Shadow slave: The Prince of Death

Nephis dreamt of a lighthouse.

When her trial began, she found herself standing by the sea, gazing at the endless expanse of water. The sound of the waves was calming, yet something felt... off.

Then, footsteps approached.

Her "father" emerged from behind, his silhouette dark against the dimming sky. There was something unnatural about the way he moved—his steps too deliberate, his presence too heavy.

"What are you doing, Nero? It's getting late."

His voice carried an unsettling familiarity, laced with an urgency that almost felt... hungry.

Nephis hesitated for a moment before following him back "home." As soon as she stepped inside, he seemed to relax, as if satisfied to have her within reach.

Days passed. The nightmare unfolded as it had before.

But this time, she understood it earlier.

'This is a dream.'

Nephis came to the conclusion earlier because of sunny.

The boy had introduced her to the concept of dreamscape and proposed to train there after they had gotten comfortable enough with each other.

Not that she didn't know about it before, but she simply did not have a partner to duel with before, and she didn't think about unconventional training methods.

Saint thane was easy to approach, especially if you were a master of the government, and it didn't take him any real effort to generate a private area for two people either.

So Jet had gotten them a place to duel, that was where they usually fought—unbothered by the risk of injury.

An underlying effect of that was that nephis had grown used to differentiating dreams from reality.

'But a nightmare isn't a dream per se, it's an illusion of reality, or a recreation of reality even. Then yhy does this place seem so...hazy? Like a dream...'

She tried to confirm it.

First, she washed her face in the ocean.

Then, she pinched her cheek.

Finally, she straight-up punched herself.

Nothing.

She wasn't waking up.

'Ive got to kill myself, that's how I would wake up.'

But accepting that fact and acting on it were two very different things. Even for her. Even for Nephis.

She was still human afterall, atleast for now.

She took a deep breath.

Hesitation meant defeat.

If it was her will to conquer this nightmare, then even death wouldn't stand in her way.

She was Lady Nephis of the Immortal Fla—

"Damnation, I need to stop monologuing in my mind. If Sunny could hear me, I'd never hear the end of it."

That thought almost made her smile.

With that, she made up her mind and gathered the necessary supplies for burning herself.

But then—

A memory surfaced.

---

It had been over a year since she had started sparring with Sunny. That day, after yet another grueling session, she had asked him a question.

"Sunny, why is it that you seek strength?"

"Huh?"

"I mean you already are probably the strongest mundane person alive, so what compels you to train even harder?"

Sunny blinked at her, then scratched his head.

"Well it's nothing fancy like upholding my clan's glory or something. But you see nephis, once upon a time, I was plunged into a body of water, I nearly drowned."

She frowned

"I felt so helpless that I thought I couldn't do anything. But then I managed to get out of there, and once I did, I felt....well I still felt weak, but I wasn't helpless anymore. I had gained a hope then.

So I realized something. If I want to live a good life with my family, I need to actually take the lead in my life, if I just sit around idle, hoping that someone else would take the command and deliver me to safely...

...then I'm as good as a corpse already, as long as I keep working harder and harder, I can survive—thrive, even. I can take control of my life and ensure that when the dust settles...

...I'm the last one standing."

He thought for a moment and continued.

"Even if I die in the end, at least I'll know I did everything I could to live."

Nephis stared at him in silence.

His words had been simple.

He wanted to be strong—to live.

It wasn't some grand purpose like destroying the Spell. It wasn't about eradicating corruption. But in a way, nephis felt that his reason was just as important and deep.

Ofcourse, sunny had used the example of his first visit to the dream realm to tell nephis about his ambition.

About how he wasn't going to be her slave anymore—how he was tired of watching the story of this world escalate.

Now he wanted to write the story instead...

...but nephis did not need to know that, not for now anyways.

"What about you neph? Why do you work so hard?"

She hesitated, then said, "I want to destroy the Spell."

"Huh?" He smirked inside his mind but pretended to look surprised.

'Finally! She's opening up!'

"Well...the nightmare spell is the reason so many people die, it killed my parents too. So one day I want to become so strong that I can destroy the spell itself."

"But the Spell exists to help us fight the Corruption. Without it, we'd be defenseless."

"True… Maybe I'll wait until we eradicate Corruption. Then I'll destroy it."

Sunny chuckled. "You know, you're like the Spell yourself."

Nephis frowned. "What do you mean?"

That had caught her off guard.

"The Spell makes humans stronger to fight corruption. But once corruption is gone, what happens to it?

Its purpose is fulfilled. It becomes a burden.

It simply causes unnecessary deaths.

So humans will destroy it.

Isn't that a sad existence? The spell actively works to further the path that leads to its own destruction."

"And how does that relate me to it?" Nephis interrupted him, but sunny had planned to give her a wake up call for years now.

"And you... you're the last member of a legendary clan.

You push yourself harder than anyone, fighting battle after battle to grow stronger, to destroy the perils that threaten humanity.

You listen to nightngale's music to distract yourself from the boredom of your repetitive training. 

To annihilate the monsters that killed your family.

But once those perils are gone... then what?

You've built yourself into nothing but a warrior. A killing machine.

You would be a killer in a world of builders.

Do you think humans would welcome you in their peaceful society?

Or would you feel like an alien in that world?"

Nephis just stared at him.

Sunny sighed and shrugged.

"You think I can't tell? How every single time you swing your sword, there's a hint of anxiety in it? How you ignore your body's wellbeing just to become a better killer?

So isn't your existence sad too? Someone who destroys their adversary, but destroys themselves in the process too?

I'd much rather you weren't so rigid in your desire. You don't have to suffer endlessly to gain the desired results, there are easier ways to live your life."

Sunny looked at nephis, then smirked.

"Tl;dr You don't have to suffer endlessly just to reach your goal, Neph.

You don't have to burn yourself while burning your enemy.

Choking on the smoke is enough."

---

Sunny had only meant for her to take it easy on herself, simply because nephis had a habit of over exerting herself, but nephis didn't know that. To her it was an entirely new perspective being dropped on her. 

Her being similar to the spell she wanted to destroy made her...think about things differently.

Then she realised something wild.

"Did you just say tl;dr in an actual conversation!?"

Sunny let out a hearty laugh

"Did lady nephis of immortal flame just gasp!?"

---

Nephis looked at the ingredients she had gathered.

Then, she put them down.

She didn't need to burn herself.

She didn't need to die.

She just needed a way out.

And she had a hunch on where to start.

Her 'father'. That man had always carried a sinister presence.

What would happen if—

---

Nephis was scavenging through the lighthouse's basement when the "father" entered the room.

His expression darkened. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she swung an iron rod at his head.

CRACK.

He stumbled, but he was not dead. Instead of blood, a hazy mist flowed out of his skull.

"You little shit." His voice no longer sounded human, no, it was the sound of a nightmare.

Distorted and utterly feverish to the brain.

Nephis narrowly avoided a fist and hit him on his knee cap with the rod, the man winced in pain and kneeled down. 

Seizing the opportunity nephis raised her iron rod high.

And smashed it on his skull. A sharp, echoing crack ripped through the air.

CRACK.

[You have broken a dormant dream fragment: Story of the lighthouse.]

[You have recieved a memory.]

Nephis put her weapon down. Sweat running down her face, she had done it. She had escaped the dream without suffering herself.

unbeknownst to her, her fate was being rewritten.

She saw her dream collapse, shards of the sky fall and turn to dust, her family members mix into the background scenery and turn into paint together with the rocks, plants and the sea. 

Even the lighthouse wasn't spared.

---

Then she woke up in a room, and saw the terror that had trapped her here. The terror was fast asleep, only now it had learnt of an escaped prey and would wake up soon to kill her.

But before that, the terror simply tried to put her back in a dream.

Immediately she was assaulted by a hundred nightmares. That man called father attacked her in every single one of them.

She entered different places, different worlds, different lives. And was met by that man everytime without fail.

Nephis was maimed, stabbed, and beaten brutally.

She was assaulted over and over again. Until her bones broke, her blood filled her shoes, and her mind could not think a single thought.

But she held on, adamant to not yield, to not serve, to not compromise on her life.

And when she refused to break.

The dreams did instead.

Nephis was once again awake. The terror was starting to wake up now.

But nephis was faster, she summoned the memory the spell had given her. Dream blade, a dormant sword. Truly befitting of its name.

Nephis struck the terror right in its neck.

The Terror let out a low, gurgling sound as the Dream Blade pierced its throat.

Nephis didn't wait for a reaction. She twisted the blade, forcing it deeper. The creature convulsed, then, with a final, shuddering exhale, it collapsed.

And died.

And she was nephis no more, instead she would soon be known by a different name.

[You have killed...]

[You have recieved...]

---

Her nightmare was over. But her evaluation had begun.

[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]

[You have achieved the impossible!]

[Final appraisal: Glorious. Your conviction knows no bounds!]

[Dreamer Nephis, receive your boon!]

[You have been bestowed a True Name: Undying Starlight.]

Aspect: [Light bringer].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Description: [You are a creature of light that was banished and doomed to exist in the darkness. But you broke through it and shines anew. You bring radiance and warmth to wherever you go, but with it comes indescribable longing.]

Innate Ability: [Halfbreed].

Ability Descriptions: [You can directly absorb a portion of the soul essence of any Nightmare Creature destroyed by your flames, as well as of any human.]

[Awakening dormant powers....]

Aspect Ability: [Soul Flame].

Ability Description: [Your soul burns with the purest of flames. That flame can both restore and destroy, you can manipulate your flames as you wish.]

The spell announced her aspect almost the same way, afterall the level of change sunny had gone through was incredibly large.

To achieve something similar was not possible for someone who had no recollection of their past life.

But nephis did change her decisions, her mindset, and essentially what made her...her.

So her dormant ability had incorporated a part of her awakened ability.

Her new dormant ability allowed her to produce the soul flames, as well as manipulate them, this upgrade was essentially a weaker version of her awakened ability—the power to manipulate all flames.

The spell then spoke of her flaw, but this time it revealed the real change nephis had caused in her soul.

Flaw: [Unyielding Soul]

Flaw Description: [You cannot compromise against your morals and ethics.]

Nephis lingered at her flaw for a moment, it seemed perfect for her. She was already unyielding, how could that come to hinder her in anything?

Indeed she had gained a flaw easier than her previous one, but what she did not know is how annoying it would get.

To not be capable of joining valor, to not be capable of suppressing her disdain for the great clans...

But for nephis, this was her first time getting an aspect and a flaw, so she couldn't compare any changes.

Then she turned to her aspect. It was.

'The same rank as sunny...' a smile found its way to her face, this one she didn't even bother to hide. She just grinned like a baby.

Having caught upto sunny atleast in terms of potential made her heart beat in a way she had never felt before.

'Am I exited? Or....relieved?' nephis took a breath and then looked at her true name.

'the same achievement as mom.' she smiled again, but this time with a proud face.

Nephis was no longer changing star, or rather, she had never been in this timeline. Not that she knew anyway, but she was no longer the centre of change in this world.

No, that was now sunny. 

She had become the Undying Starlight. If sunny saw her true name, he would probably comment something like:

"Her name could also mean the eternal light of the stars, or the shining beacon of hope that never fades."

If sunny was the centre of change in this world, nephis was the face of that change. In front of the world, shining brightly to spark optimism...or longing even.

She had rejected the fate of death, and spat in the face of the sovereigns who wished her gone.

And by having gained friends before suffering her Nightmare, she had become more open to people,

She wasn't just the star that shined brightly far away, unreachable by the common man—no she was now the light that descended upon the world to relieve man of unforgiving darkness.

If sunny was born to destroy the corrupted—nephis was born to protect the uncorrupted.

She was stronger than before too, now that she could use her aspect without her flaw causing her agony.

---

Sunny was in the government's observation building, he was going to get serpent approved for watching the infected.

Soon a worker came out of a room and called him to come in.

Sunny silently summoned his Shadow.

A giant snake with jet-black scales, at least ten meters in length manifested right next to him

Its body was as wide as a bear's arm and strong enough to crush diamond into dust.

It Opened its maw to yawn, revealing long, terrifying onyx fangs. The serpent's eyes were as black as its mighty body and shone with dark radiance, as deep as the lightless expanse of an ocean of shadows.

Sunny looked at his serpent for a moment, then squatted down, put his hand on the back of its head...

...and kissed Serpent on it's forehead.

Like a loving parent about to drop his child at school.

Sunny's eyes gleamed with emotions, as he remembered the time he had lost serpent in his first life, along with the rest of his shadows.

'I promise I won't lose you guys again.'

Serpent however, had no recollection of his previous life.

So it just looked at it's master awkwardly.

Soon, serpent was tested by some mundane tests about psychology and even an Awakened's aspect.

Needless to say, Serpent was deemed intelligent enough to perform Sunny's duties of guarding the infected in his place.

For the next 6 months, right before the winter solstice, serpent would watch over these aspirants and eliminate the creatures rising from their corpses if they failed.

After doing the paperwork, sunny was met by a young lady.

Sunny had asked to purchase some memories from the government's reserve, so they had sent him someone who would help him choose some

'Courtesy of nepotism~ shining at its peak again~' sunny hummed a little tune as he entered a different room.

The room had cozy sofas put around a table made of real wood. Sunny made himself comfortable on one of the sofas. A moment later, the lady entered with a tablet in her hands.

"So sir sunless! It's nice to meet you, I was informed you wanted to buy some memories?"

"Yes. I obtained quite a bit of contribution points last raid, so I wanted to prepare for my winter solstice better."

"It really is something, fighting a raid before entering your winter solstice, you are exceptionally talented dreamer sunless."

The woman wasn't really buttering him up, he just was that extraordinary that anyone who learnt about his achievements was shocked.

That shock was only going to be increased in the future too.

But that wasn't on Sunny's mind at the moment, instead he was looking at the lady in front of him—she did not know him personally yet, but sunny did all too well.

"So what type of memories are you looking for?" Awakened kim asked her future captain.

"Well I got a bow from the raid, but I don't have any arrows, other than one, but that consumes essence—so I was hoping to get some sort of quiver?"

Kim typed something on the tablet and then continued.

"Well you could purchase an Awakened quiver, but given the amount of points you have, I'd suggest you get an Ascended quiver."

"No thanks, that would drain my budget, I have more purchases to make you see, and I can't make with just one memory, so that awakened memory will do."

"Well, alright. It's your choice. Then the iron quiver will be your best option.

It will give you a hundred arrows at once, upon exhaustion they will regenerate and the previously fired arrows will disappear—is that alright?"

"Yes that will be great, next I'd like to get a memory for water breathing and one for movement underwater."

"Smart choice! Most people your age would waste it all on weapons. 

You should get the cerulean pearl, it will let you breathe underwater, oh! but it doesn't have any other enchantments."

Kim was way more expressive than sunny remembered. Was it because she was talking to a junior right now? Or had Antarctica simply subdued her?

"And the Mermaid Scale will give you a movement boost in water, I trust you know how to swim?"

"Yes I do, those will do. Please add them to the list."

"Alright anything else?"

"Do you have something like... actually you know what nevermind I'll get the rest after awakening."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah absolutely, thanks for everything."

"You are welcome sir, it's our job. But you still have quite a bit of points left, would you like some soul shards?"

Sunny looked at her for a moment, a realisation entering his mind.

"Actually yeah, how many can I get?"

---

Sunny left the building, satisfied.

He had dropped off serpent and gotten three new memories, now he was all set for the shore that was forgotten.

Since the observation building was quite close to the academy, he decided to go there directly and meet Cassie for now.

Sunny had learnt from the academy's teachers for years already, so he wouldn't be stopped by anyone.

He had planned to go visit cassie, then come back, say Goodbye to his family for now, and enter the academy officially when nephis woke up.

Feeling bored, he raised his hands and yawned.

Then his eyes fell on a silhouette in front of the academy gates...

What he saw made him forget to close his mouth, instead his jaw dropped even wider, this time with horror.