The sun was shining in the sky, while a cold wind swept through the place without rest. The light illuminated the buildings and streets, but brought no warmth, leaving a strange sensation in the air.
Meanwhile, two fifteen-year-old girls were walking through the streets of NQSC.
Both wore coats and carried backpacks.
Rain and Ellie had just left school, and after asking their parents for permission, they were allowed to go to a nearby café.
The establishment was located in a direction closer to the Academy than to their homes, but it was one of their favorite places to hang out on days when they had no training.
Today, neither of them had any.
Ellie had none because Sylvie and Seishan were in the Dream Realm training on their own. The two women were already preparing to face the Third Nightmare, and not even half a year had passed since they had emerged from their Second.
She respected them immensely for that, because she knew why they were doing it. But at the same time, she couldn't help but worry about them.
Rain, for her part, had no training because Sunny was teaching classes at the Academy.
So taking advantage of the opportunity, they were both walking toward the café. As they did, they chatted about their classmates, school rumors, and many other topics.
Finally, when they arrived, they opened the door, and it chimed with a small bell. Then they began looking for an empty table—the café was quite popular.
The café's interior was spacious and bright. Large windows ran along the outer walls, allowing daylight to enter unobstructed and blend with the white light descending from elegant lamps suspended from the ceiling.
Dozens of round tables of various sizes occupied the main hall, most already taken by customers chatting with friends, looking at their communicators, or enjoying their drinks alone.
The soft murmur of conversations filled the atmosphere without becoming bothersome.
Small decorative plants and floral arrangements added a touch of color among the wood tones, while the aroma of freshly brewed coffee remained constant in the air, giving the place a cozy and lively atmosphere.
After searching for a few seconds, Rain found a table, and they both headed toward it.
The table they found faced the outer windows, allowing them to see the street while seated.
As soon as they sat down, a waitress came to take their order. After a few seconds of thought, they gave her their orders, and just minutes later, the waitress had returned with them.
While enjoying their food, they continued chatting or looking at things online on their communicators.
"Did you see that?!" Ellie asked excitedly, watching a video.
Rain, for her part, let out a sigh.
"Could you stop?" she asked. "We came to this café to hang out, not for you to keep talking about Mongrel."
Ellie narrowed her eyes.
"Weren't you the one who couldn't stop talking about the movie A Song of the King and His Flame?"
Her friend shrugged and replied, "What can I say? The movie was good."
"You only say that because of the ships it created," Ellie shook her head. "Besides, Mr. Sunless already told you that wasn't real."
Suddenly, Rain's face lit up, and she leaned forward.
"Ellie! You just reminded me of something!"
"Oh? What now? Are you going to tell me Nightingale is dating Changing Star?"
Rain stopped, and the gears in her head began to turn.
"Wait," she blinked. "That's not a bad theory…"
Ellie facepalmed.
"What did I remind you of?"
Her friend finally recovered and replied, "Actually, I think there's something between Sunny and Changing Star…"
Ellie blinked.
"You're crazy."
"No, wait! Hear me out!" her friend pleaded.
Eleanor took a sip of her coffee while shaking her head.
"Nope. I'm not going to!"
Rain sighed and said, "What if I listen to what you were going to say about Mongrel?"
Now Ellie's face lit up, and she opened her mouth to start speaking.
However, at that moment, everyone's communicators in the café started blaring… then, the café's own alarm went off.
She knew that sound, of course. Everyone in the world knew and dreaded it.
Ellie immediately checked her communicator. There was an alert saying:
EMERGENCY ALERT
EMERGENCY ALERT
GATE ACTIVITY DETECTED IN YOUR PROXIMITY
ETA: 134 SECONDS
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!
'A Gate… there is a Gate…'
Before she could even comprehend those words, Ellie was trembling. An icy fear rose from the depths of her heart, threatening to swallow her completely. It wasn't a conscious response, but an instinctive reaction—something her body had learned to do in the past, the terror that all modern humans carry in their blood.
It also brought back memories of the time a gate had opened near her school, but this was worse—much worse.
134 seconds until it appeared… which meant the alert system had failed, and that also meant the government and the forces to stop the Gate were not ready at all.
Everyone around them started running, but from the terror they felt, they couldn't move. Their bodies were so consumed by fear that they failed to stand up.
Suddenly, a woman and a man burst into the café, shattering the windows and falling beside them. Without uttering a word, they grabbed them from their seats and began running with them on their shoulders.
The sudden movement snapped Ellie out of her shock, and at that moment, she realized who the two people carrying them were.
One was Felise—a Handmaiden—and the other was Anton—a King Warden.
They were both responsible for watching over her from a distance on her way from school to home.
Ellie managed to stabilize herself as she was being carried and asked out loud,
"What's the situation?!"
Felise—who was carrying Rain behind her—replied:
"A Category Two Gate is going to open one block away!"
And as soon as she said that, a particularly strong tremor shook the ground.
The wind howled in the street, as if the air were being sucked into the Gate. And then, an invisible shockwave spread from it, shattering the windows of nearby buildings.
The portal had opened.
***
Sunny was walking through the Academy hallways.
It felt strange to return to the Sleepers' compound. Sunny hadn't spent much time there, but those days before the Winter Solstice were some of the most memorable of his life.
Entering the familiar lobby, he looked around, expecting to see a group of nervous Sleepers. But of course, there was no one; everyone had already left for their first adventure in the Dream Realm, and it was too early for the next year's Dreamers to arrive.
Walking through the empty hallways, he headed to the lower levels of the complex and approached the Wilderness Survival classroom, which also served as Professor Julius's office. Opening the door, he saw the spacious, tastefully decorated room where he had spent most of his short stay at the Academy.
His mentor was not in his usual spot, sitting behind the large wooden desk. Instead, the old man was standing in front of a display case, studying the skull of a creature inside and taking notes.
As soon as he heard someone enter the room, his face changed, becoming animated and curious again.
Turning around, the old man looked at the visitor with confusion. Suddenly, his face lit up with a radiant, contagious smile.
"Sunny, my boy!"
Before Sunny could react properly, he received a passionate hug. Then, Professor Julius unceremoniously pushed him toward the nearest chair.
"It's so good to see you right now! I just received the skull of a new creature! It's from a new species that emerged from a Category Two Gate. Their bodies are resistant to all kinds of water-based attacks—I know, right? Very strange that they specialize only in that. Usually, most have high resistance to all types of attacks, but these were land creatures with water resistance…"
Sunny couldn't help but smile at the excitement in the old man's voice. He then nodded.
Although he was always happy to see Julius, today he had come with the intention of showing him the report he had written about the Chained Isles and the Kingdom of Hope before posting it.
Julius had already helped him edit and post his report about the Forgotten Shore in the past, and having the approval of someone with so much renown in the educational field worked wonders for him.
That report had already earned him a ridiculous amount of credits, and he couldn't help but think about the amount a report on the place where he had been with Arthur—the Relictombs—would generate… but he had also promised not to, and he planned to keep his word.
"That's a very interesting creature, Teacher Julius. How did they discover it was resistant to all kinds of water-based attacks?"
The old man's eyes suddenly shone brightly, full of excitement.
"You see, it turns out the Gate opened right next to some Awakened from the House of Night, and one of them had an Aspect that allowed her to launch compressed water, making her effectiveness completely null… fortunately, there were more Awakened nearby, and they resolved the crisis easily. My theory is that the Nightmare seed must be near the Storm Sea. If you think about it—"
Sunny cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Julius. Another time I would stay to talk about theories, but I have plans tonight…"
The old man blinked.
"I see! Well, another time we'll talk about those theories. What do you need this old fossil for, young man?"
Sunny smiled, then activated his communicator and handed it to him.
"I've compiled an extensive report on the things I've seen, fought, and discovered in the Chained Isles, along with some theories that the place might have belonged to one of the Daemons—Hope, to be exact. The Daemon of Desire."
Teacher Julius smiled proudly:
"You truly have the heart of an explorer, my boy!"
As he said that, the old man was already opening the file. As soon as he began reading, his eyes widened, and a smile of joy appeared on his face.
However, in the next moment, an abysmal pressure was felt throughout the Academy.
As soon as the pressure arrived, his knees threatened to bend, but he stood firm, making his shadow adhere to his body. But Professor Julius was not so lucky.
He turned his head to check on the old man's condition, but he was… unconscious.
Sunny frowned as he continued to withstand the pressure. Soon, he had to place two shadows on himself.
'What the hell is going on?!'
The air became heavy all at once. Each breath required more effort than the last, as if something invisible were compressing the atmosphere around him. It was an uncomfortable sensation, as if the simple act of filling his lungs was starting to feel unnatural.
He clenched his teeth, trying to endure the pressure while extending his Shadow Sense to find the cause. It wasn't a Nightmare Gate, and therefore not a creature either.
When he did, he noticed that the shadows were acting strangely.
They weren't moving.
Shadows generated by moving lights were completely frozen, and through his connection with them, Sunny could feel something he had never perceived before.
Fear… but not just fear—a sense of respect.
A strange mixture of both emotions that made no sense. It was as if the shadows had recognized the arrival of something that existed on completely different level from theirs.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Then he felt a presence.
Sunny couldn't identify where it came from. It wasn't behind him, nor in front. It was as if it were everywhere at once. For an instant, he had the absurd sensation that something immense was watching him from above.
The gaze held no hostility, no anger. Yet, an instinctive pressure fell upon him like a mountain.
A part of his mind screamed at him to lower his head.
To kneel.
To acknowledge the existence of whatever had just awakened.
Sunny clenched his teeth.
He had never felt anything like this, and he had been in front of many Saints… or even Corrupted Creatures. This new presence was something different.
As if reality itself were acknowledging someone.
The next moment, the presence and the pressure disappeared completely, leaving a mark and an uncomfortable sensation in his mind.
And just as he was trying to understand what the hell had happened, a signal came through Happy.
His expression hardened immediately.
The shadow he had left watching Rain had just sent him a warning.
Near her, a gate had just opened.
Sunny immediately checked that Professor Julius was alright and then expanded his Shadow Sense even further. As he did so, his blood turned cold.
Hundreds of Awakened and mundane people lay on the ground throughout the Academy, all completely unconscious. The only ones spared were the Masters present.
Immediately, he used Shadow Step, spamming it as he headed toward where the Gate had opened.
Along the way, he summoned the Mantle of the Underworld, Autumn Leaf, and Weaver's Mask.
Mongrel was about to appear at the Gate.
And he did.
But the moment he arrived, he stood completely frozen.
The Gate was already open now, revealing a dark rift in the fabric of reality, as wide as the street itself and as tall as the buildings. It seemed to devour all light around it… and call to him.
Call for him to enter.
…Sunny wasn't too worried about the Gate itself, though. His gaze was locked on the silhouette moving through the creatures that had already left it.
Some kind of purple lightning-like tendrils were seen as the silhouette moved from creature to creature. And some of them—the weakest—lay on the ground while purple swords took their lives.
Sunny blinked inside Weaver's Mask at the sheer devastation.
It was only the first wave of creatures, therefore the weakest, but even so, the silhouette moved at a speed similar to his Shadow Step.
He used his connection with Happy to check on Rain and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding—she was safe, and two Awakened were moving away from the area with Ellie as well.
Sunny nodded, took a step forward, and brandished the Soul Serpent.
The gloomy shadow wrapped itself around the blade of the odachi, causing it to shine with dark radiance. Creepy and Haughty adhered to his body.
Even so, he couldn't do anything.
The silhouette in front of him didn't stop moving at a ridiculous speed while continuing to hold the first wave of creatures. None of them managed to get past him.
Sunny stood there, watching as the bodies of the already dead were thrown against the walls, while the living ones, barely exiting the dark rift in the fabric of reality, were completely killed with the precision of a killer.
Then, those that tried to move away ended up falling to the ground, and some even died without having been touched.
The gears in Sunny's head began to turn as he watched everything with precise attention.
The silhouette was holding a Category Two Gate completely on its own… how many other people could do something similar?
Many people could do it, but do it in that way? It wasn't just the fact, since many Masters could do it, but the way was what Sunny struggled to understand.
In a matter of seconds, he could only think of three people capable of doing something similar.
Nephis, himself… and… and Arthur.
Though it made no sense to think of him.
Arthur was still trapped in the Dream Realm, and besides, he was a Sleeper. If he had returned, he would only be an Awakened, but when would he have? Also the silhouette was a Master, it has to be.
Sunny had just been at the Academy. He would have heard if Arthur had returned…
'Don't tell me…'
Could the pressure he felt at the Academy have been Arthur? That would explain why the creatures were lying on the ground—they were suffering the same pressure he had managed to withstand.
But that also meant that if it really was Arthur… he wasn't an Awakened.
An Awakened, no matter if it was a Titan, would never have made him feel that way, unless… unless he was an Ascended Titan or something similar.
There was only one way to find out, though.
Sunny shadow stepped into the fight as the third wave began to emerge.
The first creature to appear in front of him resembled a terrifying hound with bloodred bone spikes growing from its mottled, black fur. It landed on the road and opened its maw, then produced a guttural, hoarse roar.
And then abruptly grew silent as Shadow Serpent's blade slashed across its neck, severing its head entirely.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster…]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Then another one launched itself at him.
By the time it reached him, its jaw was already closing on his thigh, and another was centimeters away from his forearm.
The bloodred fangs scraped against the stonelike metal of the onyx armor, not leaving even a scratch on it.
Sunny let go of the hilt of the odachi with one hand, then hooked its blade under the throat of one of the attacking abominations and made a simple move forward, slicing through tough fur, skin, and vulnerable flesh beneath.
His other fist landed on the head of the second beast. Unseen to anyone, the Moonlight Shard appeared in it at the last moment, its ghostly blade easily piercing the creature's skull and disappearing as fast as it had appeared after destroying its brain.
Sunny spun, throwing both corpses aside, caught the hilt of the odachi with his second hand, made a small thrust to pierce a lunging hound's head right through one of its eyes.
What followed could only be described as a complete massacre as they both continued holding the line of Nightmare Creatures in front of them.
Sunny took care of the left side while the other silhouette took care of the right. They never saw each other, never spoke, yet it seemed as if they had fought thousands of battles together.
After a few minutes of constant fighting, something massive lunged at him from the darkness of the Gate.
The creature resembled a giant bison, its black fur mottled and rotten, a ridge of long, scarlet bone spikes piercing the hide along the spine. The head of the monstrosity was crowned with two jagged, bloodred horns.
Sunny realized it was of Fallen rank, but it wasn't the Gate Guardian.
The creature charged the moment it spotted Sunny. Its massive hooves shattered the ground with every step, tearing through the street like a living avalanche of rotten flesh and black fur. The scarlet spikes running along its spine glistened under the dim light while its blood-red horns lowered, aiming directly for his chest.
However, Sunny didn't retreat. He calmly stepped to the side at the last possible moment, letting the monstrous bison thunder past him.
The creature tried to correct its trajectory, but before it could fully turn around, Sunny used Shadow Manifestation and wrapped four chains around its legs.
The monster roared and tried to pull free almost instantly, but it couldn't.
Using Shadow Step, he appeared above the creature's head, and Shadow Serpent's blade pierced deep into the monster's skull.
For a moment, the gigantic body remained frozen, trembling beneath him. Then it collapsed heavily to the ground, lifeless.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster…]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Sunny jumped off and returned to the main fight.
Most of the creatures were of Awakened rank, which wasn't much of a complication for him, nor for the silhouette. But it wasn't the creatures' ranks that were the problem—it was the absurd number pouring out of the Gate second after second.
After what felt like seconds or maybe minutes, Sunny finally managed to see who the silhouette was that had been destroying all the creatures emerging from the Gate.
After an exchange that left them face to face, he noticed the person's details.
The first thing that caught his attention was the armor.
It was a strange dark violet color, almost black, with thin golden lines running along some parts. In the center of the chest, two symbols stood out: a spear pointing upward, and above it, the figure of a heart surrounded by golden lines.
However, the armor barely held his attention for an instant.
The man wearing it was even more striking.
His long, pale wheat-colored hair was tied back, while his golden eyes remained fixed on Weaver's Mask. His skin was pale, creamy white, and his face was perfect.
There was no other word to describe it.
Every feature seemed to have been sculpted with absurd precision. Straight lines, impeccable proportions, and a symmetry that made it hard to look away.
For an instant, Sunny felt as if he was observing a statue brought to life rather than a real person.
But he knew it wasn't a statue, and in fact, he knew who it was.
It was Arthur.
The aforementioned frowned as he looked at him, blinking multiple times. Then he said,
"Who are you?"
'Shit!'
"I'm nobody."
'Damnation!'
Arthur froze as he looked at him, then opened his mouth to say something, but the roar of another creature caught his attention, and he went off to kill it.
Meanwhile, Sunny's mind kept trying to understand how this was happening, and it failed each time.
Fortunately for his mind, he noticed that something was happening with the Gate.
Something was… coming.
In the darkness of the Gate, a new silhouette appeared.
A moment later, all the beasts that surrounded them froze, and then howled triumphantly, as if to welcome the new creature to the waking world.
The Gate Guardian had arrived.
The Guardian stood over four meters tall. It wielded a long spear, its blade carved from a single slab of obsidian and covered with so many old, dried bloodstains that it seemed as if the stone itself had absorbed them and turned dark red.
Sunny blinked.
Then, when he opened his eyes…
…The Gate Guardian was no more.
Sunny shadow stepped a few meters back, and the Guardian's corpse fell in front of him with a dull thud to the ground.
The street sank under the impact.
Cracks spread in all directions as tons of flesh and armor shattered the pavement. Fragments of asphalt and concrete flew through the air, accompanied by a cloud of dust that covered the area for a few seconds.
'What the hell happened?!'
There was no way Arthur could have killed a Fallen Tyrant so easily in mere seconds!
When the dust cloud dissipated, Sunny looked over the Tyrant's corpse and noticed two figures on it…
Sunny blinked multiple times.
And only now did he expand his senses beyond the battle. He had been so focused on fighting and then so distracted upon seeing Arthur that he hadn't noticed his surroundings.
All around the Gate were government personnel—that had already managed to kill all the rest of the creatures.
Analyzing their expressions, they were all completely astonished. But they weren't just looking at him.
Above the Tyrant's corpse stood a beautiful woman, around twenty years old. She wore a dark blue uniform with silver epaulettes and leather boots. Her short hair was as black as a raven's feather, and her skin was as white as snow.
Her icy blue eyes were colder than the deepest reaches of a frozen hell.
In one of her hands, the woman was holding a somber glaive, drops of blood swiftly turning into ice on its slender blade. In the other, she was holding Arthur's unconscious body.
Sunny didn't quite see exactly what happened, but Master Jet had arrived at the perfect moment to defeat the Fallen Tyrant, and together, they had killed it in an instant. Then, Arthur had fallen unconscious in her arms.
Sunny lingered a few seconds longer than he would have liked, analyzing them both. He noticed that Jet was looking at Arthur with a smile on her beautiful face, while the latter had fallen unconscious with a smile on his own.
He moved to use shadow step to escape the scene, but before he could, he heard the voice of Soul Reaper Jet, and she sounded… happy.
"Call the Academy."
"Arthur Leywin is back."