A day had passed since the brutal battle against the Carapace Demon.
Beneath the colossal black tree, the five Sleepers sat together in weary silence, gathered around a single lantern hanging from a branch Senrix had casually torn from the enormous trunk earlier that night. The pale glow of the lantern spread through the darkness like gentle moonlight, pushing away the oppressive shadows surrounding them.
The lantern itself was one of Elysia's Aspect Legacy Relics — the Soul Lantern.
Its soft pink radiance flowed quietly over the group, slowly healing their wounds. Cuts closed little by little, aching muscles relaxed, and even their exhausted minds felt lighter beneath its glow. The healing was not fast, but after surviving countless brushes with death, none of them complained.
Elysia sat beside the lantern with her usual graceful smile, her long pink hair shimring beautifully beneath its light. Despite everything they had endured, she still looked elegant and composed, almost unreal amidst the bleak darkness of the Forgotten Shore.
anwhile, Senrix leaned silently against the tree nearby.
His ash-white hair, wild and untad like pale flas, partially covered his crimson eyes. Unlike his usual relaxed deanor, he had been strangely quiet ever since the battle ended. His expression remained calm… too calm.
"…so he got distracted for a few monts thanks to Senrix," Sunny explained while tearing into another piece of roasted demon at. "That's when Neph attacked. She ignited her sword with her Aspect Ability and struck the weakened part of the demon's armor on its chest — the one you told us about."
Cassie listened attentively.
"It really was weaker than the rest of the carapace," Sunny continued. "The sword pierced straight through and stabbed the bastard's heart."
Sunny noticed that Cassie did not seem surprised by the ntion of Nephis's new ability. Either Nephis had already told her about it, or Cassie had seen it in one of her visions.
Probably both.
He decided not to ask.
"The demon was already heavily wounded after fighting that… thing from the sea," Sunny added with a slight shiver. "So that final strike was enough. A few seconds later, it died."
Cassie lowered her head slightly, still sounding amazed.
"That's… incredible. Four Sleepers killing an Awakened Demon. I thought things like that only happened in webtoons."
Almost instantly, both Senrix and Nephis corrected her.
"Five Sleepers."
"Without your visions and guidance, we wouldn't have survived."
Cassie looked embarrassed and quietly smiled.
"Still… whether it's four or five doesn't really change much, does it?"
Sunny happily continued devouring the demon at he had cooked. It was far from delicious, but compared to starving, it tasted heavenly enough.
Elysia gently wiped the corner of her lips with a cloth before speaking.
"So, what should we do now?"
Unlike Sunny, who ate like a starving beast, Elysia sohow managed to remain elegant even while eating demon at beside a cursed tree in the middle of hell itself.
"We rest first," Senrix answered quietly. "Then we move again tomorrow. Everyone's exhausted after what happened yesterday."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
The Soul Devouring Tree had already rooted itself deeply within Senrix's mind.
Out of all five Sleepers, it had targeted him first.
The tree instinctively understood that the ash-white-haired young man possessed a mind far stronger than ordinary humans. His will was fierce, stubborn, almost monstrous. The Indomitable Human Spirit fought violently against the tree's ntal hex, resisting the invasion with everything it had.
But resistance was not immunity.
The tree could not completely dominate him yet, so instead, it burrowed into the deepest corners of his consciousness, carefully hiding its presence while slowly tightening its roots around his thoughts.
How ironic.
The strongest-minded among them had beco the first to be touched by the enchantnt.
Yet none of the others noticed.
They were simply too exhausted.
Especially Elysia.
She had barely rested after fighting the Guest before imdiately joining the battle against the Carapace Demon. Even now, though she still smiled softly, faint exhaustion lingered beneath her bright violet eyes.
The group quietly continued eating.
Well… everyone except Sunny.
Sunny was not eating.
He was annihilating the food.
Nephis suddenly looked toward him.
"Is the Starlight Sword still with you?"
Sunny blinked.
What kind of question was that?
"Of course," he answered. "Azure Blade was the one that broke during the fight, not Starlight Sword."
Nephis nodded slowly, seemingly thinking about sothing.
Then she said:
"Let's trade."
Sunny froze.
The abrupt suggestion caught him completely off guard, but after a mont, he nodded cautiously.
Truthfully, he had started trusting the others more than before. Part of him was even tempted to reveal his True Na to them soday. He wanted to see their runes too.
But the mory of Auro's betrayal during his First Nightmare still lingered deep inside him.
Back then, Sunny had trusted him completely.
If he had not managed to outsmart Auro and throw the false hero off the mountain, he would have died.
And sohow, things had still beco worse afterward when the Mountain King got attracted by their shouting.
Sunny still hated thinking about it.
Then another thought suddenly struck him.
Nephis only possessed her Dormant mories and armor.
Unless…
Unless she received a new mory from the demon.
Sunny's heart skipped a beat.
Instantly, he forgot all about Azure Blade.
Sure, the weapon held sentintal value.
But sentintality was worthless compared to an Awakened Demon mory.
The Azure Blade ca from a Carapace Scavenger, which was already impressive for a Sleeper. Few Sleepers ever wielded Awakened weapons.
But this…
This ca from an actual Awakened Demon.
That ant the new mory was at least two whole tiers above Azure Blade and even a tier above Starlight Sword.
There were seven tiers in total, corresponding to the seven classes of Nightmare Creatures — Beast, Monster, Demon, Devil, Tyrant, Terror, and Titan.
Generally speaking, higher-tier mories were vastly stronger and more unique.
That was exactly why the Puppeteer's Shroud was so valuable.
'Please be amazing…'
Sunny tried desperately to remain calm.
"Really?" he asked casually. "That's good."
Nephis suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand.
Sunny nearly choked.
A spark of energy traveled from her body into his, familiar and strange at the sa ti. It felt just like when he transferred the Starlight Legion Armor to her earlier — only reversed.
At the sa ti, he transferred the Starlight Sword to Nephis.
Even if the weapon held sentintal value, practicality ca first.
[You have lost a mory: Starlight Sword.]
[You have received a mory: Midnight Shard.]
Sunny blinked.
'…That's actually a pretty cool na.'
Imdiately, he summoned the runes.
mory: [Midnight Shard]
mory Rank: Awakened
mory Type: Weapon
mory Description: [Forged from the shard of a fallen star, this stalwart blade is firm and unyielding. It favors those willing to fight until the last drop of blood and knows no surrender.]
Sunny's eyes widened slightly.
'Interesting…'
Without wasting another second, he summoned the weapon.
A beautiful sword materialized in his hand.
At first glance, it sowhat resembled the Azure Blade due to its single-edged design and long hilt. But the similarities ended there.
The Midnight Shard possessed a much longer blade, around seventy to eighty centiters in length, with a graceful curve running through its shining body. It was forged from the sa radiant tal as the Carapace Demon's armor.
Even beneath the dim lantern light, the blade glead coldly.
The hilt was made from polished black wood resembling the dark branches of the Soul Devouring Tree itself. Its rounded crossguard offered excellent balance and protection.
There were no ornants.
No engravings.
No unnecessary decorations.
The weapon was simple, austere, and terrifyingly beautiful.
A weapon forged solely for battle.
The mont Sunny grasped it fully, he felt sothing strange.
The sword possessed a will of its own.
An indestructible will.
Its blade felt impossibly durable, as though no force in the world could truly break it. More importantly, Sunny sensed sothing else hidden deep within himself — a dormant power responding faintly to the weapon.
It was distant.
Unreachable.
But undeniably real.
'I'll probably need to earn its favor first,' Sunny thought. 'But how?'
Beside him, Elysia quietly leaned closer, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"My~ what a beautiful sword," she said softly. "It suits you surprisingly well, Sunny."
Sunny imdiately straightened his posture.
"Ahem. Obviously."
Senrix glanced at him once before snorting quietly.
"Your face says otherwise."
Sunny scowled.
anwhile, Nephis calmly studied the weapon.
"Even I know what type of sword this is," Sunny said proudly. "It's a katana, right?"
Nephis shook her head.
"Technically, it's a tachi. It's longer than a traditional katana and has a slightly different shape. They're similar, though."
"A tachi…"
Sunny repeated the word thoughtfully.
Honestly, it sounded cool enough.
And thankfully, most of what he had learned while using the Azure Blade still applied to this new weapon.
As he stared at the Midnight Shard beneath the pale glow of Elysia's Soul Lantern, Sunny could not help but feel that this sword would change sothing important in the future.
Far above them, hidden within the endless darkness of the black tree, unseen roots slowly twisted deeper into Senrix's mind.
And the young man simply sat there quietly, staring into the darkness with calm crimson eyes.
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