Shadow Slave : Light Devouring Shadow

*1 hour ago.*

Somewhere in the Awakened Academy, deep underground, there was a room with a sleeping pod inside. A young man with black hair slept peacefully within it.

Suddenly, the academy began to tremble. All the shadows inside grew deeper and started moving in a joyful manner, as if celebrating their lord's return.

The staff inside the academy rushed around in panic as alarms blared.

"ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?!" one of the Awakened screamed, his face pale with fear.

Back in the room, the medical equipment's readings went haywire. Suddenly, the cover of the sleeping pod was struck with immense force.

A figure slowly rose from it—a young man with pale skin, black hair, and onyx eyes. His eyes looked almost lifeless, as if stripped of all emotions.

Sunny looked around cautiously. Then, his body began to shake uncontrollably.

"I'm... I'm back..." he muttered, as if he still couldn't believe it. He glanced down at his body and clenched his fists.

He felt strong. Too strong, in fact. The difference between his strength moments ago and now was unbelievable. This was understandable, considering he had jumped from a Sleeper directly to an Ascended, skipping the Awakened rank entirely.

"Neat," Sunny said as he found it neat.

Sunny then realized he wasn't wearing anything and quickly summoned the [Mantle of the Underworld]. At that moment, the door to his room burst open, and a doctor hurried in, staring at him in shock.

"Sl—I mean, Awakened Sunless. We... welcome back to the waking world."

Sunny didn't bother correcting her and simply ignored her while checking his runes.

---

Name: Sunless 

True Name: Lost from Light 

Rank: Ascended 

Class: Tyrant 

Shadow Cores: [5/7] 

Shadow Fragments: [2173/5000] 

Aspect: [Shadow Slave] 

Aspect Rank: Divine 

Aspect Abilities: [Shadow Control], [Shadow Step], [Shadow Manifestation]

Flaw: [Clear Conscience] 

---

There were two new Aspect abilities—his Awakened ability and his Ascended one. After briefly reading their descriptions, Sunny extended his shadow senses.

Using his essence, he dissolved into the shadows in front of the doctor, who stared at him with wide eyes.

A second later, Sunny found himself outside the academy walls. His body felt stiff, like a statue. Which is understandable considering that his really body was just sleeping for two years. He stretched his arms as the soft air brushed against his face.

He was finally back! He was now one step closer to getting his revenge!

At the thought of revenge, memories of Nephis and Cassie flashed in his mind. Suddenly, the air around him turned sharp and cold, and his eyes radiated a fearsome bloodlust.

Sunny took a deep breath and suppressed these thoughts. A dark, calculated look appeared in his eyes.

He wasn't going to rush off to kill Nephis and Cassie. There were two reasons for that. First, Nephis had been an Ascended for over six months now, and Sunny assumed she had challenged the Second Nightmare with her cohort. That meant Cassie was likely an Ascended as well.

On the other hand, Sunny had just become an Ascended—and he had skipped the Awakened rank entirely. This meant he didn't have full control over his essence or abilities yet.

That was the first reason he didn't immediately go searching for Nephis. The second reason was simpler: he needed to make sure his little sister was safe and sound.

He looked around and then used Shadow Step multiple times. He knew exactly where she lived in NQCS, so reaching her house wouldn't take long.

In just ten minutes, he was standing in front of a large house. But instead of entering, Sunny sent his shadow to scout inside.

It was almost night, and the house should have been alive with the warmth of a family gathered together. Sunny's shadow slithered through the cracks of the door, searching, probing, desperate. He saw her adoptive parents, their faces worn but calm, and her younger siblings playing quietly in the living room.

But Rain... Rain wasn't there.

'Where is she?' His heart began to pound, a dull, heavy rhythm that echoed in his chest. 'She should be here. She has to be here.'

He ordered his shadow to scour every corner of the house, every room, every closet. His breath hitched as the shadow moved, his hope fraying with each passing second. The kitchen, empty. The living room, nothing. Her bedroom—

His shadow slipped into what should have been probably her room, but it was... wrong. The furniture was gone, packed into boxes. The walls were bare, stripped of the life they once held. The room felt hollow, like a tomb.

'No... no, no, no!' A cold, creeping dread clawed its way up his spine. 'This can't be happening. Maybe she moved out. Maybe she's just... somewhere else.' But the boxes, the emptiness, the silence—they screamed the truth he refused to accept.

His hands trembled as he stepped toward the front door. His knuckles rapped against the wood, once, twice. The sound was too loud in the stillness of the night.

*Knock.*

*Knock.*

His knocking grew frantic, desperate, each strike louder and faster than the last. The door finally swung open, and a man in his 40s stood there, irritation etched into his face.

"Who is it? And for God's sake, stop all this knocking!" the man snapped.

Sunny's onyx eyes locked onto his, dark and bottomless, filled with a madness that made the man take a step back. The air around Sunny seemed to thicken, heavy with despair and rage.

"Rain... where is Rain?" Sunny's voice was barely a whisper, fragile and broken.

The man blinked, confusion flickering across his face. "What do y—"

Before he could finish, Sunny lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him closer. His voice was a guttural growl, raw and desperate. "Rain! Where is Rain?!"

The man's eyes widened in fear, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps. The weight of Sunny's presence pressed down on him, suffocating. "Rain... she... she died over a year ago," he stammered, his voice weak.

Sunny's grip faltered. His hands shook as he released the man, his body swaying like a tree in a storm. "Wh... what did you say?" His voice cracked, the words barely escaping his lips.

The man swallowed hard, his fists clenched at his sides. "Rain... Rain was killed in a Gateway incident over a year ago." His voice trembled as he spoke, the memory of that day flashing in his eyes—a day when hundreds of children had died, their lives snuffed out in an instant.

Sunny staggered back, his legs giving out beneath him. He fell to his knees. His breath came in ragged gasps, his vision blurring with unshed tears.

'This... this can't be real. It's a nightmare. It has to be. I'll wake up. I'll wake up, and she'll be alive. She'll be here with her family...' But the cold, hard truth pressed down on him, crushing him beneath its weight. His little sister was gone. Not just gone, but killed. Taken from him, for the second time.

'If I had been there... if I had just been there, I could've saved her!' The memory of the Forgotten Shore flashed in his mind—the day he was left behind, the day he lost everything. If he had escaped, if he had fought harder, if he had just been there...

'It's all because of her. Nephis. She took everything from me. My freedom. My life. My sister. Everything!'

His nails dug into his face, dragging lines down his cheeks as he descended into madness. The pain was nothing compared to the agony tearing through his chest.

'I'll kill her. I'll kill her. I'll kill her. I'll kill her. I'll kill her. I'll kill her!'

The man stared at Sunny, frozen in fear, as he watched him tear at his own skin. But before he could move, Sunny stood abruptly, his movements stiff and mechanical, like a puppet pulled by invisible strings. His eyes were empty, devoid of all light, as he turned and walked away.

'Nephis... I'll make sure you suffer. I won't kill you. No, death is too kind. I'll take everything from you. I'll make you wish you were dead.'

The shadows around him writhed and twisted, swallowing him whole as he dissolved into the darkness. The last thing the man saw was the faint glimmer of madness in Sunny's eyes before he vanished, leaving behind only the chilling echo of his despair.

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[Author's note]

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Also, if some of you found his reaction unreasonable considering that he wasn't too close with his sister. Well, even then she is his only family. The only one who he could still kinda trust. And she was the one that made he fight in the nightmarish desert. So it's understandable that after all that his hope was shattered with the fact that she died.

Even if this was unreasonable. Tf you gonna do? This is my fanfic I'll do whatever I want. Lol

But anyway sry for the late upload. I'm a lazy, busy, procrastinating person. So you could understand lmao.

That's all, next chapter in two days hopefully.