Sunny/History

Summary

Sunny's parents were both menial workers. They were poor, but not destitute. His dad was employed by one of the numerous maintenance crews that took care of the city's outer barriers. His mom worked in an underground factory that produced air filtration systems. Together, their income was barely enough to afford a small cell in one of the human hives on the outskirts.^[1]

Several months after his sister, Rain, was born, when Sunny was around four, his father was killed in a work accident, which was not a rare occurrence among the city maintenance workers. Three years after that, his mother got sick and eventually passed away. Factory workers like her often got sick and died due to the harsh conditions, so it wasn't a rare outcome, either.^[1]

Sunny and Rain were sent to a government childcare facility. His sister was young and cute, so she was eventually adopted. Sunny, however, was older and had "behavioral problems", which made him pretty much completely undesirable. After enduring a few years in a series of increasingly vile foster homes, he finally managed to run away and learned how to survive on the streets of the outskirts.^[1]

Sunny's life was unsavory and bitter. He imagined that it was the same for his sister, so he got obsessed with the idea of finding her and becoming a family with her again. A street kid like him can't earn much, but he saved up money as much as he could. He had almost nothing to eat but would keep putting away the pathetic number of credits he had earned through doing all kinds of horrid crap. After four or five years of doing these things, by the time he was nearly seventeen, he finally had enough to hire a private investigator.^[2]

Sunny knew of a detective who sometimes hired nobodies like him to gather information. His services weren't cheap, but he trusted the guy. So he gave all his money to that guy and asked him to find his sister. One day, about a month after they made the deal, he found her and gave him a piece of paper with an address written on it. On the way, near the tram terminal, there was this girl, around twelve years old, wearing a tidy school uniform. She was walking in the same direction as him, only to realize it was his sister after the girl entered the house from the address. She had parents who loved and treated her well, enough real food to never go hungry, pretty clothes, expensive textbooks, and cute younger siblings. They were all smiling, laughing, and having a great time together.^[2]

Sunny just stood there, watching those happy people. How he looked down at his own frail body, his dirty and ragged clothes, the bruises on his bloodied knuckles. And realized how utterly out of place he was in that picture. After years of dreaming of finding his sister and saving her, he was faced with the simple fact that she never really needed him. She probably didn't even remember that he existed. More than that, returning to her life would not bring anything good to her. He didn't have anything pleasant or beneficial to offer. He could only make things worse.^[2]

Out there on that dark and rainy night, while Sunny was standing in the shadows, something in his heart was extinguished forever. Something inside him died. No matter what kind of situation he would find himself in after this, nothing would really compare to the darkness he felt in that single moment. After remaining motionless for a long time, he slowly backed away, turned around, and walked into the darkness.^[2]

A few days after that, he began showing the first symptoms of being infected by the Nightmare Spell.^[2]

Summary

Sunny succumbed to the Nightmare Spell and succeeded in his trial gloriously. He received a True name and a unique Divine Aspect. Shortly after waking up, he met Jet, who was on watch duty to his Nightmare. She convinced Sunny to enroll in the Academy to prepare for his first journey into the Dream Realm. As both of them were from the outskirts, she gave him advice before leaving for the Academy.

Inside the Awakened Academy, he learned how to control his flaw and discovered what his aspect ability can do. During those four weeks, He was relentless, pushing his body and mind to the limits in an attempt to absorb as much knowledge and skills as possible in that short amount of time. On the day of the winter solstice, all sleepers were ushered into their pods before going into their slumber.

Sunny arrived in the Dream Realm drowning. Luckily, his teacher Julius taught him how to swim and survived his first ordeal. He swore to thank both the old man and Master Jet once he came back. Thinking of a way out, he decided to explore and reach the source of light. On his way, he killed a carapace scavenger and received a weapon. Then, he continued his way until he met Nephis and Cassia to join them. Together, the trio explored the Labyrinth. Knowing each other's abilities, learning how to fight, and growing fond of each other, they killed and survived various creatures, escaped the enthrallment of the Soul tree, and survived the cold and harrowing night of traversing the dark sea. Most of it, thanks to the aid and guidance of Cassie's visions. At the end of their journey, they found the human castle.

Summary

Sunny was alone living in the cursed city, surrounded by nothing but ruins and horrifying monsters. Shortly after, he came across a battle between Nightmare Creatures. The last of the stalwart stone warriors defeated most of the fallen beast, but in the end, she also fell. Grabbing the opportunity, Sunny gave the stone warrior a quick death, earning him an echo. He transformed Stone Saint into his Shadow.

Soon after, he met the trapped Kai. Kai is an incredibly attractive young man and with his flaw, he and Sunny immediately became friends. He asked Kai for a favor to buy memories in his stead. While waiting for Kai, he met Nephis again after four months of separation. He reminisces about the time when they first arrived in the Dark City and met Effie.

They learned from her that there was no gateway in the city. Thus, crushing their hopes of returning to the real world. They also learned about Bright Castle, its leader, the hierarchy, and how the people were living in hopes to survive. Nephis planned for Sunny and Cassie to stay in the castle and gather information inside. She used the information to target a pathfinder for justice and gave her the opportunity to spread her name and gather the remaining people settling outside the castle. Just like that, they were joined by Effie and Caster. The events that followed made Sunny realized what Cassie's vision really meant, leaving his mental state shaken. In addition to that, he made a fatal mistake that led him to commit murder. At the end of it, he decided to leave the group.

Back to the present, he joined Nephis's Cohort as hired mercenary in exchange for help to kill the Fallen Devil of the ruined Cathedral. They went on a journey to reach the borders of Forgotten Shore and find something. On that journey he learned about the origin of the curse of darkness and the oath, the seven heroes left behind. Coming back to the Dark City, fulling the promise to him, and clearing the misunderstanding between him and Nephis, the final confrontation between Nephis and Gunlaug began, marking the start of Cassie's prophecy. After taking back the castle and killing the opposition, they proceeded to get the final key to the oath.

The remaining sleepers burned down the castle and left the Dark City. Five hundred of them lay siege to the Crimson Spire. While everyone was busy killing the remaining Nightmare Creatures, Sunny was tasked to open the gates of the Crimson Spire. This resulted in him banishing the dark sea and unleashing the soul-damaging light from the sun. After that around a hundred sleepers survived, reaching the gateway and finally tasting freedom. Sunny confronts Caster, which ends in Caster's death. Soon, he finds out that between Nephis and him, only one will be able to return. After a clash of swords, Nephis forces Sunny to use the Gateway by using his True Name.

Summary

Sunny was forced to return to Earth. Being betrayed by Cassie, he cruelly severed his ties to her and started making plans for the future. After many interviews with the Sleepers of Forgotten Shore, he along with four other Awakened received the SS rank. Sunny became a citizen of the highest rank. After some research on the background of the Immortal Flame Clan, he compiled a report on his findings of the Forgotten Shore, with the exception of some details that he kept to himself.

Soon after, he decided to be an independent Awakened and was anchored to the gateway of Sanctuary of Noctis on Chained Isles. Alternating between the Dream Realm and the Real World, he strived to follow Nephis' progress and visit her whenever possible. Eventually in the Real World, he bought a house, entered Dreamscape as Mongrel, and found his sister.

One day in the Dream Realm, he found a dead creature who had a golden coin fallen out of its hand, which later was sacrificed to the altar of the Sanctuary of Noctis to gain a fragment. Keeping the knowledge to himself, he decided to get his hands on the treasure chest full of coins on Shipwreck Island.

During his journey, he defeated the creature of Reckoning Island leaving behind a mirror shard, went into the Shipwreck Island, and encountered a mimic which led him to his fate of falling into the abyss of Sky Below. In that nothingness, he met Mordret due to his blood smeared on the mirror shard. The creature on Reckoning was his creation. Mordret gave him tips on how to survive the deadly divine flames of Sun God in Sky Below. He eventually survived and found himself in the Ebony Tower, faced the string of fate he saw when he used the active enchantment of Weaver's mask thus acquired another one of Weaver's lineage and discover a Nightmare Seed in the Ivory Tower.

In the end, he was forced to meet with Cassie in Desecrated Grove to invite her to challenge Second Nightmare along with Kai and Effie but instead was informed of the death vision of the two of them. Back in the Sanctuary, he sacrificed a chest worth of coins, gained fragments enough to shorten the progress between him and Nephis, and get his hands on the obsidian knife.

Back in the Real World, while following his sister, he encountered a gate opening near her. Suppressing his desire to just run away, he faced the gate as Mongrel and survived the onslaught of Nightmare Creatures enough for Jet and the cavalry to clean it up. The event led to Sunny connecting to his sister as her teacher.

While waiting for Effie and Kai to reach Chained Isles, Sunny joined the Fifth Annual Dream Tournament and became its champion. In addition, he progressed to his second mastery of Shadow Dance and got the Shadow God lineage as his relic. However, due to Weaver's lineage, the god lineage he got was devoured by it and that evolved his attributes, Blood Weave, and Bone Weave, and reached Flame of Divinity.

Since the preparation to challenge the Second Nightmare included the Ivory Knife, Sunny and Cassie traveled to the Night Temple. But everything went wrong when Sunny unintentionally released Mordret from his prison inside the Temple using the mirror shard. Both Sunny and Cassie survived the ordeal leading to the fulfillment of her death vision except they did not die and were rescued from falling into the Sky Below by Kai. The Fire Keepers repaired the ship just in time.

Tyris killed Cormac and told them to lie low for a while and to proceed as they planned. Sunny, Cassie, Effie, and Kai reached the Ivory Tower to enter the Second Nightmare but they were joined by an unknown fifth member.

Summary

Sunny found himself falling from the skies, in an unfamiliar body of a creature, into the so-called Kingdom of Hope. He encountered Solvane who tried to kill him but was captured instead. After some time, he woke up with a steel collar wrapped around his neck and realized he couldn't summon his memories or runes and was completely cut off from the Spell. He then finds himself thrown inside a colosseum.

Inside the Colosseum, there were thousands of Nightmare Creatures, and a few humans locked and forced to kill each other every day. Those who survive received the honor of fighting against the Warmongers. If they prevailed, they get to live another day. This process was repeated for two months. Sunny only survived with the help of his partner Elyas, who had a healing aspect.

Enduring the torturous ordeal, he kept searching for a way to escape until he found out how to weave sorcery and used it to temporarily disable the enchantment of his collar. While trying to save his partner, their ascended jailer showed up and beheaded him. In actuality, it was his trick to kill the priest by lowering his guard and freeing himself permanently of the collar. He was alive due to the enchantment of Undying Chain and the essence he regained from Soul Serpent by killing the remaining creatures. This helped him survive without a head long enough for Elyas to heal him.

He and Elyas almost managed to escape but they were intercepted by Solvane. She killed Elyas, tore one of Sunny's hearts out, and threw him into the Sky Below. Thankfully, his current body possessed two hearts and did not die immediately. He survived but was slowly dying. He made his way to the south and managed to stumble upon Noctis.

Noctis was happy to see Sunny and told him that fate had brought them together. They made a deal that Noctis would replace his missing heart in exchange for the location of the Glass knife from a terror that belonged to the Shadow Lord. However, after centuries of loneliness and being subjected to Hope's poison, the creature went mad and attacked Sunny. He was forced to undergo countless nightmares, and on each one, he was tortured, experienced sorrow, and killed. Eventually, he managed to escape by breaking the nightmares and then killing the terror. As Noctis promised, he replaced Sunny's heart and brought him to the Sanctuary where he met Kai.

Together, Kai and Sunny went to the Temple of the Chalice to retrieve the Glass Knife and Effie. Eventually, they were joined by Cassie to help Noctis free Hope. They attacked Ivory City to kill the remaining Chain Lords. By the end of the nightmare, the Chain Lords perished, and Hope was set free.

Back in the waking world, Sunny and his friends successfully became Ascended.

Summary

Because of the fallout with Valor Clan after the events in the Night Temple, Sunny spent six months in the waking world after the cohort returned from the Second Nightmare. In the meantime, he became a star lecturer in the Awakened Academy. Even with Tyris who had done all she could to protect Sunny and Cassie from the powerful clan and their Ascension, that only gave them room for negotiation.

Meanwhile, Jet invited Sunny to enlist in the Evacuation Army for the Antarctica Campaign instead of accepting an invitation to the clan as part of the negotiations. However, during the negotiation, Nephis suddenly returned to the waking world postponing the negotiation with Valor.

After Nephis returned, she stayed in Sunny's house for more than a month to have some rest without disturbance and train her rampaging powers. In one of their training sessions, they accidentally discover the other capabilities of their bond which surprised both. Sunny is still training Rain on the other side.

It was then that Sunny and his friends received an invitation to the Valor Clan ball. It was also at that ball that Sunny had a short conversation with Mordret inside the bathroom by fluke. By the end of the ball, Sunny decided to join the Antarctica Campaign after he got into an argument with Nephis. His decision was not emotional; the choice was cold and calculated. He went to Antarctica to find his true strength.

He met many new people in Antarctica. He became a leader who fought with his people and survived with them but in the end, they all died, he did not find his conviction and did not need it. All he ever wanted was to live a good life and keep the people he cares about safe. He hated the Sovereigns because of the world they build, and their pursuit of conviction which trampled millions in the process.

Summary

Sunny and Jet ventured into the strait on top of the Covetous Coffer to leave the Winter Beast's area of influence. However, their situation worsened when they discovered numerous Nightmare Gates beneath the cold waters. A week later, they had yet to encounter a place where the Call of Nightmare would not instantly whisk them away if they tried to leave for the Dream Realm. They decided to reach East Antarctica.

Sometime later, he became a scout in the Special Reconnaissance Unit of the army. Then he was pulled into being an envoy of the great clans, specifically to Valor due to being close to Nephis, by Saint Cor. In the end, he had to choose a side and fight in the great clan war. However, during the fight unfortunate event happened and now they are all trapped in the Nightmare Desert.

Traversing vast expanse of the desert with great horrors following them and no Transcendent that can bring them back to the waking world. Sunny and his friends were forced to challenge the Third Nightmare.

Summary

The Nightmare, originating from Tomb of Ariel, begins with an unusual time flow, leaving the necessary actions to resolve the Seed conflict unknown, and there are thirteen million challengers. Sunny wakes up falling into a strange place where everywhere is water and his senses dulled by the mist. He then found a large piece of floating wood and fell asleep on it. After waking up, he saw an apparition in his image which was actually the manifestation of Sin of Solace.

Then morning came, and the mist disappeared, revealing the wondrous sight of the Great River and its blue sky with seven suns. On the floating piece of wood without anything to do, he checked his surroundings and found disturbing marks on the underside of the piece of wood he was on. He also checked his runes and discovered a mysterious memory that he had no recollection of receiving.

At some point, he was attack by the Azure Serpent and was forced to flee via sky. Above, he could see everything with the serpent still following him until he saw a dark island which was actually the shell of a Great Black Turtle. The sea serpent initiated the battle that killed the Black Turtle by burrowing into its flesh. Still above the island, Sunny noticed Nephis' flame on the island and there they spend a month, researching the nightmare, training, resting, eating, and hiding from abominations.

After the shell started to break, Sunny faced the Azure Serpent and with the help of Nephis, Sunny killed the Great Beast and Nephis heals him to his peak condition. They travel the Great River and meet Ananke, the priestess of the Nightmare Spell. They learn about the Great River, Riverborn, Defiled, Doom War, Gods and Daemons, the Nightmare Spell, Paths of Ascension, and even teaching Nephis Sorcery of Names.

They reached Weave to experience the civilization of River People and of the Followers of Weaver and gather supplies for the journey to Fallen Grace. Along the way to Fallen Grace, they encountered a Time Storm that took them far into the past which was also far beyond Ananke was born. Nephis and Sunny continued their journey and encountered a copy Chain Breaker inside the Tomb of Ariel and use it to reach Fallen Grace, where they find Cassie. They restore the Chain Breaker and embark on the journey to save Effie and Jet who were trapped in the Wind Flower.

Many unexpected complications happened after they arrived at Wind Flower. First, Nephis was out of essence after they arrived on the island. Upon exploring the island, they discovered two of the Plagues—Undying Slaughter and Devouring Beast—were both trapped with them in a loop that restarts after a day ends. This led to the cohort dying many times due to dangers. They keep resetting and forgetting what happened during the previous loop and Effie's pregnancy. Initially, Sunny was the one who only remembered that loop until Cassie also had déjà vu of the events. Together, they looked for a way to escape the loop and move to their next destination.

After so many tries, they manage to reach the Seeker's Tower, and inside they find a sleeping Saint on the verge of being defiled, but the enchanted island that resets the day prevents it. Using Nightmare's ability, Sunny went into her dream to talk to her. There, he discovered the truth about their world and the Dream Realm. She also gave information on how to escape the island and about Twilight, but in exchange, she made Sunny promise two things: to kill her after destroying the loop and to conquer the nightmare.

They managed to destroy the loop, kill two of the Plagues, and in the process, Jet killed Undying Slaughter and unlocked her Aspect Legacy. They travelled through the vortex to leave the island and exiting outside the Great River. Seeing its appearance from afar, Sunny discovered the truth about the true nature of the river, the source and how the Six Plagues came into existence.

Back to the river, they went straight to Twilight to get Kai and Mordret. But upon arriving, they were in for a surprise after Sunny deactivated the defensive array of Twilight. Instead of a battle between forces of Twilight and Defiled, it was actually between the Dread Lord and Soul Stealer. To circumvent the authoritative command given by the Dread Lord, he activated the enchantment of Crown of Twilight. It made him immune to mental attacks but plague him with boundless wrath. Their battle ended with Soul Stealer slain by Nephis and Dread Lord by Kai. The former unlocked her Aspect Legacy, Memory of Light and latter got a [Dragonslayer] Attribute. Nephis was forced to command Sunny to dismiss his crown and bring him back to his senses.

The cohort arrived near Verge with Sunny and Cassie left alone in Chain Breaker while the rest of the cohort leave to scout. It was revealed by Cassie that Torment was her echo and everything in the Nightmare was planned by the Mad Prince and Torment. But not only that, Cassie's plan went all the way before the Third Nightmare. It started when Sunny came to her back on the Chained Isles to recruit her to challenge the Second Nightmare together. The goal is to break fate. This is also her redemption for taking Sunny's freedom. She had given back the choice to him: to retain the bond or break it. (Refer to Cassie's Plan)

After he realized his feelings to Nephis, Shadow Bond's harm turned from abstract to real, forming an impregnable wall between them, making the idea of a future together seem beyond reach. It was also what Cassie had taken from him as well. He knows that any relationship between the current them is impossible as long as Shadow Bond exists. By abandoning her on the shores of Verge, he would be moving towards her instead of running away, as only by becoming free of her could Sunny be with her.

Torment engineered the current cycle to ensure all members of the cohort survive. The end is already inevitable, and Nephis storms Verge and kills the First Seeker. At the end of their conversation, Sunny had chosen to break fate.

After he reached the Estuary, he learned the secrets Ariel hid in his tomb, why was it called a tomb and received the attribute [Soul Weave] at the heart of the Estuary. However, he was ambushed by the Vile Thieving Bird just before the Nightmare ended.

The vile bird's talons plunged into Sunny's chest and dove deeper into his soul. It grabbed onto countless strings that were wrapped around him tightly, surrounding him like a chrysalis or marionette. Then the voice of the Spell whispered into his ear as the Nightmare collapsed around him. The familiar voice broke and abruptly grew quiet.

After the Nightmare was over, he had not saw the pattern of stars shimmering in the void and no appraisal. He was thrown out of the void into a dark space where he was violently catapulted crashing into a scorched concrete piece which shattered and a deformed alloy wall. The force of the impact cracked the alloy, causing Sunny to lose consciousness. He possibly became the first human in history to Transcend while passed out. He had been sent him back to the waking world where his tether had been placed. He also had transcended but the Spell was silent, and he could not summon his memories.

Sunny felt strange and absent from the world, despite his shadow sense and the other facets inherent to his Aspect — abilities, attributes, and Aspect Legacy. His flaw and his six shadows remained. Saint, Fiend, and Nightmare can be summoned, but he cannot summon the runes or dive into his Soul Sea to view his Memories. The pattern in some of his Memories remained while others seemed to have been destroyed. The Memories he could summon were his personally created or modified ones and his two Divine Memories. Sunny was banished from the Nightmare Spell. He had also learned his Transformation Ability and Shadow Avatars.

He got his wish in the end; he became truly and utterly free.

Summary

Four years had passed after the Sovereigns revealed themselves, Sunny had turned twenty-six. The world obscured the hole Sunny once existed, leaving no one to remember him. Important events were replaced by a vague, abstract substitute. People vaguely recognized that someone had been there, side by side with them but their minds naturally wandered to other matters when they focused on these memories. In short, not only had everyone forgotten him, but they were also unaware of having forgotten him. He was officially dead and had his citizenship revoked, accounts frozen, and his house in NQSC resold.

After the Third Nightmare, Sunny had wandered the Dream Realm alone for three years and returned to civilization a year later, opening his café in Bastion. He had brushed sides with some cohort members, but not in a meaningful way. Sunny's decision to open his shop in Bastion was influenced by his old friends. He lived in three separate locations simultaneously: one in Bastion, where he lived peacefully with the gloomy shadow, disguised as a Master using the Nebulous Mantle. His second self was incarnated by the happy shadow, keeping an eye on Rain. His last avatar was in a dangerous region, incarnated by the haughty shadow, together with the rest of the shadow helpers and his Shadows. He had grown adept at compartmentalizing over the years, allowing him to pretend to live three separate lives.

Sunny reunited with his friends and acquaintances integrating himself once again into their lives. He reunited with his former cohort and integrated himself to their secret plan to defeat the current sovereigns. Eventually, he officially started his romantic relationship with Nephis. He also got his sister, Rain to awaken without the assistance of the Spell just before the throne war begins.

Summary

The Sword Army successfully entered Godgrave, traversing the massive collarbone of the deceased god. Although there was initial fear among the Awakened warriors, they incurred minimal losses. This was largely due to Changing Star and her Fire Keepers, who effectively distracted the local Nightmare Creatures and secured a stronghold on the collarbone plain. The king's presence asserted control over this desolate land, while the Sky Tide of the White Feather Clan maintained the cover of clouds.

Simultaneously, the Song Army, led by seven princesses, engaged in a fierce battle against the Nightmare Creatures. The conflict was so intense it triggered a global tremor, affecting even the Awakened warriors' formation. Although the casualties were significant, the royal clan's efforts to mitigate their losses through strategic maneuvers were delayed. Over time, the army adapted and improved, but not without significant loss of life.

The balance was tipped when Mordret destroyed the House of Night from within making the Stormsea under Queen Song's rule. This prompt the King of Swords to assign Morgan to defend Bastion against Mordret together with the remaining Saints of House of Night — Naeve, Bloodwave and Aether and three Government Saints — Effie, Jet and Kai. In addition, seven Saints from Sword Army was killed in the ambush led by Revel together with Song Saints and Reflections of Mordret in their mission to conquer one the Citadel in the central part of the Breastbone Hollow.

As it turned out there was a Song Domain spy in the Sword Army that made it possible, Master Orum. Cassie was sent by Anvil, the King of Swords, to interrogate the traitor. She effortlessly learned his clandestine activities but didn't stop at surface-level information, she continued to delve deeper, eventually revealing part of his core memories as well as those memories that had just got stuck in his mind for one reason or another which she shared with Sunny. Their goal is to learn the flaw of the Sovereigns.

After that Sunny went to test the things, he learned after the fight with Revel. When he faced Revel and her true darkness, losing most of his powers and relying on his Shadows to prevail led to discovering a new facet of his Aspect that helped defeat Ki Song's daughter. Sunny believed that augmenting his Shadows and Memories could enhance his Shadow Dance and weaving skills.

The war between the Domains of Anvil and Ki Song, both built on the remains of a dead deity, evolved from a conflict against Nightmare Creatures to a brutal civil war between human factions. Initially, the Awakened fought threats from the Dream Realm like the scarlet jungle and Nightmares, but as tensions rose, battles between the two Domains escalated. The Dream Realm had scattered families and allies across Citadels, often forcing loved ones to fight each other. This fractured society bred resentment and despair, opening the door to Nephis' revolutionary vision to overthrow the Sovereigns. The Lord of Shadows lent his fearsome reputation to legitimize their cause.

The war intensified as the Sword and Song Armies battled over territory, burning jungles, clearing out Nightmares, and fighting to claim the remaining Citadels. Revel led an expedition into the dangerous Spine Ocean, accompanied by Moonveil, where they survived horrors only to be hunted by seven Sword Saints. Trapped, they resolved to claim the Citadel to escape and strike a blow against the Sword Domain. Meanwhile, in other regions, Sir Gilead seized the southern Citadel unchallenged, and the Queen of Worms relinquished ground for strategic reasons. Though Song had the initial advantage, a crushing defeat reversed their momentum, exposing the Sword Saints' superiority and raising doubts about who truly inherited the War God's legacy.

Tensions peaked when Nephis defied Anvil's orders, triggering a catastrophic battle that revealed the true power of Nephis and Sunny but ultimately led to the collapse of Song's offensive. The war spilled into the waking world, causing destruction and weakening human defenses. Nephis was redirected to move the Tower of Hope for a final battle, while chaos erupted in cities like NQSC. As the Citadels fell and the Queen's domain diminished, Nephis appeared on the battlefield demanding peace—but truly sought vengeance. Sunny's Nameless Temple reappeared mid-battle, triggering a trap that set the stage for the downfall of the Sovereigns.

Anvil made a devastating move, severing the sky and sending the Ivory Island crashing down. As all-out war ignited, Sunny confronted Anvil, clashing in a brutal duel of shadows and blades, while Nephis faced a monstrous Queen of Flesh in her radiant form. Though both were overpowered, they pushed through unimaginable pain. Nephis invoked multiple True Names in a final, searing explosion, cleansing the battlefield in flame. Sunny dragged Anvil into the shadows, initiating a soul-deep battle where he managed to wound the Sovereign's soul, an unprecedented feat.

Despite their efforts, both were losing—Nephis to the Queen's new colossal form, Sunny to Anvil's crushing Will. As Sunny neared death, he realized the path to Supremacy was self-determined death, not murder. Rejecting Anvil's kill, he stabbed himself in the heart, embracing death as defiance. At the same time, Nephis, burnt to a flickering spirit in the radiant void, refused to fade. Her will alone kept her together until she also achieved Supremacy, igniting her Domain of radiant flames.

Sunny resurrected, not through healing but sheer force of Will, returning as a Supreme with a vast Domain of shadows he had unconsciously built. Nephis, now truly Supreme, healed and empowered thousands, reversing the battle's momentum. The final clash resumed with Sunny overpowering Anvil using his new Domain, commanding shadows like an army. Despite the onslaught, Anvil remained calm, hinting his "masterpiece" was complete just as Nephis soared to face the Queen's new towering vessel. Together, the two Supremes turned the tide of the war, lighting a path through despair with vengeance and flame.

Sunny and Nephis defeat the Sovereigns and end a long war, but the victory comes with emotional weight and uncertainty. To secure Nephis' rule and remove himself from the spotlight, Sunny fakes a dramatic betrayal and death. With Nephis leading humanity and Sunny retreating to the Forgotten Shore, their fight is far from over as a collapsing world awaits their next move.

Summary

Summary

Cassie awakens trapped in a sea of broken memories, drifting through fragments of countless lives and identities. Lost inside this endless labyrinth, she struggles to remember who she is before dissolving into oblivion. Through sheer will, she reclaims herself, but when she returns to reality, she realizes that fate itself has changed. The future she once saw clearly has shattered into contradictions. Something fundamental has been rewritten.

As humanity struggles to recover, Asterion makes his move. Freed from his long imprisonment, he begins spreading his influence across reality itself. His plague is a force that devours certainty, replacing truth with carefully crafted falsehoods. Entire territories collapse into madness as memory, loyalty, and identity are rewritten. Even the strongest Awakened begin doubting themselves, unable to distinguish what is real from what has been imposed on them.

Realizing the scale of the threat, Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie begin investigating how to defeat the Dreamspawn. The search initially yields no answers in government archives, pushing Cassie to dive into Awakened Yutra's memories, where she uncovers a forgotten message she once left for herself: "How does one defeat an idea that spreads like a plague? …The answer is oblivion." She explains that this refers both to the erasure of memories of the Dreamspawn—already being attempted—and a deeper link to Oblivion, one of the Daemons. Sunny, however, recognizes the true meaning: it points to the Estuary Key, the Memory created by the Mad Prince in the Tomb of Ariel.

From this realization, Cassie's message is revealed as a deliberately cryptic directive meant only for Sunny, who alone retains clear memories of the Tomb of Ariel and the Estuary Key due to his fateless state. This ensures Asterion cannot decipher its meaning, as his memories of the Third Nightmare are obscured. The message ultimately serves as a call to action: they must not rely on the false Tomb created by the Spell, but instead enter the real Tomb of Ariel for the first time.

The revelation connects the Mad Prince, the Estuary Key, the Tomb of Ariel, and Asterion into a single hidden thread. By stepping into the true Great Pyramid and leaving their mark upon the Great River, Sunny and Nephis would face existential dangers such as the First Seeker, the Defilement, and the Vile Thieving Bird, while also reclaiming Sunny's lost fate and uncovering the path needed to defeat Asterion.

Realizing the danger of exposing the plan, Sunny tells Nephis only that he understands what must be done but cannot explain it yet, asking her to trust him completely. Despite the risks—including the Nightmare Desert, Death Zones, and a Cursed Terror—Nephis agrees, both because she trusts Sunny and because Cassie's message offers a possible way to stop Asterion's plague, which is consuming the Human Domain through the Hunger Domain. Sunny warns that the expedition will require absolute commitment, forcing him to deploy all his incarnations and the full Shadow Legion. The undertaking surpasses even Ariel's Game and the siege of the Eternal City in danger, but it remains their only viable chance. With no further hesitation, they begin preparing for the journey into the real Tomb of Ariel.

Meanwhile, Mordret launches his own desperate campaign. Knowing that Asterion's growing dominion will eventually consume even him, he unleashes the full force of the Mirror Domain against the Hunger Domain. The final war begins as both the Hunger Domain and Asterion's forces fully commit to a battle they know will end in humanity's ruin regardless of the victor. Around the Tear and the seven celestial chains, massive armies advance while Mordret fortifies the Ebony Island using his adaptive Reflections, including one modeled after Cassie that can predict near-future outcomes. Asterion escalates the assault with spatial manipulation, overwhelming coordinated defenses, but Mordret counters by unleashing Nightmare Creatures from his Mirror Domain, turning the battlefield into chaos while Cassie expands her perception across countless minds despite Asterion's influence. As Asterion's true offensive unfolds across all seven chains, deploying spores, enthralled soldiers, and Saints such as Morgan, the battle becomes a brutal stalemate of attrition until one celestial chain finally snaps. Amid the collapse, Asterion personally enters the battlefield and confronts Mordret on the chains, revealing his immortality through regeneration and conceptual persistence, while Mordret repeatedly wounds him and secretly prepares a final contingency. As Mordret's forces collapse and the Ebony Island is breached, he unleashes a desperate final move by transforming the Ebony Tower into a mirror that releases a flood of nothingness from the Hollow Mountains, erasing vast portions of both Asterion's army and his own vessels. In the resulting devastation, Cassie retreats into the collapsing stronghold while Asterion anchors his remaining thralls through sheer will, stabilizing his forces against annihilation as the war descends into catastrophic stalemate.

As the Ebony Tower trembled under the final assault, Mordret forced the shattered remnants of his soul into a single Sacred core, briefly stabilizing his collapsing existence and achieving Apotheosis, only for a flaw of darkness to emerge and rapidly spread as Corruption, unraveling his transformation into unbearable agony. Though he momentarily reached godhood, the corruption consumed his newly formed core and his last remaining soul fragment, leaving him unable to shed the damaged core and trapping him in a failed, irreversible ascension as his body and mind began transforming into a Nightmare Creature. When Asterion and the Hunger Domain forces breached the tower, Mordret, kneeling in pain and hatred, suddenly vanished, leaving only blood behind as his fate was left uncertain, forcing Cassie to flee while Asterion redirected his attention toward her instead of pursuing him.

As Mordret escaped into the mirror beneath the Ebony Tower while being consumed by Corruption, he confronted his reflection in despair, bitterly reflecting on his failures, hatred, and the unfairness of his fate before ultimately dragging his remaining self out of the mirror and begging him to end his life before he fully turned into a monster. He revealed that long ago, a forsaken child who conquered a Nightmare was split into seven fragments, with one fragment without regret killing the others and leaving only the final one carrying their accumulated death. Now, as Corruption overtook him, Mordret pleaded with his last remaining reflection to kill him out of what little love remained, lamenting that the only being who ever loved him was the version of himself he hated most. As darkness fully consumed him and the mirror began to shatter, he forced a shard into his reflection's hand and commanded him to strike.

In the aftermath of the war between the Hunger Domain and the Mirror Domain, the Ebony Tower lies in ruins as its gates are torn open and white mist floods the great hall, with Asterion and the Hunger Domain forces emerging from the sea of nothingness and overwhelming the shattered defenders, marking the decisive end of the conflict. Cassie attempts to escape by reaching the portal arch and restoring the ancient runic network, but Asterion abandons any pursuit of Mordret and instead follows her with calm inevitability, forcing her deeper into the tower as she desperately flees past its upper floors. Cornered in Nether's former workshop, Cassie is ambushed by a swarm of crows from the Wake of Ruin and, pushed to desperation, erases Saint Cor's memories and identity to survive, only for Asterion to arrive and effortlessly halt her, revealing a terrifying calm presence. He confronts her directly, explaining Mordret's defeat as inevitable and dismissing Cassie's accusations that he caused Mordret's failed Apotheosis, instead describing Apotheosis as the process of becoming a Spirit and asserting that Mordret failed due to being unprepared and corrupted by the Dream Realm's nature, while claiming his own immunity as a Dreamspawn born within it. Demonstrating overwhelming dominance by killing a Saint and exposing the fragility of his control over his forces, Asterion leaves Cassie utterly outmatched, forcing her into a final desperate stand with a dagger despite realizing that escape is impossible.

Knowing Cassie could neither escape nor defeat him, Cassie nevertheless refused to surrender and continued her desperate struggle, trying to reach an ancient portal while resisting the overwhelming forces pursuing her. At that moment, Sunny regained his fate, restoring the memories that had been torn from Cassie's mind and allowing her to remember the role they had played in breaking fate itself. As these memories returned, the Nightmare Spell recognized her defiance, declaring that she had broken the fifth seal and granting her the Aspect Legacy, Song of the Fallen. Realizing that fate had not truly won and that her will had endured despite everything, Cassie fulfilled the conditions for Natural Supremacy and ascended to the rank of Supreme. During the ascension, her shattered mind was rebuilt through countless inherited memories, but the return of memories connected to Torment also brought Corruption. Refusing to be consumed, she used her newfound power to destroy and recreate herself free from Defilement, emerging as a reborn Supreme. Facing Asterion once more, Cassie revealed the strength of her new Domain, which drew power from memory itself, and began challenging his influence by manipulating remembrance and summoning manifestations from her memories, including the fearsome Mad Prince.

Cassie ascended to Supremacy and used her Domain of memories to launch a final plan against the Dreamspawn. While she stalled for time by summoning the terrifying Mad Prince to battle Asterion in the ruined Ebony Tower, she spread her Will through countless people across the Human Domain, using allies such as Effie, Jet, Kai, Rain, Morgan, and even Mordret to act as conduits. Through their efforts, the Great Citadels began slipping from Asterion's grasp while Cassie systematically erased every memory of him from humanity's minds, weakening the Hunger Domain that depended on people remembering his existence. As the Mad Prince and Asterion devastated the tower and Morgan wounded the Dreamspawn, Cassie continued cleansing the world of his influence until his Domain collapsed. Mordret then dragged Asterion into the Glass Hell, where he was confronted by Sunny, Nephis, and Mordret together. While Mordret assaulted his soul, Cassie erased the final memories sustaining him, and Sunny and Nephis unleashed their full power against his monstrous true form. As humanity's faith returned to Nephis and Asterion's authority crumbled, the three finally subdued him. After learning that Asterion intended to seize Weaver's lineage through Sunny, they coordinated a final assault: Nephis destroyed his heart, Mordret ravaged his soul, Cassie erased the last memory anchoring him to humanity, and Sunny bound him with the Chain enchantment. Reduced from a world-threatening Sovereign to a powerless man, Asterion was captured and imprisoned, bringing the plague that had infected human thought and threatened all of humanity to an end. Afterwards, exhausted from bearing the perceptions of countless minds, Cassie severed her connections and fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Summary

A year after the Dreamspawn Plague was eradicated and humanity's memories were partially cleansed, the world continued to decline as the Dream Realm steadily consumed Earth. Nightmare Gates multiplied, infrastructure deteriorated, Nightmare Creatures became more aggressive, and humanity struggled to recover from the Forgotten Years. Despite this, the number of Awakened, Ascended, Saints, and Supremes increased, while the alliance with the River People accelerated the construction of floating cities in the Stormsea. The public revelation of natural Awakening also gave ordinary people a safer path to power, although these advances remained insufficient to halt the approaching catastrophe.^[4]

Cassie became one of humanity's most valuable assets by using her Aspect to manifest legendary figures from the distant past and recover lost knowledge of runic sorcery, forging, warfare, and other mystical disciplines. Combined with knowledge from the River People, these discoveries accelerated advances in magical science, military capabilities, infrastructure, and settlement development. Her consultations with ancient experts, including Inti of Mictlan, also opened the possibility of reproducing powerful creations such as the asuras.^[5]

Under Ananke's leadership, the Black Obelisk was transformed into Web, a thriving floating city built from essence silk and manifested structures. Web became the primary home of the River People and a symbol of cooperation between them and humanity, while the rapid expansion of floating settlements increased humanity's capacity to receive refugees from Earth.^[6]

On Remembrance Day, one of Sunny's incarnations continued a scouting expedition through the Burned Forest in search of the Thieving Bird. He discovered that the creature had somehow stolen an entire Citadel and, farther north, found signs of recent conflicts before reaching the ruins of LO49, where a newly formed Seed of Nightmare had apparently emerged from the tragedy there. The discovery suggested that Nightmares could arise from recent events in Earth's history.^[7]

Sunny continued his investigation through the former Antarctic Center and discovered near Erebus Field that the separation between Earth and the Dream Realm had effectively vanished. More alarmingly, Nightmare Creatures were already crossing freely into the waking world, confirming that the merging of the two realms had begun.^[8]

A few days later, a naval convoy traveling from the Western Quadrant to the South American colonies disappeared, prompting Sunny and Nephis to investigate. Naeve and Bloodwave found the convoy destroyed on the ocean floor, while the Night Garden intercepted a raiding party of Black Millipedes, many of them Great Nightmare Creatures, and prevented them from reaching the shore. Soon afterward, a strategically important Citadel in the Stormsea was consumed by Black Water, forcing its inhabitants to evacuate and marking the first loss of a Citadel to Nightmare Creatures in decades.^[9]

Over the following months, the situation continued to deteriorate. More Nightmare Gates appeared, Nightmare Creatures pushed into the Western Quadrant, South American settlements were evacuated, and Citadel Cities in the Dream Realm came under increasing siege. Cassie coordinated forces, Nephis reduced casualties with her flames, and Sunny reinforced the fronts with his expanding Shadow Legion, while even Mordret made limited efforts in the Hollow Mountains. Despite their efforts, humanity could only delay the worsening crisis, prompting Sunny and Nephis to accelerate their preparations as the winter solstice approached.^[10]

On the winter solstice, Sunny traveled aboard the Chain Breaker toward East Antarctica and witnessed the devastation left behind by humanity's decline. He eventually reached the battlefield of the Battle of the Black Skull, where he joined six others preparing to challenge the Fourth Nightmare.^[11]

Meanwhile, six of humanity's greatest Saints—Effie, Kai, Jet, Morgan, Seishan, and Nightwalker—entered the Fourth Nightmare and disappeared from the world.Chapter 3034 Forlorn Battlefield Their absence came as the breach between Earth and the Dream Realm widened and millions of people were evacuated into the Dream Realm. The Stormsea became a crucial defensive and expansion front, while Sunny and Nephis shouldered much of the burden of defending humanity with their Supreme powers.^[11]

The winter solstice brought an even greater crisis as new Sleepers entered the Dream Realm, Nightmare Creatures converged on Citadel Cities, several Category Four Nightmare Gates opened across Earth, and an expanding wall of unnatural Darkness consumed a recently conquered Citadel. Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie investigated the phenomenon and began preparing for evacuation. The situation was partially alleviated when Mordret sent an immensely powerful Reflection to aid humanity, followed by the triumphant return of the Fire Keepers from their Nightmares.^[12]

The Fire Keepers and Blood Sisters of Seishan subsequently returned from their Nightmares with minimal casualties, producing more than fifty new Saints and raising humanity's total number of Saints beyond two hundred. Their arrival greatly strengthened the Human Domain and eased pressure on several battlefronts, allowing Sunny and Nephis a brief respite. However, Earth's infrastructure continued to collapse, the realm boundary continued to crumble, and the expanding Darkness remained a major threat. During this period, Sunny turned his attention to the Hollow Mountains and the Underworld in search of the final piece of Weaver's inheritance, the Shadow Weave, despite the dangers posed by the true darkness.^[13]

Sunny and Nephis successfully reached their goal in the Underworld and obtained the Shadow Weave, but the expedition exposed them to extreme dangers. The true darkness severely suppressed Sunny's Shadows, while the Underworld contained three increasingly dangerous layers, the Abyss, abandoned and discarded creatures, and ancient horrors. They also faced Great Titans, thousands of tainted Saints, and a creature of darkness controlling a Great Titan before confronting Broken Sword's remains. During the expedition, Saint also grew stronger by becoming a Tyrant.

After Effie and her companions conquered their Fourth Nightmare, a gathering was held on the Ivory Island, which had descended into the Stormsea and become a meeting place for humanity's demigods. Nephis, Sunny, Mordret, Cassie, Ananke, Nightwalker, Seishan, Morgan, Kai, Jet, and Effie gathered at the Tower of Hope to discuss how the new Supremes would divide their territories, share responsibility for protecting humanity, and prevent their Domains from coming into conflict. Their goal was to ensure humanity's survival and stave off the apocalypse until true deities could be born.

Sunny then began his final preparations for the Fifth Nightmare, arranging for the Shadow Clan and the Forgotten Shore to remain secure in his absence. He also prepared for the possibility that his Domain, powers, and tools could be turned against him during the Nightmare and considered leaving some of his Shadows behind to protect humanity while putting his theory of making them independent into practice.

Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie subsequently traveled to America to find the Nightmare Gate and its Seed, choosing to move stealthily rather than fight the Nightmare Creatures because battling a Cursed abomination on Earth could cause irreparable damage. They discovered that the Gate's guardian, Desolation, had already been killed by Mordret, who revealed that he had lured it into his Mirror Realm and killed it there before joining them in entering the Nightmare. After crossing the realm boundary, the four were separated and pulled toward the Seed by the Call of Nightmare. Sunny found himself inside the titanic skull in Godgrave and, following Cassie's instructions, raced toward the Seed while an Unholy Nightmare Creature pursued him. He ultimately plunged into the Seed, beginning his Fifth Nightmare.