Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2761

Chapter 2761: Cautionary Tale

Nephis and Sunny glanced at each other.

’Ah. I don’t like it.’

Even knowing that nothing Asterion said could be trusted, Sunny still felt intrigued. After all, they were planning on challenging the Fifth Nightmare while knowing nothing about it. Information about it was scarce... in fact, there was no information about it at all.

The Sovereigns could have known something, though. By now, Sunny had learned more about the greatest secrets of the world than they had ever learned, but that did not mean that there was no knowledge they had possessed that he did not.

The original Supremes had been around for far longer than Sunny and Nephis, after all. They had hoarded knowledge like treasure — or, rather, wielded it like a weapon to build their kingdoms. Asterion, meanwhile, had been the foremost explorer and historian among them.

It was no coincidence that he had visited both the Eternal City and the Nightmare Desert long before the rest of humanity discovered them. Where else had he been? What secrets had he gleaned, and what mysteries had he uncovered?

It was quite a tantalizing question.

So, Sunny lingered for a while, and then asked:

"What makes the Fifth Nightmare so different? And how do you even know about it?"

Asterion chuckled.

"I’ll admit, it seems improbable that I would know anything about the Fifth Nightmare. After all, no Awakened from our cycle of the Nightmare Spell has returned from it — so, it is not like I could ask someone. Right? The phantoms who dwell within the Nightmares, meanwhile, all lived long before the Spell was completed. I understand your suspicion."

He looked at them quietly.

"However, that does not mean that the Awakened from the previous cycles did not know anything, either. If one searches diligently, finding traces that they left behind is not impossible... granted, there is barely any of those traces left, considering the devastating conclusions of all the previous cycles."

Sunny frowned.

’Cycles...’

He understood what Asterion was talking about. Earth was not the first realm infected by the Nightmare Spell — in fact, it was the last. In the past, the Spell had infected five other Divine Realms, giving its dwellers a chance to conquer the Nightmares and find salvation... just like the humans of the War Realm were fighting for their salvation now.

It was just that none of those ancient people had succeeded.

The Twilight Sea had been swallowed by the Dream Realm and became the Stormsea. Heart Realm was the Burned Forest now. A piece of the Sun Realm had become Godgrave. Moon Realm was nowhere to be found, even if Sunny suspected that Moonriver Plains had once been a part of it.

And the Shadow Realm... well. Sunny had no idea who the Nightmare Spell would have infected there, but it had been swallowed by the Dream Realm in the end, as well.

Asterion was claiming that he had discovered knowledge about the Fifth Nightmare in the ruins left by one of those fallen civilizations. Sunny did not know if that too was a lie, but he was willing to hear the Dreamspawn out.

Judging by the faint smirk on Asterion’s face, he must have read that thought in Sunny’s mind.

Shaking his head lightly, he continued to stroll around the ring of chains forming the Gateway.

"You should be familiar with Godgrave quite well, no? The ruins hidden inside the Hollows there are what remains of a civilization that, like ours, was infected by the Spell and strived to resist the encroaching Nightmare. Naturally, they failed in the end — but they had achieved quite a few startling feats before succumbing to their fate. Several Awakened of their cycle even became Spirits, no less."

He smiled.

"Condemnation, Desolation — and a few others, as well. Of course, they went by different names back then... before Corruption. And among the ruins of the cities where their temples stood, there were fragmented remains of the chronicle depicting their deeds. That is where I learned a few things about the Fifth Nightmare."

Sunny looked at him incredulously.

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