341 One Thousand

Standing above Caster's corpse, Sunny tilted his head slightly.

Despite his expectations, there was not a lot of joy in his heart. Instead, defeating the powerful scion of a true Legacy clan left him feeling somber, and a little bitter.

There was, however, a sense of… if not validation, then at least vindication. It was as though some profound need in his soul was finally satisfied, making it more solid.

Steady.

With a pained groan, Sunny took a step back, turned around, and dismissed the Weaver's Mask.

He was in better shape than he had expected to be. Countless cuts on his body were painful, but not dangerous. Blood Weave was diligently doing its job, preventing him from losing too much of the precious red liquid. The cuts were already starting to scab over and close.

The only serious wound was the gash on his side, but it, too, had already stopped bleeding. Very soon, it was going to start healing, too. Until then, it was not going to hinder his movements a lot, as long as Sunny was ready to endure a bit of suffering.

After a year on the Forgotten Shore, dealing with pain was one of his best trained skills.

'...I've been through worse. Much worse. This is nothing.'

Then, another thought entered his mind.

'That shadow fragment… it should have brought me to a thousand, right?'

A moment later, he realized that his whole being was somehow… weird. It felt as though there was intense heat in his chest, slowly growing more and more scalding. This sensation was not exactly physical, but more of a spiritual one. Like the core of his soul was undergoing a violent change.

With a mix of anticipation and dread, Sunny concentrated on this feeling.

'Here we go…'

What was going to happen to him?

Suddenly, he heard the voice of the Spell again. In the eerie expanse of the Crimson Spare, where ancient darkness fused with otherworldly light, it sounded solemn and almost… triumphant?

[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]

Sunny listened tensely, trying to guess what was it going to say next.

[Your shadow is taking shape.]

In the next moment, he staggered and fell to his knees. His eyes widened and lost focus.

The heat that was building up in Sunny's soul had reached a critical point, and then exploded. It felt as though his core was being torn apart, drowning him with intense, indescribable pain. Disoriented and frightened, he tried to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth.

Something was emerging from within his soul, ripping it into shreds. Sunny knew that he couldn't stop that process, and so, all he could do was endure.

As Sunny convulsed on the ground, the Spell whispered:

[...Your shadow is complete.]

And then, something strange happened.

The Spell was about to say something else, but then the entire Crimson Spire suddenly shuddered. This quake was much stronger than all the previous ones, making it feel as though the gargantuan structure was about to topple. Sunny heard the deafening sound of breaking stone.

Almost at the same time, he was suddenly enveloped in absolute darkness, all light disappearing from the echoing interior of the ancient tower.

…And the Spell abruptly fell quiet, its last proclamation left unsaid.

The pain tearing his soul apart was also gone. It didn't feel as though the process was finished, though. It felt as though it was interrupted.

'Wha… what is happening?'

Confused and disoriented, Sunny looked around.

Why was it so dark?

Following a premonition, he then raised his head and glanced up.

'...What?'

The furious light of the Crimson Terror was gone.

As Sunny tried to wrap his head around this fact, two things registered in his mind.

The first one was that he felt very strange. His chest was still full of ethereal heat, but there was also something else. Some kind of… interference? He was having trouble finding words to describe that sensation, but knew that it wasn't harmful. At least not immediately.

The second one was that…

'Crap!'

The second thing he noticed was that, currently, there were giant slabs of stone plunging down on his head.

Picking himself up from the ground, Sunny dashed to the edge of the wide root and jumped off of it. Just a second later, one of the slabs crushed into the coral, turning it into dust. A violent shockwave hit him in the back.

The Prowling Thorn was currently restoring itself in the Soul Sea, its invisible string cut by Caster's enchanted jian, so, for a moment, Sunny found himself in free fall. Then, the transparent blur of the Dark Wing finally weaved itself from sparks of light on his back and allowed him to glide forward, following the momentum of the jump.

As he reached the wall of the Spire, another deafening crash resounded from behind. Looking up and at the descending mass of broken stone, Sunny thrust the Moonlight Shard forward. The tip of the Fallen Memory easily sunk into the ancient granite, giving him purchase.

Hanging on it, he pressed himself against the cold stones and gritted his teeth, waiting for the avalanche of debris to pass and praying that nothing hits him. A few moments later, the Spire shuddered again, and then grew still.

Somewhere down below, destruction was still raining on the interior of the Spire, but this high, it was relatively quiet.

Sunny opened his eyes.

He was still alive.

The dome of the Crimson Spire seemed to be broken, letting in beautiful sunshine. The darkness was not as impenetrable now, suffused with that light. Dust particles floated in the air, sparkling like tiny diamonds.

'Sunlight… sunlight?!'

Panicking, Sunny looked around, searching for shelter… but then noticed that his shadow was utterly calm. Unlike before, when his soul was being destroyed by the artificial sun, it wasn't doing anything.

…It did seem a bit confused, though.

'What the hell is going on?!'

Perplexed, Sunny decided to make absolutely sure that the annihilating power of the Terror was gone from the rays of sunshine and dove into the Soul Sea.

What he saw there shocked him so much that he almost let go of the hilt of the Moonlight Shard and fell down.

The entire landscape of the tranquil sea was changed. If before there was nothing but darkness, now, it was filled with blinding white light. The light flowed through Sunny's soul, making the silent waters ripple and swirl.

Up above, the black sphere of the Shadow Core was burning with furious flames. It trembled and seethed, as though overflowing with power. However, that power was being suppressed by the current of light, which prevented it from spreading outward.

Beneath it, there was a massive whirlpool.

Stunned, Sunny stared at the unrecognizable expanse of his soul and didn't know how to react.

'What the hell is this?!'

Full of unease and dark thoughts, he hesitated for a bit and then summoned the runes.

Everything was the same as the last time he had glanced at them, except for one line:

Shadow Fragments: [1000/1000.]

…Not, not everything.

In the cluster of runes describing his Attributes, a few new ones appeared.

Concentrating on them, Sunny held his breath and read:

Attribute: [Soul Conduit.]