On the plaza of Sanctuary of Noctis, a group of Awakened patiently waited as multiple eyes stared at them with barely contained suspicion.
The Firekeepers were the targets of those gazes, they stood patiently awaiting for the arrival of the Shadow Watchers as they didn't have an anchor in the Zone, having to use a Saint to get them there.
Said Saint was Sky Tide herself. So after some minutes, Saint Tyris brought all four of the Masters of Song to the territory of Valor. Merlin, Lauma and Motza were attentive, having their Memories ready to be summoned.
Sunny cracked his neck and turned to the stoic woman, with a tranquil and relaxed voice, he thanked her.
"Thank you Saint Sky Tide."
The woman nodded, seemingly indifferent, but she answered him.
"No need, we owe you after our neglect some months ago, you are clear to roam the Chained Isles for today, there won't be any political repercussions. There shouldn't be any more attempts on your life…"
She squinted her eyes as her gaze scanned the area.
"If there are, be assured it has nothing to do with the White Feather Clan, and someone far beyond my clearance and power is responsible."
Sunny nodded as well.
"Then consider the matter settled. I didn't assume you were or would be anyway, my teacher always talks good about you."
Saint Tyris raised a brow at the statement, remembering about the Saint that was once on her side of the war. She looked at both Changing Star and Hollow Death with a profound gaze.
"Hmm, I see. I wish you luck in your objective then, it won't be long until you two are unable to do this…"
She turned around, stepping away in her usual straight posture, leaving them behind as she entered the inside part of the Citadel.
Nephis crossed her arms as she stood next to Sunless, wearing her [Starlight Legion Armor]. A slight frown made her seemingly indifferent gaze showing a hint of irritation. She was fully aware of what Tyris meant by that.
She turned her gaze to Sunless, the irritation quickly leaving as she motioned to the edge of the island.
"Come on, summon Dreadwing, let's end that Fallen Terror, the others still need to clean our…"
She stopped upon noticing the various eyes staring at her back. She turned to see the Firekeepers looking at her with flabbergasted faces, there were ten of them to be exact, fewer than usual. Something that annoyed her a little of her subordinates was just the sheer number of them, too many faces to remember. Around 150 to be exact.
Damien sighed and rolled his greyish eyes.
"Please don't tell me you are planning to leave us behind…"
Sid looked at him, unamused.
"She is Lady Nephis, what did you expect?"
Their leader, meanwhile, brushed their worry off.
"It's only a Fallen Terror, me and Sunny can handle it."
Sunny, in his case, nodded non-chalonately.
"Yeah, you guys can stay back, I already have a plan to deal with the bastard."
It was Sunny's turn to be stared at by his subordinates.
"... You guys know what I'm capable of and still doubt me?"
"Doubt you? No. Worry that you'll end up facing a Corrupted being on the way there? Yeah."
Sunny turned at Lauma with an annoyed dead-pan plastered on his porcelain face.
"I have Transcendent Shadows."
The guide didn't seem to care as she put her hands behind her back and leaned in.
"And I can help you avoid the Corrupted Monsters, c'mon, I know the way."
Lauma turned around and began walking to the ledge. Sunless felt his eyes twitching, indignant to the actions of the girl, basically forcing him to comply.
The worst part? Motza followed her! The damn traitor looked at him and just turned around without saying anything.
His last hope was that Merlin… Sunny Merlin's shoulder forcibly.
"Agh!! What is it Boss?!"
"..." Sunny sighed, intentionally letting his annoyance be known to everyone. He let go of Merlin's jacket Memory and explained.
"I'm simply annoyed that my subordinates don't follow my orders."
"To be clear, we don't follow stupid orders!"
The shout from Lauma in the edge of the Sanctuary's plaza made a vein pop in Sunless' forehead, especially because it was true, she never disobeyed him with rare exceptions, same went for Motza.
"Ahhh… Technically you didn't give us orders…"
Merlin felt a glare coming from her boss as she immediately recognized she made a mistake and decided that the walls were really interesting all of a sudden.
The whole situation made Nephis have to resist rolling her eyes, it was supposed to be a simple date between her and Sunless, the first one after they started dating. But they just had to ruin it.
What is the problem anyway? They were just going to kill a Fallen Terror, no big deal. After all, she was a Titan and Sunny was about to become one, so they could beat the abomination with relative ease, maybe even quickly.
Of course, she wouldn't make it quick. If Sunny was right and the Box was the corrupted version of the bastard warden that tortured her, she would make sure he suffered plenty before he died.
She was pulled out of her thoughts as one of the Firekeepers tugged at her armor, calling her attention. Turning, she saw it was Kiana, the girl with heterochromia and white hair, she had been one of the few that had already Ascended shortly after Nephis herself.
She was wearing an armor Memory that seemed like an intricate tunic with light armor, with a hairpin that had spikes that rose to the air like horns. Her poldron had a symbol embedded on it, that of fire. Interestingly, her Aspect had nothing to do with it, being related to space instead.
She was an interesting girl.--
She tilted her head, as if confused, yet her face looked inquisitive, not openly so, as if she had a useless question.
"Yes? What is it?"
Kiana hesitated, but inevitably asked.
"So… You are dating Master Sunless?"
"Yes."
The answer was quick and without hesitation, so much so it made Kiana widen her eyes.
"S-So… He is your boyfriend?"
"Yes."
She said it a little Lauder this time, to the point every one was now looking at her, especially Sunless, who was blushing… Not that Nephis could see.
Kiana blinked her eyes a few times, Nephis was speaking as if there was no one else around them, the problem was that there were a lot of people around them, not only the Firekeepers, but the multiple Awakened on the Sanctuary that were surely listening in on the conversation.
The girl finally asked.
"Lady Changing Star, was this your idea of a date? Slaughtering a Fallen Terror?"
"Yes."
The way she said it was as if it was the most natural, common thing in the whole world.
As expected, the sane Firekeepers widened their eyes and sighed, baffled by such a notion… Merlin on the other hand, smiled at her boss, who was a blushing mess.
Sunny pinched the bridge of his nose, deciding to follow in Lauma, accepting he wouldn't be alone with Nephis.
'This day cannot get any–'
"ROYALTY, PRINCESS!!"
'I hate being Fated…'
The voice of a giant huntress rumbled onto the plaza as Effie came into view. Her new Ascended body defined by her new Transcendent armor gained after killing the Ivory Prince making her seem even taller.
Sunny turned to her, preparing to hear all the teasing about him and Nephis.
He wasn't the only one bothered by the sight of Effie, besides Nephis, Motza rolled his eyes and considered throwing himself off the island to endless doom.
Effie approached the group and looked at Nephis with a knowing smile.
"Hey there! I heard you guys are dating now! Say princess, did you taste him already?"
Nephis stared humorlessly at the giant, and everyone could feel the temperature rising as Effie ran her mouth.
"I mean, I'm jealous! He really looks like a porcelain doll, especially after Ascending! I almost licked my lips after seeing him, so I wouldn't be surprised if–"
"Yes. I tasted him."
The entire plaza seemed to freeze in time as the words came out of Star's mouth.
The Firekeepers turned into statues as they heard the obscene statement. Merlin let her mouth gape, almost faltering in her footing. Motza snapped his head at the girl, showing astonishment for the first time in his life. Even Lauma's butterflies that she had just created stopped in mid air as their creator blinked her eyes repeatedly. Effie let her words die, not daring to continue.
And the observers on the Sanctuary heard it all, recorded it all and took notes.
Finally, Sunny felt all his blood go to his face, becoming burning red, the color of blood.
It didn't seem like Nephis registered what she said, because she held the same expression of indifference… But she did let her mouth rise a little on the side as she completed her statement.
"And before you ask, he tastes like heaven."
— —
Somehow, they were able to get out of the plaza. Fortunately, most of the Firekeepers agreed to go and finish cleaning their past base of the important things. Unfortunately, Effie went with them.
Two creatures flew through the air, one was a massive Raven with fearsome armor, the other a giant bat with gray scales.
Sunny was on the back of Dreadwing pinching the bridge of his nose while blushing, Nephis right beside him, looking with inquisitive eyes, confused as to why he was so embarrassed.
Along with them, there was Effie, who was still processing Nephis' statement, Merlin, who was pinching the huntress to see if she was still alive, and Lauma, who was trying to forget the whole thing by focusing on her butterflies.
Motza was on the other Echo with the Firekeepers Damien, Kiana and Sid, the only ones that followed them. Why was he with the Firekeepers? Because he wouldn't take any chances.
No way in hell will he be in the same place as Effie again, he might commit assassination.
As such, they flew towards the Box to face the Fallen Terror, the Date had become an after thought by now as they wouldn't be able to get a single moment alone.
Unbenounced to the Firekeepers or the Watchers, in between the Isles, far enough so they didn't notice, two powerful Saints followed the cohort by air. With another one sneaking through the islands by ground.
The Saint of Song, Vessel of Ice, flew on the air with his wings in his Transcendent transformation, his lazy girlfriend in his arms, someone that claimed she was too tired to use her own transformation…
She just wanted to read a book on the way there, using the opportunity to be carried by Azriel.
Revel was reading a book while being carried by Azriel in a princess carry. One made by an author she liked… But the book was not good. So she was groaning loudly.
"Agh!! What is this?! A fanfic?!"
Her boyfriend squinted his eyes, confused.
"It is… It is the first novel of the guy, before he became somewhat popular… Actually it is the one that made him popular."
Revel rolled her eyes, closing the book.
"I guess I am at the beginning… But something just feels wrong! It's like the guy is a shut-in who doesn't have a girlfriend! The romance is going too fast! Especially considering the history of the characters!"
Azriel chuckled while observing the cohort they were stalking.
"I bet you love the author."
Revel scoffed.
"Of course not, the author is just an insecure idiot that cares way too much about the number of comments!"
Azriel turned to stare at her humorlessly.
"What? It 's true! I bet the guy keeps comparing himself to that other famous fic that I read all the damn time! I just know it!"
"Hm. Comparison is the thief of joy."
He squinted his eyes slightly, then finished.
"But at the same time, it could lead to improvement. Lord Sunless is technically comparing himself to you every time he copies your technique or the technique of others."
Revel puffed, crossing her arms with the fan book ending up in her armpit.
"Even so, Sunny at least doesn't degrade himself."
Azriel hesitated, scanning the area in case any nightmare creatures appeared, but he eventually let his thoughts out.
"... Maybe because he knows he is not on your level."
She raised her brow, intrigued, seeing her interest, he exemplified.
"Sunless isn't close to you when it comes to technique, strength, speed. He knows that it is because he is not a Saint, but what if he was? What if he becomes a Saint and notices he can never reach you?"
He sighed, his gaze faltering while looking forward.
"It is easy to understand that you shouldn't compare yourself with others when you are on different levels. But once you are seemingly on the top along with the others, yet they seem to have more attention, or more critiques, more comments, more skill… When they seem better."
He glanced at Revel.
"It's easy to say you don't need to compare, it is harder to not compare yourself. When he becomes a Saint, and if he ends up stronger than you, how would you feel?"
Revel pondered as she looked back at Sunny, who was far away, flying on top of Dreadwing, then answered.
"He is different from me, I know that."
After all, he has a Divine Aspect, she would never reach him… But Azriel didn't know that.
"Sure, but what about someone like Morgan? What if they fight and he beats her? How would she feel? Both trained their whole lives, have similar education due to being Great Clan scions, yet he beats her, even though she is older and has more experience."
"... I see your point."
She lingered for some seconds, before finishing.
"But it could change her for the better too, maybe it is the motivation to make her better."
"Maybe, it depends on the person."
They stood silent for a few seconds, letting the wind brush through their clothes and skin.
"... But the author is still an insecure idiot!"
Azriel sighed, staring at Revel, he had a plan to calm her down before she continued.
"I love you."
She blushed. Her ears got red, grasping her book tightly against her chest, she pouted, looking aside as to not get lost in his icy-eyes.
Meanwhile, since Revel wasn't seeing him, Azriel smirked, congratulating himself on a successful mission of avoiding Revel's wrath.
— —
"Lord, stop."
Lauma's sudden plea startled Sunny, but seeing her serious face made him understand something was wrong.
With a mental command, Dreadwing fluttered its wings and stopped mid air, making the bat carrying the Firekeepers stop as well. The sudden stop made Effie snap out of her stupor, waking up in confusion.
"Wah-? What was that for, Royalty?!"
"Because Lauma said so, what is the problem?"
The Shadowkeeper led a finger to her chin and scratched it in confusion. What she was seeing through her butterflies was conflicting with the reports she received from Sunless himself, something changed.
She turned to him, a serious and determined fire in her compass eyes.
"Can we regroup on an island?"
Sunless squinted his eyes, feeling a tug in his shirt, he turned to see white flames dancing in Nephis' eyes. He understood, they couldn't take any chances, if something was wrong, they needed to be careful.
"Alright, inform Motza to follow us, we'll land on an island close to the Box."
Lauma nodded, already using her Aspect to talk to Motza, a boon gained after she Ascended. She could now talk to anyone who her butterflies held contact with, something tied to her Ascended Ability.
As such, both the Shadow and the Echo landed on a close island to the Fallen Terror, regrouping in the middle of it. With the sight of the cube looming in the distance.
Sunny approached the edge of the island to look at the place, and immediately understood why Lauma became worried: The Box morphed.
The six towers that stood next to it like watchtowers no longer had the huts that protected the archers, now they were merely slabs of hexagonal black stones that had vast platforms close to the tip, like a 2 meter circular saw slashed the upper half of the structure and got stuck when it reached the center. The bridge was now just like in the past, but larger, large enough to stack three school buses one beside the other in parallel.
But most importantly, the cube that was once a plain structure of engraved scriptures of war mongers oppressing the Shadowspawns was now completely plain, not having any symbol indicating it was related to War. In the place, the cube was now a myriad of shifted blocks, folding in one another as if trying to maintain a form, as if it was a statue that was once twisting and shifting, changing, but now it was stuck half-way, as if time had stopped it in the middle of a transformation.
There was another problem: he couldn't feel its shadow. For some strange reason, the shadow of the Terror wasn't something he could feel, it was the reason he didn't notice that the whole building was the creature the first time around. Before, he just put it as something he couldn't feel yet due to his Rank, something illogical since he could feel the shadows of Corrupted beings. But now that they were the same Rank, he still couldn't feel the shadow of the bastard.
Sunny turned around with a scow, the thing had changed, almost as if preparing for their arrival. Maybe the incursion that he did three months ago made it realize it needed to adapt.
Going to the group, Lauma had just finished forming her map, an identical copy of the area around the Box formed in a hologram-like form appeared on the ground in a small scale. All were around it, with Nephis sitting on the ground, admiring the craft with indifferent eyes, the Firekeepers right behind her while Effie leaned on her lance on the corner, analyzing the map.
Lauma was standing in the hologram, interacting with it and looking through all the information she had while her arms were crossed, a hint of interest in her posture. Merlin was crouching, having already summoned her weapons, two short blades which she was leaning on, confusion evident as she did not see any enemies, but she kept her mouth shut, extrapolating that there was something she couldn't see.
Motza was scanning the map, but turned to Sunless once he approached, speaking to him low enough for no one to hear except them.
"Sunless, there is an issue."
Sunny sighed, looking at him and whispering in the same tone, he responded:
"Aside from the Fallen Terror changing?"
Motza nodded, and explained.
"Did you notice any other nightmare creatures in the area?"
Sunny held his gaze for a second, he expanded his shadow sense to confirm something… His gaze darkened afterwards.
"No. Either someone killed them and left the Box alone, or the Box eliminated them all…"
"Or both."
Sunless turned to the rest of the temporary cohort and breathed in. After a few moments, he breathed out, deciding on what to do.
"Alright, I have an idea. Leave that for now."
Motza nodded.
Effie was looking at the two magnificent Masters that were talking in the corner. The irresistible urge to tease the two took over her.
"Hey, Short-stack, care to move along? Our dear Royalty is making his girlfriend wait! Don't tell me you are boring him with useless dating advice, you don't have a girlfriend, you dense block head!"
Merlin and Lauma turned confused at the huntress.
The assassin felt his hand tightened into a fist upon the huntress calling him by that ridiculous nickname, he wasn't short! He was 6 foot 1! That is not short! Moreover, he has a girlfriend!... Kind of… He thinks…
Sunny stared at him humorlessly, then turned to Effie.
"He has a girlfriend."
Effie felt her mouth drop.
"True. Nix is quite the girlfriend."
Lauma chimed in with a happy tone, Effie's eyes widened in complete confusion. To complete the huntress humiliation, Merlin snorted, then proceeded to plunge a spear down Effie's pride:
"You tease them about being dense, yet they found love before you did!"
Effie just stood there, incredulous.
Meanwhile Nephis smiled subtly, glad to see her downfall.
The Firekeepers just wondered how these people were the best Humanity had to offer. With Sid and Damien rolling their eyes while Kiana smiled awkwardly.
Sunny sighed and approached the edge of the map.
"Enough playing, let's plan on what to–"
He stopped after a part of his mind heard a message from the Spell.
[Your shadow grows stronger…]
[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]
[Your shadow is taking shape.]
A familiar pain began surging in his chest, but he immediately steeled himself to not fall or lose posture. Still, he unconsciously grasped his chest in pain, his face wincing.
His effort to appear fine was fruitless as all noticed his pained expression. Nephis was the first to speak out.
"Sunny… Did you…?"
"Y-Yeah… Give me a second."
He activated Shadow Step and transported himself to the edge of the island before anyone could say anything else.
Manifesting on the ground, he grasped the soil with enormous strength. Pain spiked through his whole nervous system as a new core was being formed.
He was becoming a Titan.
And it was just as painful as he had imagined, much more painful.
His muscles seemed to rip and tear. His bones cracked under the pressure only to be reformed. His body was absorbing the strength of a gargantuan Titan and condensing into a small human, of course it would hurt.
But that wasn't the worst part, the very essence of his being was changing. His shadow was changing.
In his soul sea, the once tranquil waters quaked and rippled relentlessly. His soul cores morphed and burned, shining in dark light, as if the lightless suns were going supernova. The thousands of shades on the horizon blurred, his shadows were suffering too, Gloomy, Happy, Naughty, Haughty, Creepy, Crazy, all of them twisted and warped, sporadically changing into countless shapes…
After several minutes, the agony was over. With Sunless leaning on the tree that was close to him.
[Your shadow is complete.]
[You have acquired more rights from your Lineage.]
Sunny stood for a few seconds…But no more message was given, he received no attribute.
'Then what did I get…? Sure, Neph also didn't get anything after becoming a Titan, but I expected something else…"
He shook his head.
'No matter, it seems like my shadow was the thing that changed this time, I can feel myself stronger…'
If his shadow was empowered, that meant his augmentations would be marginally stronger, he would be able to delve into Shadow Dance a lot more, and even his Shadow Manifestation would be better. It was a large boon.
And since his mother captured just enough creatures for him to reach this milestone, there were no more nightmare creatures in the catacombs, all were turned into puppets for her to control. He could summon Igris… Something he needed now more than ever after reaching into Shadow Sense.
He looked to the side, seeing Nephis pop her head around the corner, having already expected that after sensing her shadow.
"You became a Titan. Are you alright? It hurts a lot."
Sunny nodded, sighing while getting up, already getting used to his new body.
"I'm fine, but I know why that Terror changed so much."
Now that his shadow was empowered, his sense was much more efficient, he now could feel the Terror's shadow. The reason he couldn't before was due to how scattered and morphed it was, almost as if it was mangled by a saw blade, but now he could sense it, how powerful it was…
Nephis sharpened her gaze, suspecting the answer, he completed his thoughts anyway.
"That damn thing… Is not a Fallen Terror at all."
Sunless' gaze turned to the giant morphed Box that loomed in the background.
"It evolved into a Corrupted Terror."