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.

while he received only a single shadow fragment… or a few, at best, if the enemy was of the higher Rank than him. Which

war against Tessai and Gemma must have 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

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

Sunny did not pay them a lot

Memory: [Nameless Sun].

Memory Rank: Ascended.

Memory Tier: VI.

Memory Type: Weapon.

for all the things that were

His eyes narrowed.

received a Memory after

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

it enough to help Nephis survive in the ruthless hellscape of the Dream

continued to read

Echoes: —

[Flame of Divinity],

to both, but welcomed in neither. Your soul exists on the edge

unholy union between the divine and the profane. Nephilim were the most beautiful, and

Attribute Description: "Your soul

"You have inherited the lineage of Sun

a bit, studying Neph's

that's how it

the one that was at the center of all the rest, the core of her being, just like his

But it was not.

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

trait was

had conquered her First Nightmare and received her

Half deific, half… Unknown?

how Changing Star had stopped and stared at the depiction of a radiant being engraved into

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

the last Attribute,

Sunny rubbed his face.

that, unlike the usual ones, seemed to be hereditary. They could be passed down through a bloodline, and at least one of the great Legacy clans — the almost destroyed Immortal Flame

Valor — possessed one, too? Was that what allowed them to rise to the very top of humanity and claim their place as great

have so

slight difference between [Blood Weave] and [The Fire]. While

like Sun God, but from mysterious Weaver, who was a daemon? Had

was also described as a

"Questions, questions…'

sigh, Sunny turned to the runes

Aspect: [Light Bringer].