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.

she have to do it…

again… was just as strong and overwhelming as the hope that she would die and disappear forever in the unforgiving hell of the Dream

he would

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

was a strange concept, so he had an eternity to try and come to terms

hours, or maybe days, or

later, he opened his mouth and

"...I won."

survived. Who could have

into a region of 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 most powerful Sleepers in the

even the

…Or the second strongest.

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

about to become an Awakened. An elite among elites, a person at the very top of society, one with access to the best food,

his dreams were

would now

sad, I will not be

through this nightmare to be left heartbroken on the other side? No. He had earned this

he was going to

he had to

supposed to be sweet. So, let's see… what should I

a little

shadow is overflowing

shadow is taking

to radiate a

'Crap…'

[Your shadow is complete.]

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

***

up on my ass every time I come to this

Aspect that his legs buckled. And