Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2948

The three of them walked among the floating corpses, overtaken by a heavy and oppressive feeling of apprehension. Then, they finally reached clear waters and continued forward, toward the vague speck of darkness visible on the horizon.

This was where Sunny had confronted the Sin of Solace and saved himself from becoming the Mad Prince... in the Nightmare. Of course, no one but himself remembered that clash now. Not even a reflection of his inner struggle had remained, captured in the waters of time — it was all gone, erased from existence. Having never existed at all.

As they walked, Sunny remembered the last chapter of his journey to the Well of Wishes.

Up ahead, in the darkness, he had encountered the future version of himself. His current self, that was — or rather, a Nightmare phantom of his current self, summoned into existence by the peculiar nature of the Estuary.

Sunny smiled faintly.

It would have been fun, to speak to his younger self and experience the other side of that conversation. But it was not meant to be... that conversation had happened in the Nightmare, after all, while he was in the real Tomb of Ariel now.

What was it that he had said to his younger, foolish self?

He had summoned Weaver's Mask and lied about being a mere Saint while claiming to be the most honest person in the world. Then, he dismissed the mask and told his younger self that he was neither alive nor a human... just a phantom of a lost shadow, conjured by the Spell. Which was true, because Sunny had killed himself in Godgrave to become Supreme, so he was a true Shadow Creature now — a being born from a dead man's shade.

As for being lost... well, that did not require an explanation.

In the end, Sunny told himself to turn back, because his younger self was not ready for what would come next. It was an earnest plea... the years of loneliness and desperation he had experienced after losing his fate almost drove him to the edge, after all. The pain and torment of those days still haunted him, sometimes.

But even as he was telling his younger self to turn back, he would have known that the young fool was never going to listen. In fact, the Nightmare phantom of Sunny did not really want his younger version to turn back, most likely — after all, Sunny knew what he had to sacrifice and endure in order to become the man he was today.

So, in the end, he had simply encouraged his younger self to hurry, because the Nightmare was ending by then. Nephis was already in Verge, burning the First Seeker with her flames, moments away from destroying its core... Sunny would know it because he had already experienced the end of the Nightmare when he was younger. And so, his younger self continued forward. That damn fool...

Sunny's smile widened a little.

'And now, I am back.'

The dark mountain was already looming in front of them.

It was just like he had remembered — forlorn and lonesome, crowned by two peaks. One was broken, and one was as sharp as a spear. A vertical rift split the base of the mountain, leading deep inside. Sunny stopped in the shadow of the mountain and glanced at his companions.

He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking:

"We will go no further."

Nephis and Ananke glanced at him in surprise.

"Why is that?"

Sunny studied the mountain, then sighed.

"This is a grave. It is... a sacred place. I don't want to disturb the peace of the one who is resting there with a fierce battle."

Oblivion was long dead, and Sunny wasn't one to give in to sentiment. But he had felt the sincerity and sorrow Ariel had put into building a peaceful grave for his sister... and Weaver had, too. The world itself seemed to mourn the loss of the nameless daemon. Both her life and her death were forgotten by everyone, so this grave was the only trace of Oblivion left in existence.

Sunny knew that feeling. His parents were gone, as well, and they didn't even get to have graves. All that marked their passing were two lines carved into a lonesome tree by their son...

That tree now grew in the courtyard of the Nameless Temple. Sunny knew how he would feel if some bastard accidentally destroyed it while fighting a battle, so he felt reluctant to confront a Cursed Terror inside the burial chamber.

He glanced at Ananke.

"Besides, I suspect that only those whose souls burn with the Flame of Divinity may enter the mountain. If I am correct, Ananke won't be able to accompany us inside."

Sunny turned around to the mountain and added:

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