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.

another world.

the world infected by the

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

world would cease to exist. Maybe not in a year, or

process had

spent kneeling in the snow in front of the silent research station.

spent some time wandering LO49 in

left in a hurry. After delivering his cohort and the two civilians to safety, he mounted Nightmare and returned - but he did not enter the facility again, only

the Terror later with the help of Naeve and Saint Bloodwave, the memory of the empty settlement was still

Nothing seemed to have changed in LO49. There was some damage caused by the harsh environment,

had stopped working, of course.

paper. The Important data had been stored digitally, but

throughout their lives. Toys,

the passage of time. But actually, most of the things created by modern humans

with the civilization of the waking world visited this place in the future... what would they think about the people who had perished at

ancient people had been ingenious and worthy of admiration, excelling in craft and architecture? That they created enchanting art, pursued enlightenment, and were

surrounding their utilitarian homes by tall metal

would know what had happened here, and at best, they would feel idle curiosity about

Sunny had felt in the ruins of the overgrown city where the Cursed Tyrant,

a bitter taste in

because Sunny knew better than most what

not being remembered

'Ah. I hate it'

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

It was strange.