Above the lightless expanse of the Shadow Realm drifted vast clouds of ethereal radiance, their brilliance shimmering silently within the endless void.
The clouds were not truly clouds at all though.
They were essence.
Countless motes of pale soul essence rose endlessly from the lands below, ascending through the darkness before gathering together into those colossal luminous masses suspended high above the black dunes.
Far beneath them, across the outskirts of that dead and silent world, countless shadows wandered aimlessly through the sand.
One of them, however, still retained its consciousness.
Strangely enough, if there was one good thing about being stranded within the land of the dead, it was that Yoru felt more tranquil than he ever had in his entire life.
Because of that unnatural peace, contemplating his own death did not disturb him nearly as much as it should have.
It all began when I put on that damned glove…
Actually, no. It was the moment Sunny made that wish…
Before the subsequent events leading up to his death, Yoru had at least been rational enough to recognise the danger posed by the Soul Devourer's hex. So in an attempt to secure his lucidity, he had Sunny voice his wish to leave.
Originally, he had believed [Cherished] would serve as a secondary line of defence against the Tree's influence. After all, if every wish was precious to him, then surely the heartfelt desire of one of his companions should have anchored his sanity.
Instead, it had only made him suffer more.
Sunny's wish and the Soul Tree's enthralment began warring for dominion within Yoru's mind. That was the true source of the splitting headaches tormenting him over the past several days.
Or at least, it felt like several days.
Since the enthralment had begun his sense of time had been royally screwed, so in reality, they had probably spent more time on the island than he previously believed.
Hm, I wonder if this was all caused by my flaw? But it doesn't really matter at this point. I'm free of it now...
The thought drifted through his mind calmly.
In order to sate the splitting headaches, Yoru had grown reliant on consuming the Tree's fruit, as they were the only things granting him relief. But with each bite, the tree was capable of exerting more and more of its influence over him, prevailing over his attribute.
And so, desperate to preserve what little lucidity remained, Yoru made another mistake.
He equipped the Marauders Love, hoping that its blood-thirst would be enough to disrupt the enthralment.
In reality, he had only introduced a third voice into the chaos.
Now there were three separate forces tearing at his mind simultaneously.
[Cherished] begged him to fulfil Sunny's wish and escape the island.
The Soul Tree pleaded with him to remain beneath its branches forever.
And the glove demanded he slay every living thing on the Ashen Barrow.
His consciousness had been sundered into pieces, each one being dragged in a different direction by forces far stronger than his own will.
That was what led up to his final moments before Changing Star had valiantly beheaded him, putting an end to his unhinged suffering.
And now…
Yoru was merely a shadow, wandering through the land of the dead.
At first, the stark absence of emotion had unsettled him. The realisation that even the memory of his own death failed to truly disturb him, had felt deeply wrong. Eventually, however, his nature as a shadow smothered even that discomfort.
Yoru sighed, but since he lacked vocal cords as a shadow, it was more an imagining of a sigh.
Speaking of being a shadow...
His thoughts drifted toward his current predicament.
More specifically, toward the question that had been bothering him ever since arriving in this realm.
Why had he retained his consciousness?
When Sunny had stumbled upon the shadows of the First Lord and his cohort near the Hollow Mountains, they seemed to be wandering aimlessly, as if in search of something. That something was their masters. Based on that scenario, Yoru was sure that whatever was happening to him, he was uniquely predisposed to.
So what made him different from those stray shadows?
There were many things that made Yoru different from ordinary people, but the most notable was probably the fact that he did not originally belong to this world.
He had transmigrated here from somewhere else entirely.
Yoru still could not fully comprehend how such a thing would allow him to retain his consciousness after death, but for now, it was the only explanation he possessed.
Or Tyranny...
But if that attribute was the cause for his current situation, then he severely underestimated how strong it was.
He then questioned why he couldn't move his body... or lack of a body.
Perhaps the inherent desire of a shadow to make a pilgrimage to the centre of the Shadow Realm was the cause. But Yoru highly doubted that. After all, there were beings like the Slayer who could move against this flow and roam the lands freely.
Then again, that particular shadow was very deadly and seemed to posses a defiant will of their own, strong enough to contend with the will of the realm. Comparing himself to such a monstrous existence felt somewhat absurd.
Even possessing the grand title of a dead divine miracle did little to close the gap between them.
At that moment, another mote of pale essence drifted away from Yoru's shadowy body. He watched silently as it ascended through the darkness before disappearing into the clouds of essence suspended high above.
Considering he was a mere Dormant Beast, it was only a matter of time before his shadow completely eroded away and he truly ceased to exist.
I can't even complain. This might be more peaceful than dying in my sleep.
Wandering endlessly through a silent land devoid of pain, hatred, fear, or suffering was a far kinder death than most people in this world could ever hope for.
In a way, Yoru had been fortunate.
Still…
He didn't want things to end like this. Not being able to see his parents one last time, or even awakening and escaping the Dream Realm was a deep regret. The emotions tied to those regrets felt strangely muted now, softened by his nature as a shadow, yet the regrets themselves remained nonetheless.
Ahead of him, the endless dunes continued without end. And still his shadow walked onward ceaselessly.
Unable to do much else, Yoru eventually attempted to summon his runes.
To his surprise, they appeared immediately before him.
So death didn't sever my connection to the Spell... Well, that's great.
It was definitely odd but he paid it no mind.
As the familiar runes floated before him, Yoru found himself remembering the first time he had ever seen them.
Back then, learning that he had transmigrated into the world of Shadow Slave had nearly driven him into despair. But after receiving his Aspect, things had seemed at least slightly less hopeless. Of course, he still came to find out that even with such a potent Aspect, survival wasn't guaranteed. A look at where he was currently standing was undeniable proof of that.
He continued reading through the familiar runes absentmindedly, until his attention suddenly halted upon reaching the section detailing his Attributes.
For the first time since arriving in the Shadow Realm, the profound tranquility surrounding his mind wavered slightly.
Even the unnatural force struggled to contain his utter shock.
Where there was previously three attributes, now there was four: [Tyranny], [Cherished], [Shadow of Divinity] and [The Solace].
The fact that his indecipherable attribute had revealed itself as [Shadow of Divinity] was already shocking enough, but that was not what truly unsettled him.
What froze his thoughts entirely was the description of his new attribute.
[The Solace] Attribute Description: "You have inherited the Lineage of Shadow God."
For the first time since entering the realm of the dead, Yoru's shadow stumbled.
***
Standing beneath a sky of endless stars and dark waters that reflected those same stars perfectly, Yoru paced slowly across the surface of his Soul Sea with furrowed brows.
How on earth did this happen?
Somehow, impossibly, he had inherited the Divine Lineage of Shadow.
At that very moment, divine ichor supposedly flowed through his veins.
Well…
Assuming shadows even possessed veins.
Yoru stopped walking and stared upwards at the false night sky hanging above his Soul Sea.
Never in his wildest imagination had he considered something like this possible. Even after experiencing something as bizzare as transmigration, becoming the inheritor of a dead god's lineage still felt absurd beyond reason.
Yet the Spell was rarely wrong.
Which meant there was only one conclusion.
He was the new Heir of Peace.
Ha, I joked about taking Sunny's name before but I didn't mean it like this. I'd apologise but I doubt ill ever see him again...
Actually, hold on. Why would I, the Heir of Shadow, apologise to a mere slave of Shadow. That just wouldn't make sense. He should come down here and say sorry to me when he Transcends!
Although, what Sunny had to apologise for, not even Yoru knew. And that was also assuming he wouldn't fully erode into essence by then.
As he resumed pacing across the endless waters of his Soul Sea, another thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Wait. I never checked the description of [Shadow of Divinity].
Immediately, he summoned his runes once more.
The name of the attribute was revealed but unfortunately, the same could not be said for its description.
His eye twitched slightly.
What is up with all this secrecy? I feel like i'm being edged right now.
The moment those words left his mouth, Yoru immediately imagined the deeply disappointed expression Cassie would have given him for saying something so shameless.
Before he could dwell on it further, however, his attention was suddenly drawn upward.
Above the calm waters of his Soul Sea, near the radiant cluster surrounding his Soul Core, a new wisp of light had appeared.
Yoru stared at it and intuitively knew its function. Immediately, he began to tether the wish to his Soul Core and looked for the runes detailing the Marauders Love.
He noted that his aspect still worked down here and steadily focused on the tether.
Once it had formed, he found the Memorie's runes and read:
Memory: [Marauders Love].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: VI.
Memory Type: Garment.
Memory Description: [ A leather Smiths son once wore these gloves, his fingers learned the trade out of duty rather than desire. But when the vile bug came and slid behind his eyes and into his hands, it continued the work. Replacing the beauty that he stitched with cruelty instead, the gloves became a tool fit for Avarice.]
Memory Enchantments: [Leech], [Sanguine], [Larceny].
Yoru smiled.
He could read its enchantments which meant that Sunny had acquired blood weave. This also told him that the trio hadn't escaped the Soul Devourer yet but they should soon.
If everything went well that was.
Back when he was being enthralled, in his weird state he had noted that Cassie did not receive her vision of the tree. But luckily, Yoru was just about lucid enough to tell Sunny about the number five himself. Though at the time, Yoru didn't know why he had said that.
Hopefully, Sunny can get them out of there.
He turned his head and read the enchantments.
Enchantment: [Leech.]
Enchantment Description: [Steals a small amount of vitality from those who are dealt a wound, providing the stolen vitality to the wearer.]
Enchantment: [Sanguine]
Enchantment Description: [Invokes an unquenchable thirst for blood within the wearer when worn. Each time it is used, the blood thirst intensifies.]
Your felt a loathsome hate build within him and clicked his tongue upon reading this.
This was the devilish enchantment that had not only caused him much strife, but had even got him killed.
Stupid, abominable, wretched glove!
Then his gaze moved towards the final enchantment.
Enchantment: [Larceny]
Enchantment Description: [Steal the enchantments of any mystical item for a certain time, proportional to the item's rank and tier.]
Aha! I knew it had something to do with stealing!
And now he knew exactly what it could steal.
Yoru mentally patted himself on the back for being so observant but then frowned.
[Larceny] was without a doubt a very powerful enchantment, but it was an active one, which meant he needed to control the flow of his essence in order to use it. In other words, he had to awaken.
That probably wont happen seeing as I'm dead...
But then he realised something.
He was effectively trapped inside his own shadow with absolutely nothing to do while waiting for his essence to gradually erode away into the heavens above.
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
With all that free time on his hands...
Why not awaken naturally?
From what he remembered, Rain - Sunny's younger sister - had managed to awaken without the Spell by learning how to perceive and circulate the flow of soul essence through her body, before eventually forging her Soul Core manually.
And Yoru believed that wouldn't be difficult at all.
After all, whenever he internalised a wish or even duplicated a memory, his body instinctively manipulated soul essence to do so.
Although, he would be lying if he said that he consciously paid attention to the flow of his essence when doing these things, but he was sure that if he focused on it now, he would awaken in no time.
A faint spark of excitement ignited within him but that spark was carefully dulled by the peace of shadow.
Still, Yoru's grin only widened.
Slowly, he closed his eyes and focused inward.
Even in death I grow stronger...Truly, there is no one more Divine than me!