Shadow Slave

1489 A Variable
It had to be true.
The Mad Prince must have traveled in time to become Sunny... for one simple
reason. Sunny could not possess the Key of the Estuary otherwise.
He took a deep breath and grasped his head, feeling dazed.
“There are answers... too many answers. For once."
The turbulent swarm of revelations was yet to settle in his mind, and there was
no clear picture.
“Everything makes sense now. But also, nothing makes sense.
Sunny felt that he understood the true nature of the Great River. He also
understood the sequence of events that had transpired prior to the current cycle.
It all came together nicely... except for one glaring inconsistency.
The existence of the Six Plagues was a paradox that could not be explained by
what he knew. But that was alright. He did not know everything, after all,
especially not in a place as bizarre as the Tomb of Ariel.
However, if Sunny simply accepted the paradoxical existence of the Plagues as
fact, everything would fall into place. For example, the fact that Wind Flower had
met both the Mad Prince and Sunny — just like Effie and Jet coexisted with
Devouring Beast and Undying Slaughter, Sunny coexisted with the memories of
his previous self.
The vile madman was gone, but the scars he had left on the Great River
remained. Like Weave, which he had destroyed. Or Ananke, whom he doomed to
a life of loneliness and loss.
'So, how did it all happen?"
Sunny contemplated the Third Nightmare, numb to his surroundings.
The first thing he had to admit was that he did not know, and would most likely
never learn, what the initial shape of the Nightmare had been. The reality of the
Great River had been irrevocably changed by the Six Plagues. So, the challenge
the original cohort had faced was entirely different.
It were the Six Plagues, after all, who had taken control of Verge and led the
forces of the Defilement to devour the cities of the River People, undoubtedly
accelerating the demise of the River Civilization. Without them, the cohort might
have found many powerful allies to aid them in slaying the First Seeker.
However, during that first cycle, something had gone wrong. Somehow, the
cohort ended up entering the Source instead of laying siege to Verge...
“No, not quite right.’
It was possible that everyone had entered the Source — but not necessarily so.
Sunny could have attempted to find the Estuary alone, for some reason. But he
definitely had entered the mist and crossed the boundary. That was how the first
cycle had ended.
And, therefore, an unknown number of cycles began.
Eventually, influenced by the [Hideous Truth] enchantment of the Sin of Solace,
Sunny had grown immune to losing his memory of the past cycles. Becoming... a
variable. A single variable that broke the system, introducing chaos to a
predetermined flow of events.
At that point, several things could have happened.
Perhaps he continued to search for a way to conquer the Nightmare and
preserve the lives of his companions, failing cycle after cycle and eventually
going mad. Perhaps, guided by unknown reasons, he continued to search for the
entrance to the Estuary that was hidden somewhere in the mist of the Source.
Perhaps, by then, he was already infected by the cursed knowledge of the
Defilement.
In any case, eventually, there came a time when Sunny was returned to the
beginning of the Nightmare already harboring the seed of Corruption in his mind.
And that, of course, changed everything.
The other members of the cohort were infected by the Defilement, as well.
Nephis died at their hands.
...Kneeling on the deck of the Chain Breaker, Sunny shivered. His face was
deathly pale.
“What happened next, then?"
It was obvious...
The Mad Prince was released from Shadow Bond, finally fulfilling his wish...
becoming free.
However, his freedom did not last long.
Ironically, the madman was enslaved by one of the people he had surrendered to
the Defilement — Kai. Then, the corrupted cohort found a new goal. To conquer
the Nightmare and be released into the real world by obliterating the River
People civilization.
And so...
They somehow found a way to travel into the distant past, to the days long before
the first day of the Nightmare... and at the same time became foreign invaders of
the new cycle. Sunny did not know how, but he had an inkling that the Source
and the Estuary were somehow responsible for the birth of this bizarre and eerie
paradox.
Over time, the members of the corrupted cohort grew stronger, eventually
Transcending... or rather, falling deeper into Corruption. Ananke had already told
Sunny that it was possible for those who followed the path of Ascension to reach
Transcendence without conquering a Third Nightmare. Similarly, it was possible
for Fallen Nightmare Creatures to become Corrupted.
The Fallen Terror of the Crimson Spire, for example, had been evolving into a
Corrupted Titan when Nephis killed her. The former members of Neph's cohort
achieved a similar feat inside the Tomb of Ariel.
And thus, the Six Plagues were born.
They subjugated Verge and led the forces of the Defilement to annihilate the
River People. Even Twilight, the city of challengers led by the Serpent King, fell
to their insidiousness and might.
They should have conquered the Nightmare decades ago, by all accounts...
If not for the Mad Prince.
An eerie, twisted smile appeared on Sunny's lips.
Conquering the Nightmare was what the Dread Lord wanted. But it was not what
his slave wanted.
And so, the vile madman conspired against his master.
It seemed that the Mad Prince was still harboring a desperate obsession. One
that had nothing to do with spreading the Defilement to every corner of the Tomb
of Ariel, obliterating the River Civilization, or unleashing the Six Plagues into the
real world.
Sunny did not know what that obsession was...
But he could guess.
“Be careful of what you wish for."
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Those were the words that the Mad
Prince had carved into the piece of
flotsam driftinginIthe fistof the
Bute ve) and over again, with his

: f
nails. It wasn't hard to guess that he
regretted fulfilling his wish. The
content is on popsnovel.com! Read
the latest chapter there!
What did Sunny want?
To be free.
That wish of his... had killed Nephis.
He shuddered.
'The Mad Prince, that bastard... was that what he wanted to achieve?
To rewrite history and ensure that Nephis survives.
“Perhaps...
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And so, the Mad Prince started
scheming as he prepared for the
arrival of the mem rg gf thecodhort.

Co
He (rapped Ln laughter and
Ei Te

Devouring Beast on Aletheia's Island.
He had met with Wind Flower and
learned how to create the Estuary
Key. The content is on
popsnovel.com! Read the latest
chapter there!
He massacred Weave, and then sent a dream message to Ananke, instructing
her to meet Sunny and Nephis in the far reaches of the future when the time
came.
...And gods knew what else. Sunny simply did not know the extent of
preparations the Mad Prince had undertaken to ensure that, in this cycle, the
events of the Nightmare went exactly as he planned.
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The reality of the Great River had
already been entirely changed from
how it had origi naflybeen ly the
existents 61 the Six Plagues. And the
vile madman manipulated it even
more, purposefully setting the stage
for his future self. The content is on
popsnovel.com! Read the latest
chapter there!
And then, when all the preparations were done, he simply entered the Source
and ceased to exist, transferring the Estuary Key to Sunny.
Ensuring that he would not be poisoned by the Defilement immediately after
entering the Nightmare, unlike how it had happened in the previous cycles.
And here they were.
Sunny let out a long sigh.
“That treacherous madman..."