Chapter 443 Secrets of the Void


    Out there in the empty darkness of the void… something even darker loomed, hidden from the radiant light of the ocean of me above.


    Sunny peered at the distant ck silhouette and shivered.


    ''...What the hell? What is it doing here?''


    Far below him, a small ind cut from dark stone floated in the endless emptiness, surrounded by drifting bs of shattered obsidian. A tall and magnificent pagoda stood in its center, built of a wlessly ck material that was neither wood nor stone. Its lusterless walls seemed to devour any light that touched them…


    It was the perfect replica of the Ivory Tower... but at the same time its opposite. The two pagodas were so alike that for a moment, Sunny even thought that he had somehow found himself high up in the Sky Above.


    But no.


    The ind that the Obsidian Tower stood upon was different. It wasrger than the one every Awakened on the Chained Isles was used to observing in the skies, and had no broken chains hanging from its stone slopes. On its deste surface, remains of mysterious structures could be seen, turned to ruin by the passage of time. Several obsidian pirs protruded horizontally from its edges, stretching into the empty void like strange wharves.


    From high above, Sunny couldn''t see much of the ind in detail. But he was approaching it fast…


    ''...Crap!''


    Too fast!


    Sunny hesitated for a moment, then suppressed the desire to immediately summon the Dark Wing. The divine mes were still too close, and their heat could damage the fragile Memory. He had to wait for a bit… there was still time.


    Even if it was going to run out pretty soon.


    Sunny continued to fall, waiting. With every minute, the heat of the immting stars dissipated a little. And with each minute, the dark ind grew closer and closer.


    Finally, knowing that there was no more time to waste, Sunny summoned the Dark Wing andmanded it to turn his fall into a glide. The dragonfly cloak turned into a blur behind his back… but it also began to produce thin wisps of smoke, threatening to catch ame at any moment.


    ''Curses!''


    Supported by the enchantment of the Dark Wing, Sunny''s descent started to slow down little by little. His speed, however, was too great to be nullified in a single instant. It was dropping swiftly… but was it swift enough to prevent him from sttering all over the surface of the mysterious ind?


    And was the transparent cloak even going to endure for long enough?


    Sunny cursed and trembled as he watched the Obsidian Tower approach.


    ''Here goes nothing! Damn!''


    In the end, he stillnded with enough speed to shatter all bones in his legs from the impact against the ground. At thest moment, however, Sunny turned into a shadow and dove into the deep darkness enveloping the ind instead. Safely embraced by the shadows, he submerged himself into them, and finally allowed his mind to rx.


    ''Safe… I''m safe…''


    …He was finally safe.


    For a few seconds, at least.


    ***


    Sunny was in a world of pain.


    His shadow essence was running out, too.


    Also, he had no idea what terrifying danger was waiting for him on the mysterious ind that remained hidden in the deepest reaches of the Sky Below for thousands of years, nor what deadly secrets waited for him inside the Obsidian Tower.


    …But for now, he did not care. All he cared about was that he was not falling anymore.


    ''Bliss… this is pure bliss!''


    Floating in the dark embrace of shadows, Sunny couldn''t get enough of the fact that, for the first time in almost a month, he was… stationary. He finally had solid ground under his feet again! Metaphorically speaking, of course.


    In any case, it was such a beautiful feeling.


    Sunny allowed himself to rx and rested for a bit, safely hidden in the deep dark shadows.


    After a while, he sighed and forced himself to turn his attention to the outside world. Moving closer to the surface of the deep darkness that embraced him, Sunny cautiously took a look outside.


    ''...Huh?''


    Strangely, what met him wasplete and utter silence.


    There were no Nightmare Creatures on the ind, no abyssal horrors, no terrifying beings to devour him whole. Not even a single unholy titan slumbered nearby, ready to wake up at the slightest disturbance.


    The ind seemed… empty.


    Which was very fortunate, considering that Sunny was running very low on shadow essence and was going to have to assume his physical form soon.


    He hesitated for a few moments, then took stock of his equipment and himself.


    His soul was seriously wounded, but not beyond its ability to heal itself… in time.


    His body was not exactly whole, but in somewhat of a splendid shape, considering all that had happened. He even had all his limbs intact.


    Both the Mantle of the Underworld and the Cruel Sight, as well as the Dark Wing and Saint''s bow were heavily damaged. Luckily, none of these Memories werepletely destroyed. It was going to take a long time before he could use them again, though. Days… maybe even weeks.


    On the bright side, Saint herself had recovered from the wounds received on the Shipwreck Ind ages ago. Sunny actually could have summoned her at any point during his journey through the Sky Below, but there was no real reason to. Plus, the treasure chest would not have amodated both of them, especially considering how much the living statue weighed.


    The [Dark Mirror] enchantment of the Cruel Sight now also had two elemental augmentations for Sunny to choose from. Its runes showed:


    Current Charge: Divine me.


    Latent Charges: Soul.


    ''Divine me, huh…''


    Well, if there was one benefit from being burned by the damn thing, it was that now he would be able to cause simr pain to others. So, it was totally worth it in the end... no doubt about it...


    ''I guess we will have to see.''


    Andstly… Sunny was nowpletely sure that the thing on the other end of the golden String of Fate was the Obsidian Tower. His intuition was calm and silent. That told him that he had arrived at his destination.


    Somewhere inside, a thing that was deeply connected to his fate waited.


    ncing at the magnificent silhouette of the ck pagoda, Sunny sighed… and left the safety of the shadows, emerging from them to step onto the surface of the ind that no other human had visited in thousands of years.


    If ever…