Sunny sighed, then closed his eyes and dove into the Soul Sea.
The tranquil, lightless expanse of his soul was the same as ever. The black water was still and silent, reflecting the three dark suns looming in a perfectly even triangle above. Only the rows of motionless shadows were different from how they had been before, crowded with countless victims of the Red Colosseum.
Despite the fact that Sunny's body was now very different, his soul remained the same.
He walked to stand between the three Shadow Cores, and called upon Nightmare.
A beautiful black steed walked out of a whirlwind of dark flames in front of him and stopped, its adamantine hooves sending ripples through the silent waters. The Shadow was just as he remembered it — tall and graceful, with a lustrous jet-black coat and lean muscles rolling under the skin. Its mane was long and luscious, and its tenebrous eyes glowed with fearsome crimson flames.
The courser had two long horns and a mouth full of sharp fangs that resembled that of a wolf. The horns, the fangs, and the hooves were all forged out of a strange black metal that seemed to be able to compete with the impenetrable onyx of the Mantle of the Underworld. Sunny shuddered, remembering the pain and shock of being struck and bitten by them.
As soon as Nightmare appeared, he felt a whispering fear appear in his mind. Strangely tense, Sunny took a step forward and raised one of his hands, patting the stallion on the muzzle.
"Hey there. We... we meet again, old friend…"
Nightmare was, indeed, an old friend of his… at least of the part of him that had relived the final day of the Shadow Lord's life and their last exhilarating ride together. But just like Sunny was a different person now, this beautiful Shadow was, too. The madness was gone from the stallion's crimson eyes, and so was the burden of hundreds of years of sorrow and loneliness.
It was as though the black steed was now reborn, still remaining the same being, but also somehow renewed by the purifying darkness of death.
As Sunny patted his muzzle, Nightmare pressed it against the calloused hand and looked at his master with a pale, distant hint of recognition. The crimson glow of his eyes ignited with a new intensity, and the black steed snorted, its voice full of quiet affection.
Satisfied, Sunny summoned the runes into existence and glanced at them, curious to see what, exactly, his new Shadow was capable of.
He read:
Shadow: [Nightmare].
Shadow Rank: Awakened.
Shadow Class: Terror.
Shadow Description: [This beautiful steed was tamed by the treacherous Lost From Light in the depths of a harrowing dream. The two Shadows battled across countless nightmares, shattering them all apart; neither was willing to give up, so in the end, the nightmares did.]
Sunny sighed.
'Again with that treacherous nonsense. At least the Spell did not openly mock me, this time.'
He still remembered the biting description of Shadow Dance...
Shaking his head dejectedly, Sunny rubbed the terrible scar on his neck and turned his attention back to the runes.
Shadow Attributes: [Swift], [Dark Destrier], [Dreadlord], [Dreamwalker].
[Swift] Attribute Description: "This Shadow is especially swift and enduring."
[Dark Destrier] Attribute Description: "This dark horse was meant to be a shadow warrior's steed, and accompany its rider into battle. It is fierce, loyal, and knows no fear. Its speed, strength, and resilience grow when surrounded by darkness and shadows."
[Dreadlord] Attribute Description: "This Shadow's might grows the more he is feared."
[Dreamwalker] Attribute Description: "This Shadow can travel through dreams."
Sunny studied the black courser with a thoughtful expression.
'Huh…'
So, Nightmare was incredibly swift and enduring. He was also a war horse, bred to ride into battle without hesitation or fear. What's more, he had two passive Attributes that both increased his speed, strength, and resilience — one when the destrier and his rider were surrounded by shadows, the other when the destrier inspired terror in the hearts of their enemies.
That was… an insidious and frightening combination. Especially because one effect fed into the other, creating a vicious cycle. Perhaps Sunny had only survived the battle with the Terror due to the fact that, at some point, his tortured mind had become too broken to experience fear.
An Awakened Terror was already an immensely powerful creature, and with two passive augmentations added into the mix... he shivered.
'Scary...'
And then there was the last Attribute, [Dreamwalker]. That one, Sunny didn't even know what to think about.
'We'll see about invading people's dreams later… wouldn't it be fun, to jump into Mordret's mind one day and give him a taste of his own medicine?'
With a dark grin, Sunny slowly exhaled and continued to read the runes. Attributes were, without a doubt, very important… especially excellent ones like what Nightmare possessed. But it was the Abilities that mattered the most…
Shadow Abilities: [Flowing Shadow], [Mantle of Fear], [Nightmare], [Dream Curse].
[Flowing Shadow] Ability Description: "This steed can dive into shadows and move through them with incredible speed."
Sunny smiled.
'Ah… so, basically, it is like Shadow Step without the teleportation part. Still very useful, and works perfectly with my own Ability.'
He turned back to the runes, his mood elevated:
[Mantle of Fear] Ability Description: "This Shadow is capable of delivering a continuous mind attack around it that infects its foes with crippling fear."
Sunny couldn't help but whistle.
'That's… that is just... damn!'
The ability to radiate an aura of terror was already incredible enough. It could debilitate weaker enemies completely, and even if more powerful creatures were able to resist some of the effect, a seed of dread was still going to be planted into their minds. And that… that was directly tied to the [Dreadlord] Attribute of Nightmare, which made him stronger the more he was feared!
'Scary… so scary…'
It was a good thing that Sunny had been wearing the Mantle of Underworld when he met the black steed. The onyx armor gifted him with a good amount of protection against mind attacks, after all.
With his smile growing both wider and a bit pale, he moved to the next Ability.
[Nightmare] Ability Description: "This Shadow can create and subjugate nightmares. The more nightmares serve it, the more powerful it grows, both inside and outside dreams."
Dormant Nightmares: [0].
Sunny stared at the runes for a while, trying to make sense of them.
'Huh…'
So… Nightmare's tyrant ability, the one that allowed him to create minions, was meant to subjugate real nightmares — not any kind of beings made of flesh and bone, but actual dreams. And the more of them served him, the more powerful he grew.
These nightmares, it seemed, possessed a Rank of their own, which was currently Dormant — one lower than the black steed's own. Additionally, there were currently zero of them under his authority. But how could one create a nightmare? Or subjugate it? Sunny had no idea.
What he did understand, though, was why his own journey through the countless nightmares had ended when it did. It seemed that each of the harrowing dreams Sunny experienced had been either collected or made by the original Nightmare throughout the centuries, and once all of them were destroyed, he broke free of the black steed's hold.
'...Interesting.'
Sunny was going to have to figure out how to get his Shadow some minions of its own… something told him that the process was going to be neither straightforward nor easy.
With a sigh, he glanced at the last Ability that Nightmare possessed.
This one was called [Dream Curse], but looked different from all the rest. The runes constituting the string were dull and lifeless, as though the Ability was not accessible. And indeed, when he tried to concentrate on it, a few new runes appeared:
Nightmares required: [0/1000].
Sunny grimaced.
'Damnation. I guess being a true Terror is not that simple…'
Still, his new Shadow was a fearsome one. Not only was it a swift and mighty steed, it was also a force on the battlefield in its own right, one that could instill fear in the hearts of his enemies, and then feed on it to grow stronger. More than that, it was a true shadow creature, which meant that its Attributes and Abilities went perfectly with his own.
Sunny had experienced the terrifying fury of the black courser himself, so he felt giddy knowing that this fearsome creature was going to be fighting on his side from now on. Gods knew he was going to need as many powerful allies as he could find.
His smile dimmed a little.
There was one very obvious flaw about Nightmare. It wasn't the black steed's fault, of course, but saddened Sunny nevertheless. He let out a deep sigh.
'Uh… yeah. If only you came with a saddle…'
How was he supposed to ride this scary horse without a saddle?! What nonsensical injustice was this?!
Not wishing to disparage the noble steed, Sunny hid his dismay, patted Nightmare on the back, and grinned.
"Good horse, Nightmare! Don't you worry… you and I are going to terrorize so many humans, Nightmare Creatures, and vile immortals that you'll collect some nasty dreams in no time. They will all be scared of us, you'll see! The only thing scarier than a treacherous shadow is a treacherous shadow atop a magnificent shadow horse, after all. I think that's how the saying goes. Or not?
In any case, you and I will do great — and terrible — things together! If there is no such saying yet, there will be soon."
With a satisfied grin, Sunny dismissed the black courser, then left the Soul Sea and lay down on his bed, enjoying its immaculate softness.
Tiredly closing his eyes, he thought:
'I really, really deserve some rest…'
And as the flying ship of a mad sorcerer sailed across the sky, he fell peacefully asleep.