The silence that followed Uriel's declaration was one laden with varied emotions.
"How so? What did you do to start a war?"
"It all started two months ago when the spell threw me here," Uriel began to summarize his story.
"I landed directly inside the dark city, more specifically in the ruins, and not a minute later a fallen monster attacked me, so I killed it, and then several more attacked me. I eliminated them before running into Caster."
"Caster from the Han Li clan?" asked Nephis with some emotion in her voice, which earned her a strange look from Sunny.
"Yes. We worked together until we reached the outer settlement. You should know one thing: the only somewhat safe place besides the castle is the settlement at the foot of the castle. Things were bad there, terribly bad. Sunny, it was like the slums on the outskirts."
The raven-haired young man opened his eyes in understanding.
"People who looked like walking corpses, simply waiting for death with resignation," Uriel sighed, throwing a piece of wood into the campfire.
"It didn't take us long to figure out what was going on, so I sent Caster to the castle to gather information. Since he's more sociable than me, he was the best one for the job. To enter the castle, the lord of the city, Gunlaug, demands a weekly tribute of a soul shard. If you run out of shards, they simply throw you out of the castle," he explained.
"Anyway, I'm getting off topic. The fact is, the castle isn't very safe, since Gunlaug's dogs do whatever they want inside that place, and no one can do anything about it for fear of the castle lord."
"But what does that have to do with you starting a war?" asked Cassie.
"Getting to that," he said, looking at Cassie.
"After sending Caster to gather information, I did the same in the outskirts. I saved another sleeper from our generation, named Scarlet, from an attack by a fallen monster that would have killed her if I hadn't arrived in time. Then I made a deal with her for us to be allies in this place, which she accepted."
Uriel noticed that upon mentioning Scarlet, Nephis's and Cassie's faces twitched slightly, but he attributed it to the campfire smoke.
"After making the deal and resting overnight, the outer settlement was going to be attacked by a fallen demon, so I killed it before it could. Upon arriving at the settlement, after making a good first impression, I started accompanying the settlement's hunters, preventing them from dying. This earned me a reputation, and more joined the hunt, where I gave away all the corpses of the monsters I killed to feed the sleepers. My fame began to spread until it reached the castle. Gunlaug sent his right-hand man to try to recruit me, but I told him and his whole castle to go to hell."
An amused smile appeared on Sunny and Cassie's faces.
"This didn't please him. There were words, more or less... Oh, right, that happened in the first week of being here. Anyway, when Caster returned, he told me about the situation in the castle and how the outskirts were unprotected, so I took on the mission to strengthen everyone."
"How many sleepers are in the outskirts?" asked Nephis.
"Two months ago, around 600 sleepers. Now there are about 700, the last time I checked."
The eyes of the three opened in surprise at the high number of sleepers.
"In total, there are about 1,100 sleepers in this city; the majority are with me, and the rest are with Gunlaug," Uriel explained.
"This obviously didn't please Gunlaug and his regime of controlling every aspect of the sleepers' lives, so technically, a cold war began between my side and his, which could turn into a real war at any moment."
"Wait, why don't you just work together to form a plan and leave this place?"
"I wish it were that simple, but it's not. Gunlaug simply gave up on trying to leave this place, which I can't forgive. Also, every time someone tries to rise up, he finds an excuse to kill them and implant fear in everyone's hearts, preventing a rebellion."
"Then why don't you kill him?" asked Nephis, causing both Cassie and Sunny to look at her incredulously.
"Killing him? I can do it, no problem, Nephis. I would have done it in the first few weeks, but doing so would have led to a five-faction territorial war," Uriel explained.
"The city would be divided: my faction, the castle maidens faction led by Seishan, the dogs faction led by Tessai, the artisans faction, and the Genma hunters faction. It would be a war of attrition, and many lives would be sacrificed uselessly."
Sunny seemed to nod his head at this conclusion, while Changing Star seemed a little reluctant.
"Well, but now things are different. I have the loyalty of 900 sleepers and three of Gunlaug's lieutenants. I'm simply waiting for him to try something so I can take him and his followers out of the game in one move."
"Did you come up with this whole plan alone?" asked Sunny.
"Yes. Do I seem like a vile, manipulative, ambitious guy to you?" asked Uriel.
"I'm no one to judge," said Sunny.
"And you, Nephis?"
"You did what you had to do, that's all."
Uriel blinked.
"Okay. Anyway, that's why I said the future war is related to me, since I was, in a way, the one who provoked it. But leaving my story in the dark city aside, how did you three fare in the labyrinth?"
"Well, this and that," said Sunny, pretending to think for a few moments before adding in a bored tone.
"I suppose the most incredible thing I did was kill a Great Demon with a single sword strike. I finished him off instantly, no problem at all. I even got a memory from that kill. But before you ask... no, I can't show it to you. Why? Uh... oh, right. I ate it..."
Uriel blinked several times in surprise before laughing in amusement.
"Oh, dear friend Sunny, did you really kill a Great Demon?" he asked, amused. "I see your sense of humor has improved."
Sunny pretended to be offended: "What do you mean, sense of humor? It's the honest truth."
Uriel snorted, amused.
"Don't believe me if you don't want to. Unlike your crazy feats in this place, we had a truly insane adventure. Although others were less remarkable; you know, the usual stuff: killing a dozen awakened creatures, being resurrected from the brink of death by a beautiful princess, summoning ancestral horrors from the cursed sea, outsmarting demons and escaping their clutches, sailing through the abyss on a ship made from demon bones, fighting gigantic Leviathans underwater—mundane things like that."
Uriel whistled, impressed. From his dark storage, he took out three apples, giving one to each.
"Where did you get these apples?" asked Sunny.
"Oh, that. I have a memory that allows me to store many things unaffected by time, so I simply took a bunch of food, sauces, and condiments from the academy cafeteria and stored them. Some are still warm."
Uriel saw an envious look on Sunny's face.
"Your adventure certainly was crazy. Nothing compared to mine. I just killed a few thousand awakened monsters, a few hundred demons, and recently, a fallen tyrant with an army of thousands of living skeletons."
Sunny choked on his apple, while Cassie and Nephis blinked in surprise.
"Oh, and I also dove into the dark sea and killed a corrupt monster with a dagger. Oh, and also..."
"Shut up, we get the point," said Sunny, recovering, feeling as though his incredible achievements had been slightly overshadowed by Uriel's more impressive feats: killing thousands of monsters and hundreds of demons, plus a fallen tyrant that only masters could fight and kill, along with a corrupt monster. Sunny just wanted to hit something. And he couldn't even really be angry with Uriel.
"Uriel, tell me something: what rank is your aspect?" asked Cassie.
"Oh, Divine rank," he revealed, causing Sunny's eyes to widen, Nephis's eyes to open slightly, and Cassie's mouth to drop open in shock.
"I see, Divine rank. That's why you're so damn powerful," said Sunny.
"Yes, I'm amazing. Want to hear something interesting?" said Uriel.
"Apparently, if you have a Divine rank aspect, you can develop multiple soul cores by killing things."
Sunny's eyes widened.
"Really?" asked Nephis, who was also surprised by this information.
"Yes. One thousand to ascend to Monster, two thousand to ascend to Demon, three thousand to Devil, and so on."
"And what rank are you?"
"Halfway to becoming a Devil. I still have to kill about a thousand or so. Last time I checked."
"Oh, right, before I forget," Uriel approached Cassie and transferred the memory of the Armor of Four Senses to her.
"Did you just give me a memory?" asked Cassie, unsure.
"Yes," Uriel smiled, returning to his seat.
"It's an Ascended armor of the second tier that I got from killing the fallen monster. It has several enchantments to help you. Why don't you try it on?"
Cassie nodded and equipped the Armor of Four Senses. A shower of threads enveloped her body, finally revealing her new outfit.
The armor consisted of a one-piece black dress with long white sleeves, a breastplate protecting her upper torso in a light gray color with blue lines, her legs protected by high armored boots, along with a black blindfold covering her eyes.
Cassie froze for a moment before trembling slightly.
"I can... I can feel everything around me, as if I could see clearly," said Cassie, happily.
Uriel smiled.
"That armor has a total of four enchantments, all passive, so you don't need to be awakened to use them."
"What are these enchantments?" asked Nephis with interest.
"Well, they are..."
[Sensory Field] The user can sense everything around them within a 100-meter radius, giving them a mental image of everything they sense.
[Protection] This enchantment provides strong physical and mental attack protection.
[Physical Reinforcement] Physical abilities are passively increased.
[Sightless Enhancement] Enhances the previous abilities for users who lack the sense of sight.
The eyes of the three, except Cassie, were wide at the four enchantments and the fact that Uriel gave it away so easily.
"Don't worry, I have gifts for you two as well. Sunny, give me your hand," said Uriel.
Sunny did so with a bit of distrust. Uriel took his hand and transferred the memory of the Black Mask, making Sunny blink and feel the awakened armor of the fifth tier.
"Nephis, your hand," he requested. After taking her soft hand, he transferred the Infernal Armor, an awakened memory of the fourth tier.
"Well, those were my gifts."
"Why do you give them away so easily?" asked Sunny.
"Because we're friends. It's as simple as that," said Uriel with a smile, causing Sunny's eyes to widen. Nephis said nothing, and Cassie seemed like they all felt a little guilty.
No, rather, Uriel realized it was Sunny and Nephis, and Cassie seemed on the verge of tears but held it back.
'Shade, are you thinking the same thing I am?' Uriel asked in his mind.
Shade sighed.
'Yes, it seems that because we literally shattered the destined events, fate will somehow make us take Nephis's place to stay here, which was our original plan anyway,' said Shade.
'I guess we'll ascend naturally, then.'
The place fell into a somewhat strange silence. Uriel left the three to their own thoughts while tossing a piece or two of wood into the fire. The meat was already gone, eaten by the four of them.
Since it was night, they would have to move in the morning.
...
The night passed quietly.
And the next day, they left the tower. Uriel guided them through the ruins of the city. Cassie tested her new armor, and thanks to its passive enchantments, the girl moved with great agility as if she weren't actually blind, which increased their overall pace.
As always, Uriel was debating in his mind with Shade about various silly internet theories and intense debates about whether the human version of My Little Pony would be considered furry.
In the end, they reached a stalemate after several mental screams.
"Hey, Uriel, are you okay?" asked Sunny. "You look strange."
"Huh?... Oh, don't mind me. I'm just arguing with someone about whether sleeping with a human-shaped animal would be considered bestiality or intraspecies love," said Uriel, causing the three to freeze in confusion.
"We reached a technical impasse," he summarized.
"I forget you're crazy," said Sunnyless, amused.
"The only crazy one here is you, yelling at your shadow."
"That was only once," Sunnyless defended himself.
"Sure..." said Uriel with a blank face.
"A nightmare creature is approaching. It's an awakened monster," said Cassie, sensing the monster entering her sensory limit.
Uriel nodded.
"Well, ignore it," said Uriel.
A few seconds later, the monster arrived, attacking Uriel, who summoned a sword and, with a simple movement, cut the dog-like mutated monster, the size of a horse, in half.
"Well, let's continue," he said, taking out the two soul shards and crushing them in his hand, ignoring the surprised faces of the three, who had fought an awakened monster and almost died, while Uriel simply killed it like an insect.
Sunny wondered if Uriel had accompanied them during the two months they spent in the labyrinth, things would have been incredibly easy.
'The bastard is like the cheat character in a game,' Sunny thought.
"Sunny, I'm not a cheat character. And no, I can't read minds. I just know what you're thinking by your face," replied Uriel, turning slightly, making Sunny open and then close his mouth while Cassie and Nephis laughed lightly.
This angered Sunny.
As they advanced through the ruins, the three were surprised not to find even traces of nightmare creatures in the nearby areas.
"Why aren't there many creatures?" asked Nephis.
"We eliminated most of them in this area. It turns out that 700 sleepers besieging and massacring hundreds of awakened monsters and beasts caused most of them to run away to another zone before we eliminated them too," said Uriel.
"You're crazy, you and everyone who follows you."
"Hey, I'm not crazy. I'm just a normal guy with a normal life," he said, amused.
Finally, after another hour of walking, they reached the road made of white stone, which they used until they reached the zenith of the hill, offering a full view of the bright castle.
After looking away from the castle, Sunny and Nephis observed dozens and dozens of sleepers moving quite animatedly. Some talked among themselves, others drank and ate. The two realized that everyone possessed armor and weapons they had obtained by killing nightmare creatures, and unlike the ruins of the houses, those in these zones seemed to be in slightly better condition.
There was food, chatter, and laughter.
"Did you achieve all this?" asked Sunny, surprised.
"It was a joint effort from everyone. Oh, right, come on. Let's saturate your soul cores. We must still have a few thousand fragments left from the Lord of the Dead hunt."
Sunny's eyes widened like saucers, and he almost tripped.
Sunny reached a conclusion.
Uriel wasn't human. He was a legendary entity who shattered, time and again, the moral sense of this insane and strange world.