Shadow Slave

'Hope… herself…'

Sunny stared at the seven chains, finding new meaning in their cruel visage and the misshapen, torn remnants of the seven rune-inscribed shackles.

So the Sun God's ire had not been quelled by just destroying her kingdom. He had gone a step further, binding the Demon of Hope at the heart of her decimated domain… for how long?

And how had she escaped, in the end?

He tilted his head.

"So the Demon of Hope was chained here?"

Mordret answered with a hint of surprise in his voice:

"...You know of the daemons?"

A crooked smile appeared on Sunny's face.

"I do... a bit. Why wouldn't I? Although truth be told, there's not a lot of information about them, even among the Dream Realm researchers. So… the ruler that you had told me about was one of the daemons? A lesser deity?"

Mordret kept silent for a bit, then said dejectedly:

"Yes. I am not sure that those two words really go together, though. I also don't know what Hope had done to earn the wrath of the Lord of Light. However, I do know that these seven chains are what holding is the Chained Isles from falling into the Sky Below."

Sunny raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

The lost prince sighed.

"People think that there are numerous heavenly chains connecting all the island, but in fact, there are only seven, and you are looking at their roots... or rather, there were only seven. Each of them had to be broken for the Ivory Tower to become untethered, of course. So, now the islands are linked by the fragments of the original seven chains, many of them severed from each other. That is why they are slowly crumbling, one after another."

Sunny thought for a bit, trying to correct the way he used to think about the Chained Isles. The new information was interesting, but not very useful…

Shaking his head, he turned back to the Seed of Nightmare.

"So… what is the category of that thing? I guess it contains a Second Nightmare, since you wanted to challenge it?"

Mordret answered succinctly:

"Correct."

'...That's one way I can get out of the Dream Realm, then… but am I suicidal enough to go into the Second Nightmare alone? Whole cohorts of experienced Awakened routinely perish in their attempts to become Masters. What would my chances of survival be with no one to cover my back?'

Just as Master jet had said, no one survived in the Dream Realm alone. She probably knew from experience.

He scowled.

"Wait… will this Seed create a Gate in the real world if it's not destroyed?"

When Mordret answered, his voice was almost indifferent.

"Indeed. But not for a long time… maybe in a few years, or a decade. It has not matured enough to be able to bloom, yet."

Sunny hesitated.

"But it can be challenged, right?"

The lost prince did not answer for a while, but then finally said:

"Yes. A Seed can be challenged before it blooms, as well as after. If the Seed is not found in time and a Gate opens, challengers can fight their way through and enter the Nightmare directly. The Gate also disrupts the anchors of those near it, so Masters and Saints that enter the Dream Realm will appear in the vicinity of the blooming Seed. After that, they can lead Awakened to it."

He paused, then added:

"In fact, most of the Seeds are not found in time, because the Dream Realm is vast and only partially explored. That's why the Nightmare Creatures are entering our world so often. Challenging a Seed before it blooms is much better. In this case, however… I would advise against it."

Sunny turned away from the mass of shimmering darkness, then asked in an even tone:

"Yeah? Why?"

Mordred let out a heavy sigh.

"Conquering a Second Nightmare alone is not impossible, but attempting it is tantamount to gambling your life away. The chances of returning alive are very slim. That is why Awakened challenge them as members of cohesive, experienced cohorts. Even then, many don't survive… most, even. But this Nightmare is actually far worse. Entering it is a guaranteed death sentence, regardless of how many challengers there are. Unless…"

Sunny kept his ears open, suddenly very attentive.

"Unless what?"

The lost prince remained silent for a short moment, then said:

"There is a black altar in the place you call Night Temple. On it lies an ivory knife. Only those who have shed blood on the altar and received the Memory of the knife have a chance to survive the trial that hides within this Seed."

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

'Wait… that sounds very familiar!'

He thought for a few seconds, then asked:

"Would the obsidian knife from the white altar of the Sanctuary of Noctis work?"

Mordret laughed.

"Sure. Having both would be even better, incredibly so. However, I don't know the method to receive the Memory of the obsidian knife. The ritual seems to be different from the one required for the altar in the Night Temple, and I have never figured it out."

'You didn't… but I might have.'

The image of the Covetous Coffer appeared in Sunny's mind, full of golden coins. There were almost fifteen hundred of them inside. Would that be enough to allow him to lift the obsidian knife off the altar?

He had a feeling that it would.

"What do these knives actually do, though? And how the hell do you know all this?"

However, there was no response. Mordret was once again gone.

Sunny was left alone in the beautiful hall of the ivory pagoda, staring at its white walls and the darkness that had taken root between them.

The Seed of Nightmare was calling to him, demanding to be challenged… and destroyed. Or maybe simply to be fed a delicious human soul.

'Crazy. This is crazy…'

Challenging a Second Nightmare alone was very similar to throwing his life away, and that was even without the particular piece of information that Mordret had given him — that no one would be able to survive this very special Nightmare without a Memory of one of the two altar knives, or better yet, in possession of both.

The question was… what was worse?

Challenging the Nightmare, or attempting to survive the Crushing?