Chapter Text
Sunny tried to close his eyes, but was stopped by a sudden noise coming from the direction of the temple's entrance. He turned his head to look, not even a little bit curious. What he saw would have sent chills running down his spine if he wasn't so cold, tired and indifferent.
Mountain King was standing there, looking at him with its five blind eyes. He was still ma.s.sive, terrifying and revolting. Worm-like shapes were still moving frantically under its skin. It was sniffing the air, salivating.
Then it opened its maw and moved forward, slowly approaching the altar.
'What an ugly bastard.’Sunny thought and suddenly clutched his chest, convulsing in a fit of torturous coughing.
bloody foam flew from his mouth and fell on the altar. However, the black marble soon absorbed it.
A second later, it was as pristine as it was before.
The tyrant was just about to reach Sunny. It was already stretching its hands to grab him.
‘I guess this is the end,’he thought, resigned to his fate.
But at the last second, suddenly, the voice of the Spell resounded in the dark temple.
[You have offered yourself as a sacrifice to the gods.]
[The gods are dead and cannot hear you.]
[Your soul bears the mark of divinity.]
[The “-unknown-“ stirs in his eternal slumber.]
[He sends a blessing from beyond the void.]
[Receive your blessing.]
Under Sunny’s astonishing eyes, an unknown force tore the beast to pieces without any struggle
Blood, viscera and severed limbs fell on the floor in a crimson torrent. Just like that the horrible creature was dead.
Sunny blinked.
Once again he was alone in the ruined temple. The great hall was silent.
And then Spell whispered:
[You have slain awakened tyrant, Mountain King.]
[Wake up, Sunless! Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]
Sunny found himself in a space between dream and reality. It was an endless black void illuminated by a myriad of stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex net, forming various nexuses and constellations. It was truly breathtaking.
Somehow, Sunny understood that he was seeing the inner workings of the Nightmare Spell. He also couldn't help but think that it looked a lot like the celestial equivalent of a neural network.
If so... was the Spell alive?
This was a question that countless people had been asking themselves for the past few decades. The best answer they had come up with was that there was no way to know. The Spell was neither alive nor dead; neither sentient nor mindless.
It was more of a function than a creature.
But Sunny was in no mood to ponder philosophical questions. He was eagerly awaiting his boon.
The Spell was appraising his performance. However, the first reward had nothing to do with it.
[You have received a Memory: Puppeteer's Shroud.]
'Yes!'
Sunny felt incredibly elated. He was almost ready to do a happy dance. That Memory belonged to Mountain King, who was an awakened tyrant — which meant that the Memory itself was of the Awakened rank. Getting it was a stroke of incredible luck!
There were seven ranks to everything in the Spell. These ranks were, in order of growing power: Dormant, Awakened, Ascended, Transcendent, Supreme, Sacred and Divine (with the exclusion of Nightmare Creatures, who were ranked as Dormant, Awakened, Fallen, Corrupted, Great, Cursed and Unholy).
From the Spell's point of view, Sunny was a dormant human. Having a Memory of a higher rank than his own soul core would be of great help once he enters the Dream Realm. The power gap between different ranks simply could not be overestimated.
He wanted to take a look at the Puppeteer's Shroud, but there was no more time.The Spell was done with its appraisal.
Here in the void, its voice didn't sound subtle and familiar anymore. Rather, it seemed like the universe itself was speaking. Sunny held his breath, listening.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A nameless slave ascended the Black Mountain. Both heroes and monsters fell by his hand. Unbroken, he entered the ruined temple of a long-forgotten god and spilled his blood on the sacred altar. The gods were dead, and yet they listened.]
[You have defeated a dormant beast: Mountain King's Larva.]
[You have defeated three dormant humans, names unknown.]
[You have defeated an awakened human: Auro of the Nine.]
[You have defeated an awakened tyrant: Mountain King.]
[You have received The “-unknown’s-“ blessing.]
[You have achieved the impossible!]
[Final appraisal: glorious. Your treachery truly knows no bounds.]
final part wasn’t really necessary, as far as Sunny was concerned, but he was still pretty satisfied with Spells praise for him.
[Dreamer Sunless receive your boon!]
He was an Aspirant no more.Sunny grinned.
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Prince of Madness]
He was shocked. He Sunless received a True Name he never imagined having one but he not only got it but it was his first nightmare.
getting a true name is rare let alone in first nightmare he doesn’t even remember someone getting it from first nightmare.
But rewards kept coming.
[Your aspect is ready to evolve.Evolve Aspect?]
‘What kind of question is that?!’
Sunny crossed his fingers and said “yes”.
[Dorment Aspect Temple Slave is evolving…]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
[Your attribute has been devoured].
[You have acquired an attribute:Seed of Corruption].
Sunny fell over
[Aspect Name: Fallen Prince]
‘Divine… its Divine.’
The shock was so great that Sunny lost all control of his limbs and fell.
‘It said “Divine”… right?’
Sunny thought he was dreaming true name DIVINE Aspects, he never heard of someone having Divine Aspect.
Immediately after that sunny summoned his runes and found lines describing his aspect.
Aspect: [Fallen Prince].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description:[Once upon a time there was a Prince he was kind strong and loyal to his land’s one day he met one interesting nephilim after a few months of secret meetings he fell in love with her, when his people find out about this they were furious, they demanded execution but his father banished him from his land’s instead of execution out of love.
The Kingdom fell and the prince himself succumbed to madness after exile.
Only one thing kept him sane it was that nephilim]
Sunny felt sad for that Prince because he didn’t even know what nephilim was, Then Sunny glanced to his overall information
Name: Sunless
True Name: Prince of Madness
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments:[12/1000].
Nothing unusual Sunny though then he suddenly remembered he had acquired new attribute.
Sunny continued to study his runes
Memories: [silver Bell], [Puppeteer’s Shroud].
Echoes: -
Attributes:[Fated], [Mark of divinity], [Seed Of Corruption].
Attribute: [Seed Of Corruption].
Attribute description:[Your soul has signs of Corruption. State: Frozen]
Before Sunny could read it Spell’s voice resounded in the black void.
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is:…]
Sunny read the runes and his eyes widened in horror.
‘Oh, no. No, no, no…’