Shadow Slave

1487 The Source

Sunny stared at the distant Great River, frozen in place. His face was motionless.

However, there was a storm raging in his mind. Fragmented truths that he had learned, witnessed, and experienced in the Tomb of Ariel were moving, colliding with each other, and clicking in place with a dreadful noise. The inconceivable truth of their Nightmare was slowly revealing itself.

From start to finish... it was all...

He was suddenly overcome with fear.

Shifting his gaze slightly, Sunny studied the beautiful ribbon that twisted on itself, forming an infinite loop.

Deep crimson, vibrant azure, soft lilac... the seven suns shining in the darkness...

It was like a dream.

'How can this be? How can the Great River flow in a circle?'

But then again… of course, it could.

In hindsight, it made so much sense.

There had always been a paradox in how the Great River was described. Because it was always described as "endless"... Sunny had not paid it much attention before, assuming that the word was simply there to provide flavor. But he should have known better. The Spell was always deliberate with its choice of words.

The description of the Stifled Scream read:

[...a great river was contained within it, flowing endlessly from the future into the past.]

But how could a river of time be endless? The past wasn't infinite. If the Great River really flowed into the past, anyone sailing it would reach the point beyond the origin of time eventually — so, by definition, it could not flow endlessly.

was also its source… within the Tomb of Ariel, the past was connected to the future, creating

in the far reaches of the past, near the Estuary, and in the far reaches of

then

wait… that doesn't

the Estuary was also undeniable. Not only was it mentioned in the descriptions of the Stifled

find the secrets that the Demon of Dread had hidden in the estuary of

he had wished to be free

First Seeker, had finally found it, the

time existed — before the gods were born, and therefore outside their control. At least

how could there be no

is. The

beautiful ribbon. From this distance, he could not really see the current of

gave birth to immense cyclones. That was the area of the river that corresponded to the

where Aletheia's Island had been situated was hidden from view, but Sunny saw a tiny speck on the crimson layer of the

Great River was obscured by mist. The mist was absolutely impenetrable, covering a considerable length of the river. The flow of time near it seemed restless even from a distance, which meant that it was absolutely

realizing that not

that is… that is

had already brushed

explode

***

'Of course…'

the distant Great River, Sunny

he had spent in the Nightmare, drifting on a piece of flotsam in a place shrouded in

situation had seemed strange and bizarre. So, he had never properly questioned where that place was. However, now that he thought about it… even considering the general weirdness

flotsam,

seen his makeshift raft sailing out of the mist. Instead, he simply heard the water roaring and was thrown underwater when the suddenly furious current overturned the piece of flotsam. By the time he resurfaced, the seven suns were

the mist was nowhere to be seen — upstream or downstream. All around him, there was only the sparkling, dreamlike expanse of the Great River, as if the mist had never existed at all. There were also the

through time