Chapter 65: Hungry Shadow
[In another Nightmare — Kingdom of Hope – Red Colosseum]
The Red Colosseum burned.
One of the most sacred places of the Chained Isles had become a pyre of flesh and steel. Corpses of countless humans, Nightmare creatures and even noble creatures lay strewn across the shattered arena. None had been spared.
Not even the War Goddess' "innocent" worshipers that cheered and watched the cruel battles of the Colosseum.
Deep within the fire, the sound of clashing steel and the sickening sound of moving tendrils filled the air.
A tenacious Stone Saint, wrapped in an onyx carapace, moved like a hurricane of darkness, wielding a powerful blade and shield. Possessing one of the most powerful battle arts in the world.
She was the Onyx Saint, of course — one who had risen to the Transcendent rank due to the hard work of her master.
Her opponent, however, was a formidable being as well.
She fought barefoot amidst ruin, her chestnut hair flowing like silk in a storm of embers. Her silver eyes glowed softly — almost gently — as if this massacre was a merely a nausince for her. Her tattered red tunic fluttered against her bloodied skin and broken bones.
Despite of that, her presence was vast and inconceivable, permeating the entire island with an oppressive presence.
She was non other than Solvane, the Priestess of War, and the traitor who unleashed the Poison of Hope upon this land.
She was also the one who forced countless creatures into senseless fighting, causing suffering and death on an unimaginable scale...
Her hands moved at an unimaginable speed, cutting through the air like a blade.
She held no weapons in her hands, for she did not need one.
Each strike of her fists was like a mighty thunderclap displaying her Transcendant strength.
Their clash continued for several more moments, reshaping the broken battlefield with each exchange.
The Onyx Saint, despite being fused with [Shadow Carapace] and being a Transcendent Demon herself, would soon be overpowered by the Priestess of War.
Thankfully, the Onyx Saint was not alone.
From behind, countless dark tentacles erupted from the shadows, each rushing toward Solvane with a force that could crush mountains.
One of the tentacles was caught by the maiden of War, showcasing her inhuman reflexes. However, that singe action gave the Onyx Saint enough time to drive her blade into the flesh of the immortal Transcendent, sending a Storm of pain rushing through her body.
Then, in the next moment, a towering fiend emerged from her shadow, possessing four mighty arms and a terribly long body. He was clad in a shifting mass of darkness, making his already unnerving appearance even more terrifying.
The Shadow Devil grabbed Solvane by the head, pulling on her dark hair. Then, using another tendril, he drove the wooden blade — which held her fate — into her head, impaling her skull.
The screams of the Priestess of War thundered across the ruined island, However, the dark fiend was not done with her yet.
Creating countless tendrils from his back, he lifted her into the air. Then, with his augmented arms, he started pulling her body apart.
The Transcendent's body stretched impossibly, and Solvane's blood — which carried the lineage of War Goddess — spilled over the shifting mass of darkness bonded with the Devil, getting absorbed into it and making the shadow even more powerful than ever before.
In mere moments, the Priestess's body was torn apart completely, her remains falling onto the ruined ground like a waterfall.
Unceremoniously, the Shadow threw her split body down, looking at her with a hateful expression behind his dark visor.
Stepping on her upper body, he muttered in an inhuman, monstrous voice:
"You were dead the moment you put a collar on me…"
His words carried such malice… such hatred within them that they felt capable of drowning the heavens themselves.
Solvane, broken and bleeding, simply offered him a faint smile before whispering in a low, tired voice:
"Thank you… for freeing me…"
Then her gaze turned elsewhere, as if looking at someone no one else could see.
"Aidre… I'm so sorry…"
With that, her eyes turned still, losing all the light within them.
[You have slain a Transcendent Human: Solvane, Priestess of War]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a Memory: Dying Wish]
The voice of the nightmare spell whispered in Sunny's ears, or whatever the shadowspawn had instead of ears... However, He did not give them much thoughts at all.
Sunny did not even bother to look at the new Transcendent Memory he had received. Instead, he walked toward one of the many corpses on the ruined Colosseum — the one that had a dark serpent had wrapped around it tightly, protecting it from the flames.
The Shadow Serpent uncoiled when it felt its master presence, than it slithered back into him, returning to its tattoo form.
Sunny was met face-to-face with the corpse.
It was the body of a young man, possessing beautiful golden hair and light blue eyes that were once filled with youthful curiosity.
The young man — no, the boy — was none other than Elyas.
An Awakened healer who had been captured by Solvane and forced to fight in the Red Colosseum. Eventually, he had met Sunny and spent months fighting alongside him, becoming something akin to a friend for sunny.
And now... He was dead, killed by solvane before they could make their escape.
Sunny stared solemnly at Elyas's corpse, feeling a terrible ache in his heart...
By all means, Sunny should have been happy.
The Second Nightmare had barely started and yet, he had already slain one of the immortal saints, as instructed by Cassie making the nightmare slightly easier for him and his companions.
And while being captured by Solvane was a terrible experience, it had still been incredibly beneficial, helping him move closer to his goal, which was to grow stronger.
He had mastered the third step of Shadow Dance and even glimpsed a path toward the fourth step by turning into a formless shadow through [Shadow Step] and fusing with the [Shadow Symbiote], making him one of the most powerful martial artists in the waking world.
The [Shadow Symbiote], his Transcendent Devil Shadow, had gained Solvane's abilities through the [Devourer] ability and its [Vessel] attribute, granting the Shadow an affinity for war.
The shadow serpent had become an ascended Devil as well, and Sunny himself had gained a large number of shadow fragments, bringing him closer to the Tyrant class.
And lastly, he had improved his weaving by a great deal.
The sorcery created by the daemon of fate was something that Cassie had informed him about, by first guiding him to the ebony tower, made by the daemon of destiny.
In there sunny had gained a part of weaver lineage, bone weave allowing him to interact with the weaves making up memories.
And through the experience in the red colosseum, sunny had managed to improve his sorcery greatly allowing him to interfere with the runic sorcery around the colosseum, causing it detonate and kill his slavers.
He had gained what he wanted.
Power.
Yet it was not enough.
Once again, he had failed to save a friend.
He was not strong enough...
That single phrase kept repeating in his mind uncontrollably, nearly driving him insane as he was reminded him of how weak he was.
When He was young, he was too weak to save his mother.
Too weak to protect Rain, which led to her being adopted and forgetting him.
Too weak in the outskirts, leading to constant bullying that turned him into a paranoid person incapable of forming bonds easily.
Even in the Forgotten Shore, he had failed to save Hugo — twice — leaving him to die a death zone.
That failure had led Sunny to challenge the Second Nightmare with his friends and the firekeepers...
And now he had failed to save Elyas.
'I hate it… I hate it so much…'
Truly, being weak was the only sin in this world.
Strength was the only virtue, and nothing else mattered.
The weak had no rights and the strong decided what was right and wrong...
On this day, Sunny's resolve — which had always been hungry for power — solidified even further.
He swore he would never be weak again. He swore he would never be chained again...
He swore to survive this nightmare, conquer it and than challenge the third nightmare.
The Fourth nightmare.
The fifth nightmare.
And all of the nightmares there was, gaining power so that no one could decide his fate ever again.
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[Second Nightmare — Beast Realm, Forever Knight's Hidden Castle]
Deep within the Forever Castle, hidden from all divinations by powerful sorcery, Sir Patrick — the "Transcendent Human" — stood before a room full of knights, each clad in imposing silver armor.
Behind him stood a throne inscribed with the runic words representing [Sun/Passion].
Looking at the knights before him, the old man opened his mouth:
"The Forever Knights have existed for thousands of years, pursuing a myriad of goals. And yet, our true purpose has always remained the same — to eradicate the creations of the gods and sacrifice their flames to [Him]."
An ominous smile appeared on the man's face, as if something unholy and inhuman was hiding behind his bloodshot eyes.
"And tonight… we stand on the brink of triumph!"
He raised his hand, and the knights began to wail in ecstasy, tears streaming down their faces as they screamed toward the heavens.
Then, a man wearing an advanced Forever Knight armor — indicating his high station and rank — stepped forward with unwavering eyes.
"All eyes fall on you," said Sir Patrick, looking at the knight with pride. "Are you ready, Connor?"
The man named Connor bowed to his king, his blue eyes never wavering.
"I am."
Sir Patrick nodded, than gestured for a group of knights to bring something into the throne room. Moments later, they carried in an advanced, sealed case of unknown technology.
Connor looked at his king, then at the case, before saying:
"Despite the fact that we couldn't extract any important information from Ben Tennyson due to the meddling of Dr. Joseph… and his unique methods of interrogation… we still managed to secure a powerful weapon from one of the Plumbers' bases."
Sir Patrick looked at Connor neutrally, processing his words before Finally speaking:
"None of our weapons have managed to slay the terrible dragon before... the last creation of Sun, untouched by the blessing of the Void, so what makes you think this one would be any different? " Said Patrick, although his tone held no suspicion as if certain that the weapon would be successful.
"My king, the Quantum Disassembler Cannon is a powerful creation, originally designed for the first Supreme Asura prototypes. With the two of us empowering it, I'm certain that we can use it to deliver a fatal wound to the dragon."
Sir Patrick nodded convinced by his explanation.
Than Connor gestured for the guards to carry the Quantum Disassembler Cannon as he followed sir Patrick into the lower depths of the castle.
On the way, Sir Patrick inquired further about the situation.
"Connor, I hear the mission to capture Ben Tennyson was a success."
Connor nodded as they descended the stairs.
"Ben Tennyson was indeed captured by Sir Joseph and taken to his base, However, we suffered the loss of a powerful Awakened possessing the sacred treasure of Shadow." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "And as for that abominatio... His fate is unknown, even to us. You should know this better than anyone else, my king. when the Doctor gets his hands on someone… it does not end... even I shudder at the thought sometimes."
Patrick sighed, stroking his beard.
"That is true. However, the fate of that boy does not concern me. What worries me instead is what his Supreme grandfather will do after he finds out..." His eyes turned jet black for a moment before reverting to normal "Even though the [End] is near, becoming the priority target of a Supreme is not how I prefer to conduct my affairs..."
Sir Connor nodded.
Eventually, they arrived at the lowest floor, coming face to face with a sealed door inscribed with complex runes that made sure no one could enter or leave the chamber behind. Even the metal the door was created from was special, coming from a long-forgotten era, making it capable of containing even Supreme creatures.
"Maxwell Tennyson will get what he deserves, my king. That I am sure of."
Patrick noddded before waving his arms dismissively.
"For now, let us focus on killing the —"
BAM.
Suddenly, the ceiling exploded into thousands of pieces. At the same time, an entire squad of Forever Knights fell to the floor violently, their armor shattered and their limbs mangled beyond repair.
One thing was certain.
They were all dead.
In an instant, Sir Connor moved in front of Sir Patrick, protecting him while manifesting a blade of blue fire, drawing upon his unholy powers.
Then, through the hole in the ceiling, a blur of red and white landed on the floor.
Sir Connor narrowed his eyes as he saw the person responsible for all of This.
Their attacker was none other than Ben Tennyson...
'No… something is wrong.'
Even though sir connor had only seen ben Tennyson through recordings and videos, he knew for a fact that this was not Ben Tennyson.
First, the attacker was an Ascended Human unlike Ben Tennyson, who was merely an Awakened. That, Connor was sure of.
That alone was enough to raise suspicion.
But what truly confirmed it was his appearance.
His hair was white instead of brown. His skin was pale as snow, giving him the appearance of a corpse. And Ben Tennyson's iconic green eyes were now dyed crimson red.
The jacket he wore was red as well, with an inverted "10" symbole on the left side of the jacket.
And most importantly — the Omnitrix, that abominable device the Forever Knights had sworn to destroy, had a different form.
It was a red gauntlet of sorts, surrounded by a strange aura...
The white-haired Ben Tennyson smiled darkly at Connor, Patrick and the remaining knights.
He wiped some of the blood smeared across his face, painting a gruesome scene.
"Bastards… do you realize how long I've been waiting for a chance to kill you?"
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Vote for the aliens you want to see next chapter:
1- heatblast
2- diamondhead
3- blitzewolfer
4- feedback
5- gravattack
6- fourarms
7- humangosour
8- eyeguy
9- wrath/rath
10- armadrillo
11- shocksquash
12- waterhazard
13- Nrg
14- something else