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Chapter 13 - chapter 13

Nephis frowned, her face twisting with an expression she made sure no one could see. She had finished her training hours ago, but her mind was still trapped in a dark and lonely place. It was impossible to avoid.

It had been over thirty days since Sunny had been sent to Antarctica, and she still couldn't get used to his absence.

Everything had happened so fast that her brain was still struggling to process it. That's how life works, doesn't it? One moment, you're living the best month of your life, and the next, everything crumbles into pieces.

Antarctica... that frozen hell where the government had sent awakened soldiers to evacuate what few survivors remained. All because of the cursed nightmare spell—that damn abomination that had torn her world apart and stolen so much from her.

Nephis found herself spiraling, as she often did, into a "what if." If that spell had never existed... where would she be now?

Probably living a normal life. Maybe attending school like any other ordinary young woman. Perhaps finding her "true love" in university. Of course, that love would undoubtedly have Sunny's face—because who else could it be?

How simple... and how painfully unattainable, she thought with bitter irony.

But she couldn't indulge in daydreams. This inner monologue was nothing more than an attempt to distract herself, and she knew exactly what she was trying to escape: fear. That overwhelming fear that had been consuming her ever since Sunny was sent far away to face the unknown in Antarctica.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him. If anyone knew Sunny's tenacity and strength, it was her. That idiot could probably escape hell itself, just because he thought the flames were the wrong shade of red and wanted to paint them black. She knew this. She believed it.

And yet, the fear lingered.

It festered like a shadow in the depths of her being, growing stronger with each passing day. It felt irrational at times, but it gnawed at her, bit by bit, like a slow and venomous poison.

Anyone on the outside would find the root of her anxiety obvious: trauma.

After all, she had lost her grandfather and mother under eerily similar circumstances. Both had been sent to America to contain a chain of nightmare gates, and the result was catastrophic. America was lost, along with half of the world's most powerful awakened.

Her mother and grandfather, two exceptional warriors, had perished facing the impossible.

And now Sunny was in a situation just like theirs—or maybe even worse.

The weight of those memories was crushing, and the uncertainty was eating her alive. Her only anchor in this chaos, her only solace, was the sight of Sunny's runes. She checked them constantly, sometimes more than ten times a day. It was almost obsessive.

Among the updates, there were things that intrigued her. He had acquired a transcendent weapon called the Sin of Solace, which seemed to drive him a little mad. This meant he had killed a corrupted creature—a foe meant to rival even saints.

But not everything was good news.

Just days ago, she had learned of something that froze her blood: three titans had appeared in Antarctica.

Four saints had been sent to repel the titanic creatures, but the real terror was one of them—the Winter Beast.

Among nightmare creatures, even those of the same rank, some were more terrifying and powerful than others. The Winter Beast was one of these. Even the saints had faltered in its presence, and only Saint Tyris had been able to confront it directly.

Worse still, the creature had disrupted communication in the remote regions of Antarctica—the very area where Sunny had been deployed.

The fear gripped her completely. While she had managed to send him messages occasionally, Sunny hadn't responded in over two weeks. And just a few days ago, his runes had delivered a chilling update: he had called for help.

That thought was like staring into a dark, endless tunnel.

"Why didn't I go with him?" Nephis thought bitterly, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst.

But she knew she couldn't stay like this. Preparing to join the second evacuation army was her only option now. The problem was that Sunny was almost on the other side of the continent.

The very idea of being so far from him filled her with despair.

Now she understood just how much she needed him, how deeply she cared for him, and how much his absence hurt.

And at that moment, she made a decision.

She wouldn't leave Sunny alone. Not now. Not ever.

It wasn't enough to destroy the Sovereigns or put an end to the nightmare spell. She had a new goal now: to do it all with Sunny by her side.

And to achieve this, she would have to dismantle the foundations of the great clans. This was no longer just about her personal grudges or the hatred she had carried for years. Now, it was about their utter incompetence.

While thousands suffered and died in Antarctica, the great clans weren't focusing on evacuation efforts. No. They were preparing for war—against the Song clan.

The worst part was their hypocrisy. This war wouldn't be fought openly. There would be no grand battles in the light of day. Instead, it would unfold in the shadows, with Antarctica as their battleground—a place already ravaged by chaos and destruction.

The great clans had to fall.

Nephis knew this wouldn't be an easy feat. As an ascended, she was nothing more than a minor nuisance to them, barely a blip on their radar. But once she ascended to saint, the balance would shift. Only a handful of people in the world could oppose her then, and those few would be the sovereigns themselves.

This wasn't arrogance. It wasn't ego. It was reality. The cursed fate knew full well: she had fought harder than anyone else to make this possible.

And she wouldn't face it alone.

She had decided to trust her entire cohort. Once the five of them ascended to saints, the world would have no choice but to notice. Eliminating a single saint without leaving a trace was nearly impossible. Disappearing five famous saints, united in purpose? That would spark a war even the sovereigns couldn't risk igniting.

This wasn't a dream. It wasn't a fantasy.

It was a goal—clear, tangible, and almost within her grasp.

Of course, the nightmare seeds needed for sainthood were controlled by the sovereigns, handed out only to those they deemed worthy. But just as Antarctica was the perfect setting for the great clans' shadow war, it would also be the perfect stage for her plan to unfold.

It was only a matter of time.

In a month, she would be in Antarctica. All she could do now was pray Sunny was still safe.

And once she became a saint, her next step to bring down the sovereigns would begin.

It was a solid plan, wasn't it? Too bad fate always had other ideas.

As her mind continued spinning with strategies and goals, Nephis instinctively checked Sunny's runes again—something she did constantly, unable to resist the compulsion to ensure he was okay.

And then, she saw it.

Memory: [I miss you]

Memory Rank: Transcendent

Memory Tier: III

Memory Type: Cosmetic

Memory Description: [It's a gift, silly. I hope you like it when you get here.]

Nephis blinked, momentarily confused.

Had Sunny created a transcendent memory... cosmetic, of all things? Just for that?

"Really?" she murmured softly, her voice a mix of disbelief and amusement as a warm, gentle smile crept onto her lips.

The gesture was so unexpected, so utterly ridiculous and sweet, that for a brief moment, all her anxiety melted away. Sunny... that fool had time to think of her, even in the middle of the nightmare that was Antarctica.

Her heart, heavy with fear and uncertainty, felt a little lighter.

But then, like a lightning strike, a chilling thought pierced her mind.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Sunny was far from okay.

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