Leaving The Dark City

The group gathered south of the Dark City, where they would set off to recover the Shard Memories. Effie was carrying her bag, while Nephis was wearing the Starlight Legion Armour. Cassie wore her cloak the color of the sea. As for Kai and Caster, each wore flexible leather armor that allowed for ease of movement.

The plan was for them to head first to the statue where they'd taken shelter when they'd arrived for the first time, and then head for the Statue of the Warrior. They would spend their time without any rush on the journey because the moving statue would need some time to reach the remains of the old bridge, where they would climb onto the moving giant and head toward the Hollow Mountains.

After gathering, they immediately moved toward the walls of the Dark City, wanting to descend and head toward the Statue of the Woman and climb it before the Dark Sea rose. The statue was ten kilometers away—a distance that was not far for them.

After spending some time descending the walls, they landed on the damp ground. Sunny didn't want to waste time, so he summoned Crab. When the Dark Shell Demon appeared, those around him shrank back in awe.

"What is this, Dofus? Is it one of your pets? It looks really ugly."

"You could say that. But be careful—it might cut you in half because it doesn't like the way you talk… Also, what are you all waiting for? Climb up. It's as big as a house—it can carry us."

The group climbed onto the back of the giant Crab. The space was wide, and they could even lie down on their backs. As for the speed, that was something else entirely—who would have the luxury of using an Ascended Demon as transportation on the Forgotten Shore?

"So, Sunny—is this another Echo you have? I mean, you've got a lot of echoes, honestly. That killer knight, the giant serpent, and now this thing—isn't that kind of ridiculous?"

"You could say it's an Echo, but it's not… actually, it's a living creature, just like you and me, but connected to my soul… I know it sounds ridiculous that I have echoes—or you could call them shadows—that are incredibly strong, even physically stronger than me. But that's what hard work and luck get you!"

"Oh, I see. So this thing is alive? And you call it a shadow?"

"Yes. Is there something strange about that?… I mean, Kai, haven't you gotten used to weirdness since the first time we met?"

"No, I haven't gotten used to it, and I don't think I ever will."

They spent nearly half an hour reaching the Statue of the Woman where Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie had rested when they'd first arrived in the Dark City. Sunny returned Crab to his soul, then stared at the statue, which held its palms high. They had to climb it now and then begin their journey toward the Statue of the Warrior.

Climbing the statue was extremely easy for the group—they were a team whose soul cores had been saturated long ago. As for Sunny and Nephis, one of them was a demon and the other a Devil. They climbed quickly to the top of the statue's severed head. Upon reaching the platform, they wasted no time and immediately began setting up their camp. They planned to spend a day resting. Even though they weren't tired, Sunny insisted on it.

Sunny sat on the edge of the statue, watching the blind crater. He wasn't thinking about anything—just resting himself a bit, because he had a difficult choice to make now.

He was thinking about making the Saint Ascended, but he would need her for the journey. He had the Memories that would allow her to ascend, but she would spend a lot of time evolving. After some thought, he decided he would make her Ascended. It wasn't too reckless a decision, since he already had the serpent and Crab to help him, so there wouldn't be much risk if he evolved her—or at least that's what he hoped. Perhaps Fate would love to give him an unpleasant surprise.

In the dark sea of his soul, four black suns shone, and beneath them thousands of shadows, some small, some huge and terrifying—all looked at him with respect and reverence. Sunny walked among them and wandered a bit before summoning the Saint.

The dark knightess appeared. This time Sunny was a bit taller than in his previous life, so he was just barely able to stand at the same height as the Saint, who had become an Awakened Demon.

"Hello, Saint! Guess what—I've brought you a luxurious meal of Memories, so you'd better eat them and digest them well, and I promise you'll become much stronger!"

The Saint looked at him, then suddenly grabbed his cheek with lightning speed and squeezed it hard. Sunny groaned in pain, but the Saint didn't care.

"Enough! Enough!… Take your food—I'm not the food."

The Saint pulled her hand away with slight disappointment, then looked at the Memories floating around Sunny. Sunny didn't look at her but held his cheek, checking her rune inscriptions.

[194/200]

The Saint grabbed all the Memories and crushed them. She didn't stop even when the Shadow Shard counter was full—she crushed four more Memories until she was finished, then returned to Sunny's core, but this time she was enveloped in black flames to allow her to evolve. Sunny sighed, holding his cheek, and refocused on reality.

Behind him came the sound of light footsteps. When he turned his head, he found Kai slowly approaching him. Perhaps he hadn't wanted to interrupt whatever Sunny had been doing—or whatever it was.

"Hey, Kai. What are you doing?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk, and it seems like everyone's busy with something… Effie is eating the food Nephis and Cassie are cooking, and Caster doesn't seem very social. As for—"

"You've come to the right place! I'm the most honest and most fun person in the world—no, in both worlds!"

"Really? And how's that?"

"Well, let's see… first of all, I did something unbelievable to an Awakened Tyrant—so unbelievable that when I told someone about it, they kept laughing for a long time."

"And what's this unbelievable thing?"

"Ah, I spat on the ground, and the Awakened Tyrant was torn in half. So fragile!… By the way, that was in my first Nightmare."

Kai stumbled on the ground, staring at Sunny, his jaw dropping as far as it could go.

"You killed an Awakened Tyrant in your first Nightmare by spitting?!… Was there something special about the spit?!"

"No, actually—it was just my blood mixed with the spit, and it didn't even touch the Awakened Tyrant."

Kai pulled his knees up to his chest, his face bearing a peaceful, empty expression. If someone had seen Kai like that, they'd suspect he'd become Hollow.

"Right! Did I ever tell you about the time I killed a Great Devil?"

This time Kai looked at Sunny in shock and fear, then fainted onto the cold platform. Sunny looked at him with a bit of pity, then returned to staring at the sun that was about to set.

In the morning, they gathered their belongings and descended from the Statue of the Woman to continue their journey toward the Statue of the Warrior. From this path, the labyrinth and

The monsters began to appear.

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I have made a mistake by writing that Saint would take A lot of time to evolve so from the next chapter consider the paragraph where I said Saint would need much time to evolve is deletedted or at least act like you didn't see it

:/