Everyone sat with wide eyes open, each trying to but failing to comprehend what had just happened, to catch at least some movement- but all attempts were in vain.
Even Jet was rubbing her temple at the sheer absurdity of it.
Sunny ran his fingers over the black bracelet on his left wrist and let out a slow breath. The bracelet was a memory He had created some time ago.. a crude imitation of the spell, replacing some of its simpler functions. one of them was a kill notification.
He shifted slightly in place.
"That went better than expected"
He had just killed a Great demon.
"What does he mean by imitation? And why would he even need to imitate something when he can just access it from the spell?" Kai asked, confused.
"Unless he can't use the spell or... "he is forgotten" that might be possible", Cassie replied, which surprised and shocked everyone.
"But how and why did he even get forgotten?" Kai asked.
"That we can only find out by keeping watching", Nephis replied, surprisingly, her eyes were glued to the screen.
Well, technically, it had been one of his other "selves". His avatars weren't bound by the maximum range of shadow control, so there was an enormous distance between them.
"i see.. he has avatars- WHAT?! That's so unfair!" Effie's jaw dropped in surprise and disbelief.
Nephis eyes were still glued to the screen, she mumbled softly, "strong".
"but that doesn't answer our question about how he LITERALLY KILLED A FREAKING GREAT DEMON WITHOUT MOVING A SINGLE FINGER..! HE IS A MASTER FOR GODDAMN SAKE!.." Effie spoke.
Meanwhile, Rain didn't know whether to feel fascinated or horrified by her teacher's powers.
At that moment, Sunny was in three different places at once. His original body remained here in the bastion, enjoying a peaceful life in the company of his gloomy shadow. He kept that one around so people wouldn't ask why he would walk without a shadow at all.
His second "self" was manifested through the cheerful shadow, watching over rain.
The final Avatar was far away, in one of the most dangerous regions of the Dream Realm, manifested through the arrogant shadow.
Arrogant, mischievous, eerie and mad shadows together. Accompanying them were the Saint, the Beast, the Serpent, and the nightmare.
Unlike the first two, this third Sunny knew no rest. He was the most powerful among the three and spent his days in eternal Darkness, often battling horrifying abominations.
Of course, in truth, all three were still one person. So Sunny at that very moment was enjoying a Quiet morning in the bastion, watching over rain and fighting a Great Demon- all the same time.
Over the years, he had learned how to split his thoughts, which at least allowed him to pretend he was living three separate lives.
"So that beast is finally dead".
It had taken nearly a month of meticulous preparation to finally strike the abomination in its lair. Sunny had expected to suffer severe injuries, but the battle ended in success. With the Demon Dead, there was no one left in the temple's vicinity who could challenge him.
He paused for a moment and summoned his Runes. A familiar field of symbols appeared before him. The runes themselves might have been the same, but they look slightly different now. After all, he had designed the interface himself, linking its enchantments to his memory perception and black bracelet. That gave him the freedom to modify their appearances however he liked.
The runes read:
Name: Sunless
True Name: -
Rank: Transcendent
Class: Terror
Shadow cores: [6/7]
shadow fragments: [1591/6000]
as soon as they saw it, as it was if they were struck by a physical blow itself, and a suffocating silence hung in the air. No one dared to speak a word. The screen went dark, signalling the end of the viewing.
A divine Aspect user. It was Nephis who spoke those words; everyone turned to look at her in surprise and disbelief.
What makes you think that, princess? Effie replied.
It's simple, really, it can only be a divine aspect, as no other rank aspect could potentially reach this terrifyingly powerful.
Everyone else was stunned beyond belief.
"S-STILL IT DOESN'T SAY WHY HE HAS SHADOW CORES INSTEAD OF SOUL CORES?!" Effie exclaimed, her eyes almost popping out as her jaw dropped.
"that.. I don't know. It could be an alternate path for advancement," Nephis replied.
still shaken by the events, the screen flickered again, displaying a new text:
[You have completed your first viewing]
[You are granted three questions-who asks and when is your choice].
[Additionally, a random individual will be teleported to this theatre shortly.]