The Mimic had been getting closer every day since their fall to the center of the Divine Flame Field. There was a rift in the center of the flames that led downward, beyond it.
And atop the Mimic stood Sunny, wearing the Mantel of the Underworld and holding the Shadow Bow, with a green quiver full of arrows on the ground. Sunny looked at the rift lying between the sea of searing white flames as he prepared to take the risk.
"Hah, I don't know why I always do these stupid things the same way… can't I be a bit more creative?"
Sunny wrapped five shadows around the Mantel of the Underworld to protect himself from the heat of the Divine flame. Then he raised the Shadow Bow, sent a small amount of shadow essence to his shoulders, drew the bow carrying a black metal arrow, and fired it.
The arrow, wrapped in one of his shadows, flew toward the dark rift. The sky glowed red as it moved between tongues of searing flame, yet it stayed on its course without deviation. When the arrow reached more than a kilometer away in just a few seconds, Sunny stepped into the shadows and appeared above it. He dismissed the Mimic after stepping into the shadows, then focused on himself.
The shadow enveloping the arrow instantly wrapped around the armor, and the Mantle of the Underworld glowed faintly with light and became warm, but it held. Of course, that was just the beginning. He was falling directly into the sea of Divine flames, and soon the heat would sting and roast him, piercing the Armor Enhancement.
Sunny grabbed another arrow and nocked it, then fired it, wrapped in his shadow. The arrow flew more than two kilometers — directly toward the rift. Sunny began falling faster, and the Cloak grew increasingly radiant, but it was far from melting, especially with the reinforcement of six shadows and the steady flow of shadow essence to power the [Living Stone] enchantment.
Oxygen disappeared and became rare due to the heat, yet Sunny kept falling like a red comet into the abyss of darkness. He groaned from the heat, unable to draw a breath as he descended — but he was almost there. He fell lower and lower into the abyss, increasing the distance between himself and the flame field.
And below, when Sunny looked down, he saw his target.
Far beneath him was an island made of dark stone, surrounded by shattered stone slabs. A tall, magnificent tower stood in the center of the island, built from a flawless black material — neither wood nor stone. Its dull walls swallowed any light that touched them.
"The Ebony Tower."
Sunny was falling directly above the island, and though his armor had regained its color, he was still falling at high speed. When only dozens of meters remained before impact, Sunny used Shadow Step and appeared directly on the ground.
After settling on solid ground, Sunny dismissed the Mantel of the Underworld, then grabbed his slightly burned face with annoyance. He began moving toward the dark tower. The Ebony Tower's island was very large — larger than any in the Chained Islands. So he took his time resting and recovering as he moved calmly. Sunny summoned the Saint to appear beside him, her red eyes scanning the surroundings.
"You recognize it?"
Of course, she recognized the place where she and her kin had been created. Sunny and the Saint moved through the ruins of what were once the structures of ancient buildings.
They stood beneath the gloomy, cursed tower. The Saint raised her gaze, looking at the door and then up the tower with clear longing. Sunny was surprised at how much emotion his shadow showed today, even though he understood the reason.
"Your story is sad, Saint. The last survivor of your kind, defying death itself and returning as a shadow creature."
She didn't look at him, but a barely visible tremor passed through her body. Sunny moved to the door, lowered his head, and looked beyond the strange material.
There was an ethereal weave made of threads almost material-like diamond, creating a beautiful pattern despite its primitiveness. Sunny sent a pulse of shadow essence into it, and the tower's door opened.
A gust of wind struck Sunny's back as the gates opened.
"Let's go, Saint."
The Saint looked at him with ruby eyes, then stepped forward, crossing the threshold into the old tower. Sunny followed her immediately and looked inside, where two paths led in different directions — one to the right and one to the left — and along the hallways were many closed rooms and doors leading to various places. In front of him lay a beautiful wooden gate adorned with intricate carvings.
Behind it was the central hall. Sunny entered the hall, which contained worktables and strange tools used in smithing.
He passed them and began examining the odd tools used to craft the stone Saints. The handles seemed oddly human-sized yet unsuitable for them at the same time. Sunny regretted that he couldn't take anything, as they would turn to dust in a few hours as time caught up to them.
He turned his head to the table full of food — tender meat, fresh bread, steaming tea, and fine wine bottles.
"Ah, now this is what I call hospitality!"
He was very hungry, though not tired at least. Sunny sat at the head of the table, tore into a piece of meat with his teeth, then took a piece of bread and dipped it in the meat broth. He relished the food while the Saint looked at him, holding her stone sword.
After filling himself with food and drink, Sunny stood with some effort from the table and began moving through the first floor to explore.
He found strange and wondrous things in the rooms, regretting deeply that he couldn't take them. He found items belonging to some of the stone Saints, pieces of old tools or documents, and even some heavy stone swords.
"Shame! Shame! They would've made great references for learning their secrets."
After finishing his exploration of the first floor, he headed toward the stairs. One path led upward, and another downward. Sunny took the stairs leading down and arrived in a lantern-lit hall.
Inside were hundreds of bodies — some perfectly intact, others broken and pierced in multiple spots. All of them shared the trait of looking like stone, with flawless, inhumanly beautiful, and terrifying faces.
"Ah, they look terrifying, don't they, Saint? These of your kin were made by Nether, the ruler of the Underworld, and when these versions didn't meet his high standards, he abandoned them here as broken dolls."
Sunny looked at the thick layer of ominous dust covering the floor, where footprints were visible. He followed the tracks while the Saint moved toward the broken dolls, poked them with her sword, then lost interest and stepped away.
Seeing no change in the place, Sunny moved toward the dolls and studied them for a long time, then returned to the first floor to rest. He couldn't go to the second floor yet, knowing what lay above — it would be death or worse. So he had to wait for time to catch up to the tower and let the ages pass.
Sunny fell asleep unknowingly from exhaustion and woke up hours later. The central hall was dark now, dust covered everything, and the remains of the food had turned to ash. Sunny summoned his drinking horn, splashed cold water on his face, and drank, then stood up.
He stood before the stairs leading to the second floor and began to climb. Upon reaching the second floor, a primal fear took hold — deep and precise.
"Annoying."
Sunny looked at the wide hall, then at the silver brazier. Something like corruption spread and pulsed inside it. When Sunny looked at it, he felt terror. The old tower's stone around the Corruption had turned into something resembling pulsating black flesh. Sunny shuddered involuntarily at the sight of the corruption and kept his distance. He looked again at the silver brazier, and in the center was a severed arm — human-like, but longer than normal, ending in six clawed fingers.
The cut was clean, surgical even, not like something done in panic. Deep within the arm, a radiant golden light burned — beautiful and powerful.
"Looks terrifying… no thanks, I'll come back after you die, corruption."
Sunny climbed to the third floor and felt relief being away from that corruption. The third floor was smaller than the two below, with dozens of intricately designed arms mimicking human functions hanging from above. Sunny looked at them, moved through until he reached a stone platform with a small body emitting golden light and a ball of diamond threads.
He grabbed the faintly glowing divine needle and placed it into a small storage memory.
After gathering the diamond thread ball and parts of the arms, he stored them. Then Sunny returned to the second floor and waited beside the horrific corruption.
After a while, the corruption began to change. The black flesh rose and fell in a deathly struggle to find a soul to feed on. Sunny watched the black growth recede from the brazier, replaced by gray. Black strands rose and melted into the air. The corrupted parts of the brazier dissolved, and the rest crumbled, leaving only parts of weak, decaying flesh.
Eventually, the corruption finally died.
The severed flesh turned gray, then crumbled to ash and vanished into the deep darkness, leaving Sunny alone in the hall — and a small bone of pure alabaster glowing with Divine golden light.
After some time, Sunny stood, then picked up the small bone.
"Ah, I'm going to regret this from the pain…"
Sunny lifted the bone and swallowed it. Seconds later, pain assaulted him.