The Fall of the Bright Lord(1)

Sunny woke up from his long sleep. The sun had already set a long time ago and was about to rise again. He had planned a long schedule of tasks he needed to accomplish. First, he wanted to sneak into the Bright Castle and meet with Sieshan, Kido, and Gemma. He wanted to learn all the information and everything necessary about Gunlaug.

He also had to be present in the Outer Settlement to decide when the tyrant Gunlaug would be overthrown and to start preparing for the assault on the Crimson Spire.

"I'm a businessman now. If Aiko saw this, she would have smashed her head against the wall."

Sunny got up from the priestess's bed and moved toward an empty room to wash and bathe before heading out. He truly valued cleanliness after the hell of traveling through the labyrinth.

After washing up, Sunny wore the Puppeteer Shroud, which had repaired itself and become clean inside his Soul sea. He headed toward the Outer Settlement. Nephis had healed the old hunter, and she and the cohort had settled there, which prevented any attacks from Gunlaug's side. As for Sunny, he had returned to the cathedral not just to rest but also to send out his shadows to hunt.

Because of killing the Shadow Spawn, he had gained two thousand eight hundred shadow fragments. This was more than enough to push him toward forming the Tyrant Core and had even caused him to jump to two thousand shadow fragments out of five thousand. Meaning he still needed three thousand shadow fragments to become a Terror. And this speed was extremely frightening even for him. This wasn't the only benefit. The serpent would become an Ascended Terror—a creature so fearsome that even the Corrupted beasts would at least avoid provoking it. Especially if Sunny reinforced it with his shadows, they wouldn't even be its match.

"Come to think of it… Isn't the serpent theoretically my strongest shadow?… I mean, the Saint surpasses it in terms of versatility and strategies, but the serpent is deadlier than it appears."

Sunny arrived at the center of the Dark City, where there was a hill, and on top of it stood the Bright Castle. Sunny passed the Outer Settlement, which was still shrouded in darkness, and climbed the hill where the Bright Castle stood. He had already sent his shadows to look for Gemma and the others so they could prepare for the meeting.

Sunny began climbing the fortress wall from a blind spot that a patrol of guards had just passed by. Sunny scaled the wall and moved across the roof beams. His shadows had already found Sieshan, Gemma, and Kido.

In a room, a young woman with gray skin and red lips sat, giving instructions to the young girls in front of her. She turned her head toward the wall, staring at the shadows, then quickly turned it back to the attendants before her. After giving them her instructions, she dismissed them, then turned her head to the shadows again. This time, a human-like shadow emerged from the darkness, signaling to her toward a place outside the room and leading her away. The shadow seemed to be lowering its dignity by doing this. Seishan was astonished at how strange this shadow's behavior was.

Elsewhere, Gemma sat in his chamber, planning how to delay the hunters' missions to slow down Gunlaug's advance. When he rose from his bed, he looked toward the wall, where a human-like shadow was waving at him lazily. This shadow seemed extremely sluggish. Jaima got out of bed and began following the shadow.

Kido was supervising a group of craftsmen who were making equipment like walls constructed from monster corpses and working on processing other monster parts. As she left the square where the craftsmen were working, she headed toward a corridor, and upon closer look, she found a strange shadow clinging to her feet. This shadow seemed insane, but at least it was pointing somewhere, wanting her to follow it.

Three people moved toward an isolated room in one of the abandoned wings where no one lived. The three entered the room and closed the door behind them. Outside, a tall black knight lurked behind his carnelian armor, two crimson flames glowing in place of his eyes.

Inside, the only light came from a Memory placed on a rickety table, surrounded by four old chairs. Seated on one of the chairs was a young man with crow-black hair and pale skin. Seishan spoke to Sunny:

"Hello, Sunless… I'm glad you returned safely from your journey."

"Hello, Lady Sishan. Thank you for worrying about us… Please, have a seat. We have matters to discuss. And you two, come on, don't just stand there."

Seishan moved, followed by Gemma and Kido. Once they were seated, they directed their gazes toward Sunny, and Gemma was the first to speak.

"First of all, I'm glad you're back, Sunless. You may not know how much pressure fell on us since you left on your mission, so let me tell you what I faced to ensure the survival of the Outer Settlement."

Gemma fell silent for a moment, then continued speaking.

"Since your departure, the hunters' mission hasn't only been hunting monsters but also trying to hunt down several Sleepers belonging to the Outer Settlement. The number of teams we send to hunt monsters has also increased… I tried to pull hidden strings to reduce the resulting damage and also tried to lower the number of monsters being hunted with logical excuses. But I couldn't always manage it, as Tessai grew suspicious of me, and I think he knows about us, but he chose to remain silent and didn't inform Gunlaug."

Sunny furrowed his brows in surprise at Tessai's knowledge. This man would normally seize such an opportunity to try to topple his rivals, but he hadn't done so. Kido spoke, interrupting Sunny's thoughts.

"I gave my instructions to the craftsmen to prioritize the items you asked me to produce, and I also managed to divert their attention away from the equipment requested by Gunlaug, even though I couldn't completely stop them from making it."

"Do you have anything to say, Lady Sishan, or should I begin with what I have?"

"Yes, I do have something I'd like to say… When will you begin your plan? Gunlaug is impatient. You might find him sending his dog, Haros, after you, or gathering all the Sleepers in the castle and starting a desperate battle against you."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk about… As you said, Gunlaug won't be able to stop himself from starting a desperate fight with us. And so, in the coming days, we will begin the plan to topple the tyrant. But right now, what we need is information about what happened in the months we were gone… If you'd kindly share with me in detail what happened, that would be very helpful."

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Sunny slipped out of the Bright Castle. The sun had already risen, and some noise was starting to spread from the bottom of the hill where the Outer Settlement was located.

Sunny moved stealthily, avoiding detection by the hunting parties leaving the Bright Castle toward the Dark City, and headed toward the Outer Settlement. His mind was focused on absorbing the information he had received. The information was abundant and so vast that he needed some time to remember it all. But he didn't have all that time.

He now had to share it with the rest of the cohort.

"Why do I have to be a mediator? Aren't I the most reclusive person in the world, and now I have to carry out diplomatic missions?!"

Sunny entered the Outer Settlement and moved toward the fortified hut located on the outskirts of the settlement. He opened the hut's door, avoiding the Sleepers inside who were busy working, carrying out orders, and moving huge crates. Sunny descended the stairs and headed toward the only room in the basement.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted by Cassie, who was looking toward the door.

"Sunny?"

"Yes, it's me… By the way, where's Neph and the others?"

A smile formed on Cassie's lips before she spoke.

"They went north of the city just before sunrise. I think they'll be back in a while… Tell me, did you get the information?"

"Yes, I got it. There's so much information. I should have brought you there so you could memorize it. But the problem is, how would I make you hide in the shadows like me?"

"That's truly unfortunate… Sunny, I had a vision. I don't know what it means, but I think it has something to do with you."

"Is this knowledge weighing on you, Cassie?"

"Yes."

"Then start talking."

"I saw you as a giant shadow covering the world and everything in it. Then this image shattered into thousands of fragments. Some showed terrifying and dreadful monsters so horrible that I thanked the spell for my blindness. Each of their roars felt like it made my soul tremble, shrink, and bleed. Every echo of their clashes sent out waves that shaped the world… I also saw you casting your shadow over a storm of crimson swords and crowds of undead standing on a skeleton the size of a continent."

She paused for a moment, then continued.

"I saw you walking through a river where time was an unrecognized law, moving toward the unknown… I saw you carrying millions of Humans and moving forward without concern… I saw you alone in a snowstorm so cold that the soul would freeze there, looking at a figure with disdain and hatred… then I saw you again atop the Crimson Spire, plunging a pitch-black blade that cast shadows of death into its Gurdain core."

Sunny held his head, and a smile found its way to his face until it stretched to his ears.

"Hahaha… Oh, Cass, do you know what that last vision means?!"

Cassie was confused. She had expected Sunny to frown or fall into deep thought or sadness, but instead, he laughed. That pale bastard laughed.

"Why are you laughing? And what does the last vision mean to you? Oh!"

"See? My fate has changed. I'm no longer bound to my death in the Crimson Spire! Or whatever it is that was going to happen to me there."

Cassie's eyes filled with tears. How many times had she glimpsed something terrifying that she didn't want to happen? Even though she pretended to be cheerful and happy around Sunny, Nephis, and the others, no one really knew the weight of her knowledge—perhaps only Sunny did. And he even tried to lighten the burden on her through his advice. She hadn't fully trusted his advice before, but now he had given her proof that fate had wavered and deviated from its course through a single small action.

"See, Cass? Humans can defy absolute laws. Even a small act can change everything. There's always a chance, just like I've told you many times."

________________________

Nephis entered the basement, finding Cassie and Sunny there. There was nothing strange about them except for a wide smile on their faces. When she saw them, the smiles disappeared, replaced by serious expressions. Nephis asked:

"Is there something you two want to tell me?"

"Yes. Sunny obtained the information we need from the Bright Castle."

"That's good. Wait until the others come down from upstairs, and then we'll start the discussion."