Arriving at the designated area on his communicator, Sunny saw the lights of many government vehicles as a bunch of people rushed around in chaos.
'These guys… they couldn't have prepared faster? At all?'
It was just like them…
Even in the past, the government failed to mobilise on time for the Chain of Nightmares in Antarctica, getting their predictions off by an entire year.
But Sunny didn't blame them, in a world ruled by the Nightmare Spell, being on time wasn't easy. Gates opened haphazardly, random Awakened went insane, hidden nightmare creatures could emerge from anywhere, there were just so many factors. The fact the government was able to function at all was impressive in Sunny's eyes, it took a lot of work and a lot of people to manage this many things.
Spreading out his Shadow Sense, Sunny found the person he was looking for.
"Hey."
"Gah!"
Jet jumped upon hearing her shadow speak.
"This again?! S-"
Jet then realised people were staring at her… Staring at her speak to nobody in particular.
"Ahem, excuse me."
Excusing herself, Jet walked to a secluded area as Sunny appeared from the darkness in front of her.
"You lot couldn't prepare any faster? The Gate was only a few hours early and your strike team seems awfully unprepared…"
Jet glowered at Sunny slightly.
"Well… you know how things are. Most people don't want to risk their skin in something like this, we're always short on manpower."
Sunny nodded his head, understanding completely.
He was once one of those people after all, unwilling to put his life on the line for matters like this.
But now…
"Do you need me to fight? Or do you think you have enough people for now?"
Jet shivered slightly.
"You might need to join when the Gate Guardian arrives… We're severely underpowered here, and the nearest Master is thirty minutes away."
Having taken ten minutes to get here after he had flown on Shrikes back, Sunny nodded.
"Alright. It's dark out so I should go relatively unseen."
Jet looked at him gratefully, glad he had her back.
Sunny then proceeded to disappear into Jet's shadow as she walked back to the temporary barricade.
Spreading his Shadow Sense outwards, Sunny began counting how many battle ready Awakened were present.
'One… Two… Ten… Thirty… There's about thirty of them, what is she so worried about?'
If it was only a category two gate, thirty Awakened should've been plenty! Sunny had managed to single handedly hold off a gate with only a small group back in the day!
But then Sunny belatedly realised that the current Awakened simply weren't that strong yet.
Many of the future legends in humanity were still just beginning their journey as well, their powers at its weakest.
People like Beastmaster, Lightslayer, Sky Tide, Bloodwave… Many of them hadn't finished growing into their own power yet. Hell, many of them weren't even Awakened yet.
This was why it was the perfect time for Sunny to grow his strength. There were simply less people out there who could swat him like a fly. Once Sunny became a Master, even Transcendents would have to think twice about trying to kill him.
But there were definitely still many Awakened he had to watch out for — people like Madoc and Jest. The elite members of the first and second generations, some of whom were Saints. Having looked through the database, Sunny even found a few names he didn't recognize.
'They must have died before I Awakened.'
In the future, Sunny knew the names of most of the powerful Transcendent or Ascended. And besides perhaps a couple hidden ones, Sunny was sure he didn't miss any.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Sunny refocused.
Yelling was heard as the Awakened and the supporting soldiers got into position.
The gate was soon going to open.
Still within Jet's shadow, Sunny spoke to her.
"I'll augment you with some of my shadows, and I'll come out if things look bad."
And as Jet nodded, Sunny sent two of his six shadows to augment her.
As Jet looked down at her hands in amazement, Sunny snickered slightly.
"Not bad right? I figured this would work."
Jet nodded before staring at the place the gate was supposed to appear. Apprehension was clear in her eyes, with this being the first gate she was tasked with containing.
And as everyone finished moving into position…
Sunny felt it.
'It's about to open…'
A nascent Gate had begun forming within the contained space before them.
A tall, vertical depression appeared within the fabric of the world. Light refracted off of it unnatural ways and inaudible screams could be heard echoing from within. It was not quite a rift in reality yet, but it was about to be one.
And a minute later…
"Everyone, positions!"
As the strike force leader yelled, the gate began opening.
A strong tremor ran throughout the ground, the shadows around exploded in a mad dance, and the spotlights shining on the gates flickered as the light around them grew dim and ghostly.
And then, an invisible shockwave spread out of it, pushing everyone back slightly.
Many of the Awakened there grimaced as they felt the Call of the Nightmare.
"Prepare!"
The strike force brandished their weapons as the silhouette of the hideous maws of the first nightmare creatures began appearing, their warbled roars echoing throughout the area.
And when the first clawed limb appeared, loud explosions could be heard.
Awakened and Dormant nightmare creatures began pouring out of the gate, being met with a rain of bullets, explosions, and plasma rays.
The first wave was going to be taken care of by the mundane personnel, and the second wave was when the Awakened would move.
Despite the fact that mundane weapons could still reasonably damage Awakened and even some Fallen nightmare creatures, once the gate continued growing into the second stage, every pulse it released would disrupt or destroy most of the fine technology contained within human weapons.
'Not bad…'
Sunny watched through his shadows as the gate was continuously lit up, as more and more charred corpses were surrounding the gate, as any nightmare creatures that got past salvo were slaughtered by the surrounding Awakened.
And after several minutes of bombardment, the mundane personnel began to back away, as the Awakened moved forward.
The second wave was arriving.
As Sunny felt the Call get stronger, and the tremors from the gate get more violent, he emerged from Jet's shadow.
Making his presence as faint as he could as he wrapped the shadows around himself, Sunny spoke to Jet.
"Ready?"
"No… Not at all."
"Unlucky!"
As Jet moved forward with the vanguard, Sunny readied a spear and backed away.
Being in the frontlines could put a spotlight on him, and Sunny did not want that just yet, so for now he was going to be part of the ranged artillery.
Hearing the hideous roars of approaching Fallen, Sunny reared his arm back.
Sucking in a breath, he threw it at one of the particularly dangerous looking Fallen.
And in the next second, the crawling eight legged ram-like beast was impaled into the ground, struggling for a few seconds before it died.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster…]
The approaching wave of nightmare creatures seemed to be formed from hideous goat-like nightmare creatures. They had many disgusting limbs, as well as massive twisting horns.
Roars continued echoing as the beasts charged at the surrounding humans.
Sunny saw Jet dash forth, a glaive in hand.
He also saw many other humans rush forward, weapon in hand, as a rain of arrows, spears, and harpoons shot through the air.
Sunny reared his arm back and threw Serpent once more.
[You have slain…]
Continuing to throw Serpent, Sunny targeted either the particularly powerful nightmare creatures or the nightmare creatures that got a little too close to the humans. Sunny continued to provide support, now moving another two shadows to Jet, leaving himself with only two.
'This isn't going too badly.'
The nightmare creatures were getting pushed back, unable to break through the barricade. Any wounded fighters were immediately brought back to the Awakened healer on standby, as more fighters moved up to replace them. And when the wounded were finished being healed they rushed straight back in, ready to fight once more.
Sunny just continued to throw his spear.
[You have slain…]
'The Gate Guardian will be here soon…'
Sunny could feel it, the Call was ramping up. Soon, the Gate Guardian would materialise.
"Standby for the Gate Guardian!"
A command was heard by all soldiers, as many began to back up and await the Gate Guardians' appearance.
And a few seconds later, a massive roar could be heard coming from the gate.
All of the nightmare creatures that were attacking in a frenzy moments earlier paused.
The humans watched with bated breath as a massive hooved foot stepped out.
The goat-like nightmare creatures turned towards the emerging Gate Guardian, bowing their heads at the sight of their lord.
Shifting his vision, Sunny looked at the five vile masses permeating its soul.
'A Fallen Tyrant. Well, could've been worse.'
It wasn't a Terror or Titan after all. There was certainly potential for disaster, even from a Category 2 Gate.
As a rain of arrows and elements bombarded, the Tyrant roared in rage, brandishing its six grotesque arms.
Each arm held a massive club of stone the size of robust PTV, weighing several tons. The Tyrant began to swing it wildly, aiming to reach the closest group of humans.
'This ones… pretty strong.'
The physical strength of it was no joke, Sunny suddenly was no longer sure if the humans could beat it. The sheer might emanating from the minotaur's fearsome muscles could be felt with every swing. Massive clouds of dust were kicked up with every swing it made, the road crumbling more and more with every blow.
"Retreat! Await reinfo-"
But just as the strike force commander was issuing the retreat…
A colossal pillar of lightning descended from the sky.
BOOOM!
Electricity showered the gate, long arcs of silver lightning branching out into the sky.
The minotaur, now unable to even roar, was kneeling. Most of its skin was charred as smoke arose from its body, streams of electricity constantly coursing throughout its body.
Everyone looked on in stunned silence.
'D-Damn…'
Sunny was just as shocked as the strike team around him.
He had not expected Shrike to be that powerful!
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
Although the Tyrant was still alive, most of its minions were now mere ashes on the ground. The Fallen that had stopped to bow before the Tyrant were now just charred remains.
"H-Holy shit!"
"What the hell was that?!"
"Is a Saint here?!"
Confused yells could be heard from the group of humans.
Until the mighty voice of the commander echoed through the area.
"All units! Kill it now!"
Snapping back to reality, the humans realised they were just given the perfect chance to kill the Gate Guardian.
And within the crowd, a shadow whispered to a certain woman.
"Now's your chance, Jet."
Sunny sent the rest of his shadows to Jet, and in the next moment, she crouched down.
With a translucent glaive shining with a ghostly blue light, Jet shot forward, aiming to take the Tyrant's life with a single blow. The Tyrant slowly began to shake off the paralysis, a terrifying growl coming out of its mouth. But just as it began to stand up, the first humans had reached it.
The minotaur roared pain as blades stabbed into its stomach. As the Tyrant was so large, many of the humans were simply unable to attack higher.
And just as the Tyrant raised a hand, aiming to destroy the arrogant humans with its giant stone club…
A swift figure shot towards its chest, burying a shining glaive deep within.
An arm slowly reached towards Jet, aiming to pry her off. But in the next moment, it went limp.
The vile light disappeared from the Tyrant's eyes, its soul collapsing completely.
Jet had killed it.
Leaping off the now collapsing body, Jet wiped the sweat off her forehead with a slight laugh.
"A Fallen Tyrant…"
As the humans began cheering at the death of the Gate Guardian, the commander's voice was heard once more.
"Don't start cheering just yet! There's still work to be done!"
The Awakened then seemed to remember that there were still nightmare creatures coming out of the vile gate, and brandished their weapons once more.
Sunny remained in the back, launching spears. Standing with the other artillery fighters, Sunny made sure he could be seen fighting.
'I don't need anyone linking that lightning strike back to me!'
If he had been in sight the entire time, it surely couldn't have been him! And if there was any security footage of the battle recovered, he was clearly just as shocked as the rest of the Awakened there when the strike happened!
He wasn't worried that he would be singled out just because of the fact that he was unaffiliated. That was because he wasn't the only non-government Awakened there either. Having seen the alert, several other independent Awakened had shown up too. Out of the thirty Awakened there, nearly ten of them were random Awakened who just showed up.
That was why Sunny had felt the government was so underprepared. Only twenty government Awakened to contain a gate in a residential area like this? It was a disaster waiting to happen.
But just as Sunny thought this, he heard the sound of distant air carriers. The government reinforcements had finally arrived with a Master at the helm.
Hearing the sounds of the distant jet engines, Sunny relaxed.
***
Several hours later, the Gate was completely contained.
All surrounding nightmare creatures had been slaughtered and the sun was rising.
Sunny looked at the gate, which was now contained within a massive concrete block, with a team of elite Awakened having been sent to conquer the seed.
He frowned slightly, memories of the Antarctica Campaign flashing through his mind.
Approaching Jet, Sunny gave her a grin.
"Good work."
"Sunny!"
Waving at him slightly, Sunny could see a glimpse of the Jet he knew in the future. She was wearing armour made of black lusterless leather, which she had received from slaying the Tyrant, and her eyes shone a familiar icy blue.
'Her armours better than mine…'
"Thanks for the assist! I knew I could count on you."
Then, after looking around slightly, she leaned in and whispered to him.
"Was tha-"
"Hush. You know the answer"
Jet leaned back, slightly stunned. She then proceeded to slap Sunny's shoulder a couple times in amazement.
"Incredible… And don't worry, I'll make sure you get paid for your troubles."
The smile on Sunny's face widened upon hearing that.
"Good. Make sure I get a lot. Just, you know…"
Slapping his shoulder one last time, Jet left to go talk to her superiors after bidding him goodbye.
"I'll see you later today!"
Sunny nodded, slowly walking away. He was returning home.
'...Wait. Why?'
He did not remember making plans with Jet… Why would he see her later?
'Whatever…'
Sunny ignored the thought, walking home at a leisurely pace.
***
Arriving home, Sunny made himself a simple meal.
He had wanted to stop at a supermarket to make himself a grand feast, but finding one that was open anywhere near here was downright impossible.
A Gate had just opened after all, most people were still evacuated, the news of the gate being contained only just being released.
The area right around the gate was still off limits until the seed was cleared, but most areas around it had opened back up.
He had also noticed something quite curious…
The Fallen Tyrant that Jet had slain… its shadow was in his soul sea. So were the rest of the shadows of the rest of the things she had killed.
'So, the Mark of Shadows can do this too…'
Although the silent shadows within his soul were practically useless currently, he was sure that they would at least do something as long as he continued climbing the ranks.
Enjoying some delicious pastries, Sunny listened to the sounds of people slowly trickling back into the neighbourhood, the evacuation now ceased.
…Having finished his meal, Sunny descended into his basement.
Summoning the Jar of Wealth, Sunny proceeded to pour out all of his remaining soul shards into a hidden compartment next to his sleeping pod.
Today, he was going to hunt two old friends.
The Mordant Mimic, and Solvane.
Sunny stretched slightly before climbing into his sleeping pod.
Drifting off into sleep, Sunny thought to himself slightly.
'See you soon, wretches.'
***
Awakening within the Sanctuary of Noctis, Sunny looked up at the sky.
It was currently night time, and a couple of Awakened were milling around the sanctuary, the light of their luminous memories glowing.
Seeing as nobody saw him, Sunny immediately left.
Stepping to the edge of the island, he jumped off, the Herald's Cloak trailing behind him.
But he only glided for a few seconds before a swift shadow shot beneath him.
Landing on Shrike's back, Sunny whistled slightly.
"A Transcendent Devil is damn fast!"
Soaring across the sky, Sunny searched for Shipwreck Island.
As it was currently night, the world was shrouded in darkness and Shrike was able to cross the Chained Isles swiftly and unseen.
…And after flying for some time, he found it.
Looking at the Sun Prince entangled in the heavenly chains, Sunny saw the island the chain was connected to.
'There you are…'
Shipwreck Island.
What would it feel like to kill Solvane a third time?
Sunny had never forgotten the torment he had suffered through at the colosseum.
He had also never forgotten how she had killed his friend, Elyas.
Seeing as none of the islands nearby were ascending, Sunny was not worried about being caught within the crushing.
Descending towards the island, Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard and Mantle.
And as Shrike landed with a frighteningly quiet thud, Sunny dismissed it. For now, he would use his own strength to fight the Sailor Dolls surrounding the ship.
He wanted to make sure his skills weren't dulling, as he had been making his Shadows do much of the work as of late.
Approaching the ship, Sunny saw the splinters of wood laying around it moving, assembling into the shape of a tall, menacing humanoid creature.
The Sailor Dolls before him brandished their bladed hands, intending to slay their foe.
Sunny only responded with a cruel smile before rushing forward.
***
[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Sailor Doll].
Sunny let out a breath, panting slightly as he stood over many piles of splintered wood.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Sunny thought to himself.
'Seems my skills haven't diminished at all. But… I can't let my own skills stagnate, even if I'm just an Awakened right now, that's no reason to leave everything to my Shadows.'
He had to think of the future after all. He couldn't rely on his Shadows forever.
'Maybe I can…'
Looking at the shipwreck, Sunny then spoke to himself in slight embarrassment.
"I'll have to rely on you for this one though…"
Sending several shadows inside, Sunny searched the ship thoroughly.
'Hmmm. This looks quite bad.'
He had already spotted the Mordant Mimic, as it was sitting in the exact same room Sunny had once found. Only this time the room was spotless, as no Chain Worm had come venturing inside looking for a meal.
But… within the cargo hold there was an endless mass of slithering vines.
Without the Fire Keepers to distract the Wormvine, it remained within the cargo hold.
He had originally wanted to use Serpent and Shrike to overwhelm the Wormvine completely and then stab Solvane with the wooden knife, but seeing as it concentrated its entire body into the cargo hold, that was going to be much harder.
'I'll deal with you later.'
Firstly, he had a mimic to kill…
***
In a spotless room, a mimic sat.
It did not do much.
It did not think much.
It just sat as it waited for its next victim.
It had a mouth full of gold coins, who wouldn't want that?
It didn't even have to move, its prey would come to it instead!
Many adventurers had come looking for treasure, and many adventurers were now resting forever within its stomach.
Life was pretty good!
Only the mimic didn't seem to notice its shadow grow long.
It also didn't notice the figure slowly emerge from the shadow behind it.
A dark mask rested upon their face, the mask resembled a snarling, ferocious demon, and it had three twisting horns crowning its head.
The figure, radiating a sinister killing intent, slowly raised a dark odachi above its head. Faint traces of a deathly will could be felt.
And in the next moment, the blade was brought down, stabbing straight through the entire mimic.
The mimic began to violently struggle.
What?!
What just happened?!
Someone was here?
They were supposed to come through the front door!
They were supposed to… supposed to…
In its fading vision, the mimic never even saw its killer.
***
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Mordant Mimic].
'Come on… please?'
[You have received a Memory].
'Okay…'
Summoning his runes, Sunny looked through his list of memories, silently praying.
"Come on… Come o- Yes!"
At the end of his list of memories, there was one he was hoping to see.
[Covetous Coffer].
Sunny was extremely happy he had once again gotten this memory. It had served him so well in the past, and he hated not having it. The Jar of Wealth was nowhere near as good as his little toothy box.
Although he never did get the chance to transform it into an Echo…
'Good to have you back…'
Now, the question was… would he also get the Undying Chain? It was certainly an extremely powerful memory, Sunny had been very heartbroken when he had lost it before. Its [Undying] enchant, although limited in use, was a great thing to have as a failsafe.
Sunny was quite sure he would receive the Undying Chain, as the Chain Lords seemed to be fated to give sets of armour.
But now… he had to figure out how to kill Solvane and the Wormvine.
'Hmm… This shouldn't be too difficult.'
Stepping through the shadows, Sunny appeared before the shipwreck.
'I wonder how I'll repair you?'
As Sunny thought that, a mighty serpent appeared from his shadow.
The serpent of titanic proportions slithered around the island as lethal intent radiated from its entire body.
Sunny then proceeded to light a makeshift torch he had prepared, before leaving it at the base of the shipwreck, intending to set it on fire.
'Come on out, wretch.'
And as the fire began growing, Serpent crawled forward and slammed a tail into the side of the ship, tilting it to the side.
The wood groaned and crackled, the flames slowly growing.
Then, several grotesque vines shot outwards, aiming to destroy the invaders.
Readying the Midnight Shard, Sunny augmented it with the Stone Armament abilities. As the vines rapidly crawled towards him, Sunny dashed towards them, swinging his blade.
As Sunny was cutting the approaching vines, Serpent continued destroying parts of the ship, trying to get more vines out of the cargo hold.
More and more vines continued shooting out of the ship, aiming at both Sunny and Serpent.
And after about a minute of constantly harassing the Wormvine, malice appeared in Sunny's eyes.
'It's time.'
As a large mass of slithering vines shot towards him, Sunny vanished.
Immediately appearing out of his shadow within the cargo hold, Sunny grabbed the wooden knife impaled into the wall.
Completely ignoring the deadly toxin wafting through the air, Sunny stepped through shadows, appearing before the body shrouded in endless vines and moss.
The Wormvine, realising what was happening, immediately burst into frenetic motion, all of its vines shooting towards him in a frenzy.
But it was already too late.
Sunny thrusted the wooden knife straight into one of the body's eye sockets.
And in the next moment, the whole wreck shuddered.
The mass of moss before him violently contracted, launching Sunny away. He proceeded to immediately hide within the shadows, waiting patiently for the vines to die.
Watching dispassionately as the moss and vines began to convulse, Sunny stepped out of the shadows.
Hanging onto the roof above the body in a spot where the vines had fallen off of, Sunny looked at Solvane.
Her remaining eye seemed to regain clarity for a moment, and a feeling of relief so vast that it seemed impossible could be felt from her gaze.
Dismissing Weaver's Mask, Sunny met Solvane's gaze for a moment.
Even though the facial expression of her hollowed body was unchanged, Sunny could feel the intense gratitude.
And a moment later, the look was gone, and her head rolled back.
All the convulsing vines and moss around him dropped to the ground, dead.
Sunny dropped to the ground, standing before the corpse of his fallen foe.
[You have slain a Corrupted Monster, Wormvine.]
[You have slain a Transcendent Human, Solvane.]
'Rest now. Even for scum like you, this was undeserved.'
Sunny stood in silence for a moment, waiting for the voice of the spell.
And then it spoke, giving him the surprise of a lifetime.
[You have received an Echo.]