Shadow Slave

2808 Irreconcilable Differences

Sunny studied Mordret in silence.

By now, it was clear that words were not going to solve anything. The King of Nothing was so wary of the Dreamspawn that he had given up on the Human Domain. That meant that nothing Sunny could say would move him — because as far as Mordret was concerned, Sunny and Nephis were already defeated.

They were already as good as dead.

Why would he be moved by the words of a corpse?

'Damn him.'

So, what did it mean for the Human Domain?

Sunny sighed.

It meant that their time, which had already been woefully short, had run out completely.

Asterion was slowly turning humanity against them. Now that entire cities were falling under his influence, the conflict between the loyalists and the turncoats was going to escalate until it reached the inevitable conclusion — the complete defeat of the Longing Domain.

Nephis was going to lose even more of her power.

At the same time, a new threat would begin spreading from the north. Mordret was on the warpath, preparing to completely consume the Hunger Domain... or die trying. He had already taken the Glass Hell. That single conquest was going to increase his power tremendously, since he would not be forced to starve in the Hollow Mountains anymore. Instead, he was going to invade the Hive and swipe it clean, eradicating every Nightmare Creature hiding in the crystal depths and making them his vessels.

It was going to take some time, and it was going to take some effort. But eventually, the King of Nothing would spill out of the Glass Hell like a tide, washing over the neighboring regions first, and the rest of the Dream Realm later.

He would not be able to cross the Bone Sea in the south, and Godgrave was mostly barren. However, Mordret controlled his own miniature realm — the Mirror Realm — and could fashion it into a bridge between any two reflections. So, his armies could march directly from Red Hill to any of the nearby Citadels.

Which Citadels were the closest, then?

Sunny's expression darkened.

The Sanctuary Noctis in the east. The Citadel above the Lake of Tears to the west...

And beyond it, Ravenheart.

Mordret was almost impossible to kill, but he risked his life every time he challenged someone to a soul duel. The Glass Hell offered him a unique advantage, so he had spent months studying Red Hill and all of its inhabitants in detail — that was one of the reasons he had been able to slither into their souls and destroy them all in the span of one night.

A far more important reason, however, was that nobody had anticipated his attack. Now that he had revealed himself, conquering another city in the same manner would entail a much higher degree of risk... because both Sunny and Asterion could put countermeasures in place.

Sunny could hide agents of the Shadow Clan among the population of neighboring cities. All members of his clan bore the Mark of Shadows, which meant that he could enter their Soul Seas freely. Therefore, challenging them to a soul duel meant challenging Sunny himself, which was one thing Mordret would never do.

Asterion had his own methods, no doubt.

As for Nephis... Sunny was not even sure that Mordret could invade the souls of those augmented by her flames, or at least do so unscathed.

In any case, Mordret was not going to attack other Citadels of the Human Domain in the same manner. That did not mean that they were safe, though — far from it. By now, he could simply overwhelm their defences through sheer military might, and his power would only increase after he absorbed the great swarms of Nightmare Creatures dwelling in the Hive.

It would grow further with every city he conquered.

Sunny was concerned for the Sanctuary of Noctis and the White Feather clan, of course. The Chain Isles were also a strategically important location, since they were a gateway to the Black Mountains and the heartland of the Dream Realm beyond. Needless to say, he was worried about Ravenheart too. It was one of the two most populous cities in the Dream Realm, after all, as well as where Kai lived.

But actually, it was the former Citadel of Clan Sorrow at the edge of the Moonriver Plains that was most vital. That was because the Great Waterfall, Weeping Goddess, created the Lake of Tears there — and that lake gave birth to the River of Tears, which connected all human settlements in the West together.

If Mordret somehow captured the Lake of Tears, his invasion of the Human Domain could very well become unstoppable. It will definitely become far more rapid, at the very least.

And who could stop Mordret?

It was unclear whether Sunny or Nephis could defeat him cleanly in a one-on-one clash... even if Sunny would gladly give it a go. What was almost guaranteed, though, was that they would most likely crush him if they fought together.

However, that would only serve to weaken both sides, making Asterion the only winner.

More importantly...

Sunny and Nephis had to depart soon. In fact, now that Mordret had begun his invasion of the Human Domain, they had to leave as soon as possible.

Because the swiftest and most effective way of stopping the King of Nothing — and preventing him from taking countless lives — was to eliminate the cause of his genocidal crusade. To eliminate Asterion as a threat.

And they could only defeat Asterion by going away.

That was the only one of Cassie's visions Sunny could not afford to doubt.

‘I am wasting time here.'

Sunny looked at Mordret with a somber expression, questioning his past choices. Would the people of Red Hill have been alive if he had simply killed the other fragment of the King of Nothing in Mirage City? Regardless, even if he could not kill him now, he could at least slow him down a little.

“This body of yours."

Mordret looked down at the mighty body of Saint Dar and smiled.

“Not exactly my style, is it? Ah, but it suits me well. I thought that his Aspect would be redundant, considering the depth of my own perception, but it is actually quite different from my own abilities. Very useful." Sunny sighed.

“You can see everything, right? So no adversary can sneak up on you unnoticed." Mordret nodded.

“Well, that's the idea, yes."

But in the next moment, he swayed and let out a pained groan, a river of blood escaping from his mouth.

That was because a black arrow had pierced his throat.

Walking closer, Sunny looked down at the collapsing figure of Saint Dar and said in a low tone:

“Meet Slayer. You wouldn't believe the kind of beings she hunted down in the past... so, don't feel too bad.”

As those words escaped his mouth, a flood of scurrying black rats rose from his shadow, flowing toward the myriad of vessels below.

His reflection sighed.

“Ah. That is quite unfortunate. I liked that body a lot... are we really doing it, then? Are we fighting?"

Sunny smiled darkly.

“I'll fight you some other day. Today, I'll just give you a farewell gift and leave."

He spared his reflection a cold glance, grimaced, and dissolved into the shadows.