'...Finally.'
How long had it been since he created Saint and saw the dreadful [0/200] written in her runes? A year, no less. That was how long it had taken Sunny to gather enough Memories to saturate the dark embers that burned in the black depths of his Shadow.
…What was going to happen now?
The last time Saint had evolved, her transformation took a very long time. Was she going to retreat into the chrysalis of his Shadow Core again? Or was reaching two hundred fragments completely different from what had happened to her after the killing of the Black Knight?
A few moments later, Sunny received the answer.
Bathed in the lightlessness of his Soul Sea, Saint suddenly shuddered. The darkness hiding in her body surged, and the three embers hidden within it — one in her chest, one in her abdomen, and the last one in her head — s.h.i.+ned with black radiance.
It was very different, but also very similar to the process he himself had gone through twice, once after the First Nightmare, and once after going through the gateway in the Crimson Spire.
'Is she… is he ascending to a new Rank?'
The thought filled Sunny with a jubilant thrill.
Meanwhile, Saint was in the throes of her transformation. The still waters around her were now restless, as though a.s.saulted by invisible winds. Wisps of dancing black flame suddenly appeared around her body, and it rose above the surface of the water, becoming partially obscured.
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Sunny took a step back and silently watched the strange and beautiful process, his heart beating wildly.
After a few minutes, it was over.
The invisible winds disappeared, and so did the black flames. The water turned tranquil and still once again. Saint landed on her feet and straightened, her graceful figure br.i.m.m.i.n.g with new power. The glow of her ruby eyes seemed to have become brighter.
Unlike the previous time, the taciturn demon had not changed outwardly. Her onyx armor was still composed of polished, stonelike metal. Sunny knew that beneath it, her skin was still smooth and white as alabaster.
…On the inside, though, the changes were nothing short of profound.
The darkness hiding in the body of the living statue now seemed much, much deeper, and the three embers seemed to have become substantially larger. More than that, they appeared to be… more complete, somehow. Not yet whole, but also not as broken and fragmented as they had been before.
Sunny hesitated, then summoned the runes.
Shadow: [Marble Saint.]
…Her name didn't change. The next string of runes, however, was vastly different:
Shadow Rank: Ascended.
He froze.
'I'll… I'll be d.a.m.ned!'
Ascended, Saint was now Ascended! Indeed, she had achieved a new rank… the same Rank, in fact, as that of Master Jet, as well as the Black Knight, Mirror Beast, and Mordant Mimic.
An Ascended human was called a Master, while Nightmare Creatures of the same Rank were called Fallen. Saint was now somewhere in between — a creature possessing multiple cores, but following the path of ascension as opposed to the path of corruption.
Like Sunny himself.
Of course, she was much more powerful than him now.
Sunny was torn between being mad with joy and slightly bitter. Back when he had created Saint, she was stronger than him for a long, long time. After becoming an Awakened, he had finally caught up to her… but now, she was the stronger one once more.
He sighed, then looked at his demon with a wide smile.
"Good job, Saint! Who's going to stop us now, huh?"
The taciturn demon did not answer, and just tilted her head a little.
…Then, however, she silently raised her hand, made a fist, and lightly struck the left side of her breastplate twice.
Sunny stared, not accustomed to his Shadow being so chatty.
"...Uh, yeah. Exactly."
Feeling a little awkward, he lingered for a moment, and then looked back to the runes.
Saint's Cla.s.s, Attributes, and Abilities did not change. At the very end of the plane of runes, however, he was met with an unexpected surprise.
'What?!'
The last string of runes read:
[Shadow Fragments: 39/200].
He stared at the number for a few moments, then rubbed his eyes. No, he wasn't mistaken. It was indeed thirty-nine out of two hundred.
Pleasantly confused, Sunny narrowed his eyes.
'But how does it make sense?'
Before Saint had consumed Kurt, the runes showed [179/200]. How many fragments exactly had eating the Echo given her?
With a sudden suspicion, Sunny turned around and looked at the rows of silent shadows.
…The shadow of Kurt was gone.
'So, she consumed it too…'
He was starting to understand what had happened. Most likely, a larger share of the fragments came not from the Echo, but from the shadow of its original. Kurt had been an experienced Awakened, one in possession of a fully saturated core. By absorbing his shadow, Saint must have inherited a portion of all the soul fragments he had acc.u.mulated over his life — just like a human would after slaying another human.
That amount was enough to bridge the gap to the next Rank, and then some. Of course, since his Shadow was now an Ascended, she required shadow fragments of similar quality to grow one-to-one. Those that came from Kurt were only Awakened, though.
So, in fact, the current number would have been [78/200] if Saint's Rank had not changed.
That meant that she received almost a hundred shadow fragments by consuming the Echo of Shadow Blade Kurt… an utterly insane number, considering that it had taken Sunny somewhere around half a year to feed her that much before.
Suddenly, the regret he felt over sacrificing such a valuable Echo disappeared.
'That's a windfall… a crazy windfall!'
Today, luck was truly on his side.
…And an Ascended Demon was now by his side, which instantly propelled Sunny to a completely new level of capability. Together with the newly transformed Saint, he would be able to do much more, challenge much more powerful Nightmare Creatures, and therefore, accelerate his own growth even further.
Even better, this change could not have come at a better time.
Because it was nearly time for him to return to the s.h.i.+pwreck Island, and challenge the terrifying being that dwelled in the ancient wreck.
Having an Ascended Shadow by his side would be of enormous help.
…Sunny only noticed that a wide, stupid smile appeared on his face when Master Jet returned to the underground arena. He hurriedly erased it and stood up.
"All done?"
She gave him a relaxed nod, then yawned.
"Yeah. We are free to go… a little paperwork, and the contribution points I promised will be yours to spend. We can grab a bite first, if you want."
Sunny smiled.
'Oh yes… there is also the reward from the government.'
Now that he didn't need to spend all the contribution points on bringing Saint to full saturation as soon as possible… what else would he be able to get?