As hundreds of Aspects were unleashed and utter destruction reigned on the battlefield, Sunny did his best to work out a plan.
In truth, he knew that fighting for Valor was in the wrong. It went against what he believed in, but at the same time, he just couldn't bring himself to stand to the side.
Not only would Neph be in serious danger, but Saint Tyris and her family were all forced to the front lines. The White Feather Clan were Vassals of the King of Swords, but they had always been good to Sunny. He would even say that Sky Tide was the only Saint he genuinely respected besides Gehrman.
So, he didn't want to see her suffer either.
On the other hand, choosing the side of Valor may not have been as stupid as he originally thought.
With Anvil apparently having made his presence known (somehow) in the Dream Realm, it was entirely possible he would cross over to the Waking World afterward to clean up the forces of Song.
His personal interference was far beyond Sunny's expectations, in fact, it was probably beyond Song's expectations as well.
For all intents and purposes Valor only had to hold out until a Supreme cleaned up a Saint.
However, that Saint was Gehrman.
Sunny didn't think that Gehrman could kill Anvil, but he also wasn't confident in the Supreme's abilities to finish off that alien existence.
It was entirely possible that their fight would last longer than the one happening in the Waking World.
Damnation.
This was a terrible scenario.
The battle began, and Sunny couldn't help but notice how an opening in the Song forces was carved open in an instant.
I almost forgot how terrifying that guy really is.
It was unnerving to think about how much power Caster could muster with his Dormant Ability alone. Not only that, he had improved several times over as a warrior due to his tutelage under Gehrman while also having multiple Caryll Runes equipped.
Now that he thought about it, there were people on both sides with Caryll Runes.
Sunny had those that enhanced Endurance in order to help make sure he could stay up long to focus on Weaving.
Caster had some more defensive ones.
Seishan had a few as well, though Sunny wasn't sure which ones.
And even Mordret had a few equipped.
The Shadows around Sunny surged and grew to engulf him as his face twisted into a grimace.
As his body turned into a shadow, the shell that he summoned connected and manifested with it. It was a trick that he had mastered all on his own during the last few weeks.
Shadow Shell relied on his ability to control Shadows that he got from his Ascended Ability and his power to become a Shadow– a byproduct of his Awakened Ability.
With these two combined, he could essentially transform his very shape.
The body he now took on was that of a Devil. The very same Shadow Creature that he had inhabited during his 2nd Nightmare. Familiar with the towering fiends multiple arms, powerful tail, and dreadful appearance, Sunny felt his strength multiply.
Furthermore, he wrapped himself in his Shadow, further enhancing his strength.
The Stone Saint, the dread horse Nightmare, and the Ravenous Fiend all split off. Sunny offered them each a shadow, empowering them and allowing them to become even deadlier.
Saint and Nightmare joined together while Fiend scrambled off to find something suitable to consume.
This left Sunny with only 2 of his shadows to enhance himself.
Indeed, at the moment, he had five total shadows. It had taken a while, but just recently he had managed to form his 5th Shadow Core, becoming a Tyrant.
He was desperately happy for that boost in strength now.
The situation was already developing into an utter mess.
On instinct and despite himself, he reached out with the Enchantment on his attire once more. This time not to Caster, but to someone on the opposing forces.
[Mordret, can you hear me?]
There was a beat of silence before a voice full of mirth returned his greeting.
[Sunless, how nice of you to reach out. I trust you have some explanation for standing under my family's banner. I thought we had grown quite close, and I admit this betrayal has stung quite a bit.]
Sunny seethed beneath the multitude of shadows that made up his devilish form.
[We are not close, we never got close, I still despise you, I am just reaching out because of…professional courtesy. I wanted to give you a heads up that Caster and I have worked out a deal, he's not siding with Valor. So if you had plans to kill him, I'd appreciate it if you held off.]
[Asking for mercy from an enemy in the middle of a war? How unlike you Sunless. I admit, I was planning on cutting that guy down to size. I find it hard to believe such a powerful Aspect is only the Ascended Rank. He may just be the most terrifying Master on the battlefield besides us. I doubt even my dear sister could kill him.]
[So?]
[...I was planning on sending the Reflection of my dear Uncle to deal with him, but I suppose one of Silent Stalker would offer a more fair challenge. That is, if you can give me a good reason. Even if he does not truly join Valor, he still is fighting for them today. It's hard to resist cutting him, and you for that matter, down.]
A great deal of annoyance and begrudging acceptance filled Sunny. It pissed him off, but he said what was undeniably the truth.
[Because none of us are enemies. There are only two people that need to die. Your dear old dad, and Ki Song. They're the ones inciting this senseless war, and they're the ones that need to be taken out. We aren't enemies Mordret. Even if I hate you, none of us who went to that weird ass bachelor party have anything to gain from hurting each other. We are all on the same side.]
The skies thundered and split overhead as the battles of flying Nightmare Creatures and Sky Tide reached a climax. The smell of storms spread throughout the battlefield, only to be overwhelmed shortly thereafter by blood.
During that time, Mordret was silent for a long while. Until he finally spoke in a voice filled with an unknown emotion.
[Well put, Sunless. In the spirit of being 'not enemies' I'll give Caster a fair shot. However, I'm not going to spare anyone if they get in my way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go greet my dear sister. There are some family matters to attend to.]
Without even thinking, Sunny sent one more message.
[Don't do anything stupid.]
He received a chuckle in return.
[Same to you. Though I imagine that will be rough seeing as you have a Saint coming your way.]
Sunny's eyes widened as Saint Tyris abruptly fell from the sky. The flying legion Beastmaster had put together had fallen, but it seemed that an arrow of dreadful power had brought Sky Tide low.
He moved to protect her from the onslaught of enemies that immediately rushed forward.
However, one enemy could not be simply pierced with surrounding shadows or cut down by his blade or claws.
A chill went up Sunny's spine as the murderous intent of a Saint throttled towards him.
With all the might he could muster, he met the attack. Enhanced by 2 shadows and while being a Tyrant he was far stronger than the average Master, but he was still not a match for a Saint.
Sunny felt his Shadow Shell fracture as several cracks ripped throughout him. He held himself together just barely, but it took all his effort.
Sunny grimaced.
Dire Fang, the Vassal of Song who had been in Antarctica since Sunny had first arrived. Unlike Tyris who went to Central Antarctica, this Saint stayed with Wake of Ruin in the East.
At least it's not one of the Princesses who both have the Beast Gods Lineage, Sunny thought to himself.
Still, this was the real deal, not one of Mordret's Reflections, so his outcome looked grim.
Dire Fang was in his transcendent form. He took the appearance of a wolfish beast. Though he stood on two legs, he radiated utter power with humongous bulging muscles and impossibly sharp claws and fangs.
Fur covered the wolf-man, making him appear all the more beastly.
Sunny moved to counter another blow, but this time things went differently. Mere moments before the attack came, a new player arrived.
A wave of incinerating heat bombarded the attacking Saint. The pure white Soul Flame held annihilation in its nature, but it still only managed to singe the hairs of the dreadful Saint.
Dire Fang backed off for a moment.
Standing side by side, Nephis and Sunny faced down a Saint.
…
Sunny's time in Antarctica had been drastically altered by Gehrman's presence. That guy wanted nothing more than to exploit his abilities in the Sorcery of Weaving for all they were worth. For that reason, Sunny did get to grow as substantially as he would have liked in terms of Shadow Fragments and experience with his Aspect Legacy.
Shadow Dance was the Legacy granted to him by the Spell. It was an overwhelmingly insidious technique that allowed Sunny to absorb an opponent's technique and wield it against them, exploiting even the tiniest of weaknesses and achieving victory.
It made him as elusive as the shadow he was, but Sunny was struggling to employ it against Dire Fang.
He needed Shadow Dance in order to accurately predict the Saint's movements. There was simply no way for him to compete physically, so this was the only option.
Fortunately, he had Nephis at his side now.
Not only could she heal him with her flames, but she also held the key to bringing out the most of both their powers.
Long ago, all the way back on the Forgotten Shore, she had spoken his True Name. And from that moment on, they were bound inseparably.
This bond was impossibly strong, turning Sunny, essentially, into Neph's shadow. Through this, they became like one being. Sunny's shadows could wrap around Nephis to enhance her.
And Neph's flames could enhance Sunny. In fact, it was because of those enhancements that he was now holding his own.
However, it was not just because of that.
Fortunately, despite not getting as much battle experience as he would have liked, his skill in Weaving had grown astronomically. He didn't want to show off how much so in such a public space, but now wasn't the time to hold anything back.
Up until this point, Sunny had been using the attire that he had gotten for dealing the final blow to the Terror of LO49. He had also not used any notable Charm or Weapon. That had to change now though.
A mix of white and black sparks appeared as three new Memories were summoned. Of course, Sunny had not just been doing stuff for Gehrman all this time. He had also been forging himself the tools necessary to fight back in dire situations such as this one.
Not only that, they were far stronger than anything he had forged for others. Of course, Sunny was thankful for Gehrman and his help, but he was never going to go all out on creating a Charm for a Legacy Clan Princess.
An imperceptible piece of shadowed rock appeared, the charm absorbed into his being due to the [Underworld Armament] enchantment that now existed in his body due to the [Marble Shell Attribute].
That piece of swirling rock was actually a fragment of a Great Nightmare Creatures heart that had been processed and focused by Sunny's own hands. The material itself took an insanely long time to work with, but as a result it became the perfect host for some of Sunny's most powerful Enchantments.
The Charm he named [Memory of Shadow] was Transcendent and of the 7th tier. Despite his training. Forging complex Memories at the Supreme Rank was still too dangerous and cost more Essence than he had to give.
However, this Charm was not too far behind the wedding band he had forged, even after it had been upgraded by Gehrman to Supreme. That was because he used more ingenious and efficient Weaving to create the Enchantments.
For example, [Song of The Elements] was an Enchantment that only took up one node, but it offered a holistic enhancement in all elemental defenses. While Gerhman and Seishan's Charm's had Enchantments for Heat and Cold separately, this Enchantment had that and more.
Both Soul and Mind resistances had to take up separate slots, unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried to combine them.
Increasing his physicality was more difficult since he originally didn't have a Memory that did that, he couldn't copy the exact Weave. However, he did have a twisted sort of blueprint in the form of Gehrman's [Greedy Bloodstone Tailsman]. The [Hunters Flesh] enchantment offered the exact kind of boost he was looking for.
However, since that Memory (like all of Gehrman's Memories) were created in part by that entity, their Weaving was marred by the twisted Will of that creature, making it so the true Weave did not actually come through.
However, the base was still evident, and from there Sunny managed to reverse engineer the Enchantment based on the months of constant Weaving experience he had gathered.
This left three more open slots.
These three were also modified or new Enchantments that Sunny made on his own. The first being a version of the [Death Wish] Enchantment from the Transcendent Charm [Dying Wish]. This allowed him to passively accumulate "Death Charges" that could be spent in order to offer phenomenal self-healing. However, he did meddle with the Weave in order to let Sunny control how much of the Death Charge he wanted to use.
This way, he could spend 100 Charge to fix a missing limb instead of 1,000. In truth, the maximum charge was only necessary if he was pretty much already dead, so this was much more efficient.
Then came [Eye of Shadow], a unique Enchantment that took parts of multiple different Memories to create an overall increase in sight and spatial awareness. It was essentially a knock off, less effective version of Gehrman's uncanny ability to always know what was happening around him.
Of course, Sunny already had Shadow Sense, but this Enchantment vastly improved that ability while also keeping his spatial sense high even in places without shadows. In truth, the heightened mental acuity that this granted was the best benefit. Theoretically, the enhanced awareness would make up for the missed opportunity to practice Shadow Dance as the movements of the enemy's shadow would become much more clear in Sunny's mind.
The final Enchantment was called [Go Home Luster], affectionately named after one of the Awakened who served under him in the Antarctica campaign. That guy had issues, but his Aspect allowed him to essentially act as a battery for the whole team. He could give others Essence whenever their stores were depleted.
However, Sunny had Shadow Essence, not Soul Essence, so the benefit could not be given to him. In a moment of spitfulness, he engineered an Enchantment that acted as a Luster for Shadow Essence. An extra supply of it that he could call upon in dire circumstances.
With all of this, Sunny's versatility skyrocketed, however, the other two Memories were more impressive.
[Remembrance] was a truly special Memory. He had gotten it for killing the Winter Beast, after all. Such an absurd creature naturally warranted an absurd reward, and Sunny had been brainstorming hard to come up with the best way to maximize its potential.
The first thing that he realized was the power of [Memoriam's Charge], the first Enchantment of the armor.
The description read:
[The wearer of this Memory can store their collective memories and state within one of the seven Charges of the armor. The Charges can be released at any time, altering the wearer into an exact memory copy of the wearer at the time of the Charge. This enchantment is limited to the individual who utilizes the first Charge.]
It was a bit confusing, but eventually Sunny figured out that it was meant to be used in conjunction with its other Enchantment, [Woeful Elegy].
[This Memory can manifest 6 Enchantments from destroyed Memories so long as those items are lost within the vicinity of this Memory.]
If Sunny used the first "Charge" while the Memory did not have any Enchantment's manifested, he could essentially have multiple "versions" of [Remembrance]. For example, if the first [Memoriam Charge] had the Memory in a state when it had no Enchantment's from [Woeful Elegy], and then Sunny filled it with defensive Enchantments, he could then activate the first charge, returning it to a state with no Enchantments, to get a different set of Enchantments on it.
There was a big issue in this plan, however. The armor actively stored Sunny's memories. Not the Enchanted tools, but everything he remembered. When he activated that first charge, his memories would flood into him. This would be helpful if he had amnesia (which was impossible for Ascended as far as he knew), but it was basically a mental attack for Sunny, who already had all that knowledge.
He would be effectively out of commission for a few days in order to recuperate from resetting [Remembrance].
The good news was that the term "charge" was misleading. Instead of only being used once and then being gone for good, the state of [Remembrance] (all of its Enchantments or lack thereof included) would remain even when a separate charge was activated. This meant that Sunny could constantly cycle through different versions of [Remembrance] in order to best adapt to the situation.
At the moment, he only had one version though.
The current [Remembrance] was not only incredibly protective, but also a lethal weapon itself. It inherited the Enchantments of three Memories, and (since [Woeful Elegy] did not specify the Enchantments had to come from armor or attire) only one set of armor was used for its Enchantments.
[Undying Chain] had served him incredibly well as an Awakened and the early days of Antarctica. Its Enchantments were truly absurd. The first offered high resistance against mind attacks, which was a bit redundant due to [Memory of Shadow], but the other two more than made it worthy.
[Brilliant Will] increased the quality of the Memory based on the Divinity in one's Soul, and since Sunny held the [Flame of Divinity] Attribute, his Divinity was far higher than the average, offering a great boost.
The most important addition was, of course, [Undying]. That Enchantment, when paired with [Death Wish] was a truly absurd pairing. [Undying] literally made their wearer immortal. Once they suffered a fatal blow, they would be kept alive, even if their skull was caved in or their body was crushed.
Of course, it would start draining an insane amount of Essence, but with the healing of [Death Wish], Sunny could survive an attack from anything so long as it didn't also destroy the armor in that blow.
The next set of Enchantment's were from a shield, [Patient Avenger]. Its Enchantments were exceptional on armor. [Tenascious] gave a blanket boost to its durability while [Burning Heart] and [Cold Steel] allowed for the absorption and then redirection of fire and physical force that the armor had taken.
It was a truly remarkable option for counter attacking, and its effectiveness rose in power against stronger enemies since the "return-fire" increased in proportion to the damage dealt.
Plus, with [Tenascious] and [Brilliant Will] stacking defensive boosts on top of each other, it would be impossible for even a Saint to pierce the armor unless they wore it down over many, many blows.
That defense was only further improved by the final Enchantment.
This came from one of Sunny's oldest Memories that he received all the way back on the Forgotten Shore.
The [Midnight Shard] had the single, but powerful Enchantment of [Unbroken]. This raised its quality in proportion to Sunny's own will to live. Of course, since it was Sunny using this Memory, the enhancement was even more pronounced.
With this combination of Charm and Armor, Sunny had 13 different Enchantments at his disposable, a truly absurd amount that made him far more versatile and deadly than he already was.
However, even all that did not compare to the simplicity of his weapon.
The long jian, carved out of white jade, emanated an aura of Supreme dread and madness.
This was the [Sin of Solace], now a Supreme Memory.
Though Sunny could not craft Supreme Memories, he was able to upgrade Transcendent ones with relatively few Enchantments. He was only able to pull it off with the combined Enchantments of [Memory of Shadow] and [Remembrance], but the result was unbelievably deadly.
The formerly transcendent sword had been far deadlier than any weapon Sunny had come across.
It had an Enchantment that passively improved durability and sharpness, but its real power lay in its ability to inflict madness and mental damage to any enemy it even managed to scratch. This effect compounded until even a Tyrant became as base as a Beast.
Combined with a passive fear-inducing Enchantment, it was truly terrifying.
Still, such power had a price.
The Memory was [Cursed], and offered sinister whispers and maddening taunts to him whenever he wielded it. Perhaps if he kept it Transcendent, all the mental defenses would block out the voice completely, but now that it was Supreme such a thing was impossible.
Still, the Mind Defenses from both the Armor and Charm managed to dampen it enough.
What made it perhaps most insidious, however, was that its already dreadful power was enhanced even further the more the wearer descended into madness.
If this blade fell into Gehrman's hands, it may even be able to cut a god.
For now though, Sunny just needed it to cut a Saint.
Dire Fang's eyes turned to slits as he beheld Sunny's new state, his power had multiplied several times over simply by virtue of the gear he had donned.
The demonic creature facing him raised the tip of the jade blade to Dire Fang.
The Master taunted a Saint, and what was more insane was that the Saint grew wary.
Enhanced by Neph's flames and the absurd amount of Enchantments powering him, Sunny dashed forward.
For the first time in history (at least the history of the waking world) a Master would kill a Saint.