As it turned out, Nephis had not found a Gatewayto escape the Dream Realm and Awaken.
Instead, after two long years of solitude andrelentless battles for survival, she had found aSeed of Nightmare and conquered the SecondTrial of the Spell as a Sleeper.
She had done it alone.
At least that was the only way Sunny could explainthe runes he was staring at.
Ascended.
'That is impossible.'
Surviving the Second Nightmare was alreadynot easy for a cohort of prepared Awakened.More people perished while trying thanreturned victorious. How could a lone Sleeper accomplish the same?
No one had done it before.
However… no Sleeper had been a Tyrant before.
No Sleeper had escaped alive from a battle witha Corrupted horror of the depths before.
No Sleeper had slain a Fallen Terror before.
Nephis had long established her penchant foraccomplishing the impossible. Why was Sunny so surprised that she had done it again?
No, he wasn't surprised. He was… dismayed.
A deep, unsettling emotion nestled in his chest, making his face grow dark and his eyes grow dim.The shadows around him seemed to becomedeeper.
'...Doesn't matter. That doesn't change anything.The important part is that she is back. Who cares how she returned?'
But it did matter. To him, it was of paramountimportance. His obsession with becoming more powerful than Nephis was not born out of simple vanity or empty pride. Someone else might have been tempted to chase
power just for the sweetness of it, but to Sunny,being anything else than the strongest was an existential threat.
? As he sat in stunned silence, the sound of hurriedfootsteps resounded near him. Looking up, Sunny saw Effie pushing her way through the crowd. She was not shy about using her prodigious strength, so people did not really
have any choice except to let her pass. EvenInstructor Rock, who had appeared ten minutes earlier, had to politely make way.
…The big man had been the person to send Nephis into the Dream Realm. It was no wonderthat he dropped everything to come and wait withthe rest of them. Sunny felt a bit touched.
The huntress finally reached them and frozefor a moment, then asked hoarsely: "Sunny, Cassie! Is it true? Princess is back?"
Sunny looked at her for a bit, then simply nodded.
"Yes. I… I passed her to the healers with my owntwo hands."
Effie did not move for several seconds. Then, awide grin split her face. It looked as if she was on the verge of starting to howl again.
"Hell yes! I never had a doubt! No NightmareCreature exists that can keep that pampered psycho down!"
Sunny couldn't help but smile a little, infected by her jubilation.
Before too long, Kai arrived, as well. Usually, hisappearance would have caused a stir, but right now, no one paid the former idol any attention.
When he received the confirmation, an expression of profound relief appeared on the young man'sbeautiful face. Kai swayed a little, and then leaned on the wall to keep himself upright.
"Gods… thank the gods…"
Sunny had not realized it, but his friend must havebeen blaming himself for leaving Nephis behind all that time. He was truly too decent of a person for this vile world, and infected by a misguided sense of nobility to boot.
Knowing that he had escaped the hell of theForgotten Shore because of someone else's sacrifice must have pressed down upon him a lot.
The four of them huddled together and waited.Sunny silently observed the faces of his friends, seeing sincere happiness and relief written all over them. Some… Kai especially… looked on the verge of getting emotional.
Unlike him, they had no reason to feel a strangeambivalence about Changing Star's return.
And looking at them, Sunny decided to ignore thedarker part of his mind for a bit, too.
Whatever happened, he would have to deal with it then. If he had to die to avoid becoming a slave, hewould. If he had to kill in order to remain free… that was not out of the question, as well.
But for now, he chose to just share this raremoment of joy with his friends. The founder of their cohort was back, after all.
Soom, the armored doors finally opened, and oneof the Awakened healers in the employ of theAcademy appeared from them.
Everyone gathered in the waiting area held theirbreaths. Even Morgan of Valor looked up from her communicator, strange sparks igniting in her vermillion eyes.
One of the government agents couldn't containherself and asked: "How… how is she? Lady Changing Star is really back?"
The healer lingered for a moment, and then nodded.
"She is. Her physical condition is fine… better than fine, even. Perfect. As for her mentalcondition, we will know when she wakes up.Lady Nephis is currently sleeping."
Someone from the crowd immediately spoke:
"Sleeping? Do you mean that she is back inthe Dream Realm?!" The healer hesitated, then slowly shook her head.
"No. Lady Nephis seems to have… Ascended.So, she is simply asleep." For a moment, the crowd seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
And then, all hell broke loose.
Despite the government's attempts to stall for timeand control the narrative, just in a few minutes, the incredible news of Changing Star's return spread across the network.
Not long after that, another explosive rumorappeared, claiming that she was now a Master.
Just like that, all of humanity learned that Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan, the descendant of the two legendary pioneers and the famed hero of theForgotten Shore, had become the first human inhistory to conquer the Second Nightmare as a Sleeper, thus jumping Ranks, and returned to the waking world unscathed.
Her already prolific fame and exalted statusinstantly soared as high as the sun.
While Nephis slept, her arrival was alreadycreating titanic waves in the mindset of millions ofpeople. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
In front of the Awakened Academy, a hundredthousand candles continued to burn despite the falling snow.
...And cast by their flames, a hundred thousandshadows danced on the ground.
Chapter 767 Measure Of Strength
The news of Changing Star's return spread across the world like wildfire. The network practically exploded with an endless amount of discussions. Everyone wanted to share their excitement andcelebrate the homecoming of the young hero who, without a doubt, was going to become one of the most powerful champions of humanity soon.
While exaggerated, the reaction of both mundane humans and Awakened
alike was easy to understand. In this dark andfragile world that balanced on the verge of destruction, everyone longed for something to illuminate their lives and chase their fears away. Everyone desperately searched for hope.
Thinking about it, Sunny couldn't help butremember the description of Neph's Aspect. Light Bringer…
[You are a creature of light that was banished and doomed to exist in the darkness. You bringradiance and warmth to wherever you go, butwith it comes indescribable longing.]
Was hope the longing it talked about? Longingwas just another word for desire, after all…
In any case, the government had long used Nephisto satiate that desire. They had constructed an uplifting narrative around the events of the
Forgotten Shore and made her the linchpin of the story.
No matter how much Sunny hated the abhorrent movie adaptation that had been rushed throughproduction soon after their Awakening, he had toadmit that it was a sign of how deeply the survivors of the Dreamer Army and
their leader had affected the public.
To be fair, the government had not needed to work too hard to turn Changing Star into an iconicfigure. Her achievements had truly been singular and remarkable. Her perceived martyrdom had truly been compelling.
What was more, Nephis had inherited an alreadyestablished and powerful legend simply on account of her birthright. Her grandfather was the first human to conquer the Second Nightmare andbecome a Master. Her father was the first to conquer the Third and become a Saint. Both of them were great warriors, pioneers, and revered heroes of humanity.
…And now, she had joined their ranks bybecoming the first human to Ascend directly from being a Sleeper.
Considering all that, he was not surprised to see how intensely people reacted to the news. Already, there were a lot of discussions on the network predicting that Changing Star would inevitably become the first to conquer the Fourth Nightmareand push humanity one step closer to salvation, asher parents and grandfather had done.
If only they knew…
If only they knew that Sovereigns had alreadygiven up on their world, and that very soon, hundreds of millions of people would probably die for it.
And that the hero they were praising had much grander ambitions.
Conquer the Fourth Nightmare? No, that was too trivial for Changing Star of the Immortal Flameclan. She was going to conquer all Nightmares.She was going to destroy the Spell itself…
Or at least try to, even if the waking world had to burn as the consequence.
While the government agents ran around with panicked expressions and most of the waiting crowd dissipated, Sunny found himself leaving the group and walking away to find something to eat.Morgan of Valor had left some time ago, so he did not feel too threatened.
'Oh, right… the true negotiations ended up neverhappening. I wonder what it means for my future…'
Eventually, he settled in the hospital's cafeteria andforced himself to
swallow some food. A few years ago, he would have been ecstatic to be
able to feast on high-quality food like that. Butnow, he did not even feel the taste of various dishes. They might as well have been mimic meat or synthpaste.
Sunny sat quietly, consumed by thoughts, when Effie suddenly appeared nearby and landed on a chair near him. There was a mountain of food on her own tray. The huntress looked at him with asmile: "Great minds think alike, huh?"
She took a bite out of a small cake, then swallowedit entirely and said with satisfaction: "The healers want us four to come help them when Nephis wakes up. You know, in case she becomes... agitated again."
Sunny silentlynodded. Effie sighed.
"I can't believe that she just went and Ascended…well, I can actually. It is still amazing, though! Neph must have one hell of a crazy story to tell. It might even be more unbelievable than our own."
He shrugged, then put a spoonful of something mildly spicy in his mouth.
The huntress studied him for a while, thensuddenly said: "You know… for someone who was just reunited with their first and best friend, you don't look too happy, doofus."
Sunny glanced at her.
"Who said that weare friends?" Effie scoffed.
"Don't lie to me, Sunny. I know how you feelabout Nephis, and how much of it you feel. What's up with you?"
He grimaced.
"Lie? How can I lie?"
Sunny lowered his eyes, hesitated for a while, and then said quietly: "Stronger… I wanted to bestronger than her. I really, really tried. And to be honest, I am very annoyed that all of it was for nothing."
The huntress looked at him with a strange expression.
"Is that why you were in such a hurry to challengethe Second Nightmare?" He leaned back and turned away.
"...Yeah. That was a big part of it."
Effie lingered for a bit, then slowly shook her head.
"Listen, Sunny. I am really sorry to say this… butyou will never be stronger than Nephis."
He looked at her sharply, sparks of anger ignitingin his eyes: "Oh yeah? Why is that?"
She sighed.
"It's very simple, really. Both of you are exceptional, talented, and have great will. Both ofyou are incredibly strong. But, Sunny… it doesn'tmatter how fast you gain a new Rank, how many Nightmare Creatures you kill,
how many soul fragments you absorb. Shewill always be ahead." She looked him in the eyes and said soberly:
"It's because she has something that you lack.Nephis, she has... conviction, Sunny. And you don't. As long as that doesn't change, you will always be behind."
As he stared at her with resentment, Effie suddenly grinned and shrugged.
"But hey… who cares? I have even less convictionthan you, and I'm doing great. Who needs it, anyway… I would much rather have a full belly than something like that!"
With that, she laughed and returned to her food,not paying the conversation any more attention.
Sunny, however, remained still for some time.
A somber expression appeared on his face. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 After a while, he sighed and silently resumed eating his meal. 'Conviction… conviction... who needs it, indeed…'