Shadow Slave

1060 The Fall of Falcon Scott (78)

The Winter Beast came.

And then, it left.

The last citadel of humanity in the Antarctic Center, Falcon Scott, had fallen to the Chain of Nightmares. The harrowing blizzard had swept through it, freezing the whole city solid and killing everyone inside.

Sunny had heard that a long time ago, during the Dark Times — or maybe even before that — the whole of Antarctica was covered by ice. It had been a land of perpetual winter, cold, and snow.

After the Corrupted Titan wiped out the last human settlement and retreated back into the mountains, as if satisfied to be the sole sovereign of the region, the landscape looked just like that, again.

The city was drowning in snow. The buildings emerged from it, encased in ice. Below the cliffs, a large swath of the ocean was frozen, as well. A gargantuan battleship was stuck in the ice, still anchored, the people aboard it all dead.

Everyone was dead.

Except for Sunny.

His soldiers were dead. Millions of civilians were dead. Professor Obel was dead, too. But he was alive, and not even wounded. Sunny had remained in the shadows for a long time, only emerging from them after his essence almost ran dry.

And now, he was digging a grave.

The earth itself was frozen solid, so his task was not an easy one. He had to summon the Sin of Solace, and use the beautiful jade blade to dig. Sunny was standing in a shallow pit, deepening it. His movements were fast and purposeful. Angry tears were streaming down his face, turning into ice before falling to the ground.

…He was not alone, either.

A vague shape that looked a lot like him was sitting on the edge of the pit, staring at him somberly. It had his voice, too.

"Look at you go."

Sunny gritted his teeth, ignoring the Sin of Solace. The cursed sword remained silent for a while, observing him.

Eventually, it asked:

"So, did you find it? Conviction? Or whatever it was you've been searching for?"

Sunny spared the vague shape a glance, then continued digging.

"No… no, I didn't find crap."

He wiped his face with an elbow.

"Actually, that's not true. I did find something. I found out that I was right all along!"

Sunny plunged the sword into the frozen soil and laughed.

"Faith, calling, conviction… all those lofty words. It's all rubbish! It's all… meaningless. People like Anvil of Valor and Ki Song have conviction, and that conviction helps them achieve greatness. Well, where are they? What good did it do? Where the hell were they, huh?!"

at the vague shape with fury in

while little people like us suffer and lose our little lives. But what's wrong with having small dreams? All I ever wanted was to live a good life, and keep people I care

motionless for a moment,

millions in the process, because there's no one to hold them responsible. They can have their

stopped, and then let out a small

I do. From the outside, it might really look like Neph

why she wanted to destroy the Spell. And her answer was very simple,

"Because I hate it."

Because she hated it…

she wanted to, and she wanted to destroy the Spell because

That was all.

then shook his

I'm such

sitting on the edge

we

the past months. He… he had not found conviction. But in a sense, he also

I know what I want. It might not be much, but it's enough. I am who I am, and who I am is enough. It's

shape, and made it disappear with a

out of the grave and looked at

three graves beside that one. They all stared at Sunny like monuments to his

on the ground a small distance

the Winter Beast left, he had returned to collect the bodies of

She had been there when he returned from the Forgotten Shore, and

then, not too far away, he had found the body of Master

that she was dead. She had always been there for him. She had been the first person to meet him after the First Nightmare, and the one to guide him to the Academy. She had been there when he returned from the Forgotten Shore, and from the Kingdom

even helped

friend. For him, she was synonymous with competence and power. And perseverance.

she

in front of him, unmoving and still. Her beautiful blue eyes were now glassy and hollow. Her lips were never going to curve

Reaper Jet was

Sunny's heart was empty.

'Right…'

while, then walked over to Belle and carried him to the first grave. Then, silently, he repeated

her body for a long time. Eventually, though, it had to

as though he was dead himself, Sunny approached Jet's corpse, then leaned down to grab

with glassy eyes, and

"Kindly unhand me."

Sunny sighed.

are no Nightmare Creatures around, yet, but they will come eventually.

corpse remained silent for a

you lost your mind, Sunny? Put me

He nodded.

I did lose my mind, a little. That's