The guards of the Fortress of Steel continued with their patrols as if it was a normal day, for all intents and purposes, it was. Another boring, humorless, uninteresting day.
But for some reason, along the isolated islands that made up the expensive Fortress, all the warriors sensed something shift.
A feeling of dread and wrongness filled them, it was unnatural and foreign, like a tide of horrors was about to engulf them. The shadows beneath them seemed to become deeper and angered at them, they knew what this was: a Shadowspawn, a powerful Shadowspawn, was about to invade.
And that filled them with excitement.
For too long they had not been invaded, they were restless for a fight, wanting to find the glory their brothers had found in the coliseum or in the conquests of their kin.
So the dread they were feeling was like a drug, an incredible, addictive drug. It was the very thing they lived for.
War.
So the archers in the six watchtowers drew their bows, aiming at the nearby island, the warriors on the bridge snapped into position along the way, positioning their shields first, impeccable posture of talented and disciplined soldiers apparent. The robotic demeanor long gone as they grew more and more anxious, trembling from excitement.
Their Ascended captain looked at the shadows, and smiled beneath his helmet.
"Finally… Glory!"
He stepped forward and brandished his steel sword.
"Come! Slave of Shadow! And give us what we crave!"
His voice reverberated along the isles, raising even more the morale of his soldiers.
Behind him, the gates opened, revealing a squad of even more guards that rushed out of the Fortress along with two other Ascended captains.
On paper, they were there to assist the entrance guards, in reality, they wanted glory, restless after months of inaction.
The reinforcements of twenty soldiers spread throughout the vast stone bridge and raised their weapons; soon, the thirty-two Awakened warriors and three Ascended captains prepared themselves for their glory.
All with the eighteen sentinels on the watchtowers, who searched for their target incessantly. Only finding deeper and deeper shadows.
As they awaited their foe, the captain couldn't help but smile, he would finally fight! And from the looks of it, it would be against a powerful opponent.
His Ascended companions shared that excitement, gripping their weapons tightly, he could almost feel the scratching that filled their bodies.
Now they only had to wait, thankfully, it wasn't for long.
The deep shadows morphed and changed, and the big head of an enormous beast surged through them. It resembled a dragon with its sharp features and reptilian form with twin horns protruding from them and pointing to the sky, but surprisingly, another head, identical to the first one appeared, then another, and another, one more, and another one. Six heads sprawled themselves from the shadows and advanced to the bridge, revealing its entire body.
It was as vast as the twelve meter long stone bridge and as tall, perhaps taller than the watchtowers. Its skin was dark and reptilian resembling armor, the claws pierced deep into the ground. The necks of each head were long and as thick as the heads.
The beast glared each of their heads towards all the warriors, a shiver went through each and every one of them.
Their smiles widened.
And they widened even more as the terrifying hydra opened its jaws that could swallow multiple humans whole and let out deafening roars of fury.
The guards stood their ground, and the Ascended captain raised his arm as a signal to the archers.
"FIRE!"
His excited shout and his arm quickly falling gave the order to the soldiers on the watchtowers, immediately, they shot at the enormous six-headed beast.
The powerful projectiles flew through the air to pierce the beast, many of them empowered by Aspects, some were burning, others twisted reality to find their target.
The combined power of the arrows would be enough to seriously damage the hydra.
However, two of the heads snapped towards each side, on their necks, a power surged inside them and the creature of shadow roared intensely.
A power resembling cutting winds shot out from the mouths and impacted all eighteen projectiles in the air. The currents were so strong that instead of being thrown off the trajectory, the arrows simply disassembled, breaking or disintegrating in the air.
All the while the four remaining heads continued to stare at the Ascended captains with barely contained fury.
But seeing the fury of the shadow creature only made the Ascendents even more excited.
The captain in the center laughed loudly.
"My brothers! Not only is this creature a Slave of Shadows, it also hates us! Let's give our Goddess a good show!"
The soldiers roared in unison, fearlessly, they rushed forward.
The vanguard of the thirty-two Awakened strengthened their bodies with their Aspects and raised their shields watching for the heads of the beast and the fearsome breath they produced.
While the sentinels on the watchtowers prepared another barrage of arrows, drawing their bows and aiming at the beast, but not firing.
The shadow hydra charged three of its heads into the vanguard, opening the jaws to eat the Awakened's whole.
However, the Awakened on the center of the vanguard was expecting it, he struck the rim of his large shield on the ground and poured essence onto his body and Aspect, creating the projection of an enormous blue shield that covered the vast stone bridge, protecting the phalanx of the Awakened in a hardlight barrier.
The enormous heads impacted the giant blue shield with tremendous force. Making the bridge shake and forcing the Awakened to slow down to ground themselves in the quaking bridge.
The impacts didn't break the hardlight shield, but they did crack it severely, even forcing the Awakened that created the barrier to be pushed back, destroying the part of the bridge the shield had embedded it into.
As a consequence of the blocked strikes, two of the three heads reflected outward, passing the shield, while the third one, the one that faced the shield head on, was pushed back.
With this, the two reflected heads used the opportunity to attack the warriors, seeing as they were left wide open. They opened their mouths and charged an attack, a powerful surge of cutting air started to pass through their necks.
But before they could attack, two lances made of pure glass pierced the heads of the hydra, one on the bridge of the head, the other on the side of the jaw, pushing them back.
The other four heads glared at the culprit, the Ascended captain in the center, he seemed really amused, creating more constructs made of glass.
The two other Ascendents then dashed forward, bearing their steel weapons, they moved with ferocity, quickly approaching the front line. All the while the main captain kept on the back, the two steel golems standing behind him.
The heads of the hydra looked in anger at the glass lances that had struck two of them. But seeing the approaching Ascendents and how the squad of Awakened were already recovering, the hydra made a choice.
Forgetting the watchtowers, all six heads of the shadow beast opened their jaws and faced the bridge, targeting all of the thirty-two Awakened that had recovered and ready to assault it, not caring about the hardlight shield protecting them.
The Ascended captain smirked.
"In the end, it is just a beast!"
The sentinels on the watchtowers immediately shot their arrows, all raining down on the majestic shadow beast while it was charging their breath…
Or at least most of them did.
Out of nowhere, a black lightning bolt struck one of the towers.
The sudden boom of electricity made all shake in confusion for the seemingly nonsensical flash of destruction. The top of the dark tower had been completely obliterated, no sign of the three Awakened that once rested there.
Instead, a mighty black armored raven flew to the destroyed tower, a silent caw echoing as the shadow bird shaked their wings and let more electricity flow, aiming at another of the towers.
The Awakened there tried to retaliate, but they had just fired their arrows at the shadow hydra, at the moment, they were completely defenceless.
Lightning struck the tower, tearing all inside apart in deadly energy.
Another boom echoed throughout the island.
As a result of the first tower's sudden destruction, the aim of the archers had been disrupted, making most of them miss the hydra, the rest had not enough force to pierce the skin of the shadow being.
As such, the six-headed hydra was able to charge their attack, and it unleashed all.
Six powerful cutting whirlwinds clashed into the hardlight barrier of the center Awakened, he tried to resist, but his barrier could not resist the power of the beast.
Meaning the shield was destroyed. And with it, he, along with the vanguard were killed.
The whirlwinds were powerful enough to kill an Awakened at point blank range, tearing through the armor and skin.
The ones that were far enough were only thrown back with great force, while some were lucky enough to be pushed to the bridge, others fell into the endless abyss of the Kingdom of Hope.
But the survivors of the attack weren't safe. The shadow hydra used the opportunity to advance and devour the Awakened left dazed and vulnerable, eating them whole mercilessly.
Some were able to recover to fight back or buy their allies more time to recover themselves, but they wouldn't be enough, half of their force had already been eliminated.
The two Ascendents had been far enough to only receive a fragment of the whole attack, so they had not been injured. As such, they rushed forward to confront the hydra.
Watching this, the Ascended captain in front of the gates couldn't help but chuckle in satisfaction.
Even if they were losing, no, because they were losing, his excitement grew, he wanted to fight, to challenge himself and his soldiers.
Another lightning strike illuminated the area, fire burned in the third watchtower as it was destroyed by the black raven. The archers had no hope of fighting back.
The soldiers on the bridge were being attacked, but they were regrouping, and with the help of the Ascended, they would eventually fight back.
The Ascended looked at the giant raven that was currently facing the remaining three towers. The archers were finally able to fire back, but in hindsight, they wouldn't do much, being sitting ducks against the flying shadow being.
The Ascended took a long, satisfied, deep breath…
And summoned multiple shards of glass using his Aspect, raising his arm and aiming at the raven. Five lances made of sharp glass snapped to the direction of the raven.
"Now… Fall, little bir-"
Suddenly, a chain wrapped around his wrist and pushed him to his right.
His shock was temporary, gritting his teeth, the Ascended folded his knees and gripping his hand, moving it closer to his center of gravity, he pulled against the chain, saturating his body in essence and using his Ascended strength to pull.
But unfortunately, the strength between him and the owner of the chain were equal, making it an endless tug of war between both.
So he simply turned and launched his lance shards towards his enemy.
The glass projectiles pierced the air as the Ascended looked at the one that wrapped his wrist. It was a humanoid figure, wrapped in a tattered mantle, their body a mass of unnatural shadows.
The figure seemed surprised at the sight of the five shards, but was still able to react. They ducked and rolled forward, dodging the fast projectiles and gripping a sharp blade that rested at the end of the chain.
With the chain still wrapped around the Ascended's wrist, the figure pulled the chain to mess with the Ascended's equilibrium while thrusting the blade forward, aiming at his neck.
The captain of the Fortress smirked behind his helmet as he was being pulled… As he let himself be pulled.
He let the figure pull him up until they were only some feet apart, only to plant his two feet on the ground and recover his stance, wrapping his hand on the chain to gain more control.
Then, gripping the chain itself, he used it to block the blade of the chain, reflecting it downward.
Time seemed to slow down as the shadow figure slowly looked at the right hand of the Ascended that was currently flourishing his silver sword and vertically slashing at their head.
'Nice try, Slave of–'
A great deal of pain suddenly pierced the Ascended's very soul.
He staggered back, gripping his heart, confused at his moment of extreme pain.
Looking up, the shadow figure seemed to breathe heavily as if they saw their life pass through their eyes and crouched to grab the blade of the chain that was embedded on the ground that he somehow lost… And the blade was wrapped in shadows.
The gears on the captain's head turned as he looked at his own shadow, seeing it distorted, as if something warped it.
"Ahhh, I've seen this before, I almost forgot some of your kind are able to do this. Lucky for me, you seem too weak to kill me in one strike!"
The figure twitched their head in confusion, but that seemed emotion soon disappeared as they lifted their left foot and tapped the shadows behind them with the tip of their feet two times.
The shadows shifted and reacted, and a shape grew out of them, a shape of a wolf.
A shadow wolf stood beside the shadow figure. Anger and hate was palpable as they bared the terrifying fangs of their mouth and stared deeply at the Ascended captain with their two eyes, one at their left eyesocket, and one at the forehead, with the right eyesocket empty.
The Ascended captain still smirked under his helmet, if fact, it grew.
"Excellent! I finally have an excuse to use these things!"
He raised his sword and poured his essence into the blade, activating the enchantment of the blade that was connected to the golems behind him.
The two steel golems shifted slightly, only to begin moving more and more until to completely free themselves from the sorcery that bound them on the walls.
The golems snapped their heads to the shadows.
"Well! How about you leave these blocks of metal to this wolf and fight me, Slave of Shadow?"
One more electric boom echoed through the air as one more tower was destroyed. The raven flew through the sky, black lightning crackling intensely through it.
On the bridge, the shadow hydra had eliminated most of the Awakened, but those that had resisted and were still standing were able to wound the beast. Shallow, but prominent wounds appeared on one of the necks and their feet.
Their progress was rewarded as a slash suddenly severed one of the heads, using the wounds made by the Awakened. The head fell on the ground and cracked it.
The responsable was one of the two Ascended that had finally reached the end of the bridge.
He had slashed using his weapon, landing right in front of the giant creature, past the lengths of the necks and facing the torso, gripping his two handed, one sided big axe, the Ascended laughed.
"Face me demon! I alone will kill you!"
He twisted his body and got ready to slice all the heads of the beast in a single strike, pouring all his essence and power into one swing.
But strangely, the hydra didn't seem too bothered as the other heads looked at its missing one. If anything, the little annoyance it showed was replaced with calm understanding, its body being covered by a strange, dark mist.
'No matter! Hesitation means defeat!'
The axe-wielding Ascended swinged his mighty axe that destroyed buildings…
Only to hit nothing but air.
'What?!'
His confusion was only compounded by a sudden loss of strength, his armor felt heavier, and his weapon seemed to weigh a mountain.
Together with the momentum of his swing, he was led sideways into the air, carried by his mighty axe, destined to meet the ground.
But the shadows around his body's destination shifted and changed, rising from the ground to reveal a dark knight, the shadows gripping onto them like tentacles before snapping away and freeing them along with their fearsome spear.
The knight twisted their body and swung their weapon in a wide arc…
The Ascended's neck right in the middle of it.
An headless, armored body fell to the ground together with a great axe, the head not far from the past owner.
The fearsome knight with the bodytype of a male flicked his spear to get rid of the little blood it still had, then looked to the figure of a beautiful woman with completely dark skin and a shining dark hypnotic gaze, but she was now turned to the other Ascended that was together with the rest of the Awakened soldiers.
Who were extremely confused by what they saw, as the giant hydra that was there a moment ago was now a woman whose gaze could be debilitating. The gaze was so powerful to be the very cause for the death of one Ascended.
The remaining Ascended chuckled loudly.
"It seems our opponent is a tricky one…"
Once more, a loud electric boom echoed as one more tower was destroyed, with only one remaining.
Little debris coming from the watchtower started to infect the air together with all the smoke and ash that came from the fire that combusted the towers, a consequence of having explosives inside them to throw at enemies during an invasion.
The Ascended turned to his Awakened brethren.
"Come, let's find glory by killing these slaves."
The Awakened roared in accordance. He brandished his two weapons, two swords, and rushed forward together with his soldiers, maniac laughter coming from all of them as the thrill of battle came back after so much boredom.
The last tower was destroyed, and with it, all the long range combatants that guarded the Fortress.
The giant raven landed on one of the debris of a destroyed tower, not caring about the fire. It watched the battlefield intently, the eyes in the sky for its master…
The shadow wolf jumped at the two steel golems that rushed against it. Facing both in quick succession, it quickly attacked one to debilitate severely and leave the second one wide open for its harrowing assault. The issue was that the golems had some kind of reconstruction enchantment, as the wounds that the wolf gave were quickly reconstructed, and no matter how much it attacked, destroying the head, torso, limbs, the golems did not die.
The humanoid shadow figure meanwhile was in a true battle against the Ascended captain that wielded glass as a weapon.
A battle the shadow was slowly losing.
Despite being empowered by their master, the shadow was being outclassed by the Ascended captain. After the one strike against his own shadow, the follower of war was now more conscious to protect himself, pressuring his opponent to make sure he never got the opportunity to attack.
Other than that, the Ascended seemed to be stronger and more skilled.
The figure locked themselves into a bind, however, the Ascended had the advantage as he created a glass shard in his hand and extended it to pierce the shadow's body.
The shadow shifted, as if grunting in pain as the glass shard pierced their body deeply.
Using the moment of vulnerability, the Ascended sliced the body of the shadow with his glass sword, then used his strength to throw their blades away from the bind. Leaving the shadow wounded and wide open.
Finally, he used the other Ability of his power, letting his glass blade absorb the light of the Sun that could still pierce the cloud of smoke and ash. Thrusting the charged refracted blade towards the shadow, who couldn't do anything, except block with his arms.
A burst of light flashed on the battlefield as the humanoid shadow was thrown to the air, flying until his body crashed into the parapet of the platform that served as an entrance to the Fortress, breaking half of it.
The Ascended approached his defeated opponent with a satisfied smile underneath his helmet, the shadow figure had lost both arms and was rippling intensely.
"I had fun! You fought well, too bad that I already faced your kind."
He put his sword back, preparing to thrust his blade through the humanoid shadow's head.
But as his sword was about to finish its trajectory, the shadow was suddenly absorbed into the shadows around him, making the steel blade pierce nothing but stone.
The Ascended paused, staring at the stone dumb-founded, and disappointed at himself.
'Of course! They are shadows! Why wouldn't they be able to do something like this?!'
He shook his head and turned to look at the shadow wolf that was still fighting against the golems hopelessly.
Stroking the chin of his helmet, he thought of what to do, making strange movements with his mouth. He could help the golems and kill at least the wolf…
He could also try to kill the bird, but what would that help if his allies were dead?
Speaking of them… They were…
"Well, I'm screwed!"
Because all his allies on the bridge were pretty much dead.
All Awakened had been defeated, the corpse of the last one being held by an enormous black knight that wielded a greatsword of the same height, who threw it to the abyss absent mindingly.
While his Ascended brother was facing a taciturn knight who wielded a really terrifying lance. And he was losing badly.
Meanwhile that giant hydra was nowhere to be found.
"Wait, where is that idiot?"
To top it all off, the Ascended captain saw the headless body of his idiotic companion on the ground, splattered on the ground.
"Damn, that's brutal… I like these Slaves!"
…..
"Oh damn! I like these Slaves!"
The smile full of excitement turned into a desperate one as his eyes widened, he now noticed just how much he was enjoying himself while fighting the Slaves of Shadow, the ones who were supposed to hate.
But right now, they were not only showing their excellent skill and strategy, but also systematically eliminating every threat!
They were worthy opponents!
"Ohhhhh, My Goddess will kill me!"
Yet his excited smile inevitably returned, he really wanted to fight! And nothing made him more excited than a good fight.
So the Ascended captain made his choice and ignored the shadow wolf, it had no hope of destroying the golems after all, the secret to dealing with the regeneration was to simply destroy his sword that had the enchantment, as long as he had essence, the golems wouldn't fall, and he had plenty of essence to spare… At the moment.
He ran through the stone bridge to help his brother in arms.
Little did he know a figure wielding a crimson odachi raised from the shadows…
Wearing a fearsome wooden mask…
The taciturn knight thrusted his spear towards the Ascended wielding dual swords in the middle of the bridge, who tried to dodge by bending down.
Unfortunately, he was too slow, the spear managed to graze the helmet, and it was strong enough to destroy it.
Nonetheless, the Ascended ignored his helmet breaking, revealing his face, a young, handsome face, complemented by his brown eyes and hair. He dashed forward, closing the distance and slashing with his dual sabers.
However, his attack was blocked by the polearm of the spear as the knight was fast enough to react, putting the two into a short bind before pushing the Ascended back to avoid him using his dual sabers effectively.
The Ascended smiled, and activated his Aspect.
Suddenly, he disappeared from the sight of the shadow for a moment, throwing the knight for a momentary loop as the Ascended appeared behind him.
The plan was the same the shadows had used against the war followers. Throwing their enemies off balance using a hidden Ability and quickly eliminating them.
However, different from the dead War Ascended, the shadow knight was able to react.
Using a grounded style, the knight placed his foot solidly on the ground and turned rapidly. Raising his armored hand to catch one of the two sabers, then using his monstrous strength to throw the Ascended aside.
But before he was thrown the Ascended let go of his saber, taking a step forward, thrusting his remaining saber straight to the neck of the knight.
Unfortunately, he was too late.
As soon as he felt blood fall from his forehead, a wound caused by the same attack that broke his helmet, he suddenly felt debilitated, weak, and wrong…
And at the same time, for some reason, in some way, the shadow got stronger, faster, just enough to be able to move his spear…
The Ascended violently stopped in his tracks, not being fast enough to activate his Aspect.
Looking down, the deadly spear of the knight was piercing his gut, a grievous wound opened, with warm, dark blood trailing out of his body and the fearsome spear.
The taciturn knight stared at him indifferently, putting force in his arm, twisting his spear to change the hilt placement of the spear's blade, then pulling the Ascended closer through the hilt hitting the back of the Ascended and forcing him closer.
The knight then grabbed the neck of the follower of war, holding it in a strong grip.
"I-I… Always–"
The weak words died in the mouth of the Ascended, as his neck was broken in an irreparable way. Killing him.
The shadow had no interest in the words of war mongers. Flicking his spear and throwing the body of the Ascended aside.
Upon seeing this, the last remaining outer guard of the Fortress stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the bridge.
He looked at the knight that had just killed his friend, then at the giant dark knight with a greatsword…
There was no way he could beat them
"Well… Time to get those golems!"
He turned around to–
A crimson odachi was an instant away from piercing his shadow.
The Ascended clumsily parried the blade at the nick of time with pure instincts using his sword, even at the cost of putting him at an awkward position with his guard wide open.
His opponent didn't miss that chance.
A fearsome figure, wearing the mask of a snarling demon with two black holes as eyes and three horns fixed his posture and extended the other hand that wasn't holding the odachi.
In one moment, the hand had nothing, in the other, the shape of a blade formed, and at the last moment, a crystal white dagger was in the tips of the figure's hand, already being thrown out of it.
And the Ascended could only watch as the dagger collided with his sword, and with how bad his grip was due to the clumsy parry, the blade was inevitably launched out of his hand, flying through the air until it would eventually hit the taciturn knight.
Obviously, it didn't, with ease, the knight slashed his spear in an arc and shattered the blade in two, changing the hand he held the spear in the process.
As his sword fell on the ground, the Ascended stared at it, horror entered his eyes as he slowly looked back to the figure, and more importantly, what was happening behind him.
Because almost immediately after the sword was destroyed, and with it, the sorcery that enabled him to control and regenerate the golems was lost, so they both were annihilated like they were nothing by the paws of the wolf.
And after it destroyed both, the shadow calmly began to walk through the bridge, like nothing ever happened.
The follower of war turned to the figure in front of him, who stood still, motionless.
"H-Hey… Look, I know we started on the wrong foot…"
The figure seemingly scoffed as they walked forward, lifting his odachi.
"Wait- Wait- Wait!! How about a deal?!"
The figure stopped for a moment.
"How about I tell you all about this place… And you let me fight that knight over there!"
He pointed back, at the taciturn black knight that was holding a spear…
Logically speaking, it made some sense, he had better chances fighting one on one than all at once.
But if he was being honest, he just wanted to die by the hands of someone really strong, sword in hand.
And to his surprise… The figure nodded in agreement!
They did stare at him for an uncomfortable long time, but they agreed! It was great, he was about to–.
The crimson odachi slashed the air in a wide arc, leaving a blood trail in its wake.
The Ascended looked down to see that his neck had been sliced. Not enough to kill him, but enough to damage his vocal cords.
He gripped the wound in desperation, trying to close it so as to not suffer blood loss, but he soon noticed that he had been poisoned, judging by how his body rapidly got weak and stiff. It was like all his blood vessels seemingly stopped working.
Feeling his legs lose all their strength, he fell to his knees, the pain and agony was overwhelming…
But what hurt the most was not the fact he was dying… But rather how.
Like a weakling, without honor or glory.
He looked up at the bastard that denied him the glory he sought for long…
And the shadow figure simply turned around, not dealing the finishing blow.
'Wait… Wait! Come back! Kill me!'
He needed to die with honour, not like a pig!
But unfortunately… Both the giant black knight and the taciturn knight walked past him, ignoring his suffering.
The Ascended reached out, trying to summon his Aspect, but the pain was too harrowing, and the more the poison spread, the more it hurt.
He eventually fell down and began spasming like a fish as his body crumbled from the inside.
The last thing he saw… Was the gates of the Fortress opened, and one more shadow rose from the ground to join the shadow figure wearing a demon's mask…
In the end, if he had attacked the wolf instead of going to the bridge, maybe the other knight might have appeared, and then, he would have fought to the death like he craved for so long…
Maybe if he had attacked instead of trying to make a stupid deal, he wouldn't be on the ground, agonizing.
But so is the Fate of someone who brought so much suffering to the noble followers to the God of Death…
A death fit to him, feeling the same pain he dealt to others in search of… Fun.
A death that would make him suffer.
Until it inevitably came, and it embraced him like it embraced all others, giving him the peace he hated so much throughout all his life…
But now… He longed for it.
— — —
Did these deaths have any meaning?
Before coming to the Second Nightmare, Sunless helped create a massacre on the Night Temple, back then, he didn't feel much, and that bothered him.
After all, even if they were from Valor and his enemies, they were still people that were simply guarding a prison, probably none the wiser about the true crimes of the Clan. And he didn't feel much of anything…
He felt Hollow.
But this time, after killing all of these guards, making an assault against the prison, he once again felt nothing. And he didn't care.
These deaths have meaning, not only were they mere phantoms created by the Spell, they were monsters that let an entire kind be tortured, in fact, they wanted to torture them.
They were war mongers who didn't value life even though they worship the very God of Life itself.
And most importantly… They were accomplices in torturing Nephis.
So no, Sunless didn't care.
Yes, these deaths had meaning.
They were the consequence of their actions, their inevitable Fate, as decided by the Heir of Death.
Sunless continued to walk on the bridge to the way to the gates along with his Shadows, walking through all the smoke and ash that settled in the area as a result of Dreadwing's attacks.
As the gates opened and he summoned Saint, he was resolving a conundrum inside his mind: how did he lie?
The answer was more obvious than it seemed, the way he was able to contradict the very law of the universe was through the only Divine Memory he had, the very mask of Weaver…
But the flaw didn't vanish, apparently it was just reversed as he wasn't able to tell the truth anymore.
However, none of that mattered right now.
The gates of the Fortress had finished opening, to reveal a most disappointing sight.
A mere squad of Awakened.
They looked around and barked something at Sunless, but if he was being honest? He didn't care to listen and simply ordered his Shadows to kill them.
Saint turned to look at him for a moment… But inevitably gave Igris a glance and nodded, he nodded back.
Saint struck the rim of her shield twice, taunting her enemies as they charged.
It all went by quickly, as expected.
Soon, Sunless was walking through the halls of the Fortress of Steel, Saint and Igris beside him, with Wraith following close behind, a pile of bodies behind them.
Sunless had put Serpent back into its tattoo form since his essence was starting to take a toll after so much usage.
And since Dreadwing couldn't go inside and Remnant was still healing after that battle with the bastard Ascended, they were resting in his soul sea.
The Fortress was different from the Fallen Terror it would become, he could feel it through the shadows. It seemed like an actual prison, with facilities for the staff and normal hallways, actual beds, and more. But other than that, the architecture remained mostly the same with some differences.
At the moment, there were forty prisoners and thirty guards, among them, only four were Ascended… One of which was the scum that was torturing Nephis.
She was still there, enchained and in pain… His Connection with her letting him feel just a fraction of everything she was feeling…
'I will make sure they pay!'
Before he could take a step forward however, he suddenly felt the number of shadows in the Fortress decreasing… As in, people were dying.
He soon understood, the prisoners were dying. All of the prisoners.
From forty, it became thirty, the next second, twenty, ten. And before he could do anything, all of them died.
All except Nephis.
— —
On the maximum security aisle, where only the personal prisoners of the warden were placed, the last four Ascendents of the compound stood.
"Done."
The captain's voice came out rough and coarse, like he was annoyed at what he just did.
Turning to the warden, he sharpened his eyes in extreme disgust.
"I activated the sorcery, the prisoners are dead."
A loud chuckle enveloped the room as the so-called warden of the Fortress of Steel amused himself.
"Excellent! They finally had their use, as I always say: "If it's not useful anymore, keep it until it is!"
The other Ascendents present either scoffed or rolled their eyes, they clearly did not respect their leader one bit.
"And what were they used for, oh-great-warden?"
The man turned around from the cell of his current favorite pet. He was a middle-aged man with a completely scarred face, scratches made by the hands of a powerful individual. His short gray hair and beard showed some signs of age, while his mouth was forever twisted in a sadistic smile.
"To rattle our enemy of course! Did you all forget? Shadows care deeply about each other, so what do you think will happen once we kill all of the ones imprisoned here?"
"The invasors will want to kill us even more."
"No stupid! They will make mistakes!"
The three captains stared at their warden absolutely baffled, irritation gnawing at them for having him as a leader.
To begin with, they never liked the warden, he was a twisted person that seemed more interested in torturing the followers of Shadow than to trace the path of War.
But it was undeniable that he was a master of his craft, regardless of how cruel, he was able to get information out of anyone, break any being. Many powerful individuals became nothing but weaklings after passing even mere days with him.
So the Ascendents begrudgingly followed the warden, but this time he was going too far.
"Why are you so obsessed with these shadows anyway? You didn't even let us leave to reinforce our brothers, and now they are dead!"
The warden laughed, sounding like a distorted crackle from how demented he sounded. Turning to the Ascended captain, he glared in an intimidating manner.
"Because this is the Shadow my toy cares about!"
The Ascended's hesitated, turning to look at the cell of their last remaining prisoner, the one who held out the most.
"And when I capture him… Oh, I will have so much fun! And after I'm done with him, I'll finally go after that damn horse and torture him using his own damn…"
The warden widened his eyes for a moment, his smile opened even further, turning into a grin that went from ear to ear.
"Of course… Only after I'm done with you…"
The shadows in the room suddenly grew deeper, colder…
All Ascended captains snapped towards the doors and blemished their weapons with the skill and experience of elite soldiers.
The warden, meanwhile, merely laughed and opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, not minding that the shadows wanted to disintegrate every cell in his body.
Because he wanted him to come.
To come… And fall to his power.
The shadows grew so much they swallowed the doors.
The Ascended became uneasy, nervous, as they should.
They were facing the wrath of a Divine Shadow, one that had received the blessing and care of Ravensong, one of the strongest Supremes in history…
And one that nurtures all who come under her wings, especially ones with such overwhelming potential such as the Divine Shadow…
Who was burning with wrath.
From the shadows, three figures emerged.
Two dark knights that seemed to have emerged from the Underworld itself.
Both flanking the Heir of Peace, the Hollow Death.
Sunless emerged wielding his crimson odachi flawlessly. He immediately observed the room and the shadows, he was where he wanted to be, Nephis was just behind the left cell…
And in front of him, the cause of her torment, a disgusting human bearing a wicked grin and a twisted smile.
"Welcome my dear–"
Even his voice was abominable.
So much so Sunless didn't let him finish, in fact, he wouldn't let the man do anything…
Except suffering of course.
He had already delved into shadows and charged at the bastard, appearing right in front of the ugly man, slicing his odachi, aiming at his chest.
The three Ascendents beside the man barely reacted, hesitating due to fear or something else.
But as the blade was seconds away from connecting…
The body of Sunless dissolved into mist, his weapon falling on the ground after touching the warden due to the momentum. His mask and mantle also dropped.
And the reason for the occurrence was obvious, he fell unconscious, lost in a dream.
—
Sunless regained consciousness in a dark space of complete darkness, breathing heavily with a real body.
'Wait… A real–?!"
He touched himself to confirm, it was true, he was in his real body.
But that didn't comfort him, because he knew exactly what was happening as he felt a strange sensation, the same one he felt after experiencing the hundreds of dreams to acquire Nightmare.
"It is a dream."
He stood up in the nothingness that was the ground, he was wearing his uniform as always, but the mask was nowhere to be found, probably because he doesn't see himself using it.
'How did I fell into a dream? Even Nightmare couldn't do it immediately, and this time I was with three shadows empowering me…'
But he already had the answer.
"That man… Noctis did say he has a strong Aspect, maybe I fell for it because I failed to strengthen the [Stalwart] enchantment enough…"
He couldn't control anything that was outside, thankfully, he had already empowered Igris and Saint with his shadows, along with Wraith, that stood in the entrance to make sure no one escaped.
'Now, I'll summon Nightmare and get out of…'
Sunless suddenly felt his heart ache.
A familiar feeling, Nephis was close.
He turned around… And found her, her consciousness at least.
She was a few feet from him, having appeared out of nowhere.
But she… Was different.
She was kneeling, her back turned to him, face covered by her long silver hair that now was longer than herself, cascading around her, but still showing parts of her skin… Completely scarred and deformed.
Sunless widened his eyes in horror, but still took a step towards her.
"Neph–"
He fell to his knees as a sudden pressure pressed onto his mind and memories passed through his eyes.
Memories of years, decades…
Nephis memories of every dream she had experienced.
In some, she was a leader that failed every single one of her soldiers, leading all of them to their deaths. In another, a devious monster killed all of her people and left her alive, alone for a year, leaving her with guilt.
In another, she rose up against the Sovereigns to take revenge for what they did, and failed, becoming nothing but a trophy in their dungeons. One where her father stared at her, disappointed as she died on the ground.
Another where she was defiled by corruption. Some where her friends betrayed her. Some where she had no control of her body, becoming a puppet for the Raven Queen. Others where she was a sword for the King of Swords. One where she was a thrall for the Dreamspawn.
Various where she was killed and abused by those she loved, and even more where she was…
But Sunless could tell, some of the ones that hurt the most were the ones where her parents looked disappointed at her… And the ones where one person in particular betrayed her:
Himself.
Sunless looked down completely overwhelmed as he crenched his heart.
A distorted voice invaded his ears.
"Beautiful isn't it?"
Looking up, Nephis was gone, in her place, only the visage of a figure made from liquid metal remained, a being that came from nightmares, as tall as a house, with limbs that stretched like pipes and ending with sharp fingers that resembled blades, a broad, thin body with broad shoulders. But most importantly, a hideous face, wicked grin showing its terrifying sharp teeth, big, empty white eyes, and finally, long flowing hair cascading to nothingness.
"After all these scars, she still didn't break! I never had such a fascinating specimen. No matter how many times I shattered her, she never broke!"
Sunless glared at the visage of the warden that gave Nephis so much suffering.
The disgusting monster paid no mind, rather, he enjoyed the hatred, making exaggerated expressions each time it moved.
"I mean, making her die by your hand so many times, you'd think she would start to hate or be afraid of you, but nope! She suspects every single person. Is 'afraid' of anyone except you, in fact, she even loves you! Such a joke! Loving the son of her father's murderer!"
Sunless punched the ground of darkness in anger, using it as support to begin to get up.
"Her mind sure is resilient, most break one or two days, after months in this world, but she? Hohoh… She lasted two months! Decades in this place! She might never be the same again! Living with so many traumas and awful, awful experiences… I wonder how much she will change…"
Sunless finally got up and straightened, his eyes more hollow than ever.
"And I learned so much from her… The Nightmare Spell, the waking world… Figuring out I am a mere phantom? It has been so exciting! I wonder what I'll learn when I torture you? Or your sister! I want to know more about the current world!"
Sunless spoke with the coldest voice he ever let out of his mouth.
"You are a lunatic. Not even deserving to be called 'human'."
The liquid figure turned to him… And nodded.
"True, true, I'm truly dispicable… I think my mother tried to drown me when I was young… Something about an offering to the Gods, honestly I think I lost too much oxygen on my brain… Granted my father thought me the art of torturing–"
"Enough."
The warden froze, and turned to the Shadow, who was staring at him with hollow eyes that were somehow full of hatred.
"For the first time in my life… I will say this…"
The darkness stirred, and behind the Hollow Death, two red ruby eyes opened.
The liquid monster widened his eyes, the grin turning into a worried expression that was strange in his facade.
Because the nightmare beside the Shadow… Was a familiar one…
Sunless finally muttered the words that made the disgusting monster in front of him shiver in fear... And excitement.
"I'm going to enjoy making you suffer every second for the rest of your worthless life, you fucking bastard!"