A few days later, Sunny found himself back in Antarctica. The cold tundra seemed to have missed him as the frosty air attempted to wrap him in a cold hug. Although his physique as a Supreme now negated that completely.
Donning the [Weaver's Mask] and hiding in a shadow, Sunny watched as the King of Swords battled the Great Demon. Or he watched the King of Swords watching Nephis battle a Great Demon.
It was odd. It seemed like he was testing Nephis newfound strength. It was already difficult for normal Saints to battle a Great Beast, but he was forcing a fledgling new Saint to battle a Great Demon so soon.
She battled while the King of Swords watched expressionlessly. Only a few times would his eyes glisten in the battle as if a spark lit up in a dark room. His fascination with Neph was odd.
"The bastard is capable of his own twisted version of love, but maybe if he considers everyone an object, he could love them in his own sick and twisted way without his flaw disturbing him?" Sunny thought.
It was strange. Nephis took the place of his real daughter, and now he was keen on making her as sharp as any sword. Sunny wondered what the bastard considered imperfections, so it wouldn't be good to stay under someone like that.
Finally, it seemed like Nephis was tired of drawing out the battle. Sunny could see that she was holding back but was only putting on a show in front of the eerie Supreme. An explosion rang out, and it felt like summer had returned to the cold, icy lands.
The Great Demon wasn't even left charred. Its flesh was completely gone, and now its black bones were letting off wisps of smoke.
"I prefer it this way, at least I won't have to smell the scent of burning flesh." Nephis said as she approached Anvil.
Ignoring the comment, Anvil spoke.
"Tell your fire keepers to bring the remains to the Valor armory and workshop. After that, escort a group of Ascended to challenge a seed further North." Anvil kept it short as he flew away.
Unfortunately, unlike Ki Song, he couldn't control thralls, so he had to go in person or send elite combatants from his domain. Their coordination was great and allowed them to win many battles in which they were outnumbered and even helped against foes stronger than them.
However, Ki Song could directly assist with a horde of nightmare creatures. Some even directly channeled her 'Will'. So during this time, it should've been her who had the upper hand, but it wasn't.
Anvil went out and culled the creatures himself every day.
Watching Anvil fly off, Sunny followed and thought about his routine.
"This bastard is no different than an echo." Sunny thought.
Thinking about how he spent the last eighty-five hours simply culling monsters mostly consisting of the Fallen and Corrupted class, it was intense but what truly shocked Sunny was what he observed during the 60th hour.
Anvil entered Whitehold, which was a district on the southern side of the East Antarctic Center. Going into a large warehouse where there was actually a Saint guarding the area.
Faraway Sunny attempted to use shadow-sense to see what was going on when he felt his senses blocked.
"Great anti-divination, and probably some sort of warding or concealment sorcery," Sunny thought.
"That's okay, though." Sunny thought.
The King of Swords stayed there for around an hour before he left. Letting the incarnation with the mask follow him, Sunny waited a few minutes at the warehouse with another incarnation. Then he attached himself to one of the Ascended who seemed like he was approaching the building.
He approached the Transcendent guarding the area and shook hands with him.
"Summerknight, it's nice seeing you again. What do you need me to do?" The mid-aged Ascended asked.
Summerknight replied with a curt nod.
"Kelvin, I need you to take a few elite teams and fill in the gap the fire keepers leave. They were scattered around the north, holding points to push back the Nightmare creatures. I need you to stop by every checkpoint like usual." Summerknight said.
"Alright, got it." Kelvin responded.
Sunny looked around. The warehouse was completely full of shards. Ascended and Transcended with a few Supreme soul shards that could be counted on one hand. The strange part was shards, while incredibly important, is still overboard to have such powerful wards to block off a Supreme's senses.
There would be an influx of Saints coming in as Chain of Nightmares continued and the value of Transcendent and Ascended shards would increase as time went on but...
Kelvin gave a salute before he left. Leaving one shadow with him, Sunny watched the warehouse as the same situation unfolded over the hours. An Ascended would approach, receive some orders, and then depart.
They all greeted each other the same way, shaking hands and then a quick order.
Feeling the dots connect, Sunny's suspicions were finally confirmed when the Shadow he sent with the Ascended soldier yielded results. Watching Kelvin finally sit down with a friend later that night.
They spoke about various things until he mentioned something.
"How's being a delivery boy?" Kelvin's friend asked with a grin.
"Yeah, speaking about that, we got a new shipment. I'm supposed to deliver the list to the checkpoints via memories. Summerknight gave me nearly a hundred new memories that need to be received by their new owners." Kelvin replied.
Thinking about it wisely, Sunny thought about Anvil's transformation ability. The man was able to create a memory out of anything he killed. So that meant on average the soldiers of the Sword domain would be better armed.
Sunny always thought that Anvil had made the swords, the truth had revealed itself here. If he could still channel his 'Will' into these weapons, that would save him an immense amount of time
"What is this freak doing then, hammering way twenty-four-seven? Why make swords when you can just cull Nightmare Creatures and give those weapons out?" Sunny thought.
Slipping off Kelvin's shadow, Sunny glided off. On average, Valor soldiers would typically have better gear and armor, whether they were wielding a sword, axe, katana, or an odachi.
Anvil was the heir of war. His aspect was more utility-based as well. Ki Song really is a fool to not push her advantage. If Sunny, Nephis, and Mordret had never gotten involved in the war, Anvil would have stronger soldiers. To enter a drawn-out battle with someone who wields the lineage of war is a mistake.
Stronger soldiers had a direct correlation to obtaining new citadels and thus powering your domain. Ki Song could never compete unless she pushed her early advantages.
Sunny watched Anvil finish up his day routine. After every twenty-four hours, he would open a gate to the Dream Realm to let the people of Antarctica into Bastion. He would also go in as he would be rejected by the Waking World as well.
After that, he would come back, receive reports, and head off to an area that was teeming with nightmare creatures. During that time, no one would disturb the Sovereign, since he would effectively control and cull an entire area by himself with ease.
Watching Anvil go through the motions, as he finished up the meeting, he flew off west.
"He typically rotates between North, South, and West. Towards the East is the ocean, which is safely guarded by the House of Night." Sunny thought.
Today would be the day. Sunny waited for his queue. There was a specific timing when Anvil would be his weakest.
Watching Anvil approach a horde of Nightmare creatures, he looked down apathetically. His steely grey eyes grew bored as the days went on. The first few days were interesting, but now? It was tedious.
Releasing Hundreds of thousands of swords from his soul sea, the Sovereign was flying above. The swords formed a massive cluster and then quickly turned into a shape. It was as if a serpent made of silver steel came alive. It was easily dwarfed the largest skyscrapers in NQSC.
The silver serpent dove down and culled the chilly lands. Anvil was assaulted by a cacophony of sounds from the Nightmare Spell. Tuning out sound, he channeled his transformation ability to turn all those he had slain into memories, into blades for his soldiers.
He was channeling his transformation ability while simultaneously wreaking havoc on the lands. Sunny acutely noticed that the Sovereign finally started focusing and channeling his transformation ability.
"This is the perfect opportunity. He's probably creating hundreds of memories." Sunny thought.
Floating in the air, the estranged Sovereign was busy. It would be hard to approach him without being seen, but over the last few days, Sunny had created a singular memory to help, and without wasting time, Sunny summoned it. A large black orb.
Memory: [The Pull]
Memory Rank: Supreme
Memory Tier: VII
Memory Type: Tool
Activating the enchantment [Reel In], Sunny shadow-stepped underneath the Sovereign. It was a simple memory with two enchantments.
Enchantment: [Reel In]
Enchantment Description: [This can give any person or object a gravitonal pull. Pulling in everything unless explicitly excluded.]
Although he wouldn't need the second enchantment in this battle. It was just that eventually, you can only power a single enchantment with so many shards. So its power wouldn't increase. So tentatively, a second enchantment was created.
The unsuspecting sovereign was yanked down. Sunny also shot shadow-tendrils up into the air.
Anvil's eyes went wide as he felt his whole body had suddenly become millions of tons heavier.
His body held firmly against the pressure, but his aspect was better. Commanding his metal armor with his 'Will' he didn't just urge it to go up but told it was the only option.
However, it was far too late. By this point, the Supreme was more than halfway down the ground. He was ambushed perfectly. The tendrils wrapped around his feet. Anvil wasn't defenseless as he did have his sword, but just as he was about to cut off the shadow tendrils, something entered the peripheral of his vision.
"Tch" Anvil clicked his teeth as he swatted away dark arrows speeding towards him.
His swarm of swords was far, too far away to be used.
The shadow tendrils weren't just incredibly strong, it felt inevitable for him to only go down. So Anvil decided it was time he stopped fighting against it.
His Ascended ability allowed him to control metallic objects with an amazing level of control. When he attained Supremacy it went through a qualitative change.
He would be able to let the metal covering his feet slide off and nearly liquify with a simple command, but it was far too late. Everything was happening too fast, and Anvil was behind on every front of this battle.
"The shadow tendrils are manifested as my hands, and I can shadow-step whatever I'm currently holding onto. It just takes a bit longer to Shadow-step this way, as I've never done it this way before, and the distance between Anvil and me is far." Sunny thought as he looked up at the clueless sovereign.
The pull of gravity suddenly stopped. At this point, Anvil also freed himself from the tendrils at the same time.
But Anvil's breath caught because at that moment, Anvil looked down below. The beautiful dark hills and chilling dark expanse of the sky came into view, since he had flown way higher by accident, because the gravity restraining him had suddenly disappeared.
"Gotcha," Sunny thought