Shadow Slave

Chapter 880: Cause and Effect

The old man chuckled and looked at his subordinates, who were packing things up in a hurry. After a while, he signed.

"Whether Nightmare Gates are produced by the Spell or not, there is definitely a connection between the two. Or rather, the three... since Awakened are also part of this equation."

He grew silent after that, and then added in a more serious tone:

"What interests me the most, however, is which of the three came first."

Sunny looked at him with surprise.

"Forgive me, Professor, but isn't that common knowledge? The Spell came first, bringing with it the Nightmares. Then, we Awakened appeared as the result."

He frowned slightly.

"... Of course, common knowledge is not always trustworthy. But in this case, it seems to follow logic."

Professor Obel shook his head.

"Who can really say? The beginnings of the Spell are not documented well. Back then... the world was not in the best shape, and by the time we knew that something was happening, it was already out of our ability to prevent, contain, or control. We tried, of course, but... even then, some truths never get to become widely known, or even be put on paper at all. It is very likely that what you said is true. There are other possibilities, though, ones that would demand entirely different solutions."

Sunny looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"What do you mean?"

The elderly scientist hesitated.

ever asked yourself this... did the Spell bring Nightmares with it, or did the Nightmares bring the Spell? Ah, forgive me. This is still too broad. Here

Sunny blinked.

"What?"

The old man smiled.

you are too young to remember, but at the beginning of it all, the disasters of the Spell descended on the waking world in stages. Otherwise,

as if he was remembering

them became Sleepers, and some became Dormant abominations. Then, after the first solstice, there were Awakened. However, there were also Nightmare Gates of the Second Category, and with them, more powerful creatures came into our world. Eventually,

He paused.

And North America. And now, we have the Chain of Nightmares... one

not like the sound of

he trying

"...Wonder about what?"

man let out a heavy

there is a correlation between the number and power of Awakened in our world and the number and power of the Nightmare Gates that manifest here. Awakened and Nightmares... which of these elements is the

for a bit, then simply shook his

Professor. If there really was a correlation and we, Awakened, were somehow responsible for attracting bigger and better Nightmare Gates, then there would not have been a Category Five Gate in North America before a bunch of Supremes

been any when that Gate swallowed an entire continent. In any case, Sunny was not

Obel nodded with

is always good to have a healthy amount of skepticism. However... your point is only unassailable if we assume a

Sunny frowned.

"Yes? What detail?"

looked at the scientist surrounding them and smiled with a bit

of a Gate manifesting itself into

suddenly

just an echo of a god emerging from the human race in