"How long have I been asleep?" Sunny asked his shadows.
They answered with looks of concern. He exhaled in annoyance at the sight. He hadn't meant to say that sentence aloud, but it had slipped out all the same, as his thoughts so often did these days.
Sunny had developed a dangerous habit of speaking his thoughts out loud, one he would have to break sooner rather than later. It wouldn't do to go around parading his secrets if he somehow managed to overcome the Nightmare.
Hah. What a funny joke that was.
"Yes, yes, I know," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "Now answer the actual question."
They continued to stare at him for a moment longer before finally acquiescing. Gloomy raised two fingers, while Happy made a circular motion that clearly indicated hours.
"Only two hours?" Sunny muttered, incredulity coloring his voice.
He couldn't tell how long he had spent inside the dream, but for all of it to have happened in just two hours? That didn't feel right. Not at all.
The passage of time inside the mind hex had been… strange. Warped. It had felt incredibly slow and incredibly fast at the same time, stretching and compressing in ways that defied logic. If not for Gloomy and Happy's answer—and the fact that he didn't feel particularly hungry or thirsty—he would have assumed he'd been trapped inside for weeks. Months, even.
The experience itself felt paradoxically real and false at the same time. He could recall his conversations with the illusory versions of Effie and Kai with perfect clarity, every word etched into his memory. He even remembered speaking to some of his clients—although, frustratingly, he couldn't recall a single concrete detail about who those clients were. He could also remember fragments of his dream self's life, vague impressions and half-formed memories that were already growing turbid, slipping away faster with each passing second.
And then there was that woman. The one who had taken center stage in the dream.
Sunny could still feel the phantom warmth of her lips on his. He blushed despite himself. He could recall the subtle scent of her perfume, the comfort and safety he'd felt when she embraced him—his blush deepened—and the unshakable conviction in her voice whenever she spoke about her dreams and hopes for the future.
In a world of lies, she was the only truth.
So why had she gone to such lengths?
Why lie about loving him when she could have remained just a friend, without risk or deception?
Why?
Just… why?
At first, he'd experienced frequent moments of disconnection from the dream world—brief flashes of awareness that something was wrong. But those moments had weakened with every second he spent inside the hex. By the time of their—not—date, he couldn't have freed himself any more.
If she hadn't made the mistake of lying so blatantly, he might very well never have woken up at all.
Sunny ran a hand through his hair in irritation, fingers digging into his scalp.
It didn't bode well.
Not in the slightest.
He had been completely helpless. And whoever had cast the hex was nowhere to be found.
Whether it had been a person or a Nightmare Creature that had ensnared him in the mind hex didn't really matter. What mattered was that they had done so without revealing themselves—and that he hadn't been able to escape on his own.
Sunny extended his hand, palm up. A second later, the [Read This] Memory materialized and fell neatly into it. Weaver's book, transformed into a Memory for the sake of convenience.
He flipped through the pages quickly, his movements bordering on frantic, desperately hoping that he'd overlooked something during earlier perusals.
He hadn't.
There was no enchantment that directly boosted mental resistance. The defensive enchantments woven into the [Puppeteer's Shroud] and the [Underworld Mantle] were far too complex for him to decipher yet. Maybe staying a little longer in the Temple to develop his skills wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all.
Sunny dismissed the book with an annoyed exhale and forced himself to move on. He had been dealing with hexes ever since he arrived to The Tears. This one would be no different.
Turning, his gaze fell on Saint, who still stood guard beside the door, unmoving and vigilant, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
He smiled faintly. "Thanks, Saint."
She nodded, the motion so subtle it was almost imperceptible.
Sunny approached the doors silently. He needed to check whether the Corrupted Beast outside was still there—and more importantly, whether it was still asleep.
It was.
He nodded to his shadows, silently instructing them to spread out and scout the surrounding area. Five nerve-wracking minutes later, they returned with both good news and bad.
The Corrupted sleeping in front of the cathedral was the only one of its kind nearby. However, there were dozens—perhaps even hundreds—of Dormant Beasts in the vicinity. There were also around ten Awakened creatures, and even one Fallen.
Every single one of them was asleep.
"It's too much of a coincidence," Sunny muttered under his breath. "Whoever put me under a mind hex doesn't discriminate."
The implications were troubling. Putting both a Corrupted Beast and a Dormant Terror like himself to sleep at the same time was one thing. Doing the same to who knew how many other creatures was something else entirely.
The perpetrator had to be a Transcendent, at the very least.
Even worse, they had put him to sleep without any obvious signs beyond simple yawns. His Remembrance Chain—something that was always running—had made no difference at all. That alone lent further credence to his theory, considering the only other being who had ever bypassed it so effortlessly was Wrath, a Corrupted Beast.
He needed a countermeasure. And he needed one fast.
But first things first.
Sunny's attention returned to the Corrupted Beast sprawled in front of the cathedral. If he wanted to leave, he would have to pass dangerously close to it. The risk of waking it up was too great to simply ignore.
"Saint," he whispered as he stepped away from the narrow gap between the gates. "Can you kill it in one blow?"
She stepped forward and peered through the opening, her ruby eyes glowing ominously behind her helm. For a long moment, she simply watched the creature, silently calculating. Then she nodded.
A smile spread across Sunny's face. He'd expected nothing less, but confirmation was always reassuring.
He extended his arm again, summoning the [Silver Bell], and rang it immediately. Instead of its usual melodious chime, however, no sound emerged.
Instead, an invisible bubble expanded outward, swallowing all sound within its radius. The silencing charm was one of the simplest enchantments in Weaver's book, but it had already proven its worth many times over.
All of Sunny's shadows—with the sole exception of the strange, inert one—coiled around Saint, imbuing her with incredible might. He trusted her skill and judgment implicitly, but he would rather be safe than sorry. Overconfidence was a slow and insidious killer, and he had no intention of falling victim to it.
With preparations complete, Saint pushed the gates open. They resisted stubbornly, and without the silencing barrier, the noise alone might have woken the dead.
Once there was enough space for her to move freely, she stepped out. In just two seconds, she reached the sleeping Corrupted. Saint raised her stone sword high and brought it down in a single, fluid motion—a simple yet elegant chop that looked like a work of art.
Sunny had prepared for numerous outcomes. He'd mapped out no fewer than eleven escape routes in case Saint failed to kill it in one strike. He even had contingencies for the possibility that the commotion might wake the other sleeping creatures.
He needn't have worried.
The stone blade passed through the creature's neck as if it were cutting warm butter, and its severed head rolled across the ground.
[You have slain a Corrupted Beast, Reynauld of Aleras]
[Your shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a Memory: Edge of Solace]
Well. That had been anticlimactic.
Relieved to have avoided a prolonged battle, Sunny gave Saint an enthusiastic thumbs-up. She responded with what looked suspiciously like a proud nod.
[Memory Name: Edge of Solace]
[Memory Description: Lost and broken, they welcomed the Lady with open arms, unwittingly embracing the one who would become their doom.]
[Enchantments: Gift of Solace]
[Gift of Solace: A sliver of the solace brought by the Lady still rests within this blade. Those struck by it will slowly, but inevitably, fall into a deep slumber.]
His first Transcendent weapon.
Overjoyed, Sunny summoned it immediately—an action he regretted the instant he did.
The blade appeared in his open palm, but before he could even properly examine it, its sheer weight forced him to let go. Any longer and it might have crushed his hand outright. The damn thing must have weighed as much as an elephant—whatever that was.
The crater it left in the stone floor upon impact proved the point. Thankfully, the silencing bubble was still active.
Once the dust settled, Sunny finally got a proper look at the weapon. It resembled a German zweihander—Teacher Julius had shown him plenty of illustrations of ancient weapons—except this one was twice as wide. Instead of being double-edged, the left side was sharpened while the right was lined with vicious spikes. All in all, it looked dangerous and deadly.
A pity he couldn't use it.
Even empowered by all six shadows, it was too heavy to wield comfortably, and its sheer length made it unwieldy in his hands. With a resigned sigh, he offered it to Saint. She took it easily with one arm and swung it in a few practice arcs, making the massive blade look completely weightless.
At least she seemed pleased.
Sunny couldn't wait for this Nightmare to end. He was beyond tired of being weak.
-------------------------------------------
Sunny crept carefully through the window. The silencing charm was still active—the essence cost was negligible, and with infinite essence thanks to the [Ring of Sorrow], there was no reason to let it lapse—but even so, he preferred not to tempt fate. He had already passed many creatures on the way here, all of them sound asleep, yet he wasn't foolish enough to assume there were no exceptions.
Once he cleared the window's ledge, he slipped fully into the room. It appeared to be a dining room, an impression immediately reinforced by the large table positioned at its center, still set with plates of rotting food.
Four Dormant Beasts lay sprawled around the table, asleep amid shattered fragments of wood that Sunny strongly suspected had once been chairs.
His theory grew more convincing by the minute.
After scavenging the shard from the Corrupted he had slain earlier, Sunny had killed the Fallen and several Awakened creatures as well. Every single one of them had possessed a name.
When that fact was combined with the remains of clothing many of the creatures wore—the ones before him included—and the way they appeared to have been in the middle of ordinary tasks before collapsing, the picture became painfully clear.
Everyone inside the city had been corrupted. Every last one of them had been transformed into a Nightmare Creature.
Sunny examined the food more closely. Judging by its state of decomposition, it must have occurred around two days ago. Three at most.
Unless it had happened earlier and the people in this room had simply resisted longer. He doubted that, though. If even a Saint had succumbed, there was no reason to believe ordinary people could have lasted long.
He exhaled slowly, silently mourning the fact that there was almost certainly no one left in the city who remained uncorrupted.
He had hoped to find fellow humans within the Nightmare—people he could learn from, maybe even rely on for assistance.
But more than anything else, he had hoped for someone he could talk with, not just to.
"Probably my fault," Sunny muttered bitterly. "Even the Spell calls hope a poison, and I keep swallowing it anyway."
Shaking his head to dispel the creeping melancholy, he climbed back out through the window. He had wanted to confirm whether people inside the houses were corrupted as well, and now he had his answer.
Back outside, he glanced up at the sky. It was still night. The moon hadn't shifted even a millimeter, despite nine hours having passed since his arrival. He hoped it simply meant the nights here were long—not that days didn't exist at all. He missed the sun more than he cared to admit.
Pushing the thought aside for later, Sunny climbed onto the rooftop, gaining a clearer view of his surroundings.
He appeared to be in what passed for a medieval suburban neighborhood. Rows of single-story houses stretched outward, moderately sized, brightly painted, and richly decorated. Each home had a small parcel of land attached to it, though it seemed more ornamental than practical.
Behind him, if he squinted, he could still make out the roof of the cathedral he had landed on. It remained close—unsurprising, given how cautiously he had moved to minimize risk.
And further ahead, if he tilted his gaze just slightly upward, he could see the center of Aleras, where the tower rose above everything else. He did not dare to stare at it for long.
A shiver ran down his spine at the mere glimpse, and he forcefully pushed the image from his mind before turning back toward his objective. Ahead lay the city walls, crowned by the softly glowing silvery barrier.
He continued by leaping from rooftop to rooftop, vigilant for any sign of danger. There was none. Every creature he spotted remained deeply asleep—but he refused to relax his guard.
Two hours later, he reached the walls and began climbing. They were tall, but mercifully not as towering as those of the Dark City, and he reached the top without much trouble.
"I really need to get a flying Memory," Sunny grumbled as he vaulted over the parapet.
He could have asked Serpent to transform into a Spire Messenger and fly on his back—he had done so during his journey to Aleras—but that form was far too big and conspicuous. He wasn't willing to risk being seen.
Still muttering under his breath, Sunny took in the view beyond the walls. The barrier was slightly translucent, allowing him to see vast fields of lush, green grass stretching into the distance. He could have sworn he saw human figures moving far away, but they were too distant to be certain.
For a brief moment, he considered shouting or signaling in some way. In the end, he dismissed the idea. If those outside could notice him, so could whatever lurked within the city—and that was a risk he couldn't afford.
Besides, even if he was seen, it wouldn't matter as long as the barrier remained intact.
Summoning the [Safebox of Greed], Sunny retrieved a simple wooden stick and cautiously poked the barrier, ready to drop it at the first sign of danger.
The stick made contact and stopped instantly, unable to advance even a millimeter further. Encountering resistance but nothing else, Sunny pushed harder, still poised to retreat.
Nothing happened—except the stick snapping under the applied force.
Examining it, Sunny found no damage on it beyond what he himself had caused. That suggested it was meant purely to prevent passage, not to also retaliate.
Next, he summoned the [Midnight Shard] and struck the barrier. The result was identical. The now-Ascended Memory had no more luck than the stick had, which didn't change when he tried again while empowered by his shadows and essence.
For his final test, Sunny summoned Saint and bestowed upon her both his shadows and the [Wrathful Might] charm.
She studied the silvery barrier for a moment, then shook her head, clearly unconvinced. Even so, she complied, striking the barrier with the [Edge of Solace] using all her strength.
Nothing.
"So escape isn't an option," Sunny said quietly.
He had expected as much, but it had still been worth confirming. He doubted he could dig his way out either, but he would try later just to be sure.
A dark snort of amusement escaped him. Of course it wouldn't be that simple.
The easy path was closed. Which meant that if he wanted to leave alive, he would have to resolve whatever conflict lay at the heart of this Nightmare.
Test complete, Sunny turned around and finally tried to look at the tower in the center of the city.
Tried being the key word.
A dense, unnatural darkness completely surrounded it, swallowing all light and denying his vision any insight into what lay beyond. Worse still, the darkness shifted and writhed, as though it were alive.
"Whatever I have to do," Sunny murmured, "it's definitely related to that tower."
The conclusion was obvious, and deeply unsettling. The tower was the only thing that remained in the present, it was the focal point of the city, the anchor of the time reversal, and the only structure singled out during the mind hex itself.
The obvious answer brought him no comfort. Anything crafted by a Daemon was dangerous beyond measure. The mere memory of the [Where Is My Eye] enchantment in [Weaver's Mask] was enough to make his blood run cold.
"Enough moping. Get to work," he muttered to himself.
Weaver's book appeared in his hand once more. He flipped through the pages until he found the enchantment he needed near the very end. After committing it to memory, he retrieved a makeshift arrow and an Awakened shard from the safebox and began weaving.
The enchantment was simple—mercifully so—and he finished shortly after.
[Memory Name: Sunny Arrow]
[Memory Description: The power of the sun in the palm of my hand.]
[Enchantment: Flashbang]
[Flashbang: Explodes into bright light on collision. Reminder to self: Use on Effie the next time she wakes me up by snoring too loudly.]
It wasn't his finest work, but he doubted he'd need it often. In fact, it was the first time he'd ever woven that enchantment at all—he could see through normal darkness perfectly, after all. Elemental darkness though? It was a whole other beast.
Sunny summoned the [Bow of the Lone Hunter] and handed it, along with the arrow, to Saint. Then he summoned the [Dark Wing] and leapt from the wall to a nearby rooftop, continuing to jump until he'd put a safe distance between himself and the firing point, all while maintaining a clear view.
If he was going to enter the damn tower, he wasn't doing it blind.
Since neither he nor his shadows could see through the darkness, light was the obvious solution. If it worked, he would gain information. If it didn't… well, that was information too. Even if it was the kind he desperately hoped to avoid.
Creating distance was a precaution. If something intelligent lurked behind that darkness, the odds that it could trace the attack back to its source were far from negligible.
Sunny signaled Saint.
She fired immediately.
Reinforced by his shadows, the arrow streaked toward the tower, covering the distance in mere seconds. Just before it struck, Sunny dismissed Saint and recalled his shadows.
What followed was blinding.
Viewing the result through Happy, Sunny realized he hadn't exaggerated nearly enough. The flash was overwhelming, a miniature sun erupting against the darkness. It was almost funny.
A thunderous, pained hiss echoed through the city.
The light faded—and with it, any lingering humor.
Coiled around the tower was a cyclopean serpent.
Its scale defied comprehension, its immense body stretching far beyond the limits of Sunny's vision, looping and coiling like a living horizon. Each movement was slow and deliberate, graceful in a way that made its enormity feel almost elegant. Its scales shimmered with iridescent obsidian and deep emerald hues, reflecting what little light dared to touch them.
A miasma of darkness poured from between its scales like smoke from a bottomless abyss. The air warped around it, light bent and died, and sound itself seemed to be devoured by its presence. The creature did not merely exist within the world—it erased it.
Another deafening hiss rang out as the serpent's head snapped toward where Saint had been moments earlier. Its abyssal eyes absorbed the scene with a terrifying intelligence utterly at odds with its monstrous form.
A minute twitch—so small he would have missed it without his mastery of [Shadow Dance]—was the only warning Sunny received.
It was barely enough.
He dove behind a chimney just as the serpent's gaze swept across the rooftops, hunting for the one responsible. Had he been even half a second slower, it would have seen him.
The result in that scenario was obvious. He would have died.
There was no doubt about it.
That thing was a Great Beast.
Hysterical laughter threatened to burst from Sunny's chest, only to be violently suppressed as he clamped a hand over his mouth hard enough to bruise.
How was he supposed to beat that?
HOW?!
There was no time to think any further.
A crushing wave of drowsiness slammed into him with the weight of a mountain, and his eyes closed instantly.
-------------------------------------------
Transcendent Sunless opened his eyes, feeling like he hadn't slept nearly enough.
He yawned and rolled out of bed regardless. Once awake, he was never able to fall asleep again, so he might as well make use of the early hour.
He went about his day calmly, without any hurry. Ten minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed and ready to face whatever challenges the day might bring.
Sunny walked into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for two, internally lampooning the fact that he always seemed to be the one doing the cooking.
Time slipped by, and just as he was finishing, two arms wrapped around his waist from behind. Someone hugged him close, resting their head on his shoulder.
"That smells great," a voice whispered in his ear.
In response, Sunny lightly jabbed his elbow backward—not an attack, just a playful warning. She still grunted dramatically, acting as though she'd been gravely wounded.
"Why do you always have to be so mean?" she complained. "You'll never find a wife like that, you know."
Sunny didn't need to turn around to picture the exaggerated pout on her face.
"Who says I'm looking?" he shot back. "If you're already up, stop wasting time and set the table."
"Always so grumpy in the mornings," she teased. "But it's fine. I love you just the way you are."
He rolled his eyes. Then, just to make sure she noticed, he turned around and did it again.
She stood there, beautiful beyond words. Dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin—an image so striking it almost felt unreal.
She was… what was her name again?
A flicker of wrongness stirred inside him, only to vanish an instant later.
Her name had always been forgettable. Even back when they were kids. She'd been his best friend for as long as he could remember. They'd been together since… since he had memory.
Shaking his head to dispel the strange sensation of wrongness, Sunny returned to pondering how she'd managed to convince him to share a home during their guard duty in Aleras, despite him knowing full well how much of a slob she was.
Oh well.
It didn't matter.
Sunny wouldn't have it any other way.