Yoru did not know how much time had passed since he began trying to Awaken naturally.
There was no sun or any other geological landmark that could be used to indicate time in the Shadow Realm. Just vast mounds of black dunes and storm clouds of essence.
So after a while, he gave up on trying to tell standard time.
Instead, he adopted a far more unconventional method of measurement.
He counted the rate at which he was dying.
Those tiny sparks of essence that would periodically drift from his shadow, were the best indicators of time he would have down here. The only issue was that they appeared at irregular intervals, so it was a very unreliable system.
But it was little things like that which helped preserve his sanity within the endless monotony of the Shadow Realm.
By his rough estimation, around thirty sparks had passed since Sunny acquired Blood Weave.
Whatever the hell that translated to in actual time.
Despite the uncertainty, Yoru had made considerable progress in learning how to circulate essence naturally.
As he originally suspected, the process was not especially difficult for him.
His body had already been manipulating soul essence instinctively for quite some time through the use of his Aspect Ability. Every wish he internalised and every Memory he duplicated required essence to flow through his body.
Previously, he had simply never paid attention to that process consciously.
Now, however, with absolutely nothing else to occupy his mind, Yoru focused entirely on reproducing that sensation manually.
Slowly but surely, he began understanding the pathways essence traveled through his body and how to guide it himself.
At this point, he felt as though he stood upon the very precipice of Awakening.
Still, there were long stretches where he exhausted himself entirely and could do little except wander through the dunes while waiting for his essence to recover naturally.
During those moments, Yoru simply thought.
He would think about what he had gleamed in the last battle leading up to his death, although those particular memories were still very hazy. What he did remember was that he had achieved Clarity when fighting Nephis.
Even now, recalling that sensation felt strangely profound. The world had become undeniably sharp in that instant.
It was as though he had spent his entire life crawling blindly through darkness, only to suddenly realise he had always possessed the ability to walk. At that moment, Yoru had even felt [Tyranny] influencing the world around him.
As though reality itself had begun bending ever so slightly around his certainty, allowing him to instinctively perceive how events would unfold and how he could twist those outcomes to his advantage.
In the end, he still died. But even so, he had learned something invaluable.
As long as he possessed absolute conviction in himself, combat could become whatever he needed it to be.
For Nephis, it was murder.
But for Yoru…
It was tyranny.
The realisation lingered within his mind for a long while as his shadow continued wandering endlessly through the black dunes.
Eventually, however, his thoughts circled back toward another matter entirely.
His Divine Lineage.
Even now, Yoru still struggled to fully believe that he truly possessed it. After countless hours spent wandering through the Shadow Realm, he had gradually begun forming a theory regarding why he inherited Shadow God's lineage in the first place.
And it was quite the absurd one.
Perhaps Shadow Gods lineage was not inherited through blood at all. Perhaps the lineage itself was...
Death.
Yoru stared silently at the endless dunes stretching before him.
The more he contemplated the possibility, the more disturbingly plausible it became.
Only in death could one truly become kin to Shadow God.
It would explain why no one had ever discovered the lineage before. Since in order to inheriting it required the simple condition of dying first.
Of course, Yoru could not deny that his reasoning was built almost entirely upon speculation, boredom, and the complete absence of any better explanation.
Still, If his theory was somehow correct, then another question naturally followed.
Why had Sunny never noticed traces of Shadow's lineage within the countless shadows wandering this realm?
Yoru frowned slightly.
There was also the possibility that his own existence was simply abnormal, so perhaps his strange constitution not only allowed him to retain his consciousness after death but also enabled him to inherit Shadow God's lineage in the first place.
If that were true, then maybe he was simply too divine for his own good.
Ha, no such thing
Yoru idly joked to himself but a hint of unease lingered.
He then turned his attention outwards and like usual, there was nothing but countless inky dunes of sand. Although the bright luminescent sky suspended above his head was a beautiful sight, but even that was getting old.
I can imagine a narrator getting bored of describing this place over and over again.
Honestly, the land of the dead was incredibly boring.
Not that Yoru could truly feel boredom anymore.
The peace of shadow ensured he remained content regardless of the circumstance, soothing his emotions before they could fully take shape. Unless he experienced some overwhelming shock - like discovering he had inherited the lineage of a dead god - calmness inevitably reclaimed his mind soon afterward.
Actually…
That very fact was the reason Yoru had begun doubting the idea that he completely lacked control over his shadow.
Earlier, when he had first read the description of [The Solace,] his shadow had stumbled. At the time,Yoru had brushed this off since he was too shocked to give it enough thought. But that incident had alluded to the fact that his shadow wasn't completely in a trance.
It had reacted to his emotions and had staggered because of his surprise.
Which meant his influence over it wasn't entirely absent.
And as Yoru continued cultivating his essence over countless silent - however much time had passed! - he eventually realised something even stranger.
Currently, he existed as a shadow.
But the shadow walking through the dunes was not "his" shadow.
It was Yoru's.
The original Yoru that was.
If he had not spent so much time observing the flow of essence within himself, he likely never would have noticed how abnormal the structure of his shadow actually was.
The sensation was difficult to describe properly. But he attempted it nevertheless.
The original Yoru's shadow behaved like a shell which encased Yoru's shadow beneath it. The two shadows existed together in the same body, layered atop one another in an unnatural fusion.
So because of this strange overlap, Yoru couldn't move his own since it was encaged by the shadow of another being.
And as though the situation was not already bizarre enough, Yoru eventually realised something even more remarkable.
His own shadow was not disintegrating.
The countless motes of essence drifting upward into the heavens belonged solely to the original Yoru's shadow. Meanwhile, his own shadow remained completely intact, untouched by erosion.
So now Yoru found himself questioning everything all over again.
Was the original Yoru truly dead?
Or was it only his soul that had perished while his shadow somehow continued living on?
And if that was the case, then what exactly was he?
The entire situation became so incomprehensibly convoluted, that even the peace of shadow struggled to suppress the faint headache forming in his head. At this point, Yoru was no longer even certain he could continue referring to himself as "Yoru" without things becoming impossibly confusing.
He frowned and after a few moments of thought, his eyes brightened slightly.
I'll call you Tyrant for now.
The name felt strangely fitting, given that the Tyrant had defeated the Awakened Terror known as Plague Father, during his very first Nightmare through sheer force of will alone.
Which was a feat Yoru still struggled to wrap his head around.
***
More time passed within the Shadow Realm.
Or at least, Yoru assumed it had.
There was still no reliable way to measure the passage of time within the lightless world but another forty or so sparks had drifted from the Tyrants shadow.
And still, Yoru continued to circulate essence through his shadow. By now the process had become second nature to him.
The currents of soul essence flowed through him smoothly beneath his awareness, tracing invisible pathways through his body before.
The wishes that belonged to Nephis, Sunny and Cassie were still in his head, endlessly whispering their desires to him. They were much quieter now than they had ever been before however. No doubt thanks to the peace of shadow.
If I had this effect when I was alive, I would have probably been able to reveal my True Name in the Academy.
The thought amused him slightly.
And although three voices was manageable, if his fame ever truly spread, it wasn't guaranteed that he could handle the millions of voices that would come with it.
He shivered at the idea.
Yeah... I think three is fine for now.
At this point, [Cricket] no longer served its original purpose.
Instead of granting insight into people's hidden desires, the innate ability merely acted as reassurance that his friends were still alive.
Friends...
The word lingered in his mind for a while.
Back when Sunny accused him of knowing things he should not have known, Nephis had defended him.
At that point Yoru genuinely believed he had earned Changing Star's trust.
But that wasn't the case.
Nephis had still been wary of him despite fighting side by side and surviving countless life-or-death situations together. Her paranoia just ran that deep and Yoru couldn't fault her for it.
He had used the names of people - from her perspective - he shouldn't have known whatsoever. All in a petty attempt to provoke her and win in a spar of all things.
If that didn't show his naivety at the beginning of all of this, then he didn't know what did.
The memory alone made him cringe.
What in the world was I thinking!? Gods! I hate myself.
In the end his death was a result of his own stupidity.
But when he first came to this world, he hadn't taken things as seriously as he did now. After experiencing harrowing ordeal after ordeal on the Forgotten Shore, he knew to approach things differently now. Even if he wasn't all that strong currently, he understood that in this world he had to be smarter, more cunning, more ruthless.
Some would even say treacherous.
But what good would that mentality be now that he was dead?
Well, it was simple.
If he wanted to put that attitude to good use, then he would refuse death and resurrect.
Ever since discovering that his shadow was seemingly immune to the erosive nature of the Shadow Realm, Yoru decided he didn't plan on staying dead for long.
His resolve was much greater than it had been before, a mere obstacle like death wasn't enough to stop him now.
But how he'd actually go about coming back to life...
He didn't really have a clue.
Eh, I'll think of something.
What he did know however, was that the first step would be to awaken. There was the chance that his Awakened ability would give him a solution or some sort of an idea as to how to come back to life, so he endeavoured to do that before forming any concrete plans.
Man, I've changed. I can't believe i'm thinking about reviving myself so casually.
Then again, that level of confidence was only natural for someone as extraordinary as himself.
After all, he was clearly the most divi-
Before the thought could even finish forming, a familiar voice suddenly echoed throughout his head.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
The corners of Yoru's lips slowly curved upwards.
About damn time.