Chapter 2979 — Chapter 2979 Seventh Shadow

Sunny looked up and saw his own pale face looking down on him, a bright smile plastered on his lips...

The smile might have been bright, but there was something off about it, which made it look chilling and sinister.

The Vile Spawn was standing there, having assumed Sunny's form, and waiting patiently for him to do something. Or perhaps contemplating how to kill him — Sunny had no idea what was happening in the creepy thing's head.

The Thieving Bird had left its fledgling behind... for Sunny to look after. Perhaps it had judged that its spawn was ready to leave the nest and spread its wings, or perhaps it wanted the Lord of Shadows to show the young Devil the ropes of being a proper Shadow Creature.

In any case, that thing was now Sunny's seventh Shadow.

He stared at the Vile Spawn in resignation.

'Well... let's look on the bright side.'

Sure, there was now a new Devil living in Sunny's soul... a psychotic kid who loved nothing more than to steal life force from other beings and had almost single-handedly driven the Nightmare Creatures of the Great River to extinction. But what of it?

Now that the Vile Spawn was Sunny's Shadow, it at least couldn't finish him off. On top of that, the shades it had stolen — including the Wolf — were now back under Sunny's control.

So, that was something.

Plus...

Wasn't it a good thing for him to command another Supreme Devil? And one as deadly as the Vile Spawn, at that.

Sunny sighed and peered into the Vile Spawn's soul. There, four dark embers burned in a vast and lightless void, no different from his other Shadows — except for Slayer.

‘Maybe that's why.'

Sunny knew that his Shadows were incomplete, even if he did not know how to remedy that. Maybe the Thieving Bird could not complete its spawn, either, so it left the creepy thing to someone who had the authority to do so, one day.

Or perhaps it just wanted its Vile Spawn to grow up by feeding on Sunny’s soul from within until there was nothing but a lifeless husk left of him.

In any case...

"Cut it out."

Sunny did not like the fact that the Vile Spawn was wearing his face. It was eerie to see a copy of himself that he did not control — and in the Tomb of Ariel, of all places. This was where the Sin of Solace had tormented Sunny while hiding behind his own face, so he would really prefer it if the Vile Spawn assumed some other shape. Sadly, the damn thing refused.

Instead, it crouched, poked Sunny in his chest with a finger, and smiled wider.

“Vile!”

Sunny let out a frustrated sigh.

The Vile Spawn did not really have its own shape to return to. It was a true shadow, taking the shape of anything that cast it... well, rather, whatever it chose to be cast by. In other words, it could assume the form of anyone it saw, and whose life force it absorbed — just like it had done with Sunny, Nephis, and the Wolf. Naturally, even if the Vile Spawn assumed the shape of a Sacred being, it would not magically become Sacred itself. So, there was some limit to its power.

The transformation was also complete, including the Flaw of the being casting the shadow. Sunny had seen that, as well, when the Vile Spawn personally experienced the horrid agony of Neph's Flaw.

The other power of the Vile Spawn was the very ability to steal the life force of living beings to add to its own. Sunny had experienced that sinister Ability, as well. Actually, he wasn't entirely sure what the “life force" in question referred to. On the surface, the Vile Spawn stole the soul essence of its victims, but Sunny felt like the essence was merely the surface manifestation of a much deeper process.

It wasn't a soul attack... and it wasn't a physical attack, either.

If anything, it was a spirit attack — which was not something Sunny had encountered often before.

Defending oneself against the Vile Spawn's malevolent Ability was exceedingly difficult. The only limitation of that power was the young Devil's own capacity — if a being possessed an especially strong spirit and a boundless ocean of vitality, draining it to death would become a very slow process. And in the meantime, the Vile Spawn's prey was free to retaliate.

Apart from these two potent Abilities, the Vile Spawn could use its own forms of Shadow Step and Shadow Incarnation, switching effortlessly between being an intangible shadow and manifesting itself into a solid form.

Sunny studied his immature copy with suspicion.

‘...He must possess a form of Shadow Manifestation, as well.'

Otherwise, where did that cheap knock-off of the Nebulous Mantle come from? The Vile Spawn's mastery of Shadow Manifestation seemed instinctual and rudimentary, but it was enough to conjure a passable garment out of shadows, at least.

Sunny remained silent for a long while.

In truth, he was too severely wounded to move... or think, really. The damage was not only physical, since his soul had almost been destroyed, as well. The Weaves had prevented him from dying, and his Supreme constitution was already healing him — but even with his titanic vitality, it was going to take some time before he was in a presentable state.

What Sunny needed right now was a long period of rest. He needed to find a safe space and fall into a deep, dreamless slumber...

Sadly, it was the worst time to rest.

Sunny was lost in time, not knowing what dangers lurked nearby. He needed to find Nephis... and then, they needed to return to Ananke.

Beyond that, Asterion was still poised to conquer the world, and killing the Vile Thieving Bird did not present a solution to that problem as they had hoped.

Not that Sunny was aware of, at least.

He sighed tiredly and looked at the Vile Spawn.

"Say... you wouldn't know how to get inside the Estuary without becoming Defiled, would you?"

The Thieving Bird and its spawn had come and gone freely to and from the heart of the Stone Titan. So, Sunny had a faint hope that his new Shadow would know of some secret passage that would allow him to reach the Estuary Lake in this unknown era of the Tomb of Ariel — granted, he suspected that it was the Thieving Bird who allowed the young Devil to enter and leave its nest safely.

And indeed, the Vile Spawn shook his head with the same wide smile.

"Vile!"

Sunny sighed.

"Damn... don't you know other words?!"

The Vile Spawn stared at him in confusion for a few moments, then smiled again and nodded.

"Damn!"

Sunny groaned.