Behind a false wall in the ruined cathedral, Sunny followed a familiar hidden passage underground. The narrow tunnel twisted until it reached a point directly beneath the statue of the nameless goddess, where it opened into a deep well. At its bottom, a massive black steel door waited under ghostly torchlight.
The pale flames gave no warmth, casting shadows frozen in reverent silence.
In the middle of the door a small keyhole was hidden.
Sunny inserted the key, turned it with some effort, and pushed the massive slabs of metal apart.
Past the door, a small chamber was carved into the bedrock.
A corpse rested at its center, chained to the floor within a runic circle. The bound figured was cloaked with a black mantle, and emanated the scent of ancient petrification. On its face rested the demonic, lacquered Mask of Weaver.
With the accumulated knowledge of his first life, Sunny studied the scene with a sharper understanding. The figure bound here had been someone important to the Nightmare Spell. The mask here bore the enchantment [Where is my eye] after all.
That meant the corpse had once belonged to either Weaver themselves, or one of the High Clergy of the Nightmare Spell.
Unfortunately, even in death, the Mask still functioned. Meaning, of course, that the [Mantle of Lies] made it impossible to discern the wearer's identity. Sunny could glean nothing from the corpse.
Only the runic circle remained.
When Sunny looked at the script, his vision didn't blur as it had his first life. His stomach didn't turn. He could read them, courtesy of his [Inoculated] attribute.
His brows furrowed while reading the text.
[Thus spoke Weaver
"They will open the Gates"
And they did
Calling forth doom and destruction upon us
Now, in the ruins
Gods lay dead
And the daemons have fallen
The Forgotten One comes
Wide awake
To consume them.]
In these runes, lay the secrets of how the world ends.
Or worlds, so it were.
But still, many questions remained.
Sunny puzzled over them.
"They will open the Gates."
Who were 'they'? Gods? Daemons? Some other party?
And which Gates? The Gates of the Void? Nightmare Gates? Something metaphoric?
It was hard to say.
The Gates of the Void were the likely answer, though the question of the identity of 'they' was a complete mystery.
It seemed unlikely to have been either the Daemons or the Gods at large, given the prophecy referred to the groups by name later.
So it was likely some other party, or perhaps a singular genderless being.
And as for that, Sunny could only speculate.
One guess did enter his mind, though.
In his travels, he had encountered references to an elusive group by the name of The Nine: Auro, in his First Nightmare. Eurys, who escorted Nephis to the Underworld. And Aletheia, the First Seeker.
Perhaps they were related, given Aletheia's success in finding the Estuary of the Tomb of Ariel. She had become the first source of 'defilement' in the river of time, after all.
The most ominous lines, though, came near the end.
"The Forgotten One comes, Wide awake, To consume them."
But… something was off about these lines. If the Dream God was awake—and the Gates to the Void were open—the current state of affairs made no sense.
The Dream God still stirred in their Nightmare, if the Spell were to be believed, and the Dream Realm had consumed all realms but War's.
The chronology seems broken. Perhaps the prophecy had been thwarted in some way?
Was the Forgotten God lulled back to sleep?
The Nightmare Spell beckoned in Sunny's mind, or more specifically, its choice of name.
Perhaps it was a Spell made to lull the corrupted god back into slumber?
It was a compelling idea—though, frankly, impossible to prove.
Really, using this text to devise concrete theories was a fruitless endeavor.
Because, rather annoyingly, the inconsistencies might have originated from an inherent misunderstanding. The words were spoken by Weaver after all. The master of lies.
And that added an entire extra dimension of complexity.
Weaver spoke only in lies, as they believed truth and knowledge to be the origin of power.
If the prophecy was entirely lies—then what insights did it hide? Perhaps this speech may have been an exception to Weaver's usual demeanor?
Or perhaps it was simply a listeners interpretation of what he meant.
Sunny didn't know yet.
He committed the runes to memory, knowing he would one day find answers.
[Hail Weaver, Demon of Fate. Firstborn of the Forgotten God.]
A shiver passed through Sunny's bones.
Then, without ceremony, he reached down and picked up the mask.
It dissolved into sparks of light, flowing into his shadow.
The Spell's voice boomed in his mind:
[You have received a Memory.]
Sunny summoned it promptly.
The lacquered mask floated above his palm, its surface glossy and still, the expression seemingly frozen between demonic rage and knowing amusement.
He stared at it for a long moment, and the endless black void within the eyes stared back.
The mask hadn't changed.
But his Flaw had.
Flaw: [Transparent Conscience.]
Flaw Description: [You cannot lie, and your true feelings may not be hidden.]
Sunny hesitated. He had no idea what the reversal of his new flaw would do.
It probably wouldn't be harmful.
...'Right?'
Unfortunately, there was only one way to know with certainty. If it truly went wrong, he could use Serpent to activate the [Where is my eye] enchantment. As a Sleeper, it would drain his essence reserves near-instantly, and spare him the untimely death.
The pain would still be unbearable, but it was better than death.
'Arguably..'
After a quiet breath, he slipped the mask onto his face.
Rather than relief, he simply wore a distant expression.
"...That wasn't what I expected."
***
Sunny emerged from the stairwell and climbed into the upper corridors of the ruined cathedral.
Navigating the ruined hallways, he found Saint at the final turn, standing squarely in front of a narrow door. Her sword was planted point-down in the floor before her. She glanced at him, then resumed her silent vigil.
Sunny slowed, giving her a once-over.
In his past life, he could have only dreamed of commanding an Ascended Demon as a Sleeper—let alone using one as a simple doorman.
…Though, technically, he had used a Fallen Devil for that job in a roundabout way. So perhaps not.
He shook his head, then stepped past her and opened the door.
Inside, the cohort had already made themselves at home. Kai and Aiko sat on the bed, casting shadow puppets on the wall using a luminous Memory. Effie was chewing on jerky while chatting with Caster.
Cassie didn't look up. "Nice of you to join us."
Sunny nodded. The rest of the cohort jumped slightly as he entered—near-silent, as always.
Aiko was the first to recover. "How did you and your Echo know about this place? This bed is absolutely divine."
Sunny gave a loose shrug. "I used to live here. In my past life."
"Literally," he clarified. "I didn't stay in Bright Castle much. I mostly kept to myself in the Dark City, and slept here. The Forsaken Knight never climbed this high, and the other Nightmare Creatures avoided the place. It was quiet. Safe—if you didn't get caught."
Aiko leaned back on her hands. "You camped in an abandoned cathedral guarded by an unkillable horror, after being gutted by it?"
She shook her head. "The lengths we go to avoid paying rent..."
Sunny waved her off.
"I literally just killed it, need I remind you?" he remarked, dryly.
Cassie cut in before the girl could reply.
"What now?"
Sunny looked around the room. "We rest," he said. "Tomorrow, we seize Bright Castle."