638 Dream After Dream

Sunny walked through the empty halls of his castle, shrouded in shadows. Wherever he passed, the pale radiance of moonlight disappeared, devoured by the tide of flowing darkness. His steps were silent, and so were his thoughts.

Raising a hand clad in a glove of black silk, he traces his fingers across the intricate engravings, uncaring to remember the events depicted on the ancient stone walls. They were his triumphs and his victories, etched into the annals of history… but all of it was so distant and had happened so long ago, at the dawn of the Age of Heroes.

He had been a hero once, too, battling the remnants of the Corruption across the mortal realms. He had been cunning and fearless, valiant and unrelenting, full of faith and hope.

…The Age of Heroes was over, but Sunny still remained.

By now, all of his servants and warriors had long left, taking the treasures he did not care about anymore with them. The halls of the castle were populated by shadows, and nothing else.

Well… except for one loyal fool who was too stubborn to get the hint.

'Sorry, kid. You should have found a better master…'

Damnation… why did his heart suddenly hurt so much?

Sunny opened the gates to the courtyard, not bothering to close them as he left. This castle of his would be, without a doubt, overtaken by one of the other Chain Lords soon enough. Or maybe even a ragtag gang of random bandits… he did not care too much about it, either.

Standing in the darkness, Sunny hesitated, and then took out two knives from the hidden sheathes on his forearms. One seemed to be cut from a single piece of ghostly glass, the other from beautiful ember.

One was the knife entrusted to him by the Lord of Light, and the other was the one he had stolen.

The nightmare he had seen must have been because of a sense of guilt he had not known he felt. But why would he? The fool only had himself to blame for losing the knife to Sunny.

And surely, the two brothers were not demented enough to come up with something that distasteful… at least not yet.

Sunny sighed and shook his head, indifferent to the fate of the other immortals. Then, he turned slightly and watched as a tall figure appeared from the darkness.

A towering demon with pale grey skin, four arms, and twisting horns approached him and bowed his head, a sorrowful expression contorting the bestial lines of his face.

Sunny smiled.

"Don't look so gloom, kid. You knew that this would happen eventually."

The demon didn't answer.

…Not that he was able to.

With another sigh, Sunny hid the ember knife in its sheath, and handed the glass one to the tall creature, who hesitated for a few moments and took it with fear and reverence.

"Be careful not to drop it. A god made that knife, you know? It is a very precious thing… precious enough that even you aren't suited to wield it. The others will eat you alive if they ever find out."

He looked northeast, considering something, and then added.

"...Take it to the Temple of the Chalice and give it to the War Maiden. Tell her... tell her that we'll meet again, in the Realm of Shadows. That is my last order to you, kid. After that, you will be free."

The demon clenched his fists, then slowly shook his head.

Sunny chuckled.

"And yet, this is how it has to be. Now, go! Your master commands you!"

The creature looked down, then growled sorrowfully, and disappeared into the darkness.

Sunny watched him go. Soon, the towering demon left the castle, crossed the hills of emerald grass, and climbed down to one of the chains leading away from the island.

Making sure that the creature was gone, Sunny recalled his shadow scouts and then clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. He didn't even look back once. What a heartless little imp…"

With that, he walked toward the gates of the castle, followed by a sea of shadows.

As he walked, a beautiful black stallion rose from them, his mane as dark as night, with long horns protruding from his head and his teeth resembling that of a wolf more than that of a normal horse.

The stallion's eyes burned with menacing crimson flames.

Sunny smiled.

"Greetings, old friend. Will you let me ride on your back one last time?"

He jumped into the saddle, and sent his terrifying steed galloping across the land. They flew through shadows and raced across the chains that swayed between two lightless skies, jumping from one island to another, full of bliss and exhilaration of speed.

'Ah… this is the one thing I will miss.'

After centuries of being burdened by the crushing weight of knowledge and duty, Sunny was finally free, and at peace. The night sky above him was vast and beautiful, and so was the one below.

Everything was perfect… except for one thing. Why did his heart have to hurt so much?

Surely, he didn't have any regrets left…

Just before dawn approached, they reached a secluded and lonesome island. Sunny jumped off the horse, patted him on the back, and said his farewells. The steed then turned into a vast, sprawling shadow and disappeared, as though he had never existed at all.

The black stallion even made an attempt to hide his heartbreaking grief, to not burden his creator with it, and not turn their final farewell bitter.

Sunny remained still for a few moments, and then made his way to the edge of the island.

There, he undid the strings of his tunic and bared his chest, then knelt, looking down into the endless darkness of the Sky Below, the divine flames burning in its depths.

The other didn't know yet what awaited them all… none except for maybe Solvane, who had sealed their fates with her merciless hand. Had she known the consequences of her cruel choice? Or had she been simply too blind to see?

In any case, Sunny wanted no part of what was to come. He had always prided himself on being a cheat and a coward, and so, he chose an easy way out.

…The moon was already gone, and the sun had not yet risen. In this darkest of hours, he was surrounded by nothing except shadows and the singing of the wind.

A deep sigh escaped from his lips.

"...came like dew, disappears like dew."

With that, Sunny raised his hand and, without even flinching, thrust the beautiful ember knife through the intricate scales of the serpent that coiled around his chest.

As terrible pain drowned his mind with agony, a pale smile appeared on his face.

"Free... I am... finally... free..."

His body swayed, and then fell down into the endless abyss of the Sky Below, disappearing from the edge of the island just as the first ray of sunlight appeared over the horizon.

Sunny fell into absolute darkness.

Wrapped in its soothing embrace, finally, he died.

***

Sunny woke up. His chest hurt, for some reason... but he couldn't allow himself to sleep any longer.

It was time to face a new…

'...What the hell? Doesn't… doesn't this seem awfully familiar?'