Chapter 3198 — Chapter 3198 Secret Technique

Eventually, they did meet an abomination that Noctis had neither slain nor knew how to avoid. It was a Corrupted Tyrant and its brood — a nest of vile creatures that looked like leaves from afar, only to turn into a cloud of grotesque locusts with razor-sharp wings that blotted out the sky, painting the world in shades of dim emerald.

The Tyrant itself was like a locust queen, its brown carapace resembling a branching reef. When the giant creature moved, it was as if a section of the forest suddenly came alive, gazing at them with chilling malice.

"P—prepare to die, vermin!"

Noctis seemed pale as he faced the vast cloud of abominations. Shadow was not sure why exactly, though — it would be natural to feel a measure of fear in the face of such peril, but it was just as likely that the Transcendent youth simply disliked insects a great deal.

Perhaps it was simply because Noctis seemed at his weakest when the sun was high in the sky.

In any case, Shadow did not count the youth's chances of defeating the Corrupted Tyrant and her swarm high. Dealing with vast swarms of tiny abominations was quite tricky, after all — unless one had a suitable Aspect or an enchanted weapon, the fiercest of warriors could be rendered powerless in a battle like that.

Snuggle did not seem very adept at battling swarms of abominations, either. She could ignite the soul of the Corrupted Tyrant, weakening the creature and making it not much stronger than a Fallen Tyrant would have been... but that wasn't going to help them survive.

However, the Shadow could solve the problem easily.

He could annihilate the entire swarm in an instant by simply willing it to die. Eradicating great numbers of weaker creatures was exactly what he excelled at. He could tear the giant Tyrant to shreds in no more than a few seconds, as well. After all, he excelled at slaying strong creatures too.

But...

He couldn't.

Because he had been foolish enough to promise Snuggle not to kill anything.

‘Hmm... this is a bit problematic.’

Shadow was really not sure what to do.

As he contemplated calmly, the vast cloud of abominations drew closer, the swiftest of them already rushing down from the sky. The lumbering Tyrant was slowly approaching, as well.

Snuggle squealed and hurriedly hid in his pocket. Noctis, meanwhile, trembled and backed away until he was standing directly in front of Shadow, staring at the dim emerald world with apprehension.

"H—hey, Shadow. What do we do?"

He paused for a moment, then forced out a few more words.

"I can probably deal with a third... a half of these abominations! But someone will have to deal with the rest. Then, we can bring down the Tyrant together... right?"

A squeaky voice resounded from Shadow's pocket:

"Right! Go on, then!"

Noctis glanced over his shoulder with a startled expression.

"What do you mean, go on? You go on! Let's go together!"

The locusts had almost reached them by then.

‘What to do, indeed?’

Finally, Shadow came to a conclusion.

‘Right. That is also an option...’

With that, he raised a hand and placed it on the young hero's shoulder.

And then, he pulled the three of them — himself, Noctis, and Snuggle — into the shadows.

A moment later, they stepped out of them hundreds of kilometers away, on the shore of a placid lake.

There was no sign of the swarm of locusts of their enormous queen.

Noctis staggered and looked away in stunned silence.

He blinked a couple of times.

"Huh? Where are we?"

Shadow shrugged.

"Far away."

Noctis stared at him for a short while. Slowly, his face regained some color, and his tense body relaxed.

Then, he said in a tone of reproach.

"Listen, Shadow... we are friends, but don't you have any shame? Stealing my special heroic technique already! I shared it with you in confidence!"

Laughing, Noctis shook his head and let out a relieved sigh while patting his chest.

“What did I tell you? Running away is always an option!"

Shadow nodded seriously.

"Indeed."

He had never had to run away from something before, but that technique was really quite wondrous.

Noctis, meanwhile, inhaled a few times deeply, then froze for a moment.

Then, he glanced at Shadow in confusion.

“So, wait, you can just jump from one place to another in a second?"

Shadow simply nodded.

The corner of the young man's eye twitched.

“Then why, by the Moon, did we spend these past few days walking?! You could have just brought us to where we need to go!"

He glanced down with an aggrieved expression.

“Look at my clothes! They are so dusty! The hems are all frayed! It could all have been avoided!"

Shadow looked at him silently for a while. Eventually, he shrugged.

“I haven't gone on a walk since before silk was invented. So, I thought I should give it a try."

He smiled faintly.

"I quite liked it. I think we should continue walking everywhere."

Hearing his nonchalant voice, Noctis groaned.

***

It wasn't difficult to travel from one realm to another. All Ascended could do so, to a degree, and Transcendent heroes could even carry other living beings with them — not to mention Supremes, who could open towering gates in the fabric of realm boundaries.

Of course, there were always nuances. Each realm was different, for example, and their boundaries were different as well. Some were thin and easily traversed; some were all but impenetrable. The Divine Realms, for example, were almost impossible to enter unless one possessed great power or had the permission of their owners.

But there were mortal realms that were difficult to enter or leave, as well. Some were simply isolated firmly, while in some, the universal laws were twisted in a way that made traversal difficult. Some were simply special, so entering them required a special process.

There was nothing particularly special about the realm Shadow had inhabited except for its remoteness... and yet, they couldn't just leave it freely. In truth, unless one wanted to make a big commotion, they had to traverse the realm boundary in a place where it was especially thin — that was what Transcendent champions of the Age of Heroes did, at least.

Shadow could just tear through the realm boundary directly, but then his entrance would echo in the fabric of reality, attracting all kinds of unnecessary attention. So, he allowed Noctis to lead them to a suitable place.

It took them around a week to make it there. They traveled across the untamed wilderness, sometimes stopping to rest. None of them really needed to sleep, and the darkness of the night was not an obstacle either — Shadow saw perfectly well even at night, Noctis only grew stronger once the sun hid behind the horizon, and Snuggle was a walking source of radiant light.

So, they continued their journey at night as well.

As they walked, Shadow gazed at the starlit sky.

He had spent countless years hiding in his cave, and then a few more centuries in the eternal darkness of his lightless kingdom. So, he had not gazed upon the night sky for a long, long time.

Looking at the stars, Shadow felt an inexplicable wistfulness... a peculiar sense of longing he could not quite explain, but that tore at his heart with sharp edges.

‘I wonder...'

Why did he feel like he had lost something... like something so precious that it could not be described with words had been taken from him?

“Enjoying the beauty of the moon, huh?"

Noctis pushed him with a shoulder and smiled.

Shadow looked at him, then shook his head slowly.

"Not really."

The young man nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. That's my grandma, you know. So stop ogling her!"

Shadow stared at him, baffled by the statement. Snuggle, who sat on his shoulder, turned to look at Noctis as well.

After a while, she asked, her voice full of curiosity:

“Is Beast God really your grandmother?"

Noctis nodded.

“Of course! Not only that, but among all her grandchildren, I am the most outstanding!"

Snuggle lingered for a moment.

“So how does it work? Does she... uh... does the moon descend from the sky to congratulate you on your birthday and give you pocket money? Or something like that?"

Noctis chuckled.

"The moon doesn't descend from the sky."

He remained silent for a while, then sighed.

"Gods are vast. They are too vast to be someone's parents, lovers, or friends. Gods are not something that we mortals can fathom — like the ocean, the great abyss of the night sky, or the very soil we walk upon. But the gods... they are not alien to the desire of all these bonds and emotions, either. That is what I think, at least. So, gods inhabit mortal avatars from time to time."

He smiled.

"The Goddess of the Moon is no different, so she has an avatar as well. Granted, her avatar is a Divine being — and has been Divine for a long, long time. She is not exactly an attentive grandmother, but she used to visit me sometimes, when I was growing up in the temple."

Noctis scratched the back of his head.

“Perhaps once every few years, which must have been like a blink of an eye for her. Those nights were rare and far between, but they were also precious. I remember them fondly, at least."

Snuggle tilted her head a little.

"So... what did she do when she visited? Tempered your spirit? Imparted profound wisdom?"

Noctis looked at her solemnly for a long while, then suddenly exploded with laughter.

"Profound wisdom? Gods, no... that grandmother of mine is more childish than I am! That is how she was with me, at least. I know that she can be terrifying and unfathomable when she wants to, but when she was visiting me in my childhood days, she wanted to be different. She wanted to be in the company of a child, I guess."

Sunny glanced at him, not saying anything. But, in his mind, he remembered the days he had spent with Tatal.

He had not imparted any profound wisdom to that mischievous girl, either.

He had simply enjoyed her company.

But that enjoyment returned to him tenfold as sorrow when they parted, leaving a scar on his heart.

...How many partings had Beast God endured?

How scarred was her heart?

Was that the reason why the gods were growing more and more distant, and was there more to it?

He didn't know.

What he did know, however...

Was that the Goddess of the Moon had not had to bury this grandchild of hers, in the end. Noctis would outlive the great and terrible Beast God, his grandmother.

Almost as if they were nothing but a pair of mortals, and everything happened like it was supposed to happen.

As he was contemplating that, Snuggle studied Noctis for a while, then nodded.

"I see."

Then, she turned her little head and said in a deadpan voice:

“Stop ogling Noctis's grandma, Shadow."

He blinked.

"I wasn't."

"Uh-huh."

"I said I wasn't."

"Yup.

"I really wasn't, though?"

"Well, good then! If you say so... continue the same way!"