Shadow Dance

While the battle style entrusted to him by Nephis was versatile and deadly, and the technique of the Stone Saint was indomitable and oppressive, they were not his own. No matter how much he practiced them, he felt that there was something missing. Individuality. Only by creating a style of his own would he be able to become equal to the best fighters out there. Until then, he would always be just an imitator.^[4]

After countless spars against Stone Saint, he finally noticed his shadow's movements. While exactly like his own, there was a very slight, almost imperceptible difference. The divergence between him and his shadow was consistent and harmonious, hinting at a deeper meaning of which his shadow had a battle style of its own.^[4]

In their expedition to reach the edges of Forgotten Shore, Sunny was finally able to understand the foundation of the elusive shadow style. That was when he was observing the motions of two shadows that followed Nephis during her mock fight with Caster. The foundation of the shadow style was indeed insidious, shapeless, and ever-changing. Its core concept was to steal that which made the enemy strong and use it to destroy them. To master that style, he had to learn how to behave like a shadow.^[5]

When he finally figured it out, for the first time inside the Dream Realm he dreamt. The dream he found himself in did not belong to him. Instead, it belonged to the nameless temple slave whose role he had assumed during the First Nightmare. The original child of shadows. The vision was his memory.^[6]

In his dream, he saw a young woman dancing. The young woman weaved a beautiful pattern with her movements, their cadence and nature were simultaneously firm and flowing, sharp and gentle, clear and unpredictable. She danced alone but also with seven partners, effortlessly controlling both her own body and the seven shadows cast by it. Her dance was insidious, shapeless, and ever-changing. He recognized these movements. They were the same as how his shadow moved. This was the source and origin of the battle style he wanted to create. This was Shadow Dance.^[6]

Shadow Dance is a battle art invented by Sunny, which aims to steal the strength of the enemy and use it to destroy them.^[7] Sunny has mastered four of the Shadow Dance steps, but three remain elusive. The first four steps involve sensing a being's essence to shadow its mind, skill, and overall form.^[8]

• Its first step was mastered during a battle with Nephis, allowing Sunny to understand and mimic the enemy's battle style.^[7]
• The second step was continued by absorbing the styles of countless Awakened, allowing Sunny to shadow unfamiliar battle styles faster and more easily.^[7]
• The third step expanded on the first two by redefining battle styles, including Nightmare Creatures in the enemy ranks he shadowed. But this step was more about Sunny's own self-discovery, as he had to let go of his sense of self to shadow things innately different from him. The third mastery greatly improved Sunny's ability to shadow enemies and perceive the flow of essence within them. However, Shadow Dance was a double-edged sword, as Sunny could easily get lost in the form of an adversary, forgetting himself forever. The best defense against this risk was his True Name, which served as the anchor of his soul.^[7]
• The fourth step allows Sunny to delve deeper into the physical structure of creatures, allowing him to shadow them more perfectly. However, he cannot replicate their Attributes, Aspects, and mystical powers.^[8]
• The fifth step of Shadow Dance should encompass the ability to shadow a being's Attributes.^[8]

This raises questions about the final form of Shadow Dance, which should include the ability to become a true shadow of a being, including their mystical powers and authorities.^[8]

• The sixth step of Shadow Dance appears to involve the channeling of foreign concepts.^[9]

Sunny's theory that mastering the remaining steps of Shadow Dance would allow him to shadow others' Attributes and Aspects and profane powers of Nightmare Creatures was not entirely based on pure conjecture. However, his intuition has changed since being cut off from fate. A previously unrelated piece of information corroborated his theory.^[23]

In Chapter 2404, Sunny is attempting to master the Fifth Step of Shadow Dance which requires more than just mimicry—it demands a complete transformation of body, mind, and spirit. Rather than simply copying someone's appearance, Sunny must fully internalize and become the essence of another being. To do this, he chooses to transform into a Stone Saint, specifically based on Saint, his first and most loyal Shadow.^[26]

The Stone Saint form is ideal for Sunny due to his deep connection with Saint, who has fought beside him for nearly a decade. Saint has saved his life many times, taught him in battle, and remained a constant companion. Sunny knows her better than almost anyone else. Additionally, he has spent years empowering and studying her through his abilities, allowing him to understand the Stone Saint physiology and mindset intimately. His connection to Stone Saints is further reinforced by his possession of the Jade Shell and Jade Mantle, inherited remnants of Nether's power, which are already a part of him.^[26]

Shadow Dance is Sunny's Aspect Legacy, whose mastery is divided into multiple steps. Each mastered step normally reveals its own essence, but Sunny's understanding of the higher stages (Fifth Step and beyond) became "mixed and entangled" because he learned them without the assistance of the Nightmare Spell.^[27]

After recovering his True Name, Sunny's mastery advanced significantly. His True Name acted as an anchor that stabilized his sense of self, allowing him to explore Shadow Dance more deeply without the same risk of losing himself.^[27]

This advancement was demonstrated through his ability to mirror Nephis's Soul Flame. Previously, when using the Mirror of Truth on Aletheia's Island, the copied flames were lightless and black, reflecting the true nature of his own soul. After his recent progress, however, the mirrored flames became pure and radiant, indicating that Shadow Dance had evolved beyond merely reproducing the outward function of an ability. Instead, it enabled him to shadow the target's soul and the underlying essence of its power, which proved essential for reproducing abilities that required light.^[27]

Sunny also revised his understanding of the Sixth Step. He initially believed that it centered on channeling the concept of a being and reshaping his Will to perfectly imitate that being's Will or spirit. He later concluded that these processes were only methods used to reach the next stage rather than the true objective of the Sixth Step. He further reasoned that if this interpretation had been correct, the step would have been effective only against deities, contradicting the inherent versatility of shadows, which are meant to follow all beings.^[27]

According to Sunny's current understanding, the Fifth Step is intended to allow him to shadow the Attributes of other beings, while the Sixth Step is intended to shadow their Aspects and powers. Because both stages were learned without the Nightmare Spell's assistance, their functions became mixed together. As a result, the Fifth Step was complete but still felt incomplete in practice, enabling him to copy many—but not all—Attributes. Likewise, the Sixth Step had only partially revealed itself and remained unfinished.^[27]

These limitations were reflected in his abilities. Sunny could shadow Saint, but was unable to wield true darkness. Similarly, he could shadow Nephis, but could not reproduce her Fire itself, despite successfully imitating the essence of her Soul Flame.^[27]

Based on these shortcomings, Sunny concluded that the missing element was likely the Seventh Step of Shadow Dance. He believed this final step would complete his Aspect Legacy by unifying the Fifth and Sixth Steps, which he regarded as inseparable parts of a larger whole. However, he had not yet discovered the nature or function of the Seventh Step.^[27]

In Chapter 2362, as Supreme Rank, Sunny managed to challenge a being of superior stature through the transformation of his Will, empowered by his mastery of Shadow Dance. In that critical moment, he did not attempt to overshadow the Wolf directly — instead, he invoked the memory of a primal hunter from the era of the Wolf, a vision etched deep into his soul. Drawing on his vast experience of becoming others through Shadow Dance, Sunny channeled the mindset, instincts, and essence of that ancient predator. His imagination became reality through sheer force of Will. The transformation was not physical alone; it was spiritual — he willed himself into a different being, reshaping his inner self to embody the ruthless, territorial fury of a tribal chieftain whose kin had been slaughtered.

Sunny was able to shadow Soul Serpent by keeping his identity from becoming lost with the help of the Chain while channeling Serpent's essence and assuming its form. The form of Soul Serpent was described as the opposite of what those words usually meant—rather than a fixed shape, it was a state of utter formlessness inherent to the shadows, which was the very reason shadows could take any shape. Sunny found it surprisingly easy to assume that shapeless form, because there were a lot of parallels between him and Serpent, as well as between the powers they wielded. This connection existed because Serpent was unique among Sunny's Shadows. Unlike the others, which Sunny had earned through slaying their originals, Serpent had been given to Sunny by the Nightmare Spell as a reward for mastering the first step of Shadow Dance. It was a remnant from the times when Shadow God ruled the Realm of Death and had been born a Shadow Creature, instead of becoming one after destruction. Because of this, Serpent was closer to the ideal of a true shadow than anyone else, while Sunny, having inherited his Aspect from a divine shadow, was already walking the path toward becoming such a creature himself.^[30]

Because of this affinity, Sunny managed to shadow Serpent with surprising ease, and it almost felt natural. Unlike when he had tried to replicate Slayer, the feeling of something vital missing did not trouble him. By channeling Soul Serpent's power, Sunny turned himself into a weapon capable of slaying deities. His nebulous body became the perfect vessel for channeling death, allowing his ability to express his Will to become much more refined and pure. Though his Will itself did not grow more potent, the same effort produced far greater results, affecting the Vile Thieving Bird's vitality far more effectively than before. Sunny then shaped himself into an onyx serpent, coiling around the Vile Thieving Bird and sinking his fangs into the wound on its neck. Through this form, Death flowed through them into the very heart of its soul, poisoning the six nodes of revolting darkness pulsing there like abyssal cores. Even as his own nebulous body had become tattered and small, nearing collapse, the Vile Thieving Bird's vitality was swiftly drained as the poison of Death Will permeated it, weakening it enough that it finally became afraid of him.^[30]