Shadow Slave

Once again, Sunny found himself in the endless space between dream of reality. All around him, there was nothing but a boundless black void, which was illuminated by a myriad of bright stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex pattern.

Once again, he felt as though he had glimpsed the inner workings of the Spell. Was it just an illusion, or was he able to see more now? It was almost as if his eyes were now able to discern a hint of meaning behind the unimaginable, titanic brilliance of the ethereal weave.

…He had the eyes of Weaver now, after all.

With a pained moan, Sunny forced himself to look away from the strings of silver light. The magnitude of the secret hidden in this cosmic pattern was so immense that just thinking about it could drive him mad. The Forgotten Shore had taught him an important lesson, and it was that one had to be careful about what they looked upon.

Some things were not meant to be seen by humans.

…Not to mention that he had other things to think about.

"Curse it! Curse it all! Curse all of you!"

His voice disappeared into the darkness, full of indescribable fury, bitterness, and sorrow. No one was there to hear it… except for the Spell, which chose to tactfully remain silent.

Breathing heavily, Sunny clenched his fists and closed his eyes.

He didn't know what brought him more rage and pain — the fact that he had lost Neph, or the fact that his secret had been revealed. Both were too bitter to swallow.

All that time, all that suffering… and for what? He had outsmarted and defeated so many powerful enemies, only for his True Name to be discovered by an ungrateful, weak, blind girl?!

After everything he had done for her...

Cassie's betrayal, perhaps, had hurt him the most.

"Curse her…"

Once again, he was a slave. He made a full circle and returned exactly to where he had started. In shackles. Only instead of nameless slavers, Nephis had become his master now.

Nephis…

Sunny gritted his teeth and groaned, a storm of conflicting emotions tearing his heart apart.

did she have to

was just as strong and overwhelming as the hope that she would die and disappear forever in the unforgiving hell of the Dream Realm, so that they would never

he would be

knowing how to process this conflagration of feelings. For someone who had spent most of his life alone, not caring for anything, this

try and come to terms with his new reality. The Spell

days, or maybe just a

time later, he opened

"...I won."

survived. Who could

the Dream Realm that no human had ever escaped, and now, he was not only returning to reality, but aslo doing so as one of the

the

…Or the second strongest.

countless horrors, crossed a cursed sea on a boat made of demon bones, slew hundreds of Nightmare Creatures, gained experience and scars worthy of a lifetime, touched the hidden knowledge of the gods, saw a tyrant die and a new one be crowned, banished an ancient curse into the darkness of oblivion

an Awakened. An elite among elites, a person at the very top of society, one with access to the best food, the most wealth, the highest forms of prestige.

dreams were going to come

would now

I will not be bitter,

to be left heartbroken on the other

going to

first, he had to

sweet. So, let's

Spell finally spoke. Its voice sounded a little strange, as

is overflowing

shadow is

begin to radiate

'Crap…'

[Your shadow is complete.]

him exploded, drowning his whole being with indescribably suffering. With a

***

up on my ass every time

void, he was so shocked to discover the Divine Rank of his Aspect that his legs buckled. And now, due to the painful transformation