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Chapter 3 - Darkness, Snow, and bad memories

Chapter 3: Darkness, Snow, and bad memories.

Climbing onto the Rhino's roof, Sunny was instantly met with the cold winds of Antarctica. Shivering a little beneath his silk robes, Sunny was feeling indignant!

"I'm supposed to be a Sovereign, dammit! How am i being bothered by a little breeze!? Gods are truly dead..."

But he was a Sovereign no more. He was back to square one. Just an ascended human stuck in hell. A freezing, dark, and deadly purgatory.

The distant rumblings of the cannons and Railguns made him focus on his surroundings once more.

'The snow is standing high in the streets... the alloy walls are mostly rubble. The armaments are firing without pause...' He observed with a grim expression. 'Fate's got some humor, dumping me back here of all places.'

From his observations, Sunny concluded that he was quite late to the party. At least a week they didn't have was needed to evacuate the remaining 35 Million Refugees.

Dale was dead. Winter was dead. Quentin was currently stuck in his 2nd Nightmare. Luster should be crippled. The walls were mostly rubble, and the South was completely destroyed by the controlled detonations, leaving an enormous crater.

"Just... what the hell is this timing." He sighed. "Tyris will lose her battle soon. I've got at best 2-3 days... Fuck!"

What the hell was he supposed to do against the Winter Beast as a mere Ascended? He'd just freeze to death without changing anything, and he knew it!

Walking through the Snow filled streets, Sunny cursed under his breath, his boots scrunching the snow rhythmically beneath him. "Damnation... What about my additional lineage pieces? – no, that will just delay the inevitable – Shit!"

The Winter beast's nascent winter-domain didn't just freeze everything physically in its vicinity. It also freezes the intangible... Souls, Shadows, Concepts... it didn't matter.

'The only thing that could that could stop it would be a Supreme's Will... or a different fire domain of at least the transcendent rank clashing against it.'

Obviously, Sunny has lost most of his Will-related powers as he's back to a mere ascended, only keeping a minor amount of his will he could use.

'That meager remnant won't stop a Corrupted Titan's nascent domain now, will it?'

His mind, enhanced by the [Shroud of Graceless Dusk], was racing, desperately trying to come up with any form of a plan to stop the inevitable.

Walking through the dark, snow filled streets, Sunny had his head hung low in concentration. The Street Lamps in this part of the city were mostly broken and lacked maintenance, so the only illumination was the shimmer of the colorful Aurora hanging above him.

Before he knew it, he reached the remaining barracks in the northern parts of the "city."

The voices of some refugees snapped him out of his focused state, making him raise his head again.

Sitting around large fires, many people were having conversations, sharing their rations, and laughing despite the grim situation. They were making the best of their situation, clinging to hope and determination, despite everything.

'That's just humanity, huh...?'

The old Sunny would have probably called them fools. But now... now he didn't know.

He looked at the children, running around and playing in the snow without a bother in their little mundane heads.

'...'

Suddenly, one kid bumped into him, letting out a yelp. The boy timidly raised his head, eyes widening as he recognized Sunny.

"Uh... s-sir! I'm sorry!"

Sunny looked at the nervous boy, his mind a mess... but the last thing these people needed was an Ascended warrior as "mighty" as the infamous Devil of Antarctica showing weakness now.

So, putting on a faint but stern smile, Sunny ruffled the boys hair for a moment...

"Careful, young man. What's your name?"

The boy looked up at him with awe and nodded his head repeatedly

"Y-yes, sir! It's Rafael, sir!"

Reaching into the pocket of his silk robes, Sunny pulled out a protein bar and handed it to the boy, putting on a mask of a stern commander once more.

"Well, little Rafael, stay strong, will you? We need more people like you here."

The boy looked up at him with sparkling eyes, nodding vigorously again as he tentatively took the snack in his hands.

Sunny turned to the rest of the Refugees, who were all now staring at him with hope in their eyes. The warm light of the fire revealing them in the darkness and offering them solace in the harsh climate.

'Gods... what the hell am i even doing.' He thought to himself but kept his facade of a stern but kind commander up.

"That goes for all of you as well. We'll be out of this purgatory soon enough. Don't disappoint me."

'Dead or alive, we'll be out.'

He turned away, leaving them to themselves as they cheered to his little "speech."

He's never been like this, and he didn't know why he just did what he did...

No, that's not true. Sunny does know. He owes them. He's disappointed them once. He can't afford to do it twice. This was the least he could do.

Walking through the barracks, head held high, he received many shouts of praise. Mothers gave him hopeful stares, while kids saluted him with innocent smiles and visible awe. Old people gave him soft smiles...

All unaware that they could very well be dead in a few days.

'Ugh... this is... the worst.'

All of this attention and reverence was undeserved in Sunny's eyes. It was as if the dead souls of these people came back to mock him for his failures... his weakness.

He let out a sigh, blinking away the wetness in his eyes as he strode through the rest of the camp with arrogant steps deserving – or undeserving – of a Major like him.

Deciding to distract himself with his Runes again, sunny took a closer look at some of them.

[Soul Serpent] was gray and lifeless. Serpent was still in Rain's shadow back in NQSC, and Sunny couldn't make contact from this distance and recall it himself now.

'What to do... What to do.'

He focused on a different set of runes now.

[Fate breaker] and [Time Anomaly].

The descriptions were vague, not offering him much to play room.

But one thing was clear... Sunny has become an unknown variable in the tapestry. The fates of himself and these people weren't set in stone anymore. He just needed to find a way...

No. He had to find a way. He will find a way.

"That's right. You think you're funny, Fate? Sadistically drooping me here and expecting me to fail again?" Sunny grits his teeth, lifting his head as he stares up at the Aurora lights with newfound resolve burning in his chest.

"It's just a Corrupted Titan."

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