I really need it, anyway."

The voice at the back of her head whispered that she was useless, a burden to those who surrounded her, and her shoulder hunched a bit. However, Sunny's words resounded in her head, comforting. She was not useless.

Knowing that protesting wouldn't do anything, Cassie simply reached out and grabbed his arm, transferring the Endless Spring to him.

Sunny didn't say anything for a few moments.

"That wasn't necessary, Cassie. I only wanted to keep you safe, nothing else."

Cassie smiled, her hearth warmed by his intention.

"I know."

"Thank you, then."

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Sunny's gaze lingered on the bottle for a few seconds before he summoned Saint.

Her sight was as imposing as always, even if she was inferior in Rank and Class. The one, major difference was that she was as short as Sunny. It was a real source of joy for him, not to be towered upon by his servant. There was no hint of recognition in her eyes, but that was only because she was a normal Echo. He would only know if Saint remembered him only when he transformed her into a Shadow. Serpent remembered, yes, but he was a bit different as his Aspect Legacy.

Unfortunately, he hadn't enough Shadow Fragments to turn her into a Shadow. But when he did… well, he hadn't tried yet, but was pretty confident that he could create the necessary weave to turn objects into non-enchanted Memories. Who could stop him from weaving enough Memories to have her ascend? And then, when he became an Awakened and later a Master and a Saint, from turning her into a Trascendent, then Supreme, Sacred and even Divine, as well as his other Shadow that he would get back?

As a Sleeper, he couldn't do much, but as he walked the path of Ascension…

He wouldn't be strong enough to hunt Cursed Ones down, but he would not need to. He could make his shadow kill them, then use the shards to create Memories and make them Ascend. He could make Saint hunt Great Nightmare Creatures, turn her into a Sacred being, make her hunt Cursed creatures, and so on.

His train of thought was interrupted when they arrived in the outer dwellings.