Shadow Saint/History

“	An imperceptible change happened to the Soul Sea, as though a gust of wind suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The tranquil dark water seemed to simultaneously stay still and move restlessly. Then, a sudden pressure came from somewhere above. Raising his head, Sunny saw two dark beams descending from the depths of the Shadow Core. One of them fell on the Echo, while the other landed on one of the silent shadows that stood motionlessly behind his back, as though connecting them together. Bathed in the dark light, the shadow of the dead Stone Saint slowly dissolved into it. And then the Echo began to change…	”
― Chapter 105 Living Stone

The light fell from Sunny's Shadow Core that seemed to seep into the flesh of the stone creature, making it shine with dark radiance. Wisps of shadowy fog emanated from beneath her impervious plate armor, slowly merging with it. It looked as though the Stone Saint was engulfed in ghostly black flame, being remade by it. What little color there was on her body was washed away and replaced with nothing but darkness. Only two crimson fires burning in her ruby eyes remained, slightly changing their hue and becoming more menacing. All these changes were happening on the surface.^[1]

Beneath the surface, the essence of the Echo was being changed as well, in a way much more fundamental than its outer appearance. The shining embers that served as anchors for the weave of diamond strings had lost their radiance, becoming as transparent and empty as the Shadow Core itself. The diamond strings were gone, replaced by a sea of darkness. The darkness formed a shape that perfectly followed the lines of the Stone Saint's body. It was as though a living shadow was now inhabiting it, usurping the role that had been played by the pattern of the sorcerous strings once. Although similar in appearance to the original Echo, the new creature was a completely different type of existence.^[1]

Many of the runes of the ancient onyx armor were missing, and those that did appear refused to coalesce into any sort of comprehensible words. However, Sunny did notice a few of the strange runes that made his head hurt, the same ones present whenever the Spell mentioned the mysterious Unknown. The armor was clearly connected to the same tribe of Nightmare Creatures that the Stone Saint had belonged to before becoming a Shadow. The origin of the strange living statues was tied to the Unknown, so it was logical to assume that the onyx armor had something to do with them too.^[2]

When he pushed the beautiful black armor on the stone monster. Stone Saint did not move to take and shatter the armor as she did with all the other Memories. Instead, she simply turned her head and looked at it. The hue of the crimson flames burning in her ruby eyes ever so slightly changed. It was almost as though they were filled with the tiniest shadow of sorrow. But no matter how much he tried to get the Stone Saint to destroy the armor, she refused. The living statue just stood there and did nothing.^[2]

In the ruined cathedral of the Dark City, Stone Saint walked toward the Black Knight with stalwart indifference, raised her shield, and hit its rim twice with the edge of her sword, as though challenging the Black Knight to a battle. With the two creatures finally facing each other, it became even more apparent that there was a mysterious connection between the two of them. Despite the fact that the Black Knight towered above the graceful living statue, their general appearance and the design of their armaments were eerily similar.^[3]

It was just that in front of the intricate stonelike armor of the Shadow, the devil's own formidable full plate, which had been masterfully forged from indestructible black steel, seemed almost crude. Facing the original masterpiece, he looked like a clumsy imposter. Sunny knew that his intuition was right when he caught a hint of the same dim, nascent emotion that the Shadow had shown toward the walking colossus. Despite the fact that the Fallen Devil was vastly more powerful than her and both outclassed and outranked her, witnessing him, the Stone Saint felt nothing but disdain and even contempt.^[3]

“	As her ruby eyes flashed with ruthlessness, she lunged forward and delivered a crushing blow to his chest. Her gauntlet tore through the breastplate of the rusted armor and sank deep into the living darkness, right where a human heart would have been…Or a soul core. A moment later, the crimson flames burning in the depths of the dark creature exploded into a wave of blinding red light…And disappeared.	”
― Chapter 272 Shadow And Darkness

Grasped in the Shadow's fist was a strange, beautiful, and ominous gem. It was utterly black, as though suffused with impenetrable darkness. Deep within that black void, crimson flames burned with a menacing red glow that was pulsating in a slow and bizarre rhythm.^[4]

The gem looked sort of like a soul shard, but different. It was radiating an intense glow and seemed like a whole soul. The crimson flames burning in the depths of the black gem had four flames for the four cores of Fallen Devil. The thing that the Shadow held in her hand was the Black Knight's soul or some sort of his essence, at least. Bringing the black gem close to her face, a hint of a dark, macabre emotion appeared in her eyes and then she swallowed it. This event led to her evolution.^[4]

The basement of the Obsidian Tower is one giant hall and in it hundreds of dismembered dolls were piled at the center of the hall, forming a morbid hill. Every broken doll had the same face, or rather, all of their faces looked alike as if they were all imperfect copies of the same original. They had the same flawless, inhumanly beautiful features that Saint had, only the craftsmanship behind the faces of the broken dolls seemed much less refined, as though the sculptor had not yet perfected his skill when creating them.^[5]

After Saint saw the broken dolls, she turned away immediately as if losing interest.^[6]

In an old tunnel in Antarctica, there was a passage leading to a natural cave where the heart of darkness lies.^[7] Seeing the orb of jet-black stone that floated in the center of the cave, the taciturn knight remained motionless for a moment, staring at the sphere with a hint of subdued emotion. Then, her eyes suddenly flared, the flames inside them turning darker. Saint burst open the orb using her shattered blade.^[8]

Marble Saint triggered her second evolution after Sunny dismissed her in the tunnel.^[9]

It was unclear where the onyx knight was truly equal to the mighty Saints of the human race. But in terms of physical prowess, she was comparable to the powerful Saints. Her skill, talent, and willpower were exceptional. Saint had always been outstanding, often triumphing over adversaries that were much more powerful than her.^[10]

One fundamental difference between humans and creatures such as Sunny's Shadow is that humans possessed Aspects, while creatures did not.^[10]

Saint had gained her powers, wielding elemental darkness to strengthen her body and her weapons. However, every human Transcendent wielded a powerful Aspect and was armed with several potent Abilities, including Transformation. They were also all carriers of the Nightmare Spell.^[10]

Sunny fused with Saint in his shadow form, he found himself split between two conscious states. One is his existence and identity, which can move away from Saint, regaining independence. In the other state, he becomes one with the graceful stone knight, sharing her perception of the world. He felt the coolness of her armor, the depth of her power, the warmth of her divine flame, and the flow of ruby dust in her veins. He can hear everything Saint hears and sees, but Saint's eyes are different, and her point of view is higher.^[11]

After defeating a Reflection of a true darkness being, the darkness around her stirred, resembling a whirlpool. The ethereal vortex spun faster, pulling more strands of darkness into its silent torrent. A torrent of darkness entered Saint's body like a raging flood and absorbed into her fiery heart. The mirrored darkness changed in the absence of the slain Reflection, and some dissolved into chilling white mist. Saint eagerly absorbing the mist, and by the end, the true darkness enveloping the ancient Citadel had shrunk slightly.^[12]

Saint, unable to continue the fight, experienced a deep, unfamiliar power taking root in her body and soul, despite not evolving to a higher rank or a great Class. This power was rooted in the vast shadow that served as her soul.^[12]

Main article: Dr. Saint § Illusion State

Main article: Underworld (Event)

Sunny liberated Saint by removing his Shadow Core from his soul and embedding it into Saint's soul, or rather, into the shadow that served her as one. The Shadow Core was his very first one and had served as Saint's cradle for almost fifteen years. Through Shadow Weave, Sunny had learned how to remove a Shadow Core from his soul without destroying it, after months of torturous experimentation. His soul was protected from severe damage by Soul Weave.^[13]

Within Saint's vast shadow, five dark embers functioned as facsimiles of true Shadow Cores, but were not equal to one. When Sunny's Shadow Core entered her shadowy soul, a conflagration of black flame ignited at the heart of her being. The five petals of the resulting flower were drawn to the five dark embers, nourishing and reforging them, making them complete.^[14]

The five embers were reborn in the nurturing dark flames. Their jagged edges became smooth, their lifeless coldness was replaced with flawless transparency, and they became perfect spheres containing oceans of dark flame. They became true Shadow Cores, no different from Sunny's own.^[14]

The transformation caused a subtle change to ripple through Saint's soul. Although the Spell announced, [You have lost a Shadow.], Saint was not destroyed. Instead, she became a Shadow Creature.^[14]