Shadow Slave

Chapter 1797 Last Refuge Sunny would have loved to be wrong. He would have liked to believe that he had lost his sanity from solitude and hopelessness. Or even that he had fallen under the effect of a strange mind hex.

That he was looking at an illusion conjured by some harrowing abomination.

But in his heart, he knew that his eyes weren't lying to him. Out there in front of him, buried in snow and ice, was indeed Lunar Observatory Forty-Nine - the research settlement where he had met Beth and Professor Obel once, during the Chain of Nightmares. Where Dusk of Fallen Grace killed everyone except for a handful of people that Sunny had taken away in time.

The dome of the old observatory was the same. The alloy wall was the same, even if its turrets had turned into ice sculptures. The empty buildings where the scientists, soldiers, and assisting personnel had once lived and worked were the same, too.

The research installation stood lonesomely under the starlit sky, drowning in snow. Sunny shivered,

"H-how..."

But he knew how, Wind Flower had warned him... she had told him that his world would be consumed by the Dream Realm one day, Just like hers. He had known that it was Inevitable for a long time.

However, Sunny had never thought that the process would have started so soon.

‘I thought... we still... had time.’

He remained motionless for a while, taking in the eerle sight of the empty facility with an expression that went beyond despair.

It felt so wrong, to see alloy walls and prefab structures in the Dream Realm.

Appalling.

Sunny had no words to describe what he was feeling. He had left the waking world behind... and yet, witnessing the root of its future destruction had rattled him to the very core.

The dilapidated streets of the outskirts. The beautiful terrace district in the inner city. The fortress-like Awakened Academy. The prestigious school where Rain had studied. Everything he knew... would be swallowed by the Dream Realm soon.

the places that formed the background of his memories would not just be transported to another world. They

the grim future of the

there would be no one to explore the ruins of the waking world and wonder about the people who had populated them once. Because Sunny's realm was the last to be consumed. There would be

waking world would cease to exist. Maybe

the process

not know how long he had spent kneeling in the snow in front of the silent research station. Eventually, though, he shakily rose to his

some time wandering

returned - but he did not

Terror later with the help of Naeve and Saint Bloodwave, the memory of the empty settlement was still connected to a feeling of powerlessness and deep,

way now. Nothing seemed to have changed in LO49. There was some damage caused by the harsh environment, and the exteriors of the alloy buildings were covered in ice and snow, However, the interiors were in surprisingly

working, of course. But

utensils, writing Implements, and synthetic paper. The Important data had been stored digitally, but many

items people accumulated throughout their lives. Toys, trinkets, and sentimental mementoes. Posters, musical instruments, and

actually, most of the things created by modern humans

of the waking world visited this place in the future... what would they think about the people who

admiration, excelling in craft and architecture? That they created enchanting art,

the ancient people had been warlike and austere, living in harsh conditions and surrounding their utilitarian homes by tall metal walls? After all there were weapons and military uniforms everywhere in LO49, as

were no corpses. No bones, no signs of a vicious battle. Nobody would know what had happened here, and at best, they would feel

Sunny had felt in the ruins of the

bitter taste

Sunny knew better than most what it meant to

remembered was worse than

'Ah. I hate it'

the dreadful revelation, he remained motionless for a while, and then left the settlement to wander

It was strange.