Archive Of Potentialities.

IDENTITY [[SS X TENSURA]]: Chapter 4.

For Sunny, there were two things he found most alluring, two he had built his entire life around. The first was his freedom, the second was the power to guarantee it.

Presently, he had neither.

All his struggles, his trials, had done little to bring him faster to either. Living in the world of the Nightmare Spell, he understood too well his place…at least, he thought he did.

{You have slain a Great Beast, Daeron of the Twilight Sea, your shadow grows stronger.}

{You have received a Memory.}

The serpent… had once been human, a Sovereign. Yet here he was, unceremoniously put to death after falling to corruption.

If this was the fate of one who was strong, what lied in wait for Sunny himself?

“Sunny,” Nephis called.

Sunny shook his head, tearing his eyes from the figure of Rimuru hovering in the distance.

It was time to do his part.

Sunny summoned the Shadow Lantern, catching the small black lantern in his left hand as it coalesced into existence amidst sparks of essence. The metal of the Memory was cold to the touch, as if playing the part of the God of Death’s heirloom. 

Sunny took a breath, a little apprehensive about what he was about to attempt. Shadow Dance was his special battle art, and from the moment he had mastered its first step, he had instinctively understood that its core essence was imitation.

Imitate movements, shape, thoughts, being.

Today, he would go further in his imitation, dive deeper into his nature as a Divine Shadow. He would imitate the fallen Daeron, in all his corrupted madness.

Sunny opened the little gate of the Shadow Lantern, and a gigantic mass of Shadows flowed from within. He took hold of them with Shadow Manifestation and began to mold his Shadow Shell. This was a skill he developed in the cold embrace of Antartica, he almost smiled as he realized he only moved forward when major things were at stake.

Carefully sculpting the regal shape of the fallen Sovereign, Sunny began to immerse himself into the space of being the serpent.

Submerging himself into the completed shell, he dove into the water.

From then on, Sunless was the Azure Serpent. He was mad, corrupted, angry. But he had purpose, the sea was his, the life within was his, and if he wished, the whole world would be his.

His body was large, his scales impenetrable. His jaws could rend anything asunder, his eyes could pierce the deepest gloom of the depths. Within these waters, he reigned Supreme.

He was…a serpent.

No.

He was merely shadowing a serpent. In reality, he was..

“Lost from Light…I am Lost from Light,” Sunny managed to retain his sense of self, hanging on to the beacon that was his True Name.

He let out a terrible roar, raising a small wave.

{You Aspect Legacy mastery has increased. You can claim an Aspect Legacy relic.}

A sense of triumph rose within the small part of Sunny that was still present enough to catch the Spell’s announcement. At this moment, even if it would not help him move the world itself, he has grown a little stronger.