377 Mantle of the Underworld

The shadow essence flowed through the coils of the Soul Serpent into his left hand, then surged into the cold black onyx. There was no resistance that Sunny had to overcome to transfer it from his body into the stone armor — after all, the armor was his Memory, and as such, could be considered to be a part of his soul.

The surge of energy rushed through the ancient armament, then returned to his body through his right hand. Soon, a stable cycle was established, with a constant current of shadow essence circulating through both Sunny himself and the onyx armor.

It was a strange feeling. As if there was an ethereal river flowing through him, moving endlessly in a circle. Thanks to the [Shadow Guide] Attribute of the Soul Serpent, its current was especially swift and powerful.

Soon, the onyx armor became saturated by shadow essence. As Sunny watched, it slowly began to change.

This was the fundamental trait of both Saint and her armaments, with which the Memory shared a common origin — both were made out of a strange living stone. When imbued with soul energy, the taciturn demon's body turned from stone to bizarre stonelike flesh, while her weapons turned to stonelike steel.

Sunny knew this because he had seen the remains of both the original Stone Saint and her fellow stone warrior after they had been defeated by the monstrous iron spiders. After being destroyed, the living statues had turned back into inanimate stone.

The Memory was transforming right in front of his eyes. Soon, its glossy black surface felt different to the touch. Colder, lighter, more resilient… closer to metal than stone.

The living armament had assumed its true form.

'And now, the most important part…'

Sunny gazed through the dark metal and peered at the ethereal weave hiding beneath it. The pattern of the diamond string was much more complex and vast than any that he had ever seen… with the exception of the Weaver's Mask.

But then, nothing could compare to that miraculous Memory.

There were six bright embers serving as anchors for the countless threads of light inside the onyx armor.

…However, the weave was damaged and chaotic. Thousands of strings were torn and disconnected from the rest of the pattern, breaking its flow and logic. Because of that, the armor couldn't repair itself before — it needed to be imbued with essence and turn from dead stone to enchanted metal for the self-repairing properties that all Memories possessed to come into effect.

And now, it was.

With an expression of wonder on his face, Sunny observed as the spellweave started to repair itself. The diamond string moved against the invisible winds that had been playing with them before. The torn ends turned whole again, the separated threads became connected to the rest of the pattern once more.

Thousands upon thousands of ethereal strings moved in unison, their motions full of strange symmetry and grace. Watching the beautiful weave restore itself filled Sunny with a deep feeling of satisfaction. He smiled.

'...This feels right.'

He continued to pour essence into the ancient armor and watched as it slowly returned to its intended state.

And then, it was finally whole once again.

With a content sigh, Sunny removed his hands from the breastplate of the onyx armor and retrieved the shadow essence back into his body. After the Memory turned back into stone, he dismissed it.

After that, not wasting any time, Sunny dove into the Soul Sea, walked to stand between the two Shadow Cores, and summoned the Memory down.

As soon as the silhouette of the ancient armor appeared from the sphere of light, he glanced at the runes surrounding it.

'Come on… be good… be great! I've waited for this moment for so long…'

He read the first string of runes:

Memory: [Mantle of the Underworld].

'Whoa... sounds awesome. But, Underworld? That word again.'

One of Saint's Abilities was called [Underwolrd Armament]. Her own runes also described the creator of the living statues as residing in the cavernous halls of a dark domain… as well as being the last child of the "unknown".

'Was… was Saint made by the ruler of the Underworld, or something?'

Sunny shivered slightly, then glanced at the intricate black armor with a solemn expression.

Well… if her creator was indeed one of the seven daemons and a sibling to Weaver, the Demon of Fate, then ruling the Underworld might not have been out of the question.

Shaking his head, Sunny returned to reading the runes.

Memory Rank: Ascended.

Memory Tier: VI.

Memory Type: Armor.

Memory Description: [Vowing to never look upon the Goddes of the Black Skies again, the prideful demon retreated into the darkness beneath an unassailable mountain chain. He wasn't the first to lead his army against the gods. However, he was the first to shed their blood, as well as learn the secrets of his own.]

'Huh… lead an army against the gods?'

When Teacher Julius mentioned that daemons had enough power to wage war against the heavens, Sunny had thought of it as a figure of speech. But maybe it was not? Perhaps a few of them had really tried.

And what was that about the secrets of the blood…

'Ah, endless questions, like always…'

Shaking his head again, Sunny turned away from the description and continued to read:

Memory Enchantments: [Living Stone], [Feather of Truth], [Stalwart], [Underworld Armament], [Prince of the Underworld].

Sunny stared at the long list of Enchantments for a while, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

'Can't be…'

[Living Stone] Attribute Description: "This armor can repair itself while being worn."

[Feather of Truth] Attribute Description: "The weight of this armor can be changed at will."

[Stalwar] Attribute Description: "This armor provides extremely high protection against physical attacks, high protection against elemental attacks, and a moderate amount of protection against mind and soul attacks."

[Underworld Armament] Attribute Description: "This armor can accommodate a Charm Memory to inherit and enhance its enchantments."

[Prince of the Underwolrd] Attribute Description: "This armor grows stronger according to the amount of opponents its wielder defeats."

Vanquished Foes: [1213/6000].

Sunny remained silent for a while.

His dark room, which was situated deep underground, was silent for a long time.

After a while, he shifted slightly and said in a low voice:

"Well, I'll be damned…"