It was odd. Sunny had never imagined it would have worked. Being grabbed by Kai in a hug was not something he would've expected to happen.
There was bewilderment and mostly confusion, but that didn't stop Sunny from explaining the events that had happened at the end of the Third Nightmare to Kai. He also took his time in explaining what 'Fateless' really meant at the end.
After he was done. Kai had a look of amazement.
"I can't believe there was Cursed Terror in that Nightmare," Kai exclaimed.
Sunny nodded along.
"Indeed, it was powerful enough to do something I'm not sure even the gods could really achieve. To cleanly sever a fate from someone so that it is not linked to that person is unfathomable."
Kai agreed. "The chain lords were similar, but it was like their fates were somewhere else, although it was still linked to them."
It was silent for a moment before Sunny asked.
"How did the memory loss feel like?"
Kai took a breath before answering.
"It was strange and weird to say the least. We had mostly figured out that memories were missing because there had to have been iterations before that final one. There were the six plagues after all. We all discussed it shortly after leaving the nightmare, but." Kai stopped.
"What happened?" Sunny asked.
"It was Cassie. After the Nightmare. We all realized that first of all, we never battled Torment, and second, obviously, we were missing memories. However, for some reason, it seemed like Cassie suffered the most out of all of us." Kai said
Sunny nodded along. It made sense. She was the most privy to secrets and knowledge about Sunny after all.
Kai continued.
"It didn't just stop there. For the first few days, we'd catch Cassie staring off somewhere, lost in thought. She would say she's trying to remember, but always seemed to lose track of time. Nephis once said she found Cassie sitting in the same spot she had left her in her quarters hours later."
Sunny felt bad. In the future, Cassie had realized only when her tea went cold that time had passed, and coupled with the fact that she was blind and couldn't accidentally notice by looking at a clock or outside, Sunny could easily see something like that happening once or twice.
"It's been happening less, and she's been taking countermeasures against it, but it doesn't help that now she can't even see the future." Kai finished.
That was a bit to take in. Sunny never really thought about how affected Cassie would become by his decision to be free from Fate. If he knew, would he make a different choice? Cassie was already blind and now....
Shaking his head. There was no time for regret. Cassie never liked Fate to begin with, and he was sure that eventually she would regain her memories.
"I know you probably have a million questions, and I'll answer them as time goes by, but first let's get out of the Death Game," Sunny said.
Kai nodded.
"I'll make you a bow and some arrows, of course," Sunny said while using his shadow manifestation to assume the shape of a bow.
Then the battles begin.
****
It was odd. The battles went by quickly because of Sunny's future knowledge. He defeated the stupid Worm, Wolf, and the Rat Cursed beings. Increasing both his Ash Domain's strength over the board and his own Domain. However, there was one difference.
"Why aren't these stupid things working!" Smashing his fist into a pile of rocks, Sunny vented his anger.
It was the figurines of the Snow domain. For some odd reason, all the creatures they defeated dropped figurines, but they were grey and dull-looking. A far cry from how they looked before.
To Sunny's dismay, it seems like Ariel's Death Game was a lot more advanced than it seemed. Other than the freebie they received from the beginning, which wasn't dull, it seemed like the new ones didn't want to function properly.
"Why would they be dull?" Kai asked.
Kai didn't know, but Sunny had come from the future and used those figurines before. So Sunny explained.
"I've used them before. That's why. It seems like the Deamon of Dread isn't overly fond of cheats." Sunny said.
How powerful was the Deamon of Dread, Sunny wondered? This Deamon didn't seem that far below anyone really. How do truths and time behave with each other? This wasn't something Sunny had the qualifications to answer.
Now that Sunny thought about it, Ariel was incredibly strong. The Deamon had directly killed an Unholy Titan, which was probably the strongest creature Sunny had ever witnessed die.
Other than the Gods, of course.
Scratching his head in thought, Sunny wondered. He really did need knowledge of his new enemies, but it seemed like he would have to wait until he got at least two more of Weaver's lineage. So that he could use [Weaver's Mask].
Then he would be able to go through the strings of fate and look at them properly. Although Fate was in shambles, that only stood true for the present and the future. The past remained intact.
"Who're we fighting next?" Kai asked.
The archer was doing surprisingly well in assisting Sunny. While his own strength was severely lacking against the current roster of enemies, his arrows never missed and delivered deadly enchantments.
They had defeated the Wolf, Abundance, Rats, and Wasps.
"To be fairly honest, Kai, this is where things will get harder. We'll be fighting an enemy I don't really have much knowledge of, but it'll be a Cursed Demon." Sunny said.
Especially since the Sacred shades of the rats wouldn't be helpful.
The reason Sunny brought along Kai instead of anyone else was actually for this opponent. Sunny didn't know how or why, but it was a guarantee that Sunny or Slayer didn't kill the Cursed Demon or the Cursed Monsters in the other future.
Why? Because of one very important reason. The shades never it appeared in Sunny's soul sea. Every creature that he or Slayer defeats will end up in his soul sea, yet this Cursed Demon didn't.
So, pondering about what happened, it left two options.
Either the creature below the clouds, separating the squares, killed it, or Kai did. Both he and Kai lost their memories regarding this incident, and Slayer wasn't much of a talker.
Continuing on, Sunny told both Kai and Slayer what he knew about her.
"From the information I've gathered, the Cursed Demon doesn't seem to possess a normal body. It could also have wicked mind powers, so don't look into its direction or its eyes. I don't know which it is."
Sunny thought a bit more and added.
"I have a few shades, so what we'll do is send them into battle first to observe our new enemy. I'll send in Abundace first with a few of the wasps that I've gathered. Following after the wasps will be the Wolf and his pack. Finally, we'll act as the reserve between the second battle. I don't mind Wolf shade being destroyed and sent back to my soul sea but that'll be after we at least get an upper hand."
Kai was smiling.
"Sounds good to me. I wouldn't want to fight a God I know absolutely nothing about." Kai said.
Sunny agreed.
Currently, they were in a mansion Sunny had manifested with Shadows, this time he decided to take it one step further and instead of the dark, shadowy look, he made it appear grey. Its shade wasn't too far from the original, but it offered Sunny a bit more of a challenge.
Changing the subject, Sunny asked Kai a question.
"Kai, what do you know about Will?" Sunny asked.
"Will? Well, to be fairly honest, I noticed something a bit odd now that you mention. When we were fighting those wasps and we were winning, I still felt like I was losing. Just because the enemy wanted to win, the whole world wanted me to lose. It felt unfair. There just seemed like there was another battle I wasn't aware of that everyone else was participating in." Kai said.
Smirking, Sunny said.
"That is because in a sense, the enemy's 'Will' is powerful. It can tell reality that it's supposed to be the winner, and reality will bend to its 'Will'." Sunny said.
Kai did not look happy hearing that. Frowning, he said.
"Are you saying that it's almost impossible to beat the beings at the Great rank as a Saint?"
Sunny shook his head
"No, you can always push back, Kai. 'Will' isn't easy to manifest, but there are Transcendents who can manifest it. It's actually one of the steps of Supremacy, but most importantly, if you wish to fight creatures in a Great Rank using powerful 'Will', it is a death sentence."
Sunny continued
"Consider 'Will' as a divide. A being that can use 'Will' can nearly beat any creature without it. There will be some outliers here and there. Numbers can also play a part as Saint's band together sometimes to defeat Great Rank creatures. Basically, if you wish to be a powerful Saint, it's important you try to manifest your 'Will' onto the world."
Sunny gave it a lot of thought. Kai was someone whose aspect was incredibly interesting. Specifically, his voice. At first, he believed that Kai would be able to excel at Hope's sorcery, but that was wrong.
He had told him once that Nephis tried to teach it to him, but his aspect did not help him at all. So Sunny wondered. Does Kai's voice not contain any mystical properties? No, it doesn't, that's most likely why it doesn't help when he tries to use Sorcery. It would take a near master class level to combine the two mystical forces and find the right synergy for them to combine. However, Kai's talent is not there for that sorcery to begin with so it became impossible.
So what about manifesting 'Will'? The first step is finding what your source element and aspect have in common and then trying to picture a 'Will' to go along with it. For Sunny, it was simple. 'Death Will' goes along with shadow essence and his aspect perfectly. So, Kai would have to figure that out.
The second step is something his aspect should technically help with. It was the arrogance needed to release it. Once one becomes a Saint, their power grows, and they are closer to Mundanes than they are to Gods, but that's not true, Sunny thought.
Transcendence is more like a halfway point. They belong to neither. What does that mean? It means that they can at least have dominion over themselves. Supremes can control the space around them while Masters can't. However, Saints are different.
Saints can at least control what's happening in their own bodies. That's why it's possible for them to wield 'Will'.
Kai doesn't necessarily need the mindset of a Supreme or a ruler to achieve manifesting his 'Will'. He can simply tell himself and give himself orders to make himself think that.
After he learns to manifest it maybe then he can take the training wheels off and really work on manifesting without his aspect aiding him, because once you figure it out the first time, that's all it really takes.
'Will' is definitely a mystical force, but they are supposed to merge with their aspects or at least assist it or amplify it.
So Sunny told Kai all this information in the hopes that it would help him manifest a 'Will'.