Chapter 79: —Shadow Berserk

Sunny was drowning in darkness.

Alone.

Lost.

Relentless.

The world was gripped by a terrifying, biting cold that gnawed at every part of his body. Yet, before long, that torrential, detached frost of fading life was parted by the sweet, enveloping warmth of death.

Innumerable thoughts and images flickered through his mind in that frozen moment; Sunny was reliving his entire life. His body felt as heavy and motionless as a boulder. Shadows lingered there—his own, quiet and gentle as ever, keeping him company in his final moments.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the blurred vision of a pure, radiant light appeared before his eyes. But how could there possibly be light in the dead of night here on the Forgotten Shore?

Pitch-black tentacle-like masses, barely distinguishable within the sea of obscurity, coiled around him like a cocoon—though without crushing him—so that as they dragged him down into the abyssal depths, his executioner could deliver the coup de grâce.

‘It’s over…’

Sunny thought.

‘This time, it’s really over.’

The sentence, echoing in the empty temple of his mind, was as inexorable and inevitable as the embrace of death itself.

Too bad it had no desire to watch its favorite spawn die like this. Instead, it would have preferred to see him grow and flourish, living a long and prosperous life.

But how could he? A grim obsidian twig pierced straight through his heart, the oxygen in his lungs was entirely gone, the darkness dragging him downward was unfathomable, and worst of all, those massive tentacles belonged to a Great Terror.

This genuinely was his end.

‘I did my best,’ Sunny told himself at the very end. ‘This time, I really did my best in this life. I tried to survive, I cleared my First Nightmare, I helped Cassie feel better about herself, I defeated a Master, inherited the lineages of a Daemon and a God, fought and slaughtered an entire legion of soldiers and awakened abominations, and traveled through the crimson labyrinth of the Forgotten Shore.’

His eyes slowly closed as death reached out to grasp his shadow before the darkness could sweep it away.

‘So I’d say yes. For a full life, I’ve done more than enough.’

The final verdict, though far from satisfying, floated over his dying body. Until the internal voice of his Flaw shouted powerfully within him:

<>

Sunny’s eyes flew wide open in the abyss, trapped within the cage of dark tentacles wrapping around him.

Underwater, there were no words he could speak, and no clever tactical thoughts that could save him.

His first instinct was to summon a Memory. In a shower of white sparks that illuminated the void, a heavy cloak materialized over his shoulders, shining in the dark with its breathtaking crimson fabric—the [Crimson Cloak].

Instantly, its enchantments activated. [Growth] was the enchantment that allowed him to harness the vitality of defeated enemies to heal himself, but right now, Sunny wasn’t fighting. However, he was a shadow, and as such, he possessed no Soul Essence, but Shadow Essence—a formless, versatile energy. And now that he fully possessed the Shadow Lineage, he could convert that essence into pure vitality, completely bypassing the normal activation conditions of the enchantment.

Feeling his lungs burn and tasting blood in his water-filled mouth, Sunny grabbed the jagged piece of wood piercing his chest and violently ripped it out.

“Mmmmh!”

A muffled, agonized scream escaped his lips. His [Flesh of Shadows] and [Blood Weave] attributes surged back to life, desperately knitting his flesh together. Sunny should have been dead by all laws of nature, yet the residual wills of his divine lineages refused to let him perish.

He still had to live.

His other attribute, [Child of War], flared instantly, sharpening his warrior senses to a razor’s edge. In that exact fraction of a second, Sunny spotted a breach forming in the wall of tentacles. Thene was forcing her way in.

Before he could even register her fully, Myriad Shade materialized, wrapping her dark arms around him and plunging them both straight into the shadows.

‘Ah!’

Now that he was a true shadow, Sunny no longer needed to breathe. His mind finally snapped back to absolute, crystalline clarity, and if there was one thing echoing in his soul above all else, it was the burning, desperate urge to fight for his hard-earned right to live.

Sunny roared a single sentence in the sanctuary of his mind—a battle cry that woke the slumbering shadows within his very blood.

‘Eyes on me!’

In the next instant, Sunny re-emerged from the pitch-black abyss with Thene tightly wrapped around him.

Then, the shadows confronted the True Darkness.

***

The gentle sound of waves crashing against the stone ledge filled the crisp morning air. The horizon was on the verge of waking, and even from afar, the dark sky was already painted with the first soft hues of dawn.

Nephis woke with this subtle sensation brushing over her skin. The heavy bags beneath her gray eyes fluttered open with great effort, greeted by the cold, unforgiving flatstone serving as her makeshift mattress and the pale silhouette of Cassie next to her.

“Nephis… is that you?” the blind seer asked, her unseeing blue eyes wide with raw shock and frantic concern for her dear friend’s fate.

Changing Star took a quiet moment to sit up, regain her bearings, and assess their surroundings as her senses slowly returned.

“It’s me, Cas,” she finally answered softly.

On that stone ledge—which was, in truth, the exposed palm of an ancient statue’s hand breaking through the surface—there were only the two of them.

“Where… where is Sunny?” Cassie asked, her voice trembling in terror of the response. She pressed further, “A while ago, I felt you arrive, carried by his Echo, the Soul Serpent. But then it vanished. Where is he?”

A crushing, painful silence fell between the two girls, heavy enough to break their hearts.

“I… I don’t know, Cassie…” A hot tear trickled down Nephis’s cheek as she slowly shook her head.

Her voice cracked into a bitter, desperate sob. Once again, she had failed to protect those who stood by her.

“Sunny came back for me… and while he was saving me, he was stabbed through the heart… I-I’m so sorry…”

Nephis couldn’t go on; speaking the memory aloud was agonizing.

Cassie’s delicate, doll-like face drained of all color. Right alongside the Nephilim, she dissolved into tears.

“Waaaaah!”

Her painful, heart-wrenching weeping shattered the quiet morning.

The blind seer buried her face in her hands, completely surrendering to her grief. Nephis wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly as tears streamed uncontrollably down her own face.

‘Why, Sunny?’ Changing Star screamed internally, the morning sunbeams suddenly feeling biting cold. ‘Why push yourself so far to save someone like me? After I attacked you, yelled at you, and doubted every single word you said despite everything you did for us? Why?!’

Her agonizing questions shattered like fragile porcelain against the walls of her mind.

‘What has become of all your dreams? Your hopes? Your desires?’

Nephis regretted everything. Her choices. Her stubbornness. Her relentless paranoia. Every single path that had led to his death.

To Sunny’s death.

The shadow that both she and the seer loved so dearly.

‘Why throw them away just because of me?!’

“Waaaah!”

Nephis and Cassie wept openly together as the bright morning sun rose into the sky, watching the dark sea recede below to give way to a new sorrowful dawn.

Until… SPLASH!

Both girls whipped their heads around simultaneously, their faces stained with tears. What met their eyes left them completely speechless.

Emerging from the receding depths of the dark sea was a warrior clad in armor of pitch-black iron, forged from the purest shadows. At first glance, the plate appeared exquisitely refined and masterfully crafted, though a keen artisan’s eye would notice how the individual pieces barely held together, as if lacking a binding force. The black helmet was battered and misshapen, echoing the brutal battle he had just survived.

In his right hand, he held a Soul Serpent, which had taken the form of a black bastard sword whose dark edge seemed to devour the surrounding light. A vibrant, voluminous crimson cloak draped dramatically across his shoulders—the sole stain of color against an otherwise dark canvas.

The berserker did not breathe, and no ethereal glow shone from behind his jet-black visor, yet he radiated an undeniable, living presence.

“Nephis, what’s happening?” Cassie asked, clinging to her arms, sensing the immense new presence before them but unable to discern his features without her sight.

Before Nephis could move or speak, the dark warrior dissolved into a pool of pure shadow. From that pitch-black mark, Myriad Shade emerged, cradling her master safely in her arms.

Sunless.

Alive—albeit barely.

—–

Still alive and kicking, I see.

If there are any typos or alike, please let me know.

Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!

Read also:

–Shadow Slave: No Rest for the Wicked;

–Shadow Slave: Corrupted files.