Ananke considered her answer for a while, then shook her head.
โThat ghastly bird is truly terrible... but her spawn just might be worse."
Both Sunny and Nephis were surprised to hear that. Noticing their reaction, Ananke explained:
โThe Thieving Bird is a Cursed Terror, and while it is unfathomably powerful and can steal the sun out of the sky, it is... complete. It is what it is, and it does not aspire to become more โ that is how it seems to me, at least. Which is quite unusual for a Terror, but then again, that bird is both uniquely vile and unique, so who's to say what is usual when it comes to the Thieving Bird?"
She chuckled.
โFor all we know, it could have stolen the mentality of a Titan. So, in its mind, it already is one.โ
Sunny blinked a few times.
That would mean that somewhere out there, a Titan was walking around, thinking that it was a Terror...
Ananke continued:
"The Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn, however, is not complete. On the contrary, it is a newborn โ even if it was born Supreme, it has the capacity to grow. And growth needs fuel and catalysts."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
โSupreme Devil? Not a Great one?"
Ananke nodded.
โIndeed. Quite surprising, isn't it?"
Sunny leaned back, a look of confusion on his face.
โA bit.โ
It made sense, in hindsight โ the Thieving Bird had fallen to the Corruption before laying its vile spawn's egg, so the Vile Spawn was meant to be born a Great Devil. However, Sunny killed it... and death was a weapon Shadow God had created to cleanse the world of the Corruption.
So, the shade stolen from his soul by the Thieving Bird was that of a Supreme Devil, not a Great one. Shadows were meant to be immune to the Corruption, after all... even if that rule did not always hold, as Eurys had told him.
Sunny himself had benefitted from being akin to shadows quite a number of times, even if he had not known that at the time. Anyone else, with the exception of Nephis, would have long succumbed to the Corruption if they learned and experienced a fraction of the things he had learned and experienced.
He pursed his lips.
"But what exactly makes you say that the spawn is worse than the Thieving Bird?"
Ananke shrugged.
โWell, it's just the fact that while the Thieving Bird can steal the sun, its Vile Spawn steals life itself."
She shivered.
"In fact, it wasn't the Terror who cleansed the Great River of life. It was the Devil. It was the Vile Spawn who hunted down the great horrors of the past โ those of them who remained โ and killed them. Then, it hunted down the great horrors of the future and killed them, as well. It single-handedly drove the Corrupted beings of the Great River to extinction.โ


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