Shadow Slave

Sitting with his back against the door of his room, Sunny stared ahead, his heart empty.

He had lived most of his life alone. One year ago, he had entered the Dream Realm alone. And now, he was alone once again.

But not having something was very different from losing it. Now that he knew how precious true friendship and affection were, existing without them felt like torture. It felt like there was a bleeding wound on his soul, left there after he had so cruelly severed the tether connecting him to Cassie.

One of the very few people he cared for in this world…

Hurting her felt good and justified, but instead of relief, it only brought him more pain.

Nevertheless, he did not regret what he had done. Sometimes one had to endure suffering.

Sometimes, pain was necessary.

Now, Sunny was completely alone. So was Cassie.

And somewhere in the Dream Realm, Nephis was alone, too.

The three of them had done the impossible, but paid a heavy price for it.

'What a fiasco.'

Who would have thought that one day, he would not only escape the Forgotten Shore, but also become vastly more powerful than he had ever dreamed… only to sit on the floor in a dark room, feeling miserable?

With a resentful grimace, Sunny shook his head and sighed.

'Enough of wallowing in self-pity.'

He had a lot of things to do. A lot of plans to make. The horrors of the Forgotten Shore were now behind him, but new threats already loomed in the distance.

Firstly, he was now at the mercy of another person. Despite the fact that his master was lost in another world with very low chances of ever making it back, Sunny felt that they were fated to meet again.

know how to feel about that. Or rather, he both desperately longed for Nephis to return and wished that she died. His emotions

all that, Sunny didn't think

sure that Nephis would not perish in the Dream Realm and eventually make it back. Maybe in a few months, maybe in

human territory through the Hollow Mountains, or head in another direction? They didn't know much about what surrounded the Forgotten Shore from the east, west, and north. He doubted that those places were

about them, which meant that no human had

Mountains were at least known to mankind. Chances were, Changing Star would choose to try her luck

that

'Unknown…'

Sunny frowned.

be able to exploit. Due to his [Fated] Attribute, Sunny had stumbled onto the legacy of a creature named Weaver and got a glimpse into the secrets

saw there left

hiding in the ruined land of dreams and nightmares, a tapestry that connected the dead gods, the Unknown, the daemons, and the Nightmare Spell together. The former rulers of the Dream Realm were gone, but the Spell remained, and humanity — including Sunny himself — had now

he knew what to look for, he had to deepen his understanding of the fate of the gods and the origins of the Spell.

then, there were

His face grew dark.

is everything so

just open a Memory Store, become wealthy and fat, and leave

was his plan all along. However, the recent revelations made

some figures hiding in the shadows, ruling over the human world. And not

once. She told them that there

now he knew a lot of those

Sovereigns, Domains, Lineage Memories…

beings would not turn their gaze to him one day, or was he going to do something to prepare for the day they

hopelessly entangled with that of Changing Star… who was embroiled in these clandestine machinations just by virtue

'So bothersome…'

supposed to do? What was the

Sunny sighed.

was

much as he can about the Sovereigns, but in a way that

gain insight into the daemons,