Shadow Slave

There had been a time when Sunny studied Changing Star's runes like a man obsessed. His whole life had been built around the desire to overtake her on the path to power.

He might have even done a few careless things in that pursuit.

At some point, however, Sunny had lost the desire to compare himself to Nephis, at least in this way. The first change had happened because of her return from the Dream Realm. The second... sometime in the Antarctic Center, he had lost the habit of summoning her runes every day.

Shadow fragments, soul fragments - those were not a true measure of strength, anyway. Sunny had seen countless mundane soldiers stand and fight against the Nightmare Creatures, never surrendering despite the dire disparity of power between them. If those people were weak, then he did not know whom to call strong.

And so, at some point, he had stopped paying constant attention to Neph's runes without even noticing it.

Now, however, Sunny had the Mirror of Truth. So, he decided that it was worth taking another look.

The familiar symbols shimmered, forming into strings:

Name: Nephis.True Name: Changing Star.Rank: Ascended.Class: Tyrant.Soul Cores: [5/7].

He stared at that number for a few moments.

After years of lagging behind, Sunny had finally caught up to her... wasn't it so very funny that he had only been able to do so after stopping caring about the race?

A light smile appeared on his face.

'Whatever... she still has more fragments than I do. She'll be a Terror sooner than me.'

But did it really matter? In the end, they would both be Titans. That day was not as far away as it had once seemed, now.

Sunny continued to read:

Soul Fragments: [2719/5000].

could not reveal the fact that she possessed a

not been hunting down many Nightmare Creatures while Sunny had been going from one dire battle to another almost every day in the Antarctic

the recent battle, then

[Dream Blade], [Starlight Legion Armor], [Dawn Shard], [Dark Wing],

Realm and challenging the Second Nightmare... in fact, Sunny could learn a few things about what kind of trial she had faced

about her harrowing experience, he held himself back. Perhaps it was stupid, but... he did not want to invade her

precious and fragile thing trust was... it had taken a lot for him to extend his own trust toward Effie and Kai. Before that, his friends had respected his desire to remain silent and

studying the Memories that clan Valor had provided to Neph. They were incredible Memories,

study their weaves. He just

please take off your armor? I need it for a couple of weeks... no, no I won't wear it...

it made him

dreadful image, Sunny continued to study

Divinity], [The Fire].[Dreamspawn] Attribute Description: "You are born of two worlds, belonging to both, but welcomed in

unholy union between the divine and the profane. Nephilim were the

soul is aflame with the light

Fire] Attribute Description: "You have inherited

Attributes in the past years, but Nephis had not. Neither had she unlocked her Aspect Legacy... which was not very surprising.

Saints, with an even smaller number doing so

Sunny who was

thinking of Serpent, and turned back to the

[You are a creature of light that was banished and doomed to exist

a portion of the soul essence of any Nightmare Creature destroyed by your flames, as well as of

Flame], [Flame Manipulation], [Longing].[Soul Flame] Ability Description: "Your soul burns with the purest of flames. That flame can both restore and destroy, and is both a blessing and

of Neph's three Aspect Abilities - it had grown slightly more versatile since the Forgotten

her Awakened and Ascended ones, respectively - were new.

can bend all fire to your

That fire did not have to be her own - although she

other hand... was