Shadow Slave

The runes shimmered in the tranquil darkness of the silent sea.

Name: Nephis.

True Name: Changing Star.

Just as Sunny had suspected, that True Name hid many meanings. It didn't describe a star that was always changing, but instead a star that caused change. However, there were a lot of words for change in the runic language, each hiding a unique meaning.

The one used here meant a cataclysmic change that brought ruin and disaster; sometimes bad and sometimes good, but always cruel and calamitous, wreathed in misfortune.

So, in a sense, Nephis was neither a Star of Change nor a Star of Ruin, but both; the two went hand in hand, inseparable, destined to bring both salvation and damnation to those touched by her light.

…Just like what had happened to the doomed Dreamers of the Dark City.

The Spell was really good at giving names, it seemed.

Thinking of his own True Name somberly, Sunny read further:

Rank: Dreamer.

Class: Demon.

Soul Cores: [3/7].

Soul Fragments: [2749/3000].

He stared at the last two strings, a dark expression written on his face.

'So this… this is how far ahead of me you are.'

Then, with a heavy sigh, he looked away.

Many events of the past few months made sense now. During the fight against Gunlaug, Nephis had already been a Dormant Monster — just like he was right now, a Dreamer in possession of two Cores. It was because she had known that killing the Bright Lord would push her toward the third that she asked him to prevent Caster from attacking her in that moment of weakness.

…And in the time since, Changing Star had almost reached the fourth.

'How was she so fast?'

Sunny had made a conscious choice to avoid saturating his core during the civil war in the Bright Castle. In hindsight, this decision had turned out to be a wrong one… or maybe not. If he had collected all thousand shadow fragments back then, he might have been dead already, killed by one of Tessai's Guards or a Nightmare Creature while completely incapacitated by the formation of the second Shadow Core.

Hell, he would have been crushed to death by a piece of falling granite if not for the [Soul Conduit] suppressing the process at the best possible moment.

…Just as always, terrible misfortune had come together with incredible luck.

But even if he had come to possess the Monster Core back then, he would have never managed to create a third, let alone get this close to the fourth one.

It was because Nephis had one big advantage over him in the matter of collecting essence.

Awakened except for Sunny, she received a certain portion of the enemy's accumulated soul essence when killing a fellow human, while he received only a single shadow fragment…

been a true feast for Changing Star. Especially when slaying those experienced members of the Host that had long saturated their cores

was always on the frontline, after

grimly stared into the darkness for a while, then slowly turned

Armor], [Dawn Shard], [Dark Wing],

including [Evertwine] — the golden rope he knew so well. But Sunny did not pay them a lot

Memory: [Nameless Sun].

Memory Rank: Ascended.

Memory Tier: VI.

Memory Type: Weapon.

things that were lost. Only

His eyes narrowed.

after killing

weave and learn what enchantments that terrible Memory held. Whatever they were, however, the Nameless Sun was

in the ruthless hellscape

to read

Echoes: —

[Dreamspawn], [Nephilim], [Flame of

two worlds, belonging to both, but

divine and the profane. Nephilim were the most beautiful, and the most harrowing of them

Divinity] Attribute Description: "Your soul is aflame with the light

Attribute Description: "You have inherited the

for a bit, studying Neph's

how it

the core of

But it was not.

Hollow mother. In a sense, she was connected to the Dream Realm — and the Nightmare Spell —

trait was

that duality was further expressed after Nephis had conquered her First Nightmare and received her Aspect, as well as a new Attribute —

Half deific, half… Unknown?

depiction of a

from whom nephilim were supposed to be born? After all, the similarity between that creature and

then there was the last Attribute,

Sunny rubbed his face.

the [Drop of Ichor] were able to impart Awakened with unique Attributes that, unlike the usual ones, seemed to be hereditary. They could be passed down through a bloodline, and at least one of the great

Was that what allowed them to rise to

have so many

Weave] and [The Fire]. While the latter was described simply as "lineage", the former was described

Was it because it didn't come from a proper deity like Sun God, but from mysterious Weaver, who was a daemon? Had no one except

described as a "partial" lineage, while The Fire was

"Questions, questions…'

a sigh, Sunny turned

Aspect: [Light Bringer].