Chapter 421 Ecstasy of Gold
The sheer wealth of gold coins in the adamantine chest proves a deadly trap. As Sunny reaches for the treasure, the chest’s lid snaps shut, revealing rows of sharp, triangular teeth. His quick reflexes save his hand, but the creature’s immense strength shatters his forearm, trapping him within its jaws. “What the hell is that thing?!” he bellows, struggling against its crushing grip and a disturbingly long tongue that probes his defenses.
Desperate, Sunny transforms Cruel Sight into a spear and imbues it with soul-destroying power using the [Dark Mirror] enchantment. The blow, though minor, forces the abomination to shriek and release him. As Sunny scrambles away, the chest unfurls to reveal a grotesque, three-meter-tall being, its emaciated limbs unfolding with sickening cracks. Before Sunny can fully comprehend the monstrous form, it kicks him with devastating force, sending him flying through the reinforced door and back into the corridor, battered and breathless.
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Chapter 422 Rude Awakening
The creature, enraged by Sunny’s attack and the damage to its vines, unleashes a wave of oppressive heat and stench. Sunny, unperturbed, taunts the abomination, which, despite its immense power and the apparent danger of a larger threat within the ship, is overcome by its greed for the treasure. A desperate scramble ensues as the creature lunges, forcing Sunny to use Shadow Step. Both combatants become entangled with the ship’s sentient vines, which ensnare the abomination with thorny tendrils.
As the creature struggles against its new captors, Sunny retreats into the treasury, only for the abomination to burst through the corridor wall and ignore him entirely. It flees through a breach in the rear of the ship, escaping the wrecks’ influence. Sunny, left momentarily bewildered, notices that the gold coins, the source of the initial conflict, remain untouched, their glinting presence a tangible reality.
The creature’s hasty retreat, driven by a primal fear of the ship’s awakening master, leaves Sunny with a crucial realization: the treasure is not a lure but genuine. The abomination’s obsession with the gold, even in the face of mortal peril, highlights a shared flaw with Sunny himself, a deep-seated avarice that drives their actions. This leaves Sunny with the tantalizing prospect of claiming the wealth for himself.
Chapter 423 Risk and Reward
The abomination, still ensnared by the ship’s sentient vines, struggles free with surprising ferocity, ripping through the tendrils with its talons. Sunny watches, realizing the creature is far stronger than anticipated. As the abomination makes a desperate dash for the edge of the island, he curses, “Crap! Why couldn’t it just lay still and die?!” He gives chase, but the creature leaps into the abyss below, the treasure chest clicking shut.
Free from the immediate threat, Sunny surveys the scene. Below the island, a colossal, sickly chain, rusted and weakened, stretches into the distance. This chain, originating from a broken stone structure, anchors the descending island to a smaller isle far beyond. Sunny, observing this peculiar new element of the Chained Isles, realizes the true scale of the forces at play.
The abomination’s escape, driven by its insatiable greed, highlights a shared flaw with Sunny himself—a dangerous avarice. Now, the untouched treasure and the mystery of the weakened chain present Sunny with a new, perilous opportunity. The promise of immense wealth, coupled with the unsettling discovery of the ancient chain, beckons him toward an uncertain future.
Chapter 424 Unlucky Streak
Sunny glides through the skies, his shadow scouting the underside of Shipwreck Island. The immense chain ahead teems with Fallen Demons, but the true terror lies in the darkness below, where a fearsome entity uses a dead colossus to lure Chain Worms into its deadly embrace. Sunny, narrowly avoiding this abyss, reaches the chain, its vast length offering a precarious path toward his goal. He notes that a significant portion dips into the Sky Below, allowing him to travel mostly unseen, but the final stretch requires him to hop between shadows. However, his shadow essence is dangerously depleted from previous encounters, raising concerns about his ability to confront the chest abomination again, especially with a broken arm.
He presses on, plunging into the Sky Below and clinging to the chain’s underside, where fewer Chain Worms dwell. He witnesses them gnawing at the seemingly eternal metal, a stark reminder of decay’s inevitability. Catching up to the treasure-laden abomination, Sunny observes its desperate flight, its jumps across chain links punctuated by brutal skirmishes with the Chain Worms. The creature’s earlier, greedy elation has curdled into a mix of misery and menacing anger. Sunny meticulously calculates his remaining shadow essence, a plan forming for the arduous journey ahead.
Suddenly, a chilling rattle echoes – the chain itself is moving. Sunny’s gaze snaps toward his destination, the Twisted Rock, which begins to ascend rapidly. The terrifying realization dawns: “Oh, no…” The twisted rock, the intended destination, is now rising, disrupting his carefully laid plans and plunging him into further uncertainty as the chapter ends.
Chapter 425 Twisted Rock
The vile creature, now a mere dozen meters from its destination, scrambles up the vertical stone wall of the Twisted Rock. With talons piercing the weathered surface, the abomination nimbly ascends, vanishing from Sunny’s sight. Below, on the swaying chain, Sunny emerges from the deep shadows, his expression dark as he realizes the Twisted Rock, his intended refuge, is rapidly ascending, now the last island before the desolate Tear and tethered to the Chained Isles by a single iron connection. His prize is cornered.
With his broken arm secured in a makeshift sling fashioned from his pack strap, Sunny activates his Dark Wing and employs the Prowling Thorn to traverse the overhanging slope. Each upward thrust requires greater effort due to the burgeoning stages of the Crushing. Finally cresting the edge, he finds the Twisted Rock to be a small, desolate expanse of dark, molten stone, scarred with the blackened bones of victims consumed by its ancient inferno. His graceless landing, however, immediately alerts the chest fiend.
The mangled corpse of a Chain Worm hangs from the abomination’s half-closed lid, its talons scraping the strange stone as it turns. The creature swallows the demon whole with a hateful giggle, then fixes its gaze upon Sunny. The air crackles with a grim anticipation as the two adversaries prepare to clash on this desolate, hellish landscape.
Chapter 426 Most Terrible Battle
Sunny faces the chest fiend atop the desolate Twisted Rock. The abomination lunges, its movements telegraphed, allowing Sunny to evade and strike with the Cruel Sight, piercing its abdomen. Despite his tactical advantage and knowledge of the fiend’s unpredictable, four-limbed attacks, Sunny finds himself unable to land decisive blows on the creature’s nearly indestructible chest. “Maybe it’s thanks to that that I had managed to learn so much about the fiend so fast,” he muses, utilizing his honed perception to survive.
The battle escalates into a brutal dance of evasion and parrying. Sunny narrowly avoids the fiend’s flailing limbs, using his shadows to activate the Puppeteer’s Shroud, which deflects a fatal talon strike. He leverages the momentum of the deflected blow to create distance, the growing effects of the Crushing making every movement an agony, particularly on his broken arm. The fiend, recovering with unnatural speed, pursues him relentlessly on all fours, its grotesque maw agape.
Hours later, the fight has devolved into a protracted slugfest, both combatants pushed to their absolute limits. Sunny, bleeding and nearing collapse, notes, “Things… were not going great.” The fiend, its gaunt body mangled, also shows signs of extreme weariness. Neither can land a killing blow, the creature’s vital organs hidden within its nigh-impenetrable chest, and Sunny too elusive to be truly cornered. It is a desperate, drawn-out struggle, a “battle between two cockroaches,” as Sunny grimly realizes.
Chapter 427 Death of a Mimic
The Twisted Rock ascends, its terrible crushing force bearing down on Sunny and the chest fiend. The fiend’s adamantine chest, once formidable, now shows signs of decay, its metal rusting and wood discoloring as the Broken Oath wages war on its very soul. Sunny, likewise battered and pale, endures the agonizing pressure, his armor slick with blood. He understands that this ascent, amplified by the island’s long chain, makes the Crushing far more brutal than any he’s experienced before, pushing him to the brink.
Sunny’s resilience is due to his unrestrained use of his Shadow Powers, which now fully envelop his body, tripling his fortitude and preventing him from succumbing to the relentless assault. He contemplates his options should the pain become unbearable, including escaping into the shadows or attempting a desperate retreat back to the heavenly chain. His primary focus, however, remains the dying chest fiend and the logistical challenge of transporting his spoils, which are not as substantial as initially believed, back to the Sanctuary of Noctis before the island’s inevitable destruction.
While enduring the Crushing, Sunny’s intuition guides him to investigate the dying island, suspecting a hidden significance. He dispatches a shadow to explore every inch of the desolate Twisted Rock, searching for any artifact or anomaly that might explain his premonition. Despite a thorough search, uncovering only barren stone and ancient bones, no apparent cause for his unease is found. He realizes the fiend is effectively a “mimic,” making its death the chapter’s grim climax, leaving Sunny to contend with his own survival and the perilous journey ahead.
Chapter 428 Covetous Coffer
Despite the agonizing ascent of the Twisted Rock, Sunny experiences a surge of jubilant triumph. He has single-handedly defeated a Fallen Devil, the Mordant Mimic, a significant milestone in his journey. This victory, achieved without Saint’s aid, validates his sacrifices and fuels his determination. The crushing pressure intensifies as the island ascends, momentarily eclipsing his elation with raw suffering, but he steels himself to endure, his gaze fixed on the distant Ivory Tower, a beacon of hope amidst the pain.
Sunny checks his Shadow Fragments, noting their substantial increase, and turns his attention to his newly acquired Memories. He is astonished to discover an Ascended Memory of the fourth tier, the “Covetous Coffer,” a utility Memory. Its description hints at a strange connection to Noctis, revealing that his benefactor once owned multiple treasure chests, including one with a voracious appetite. This revelation sparks questions about the Mimic’s origin and Noctis’s peculiar history, particularly the unsettling fact that Noctis was apparently “very strange” and “deathly afraid of chests.”
The chapter culminates with Sunny’s reflection on this bizarre connection, pondering if the carnivorous chest was once a pet of Noctis. This raises a significant world-building revelation: Noctis, the patron of the Sanctuary, is a person, and a rather peculiar one at that. The chapter leaves Sunny contemplating the implications of these discoveries as he continues to battle the crushing force, eager to uncover more about his past and the nature of the artifacts he has claimed.
Chapter 429 Schism
The ascent of the Twisted Rock is violently interrupted as the colossal iron links of its celestial tether begin to tear apart. Sunny, caught off guard by the sudden, deafening roar, feels the crushing force intensify, realizing with dawning horror that the chain is failing. “The chain… the chain is failing!” he cries out, a wave of pure panic washing over him. Desperate, he sends a shadow to reach the fraying connection, but it’s too late; a single broken link snaps the heavenly tether. The island, now unrestrained, shoots upward at a terrifying speed, leaving Sunny struggling against the obliterating pressure and frantically contemplating impossible escape routes.
As the Twisted Rock rockets towards the heavens, Sunny finds himself adrift, the distance between him and the falling remnants of the celestial tether growing insurmountable. His attempts to glide towards Shipwreck Island are futile, the gap far exceeding the Dark Wing’s capabilities. “No, no, no!” he exclaims, the realization of his predicament sinking in as the chain sloughs off into the Sky Below. He berates himself for his choices, questioning if his “greed” led him to this precarious position, yet he quickly dismisses the thought, recalling his calculated decision on Shipwreck Island.
This catastrophic event leaves Sunny in a desperate situation, the island hurtling through the sky with no immediate means of escape or control. The severed tether signifies a dangerous independence, a swift ascent into the unknown without the safety of the Chained Isles. He is left to confront the raw power of his current predicament, the crushing pressure a constant reminder of his vulnerability as he continues to process the implications of this sudden schism.
Chapter 430 Tapestry of Fate
The Twisted Rock’s ascent is brutally halted as its celestial tether snaps, sending the island hurtling uncontrollably into the heavens. Sunny, left adrift and in a terrifying predicament, struggles against the immense pressure, his attempts to return to Shipwreck Island proving futile against the vast, growing chasm. He grapples with the sudden, violent severance from the Chained Isles, facing an unknown future as the island’s independent, perilous journey begins.
As Sunny’s essence connects with a divine Memory, the Weaver’s Mask greedily consumes his shadow essence, activating a powerful, agonizing enchantment. He is overwhelmed by a vision of the Strings of Fate, an infinite tapestry connecting all existence. This overwhelming knowledge, described as “infinitely worse” than prior suffering, nearly obliterates him, forcing him to dissipate into shadows. “The chain… the chain is failing!” he cried out in the previous moment of panic.
Even as a shadow, Sunny perceives the Strings of Fate clinging to him, two threads shining brighter: one leading north towards the Hollow Mountains, the other plunging down into the Sky Below. Just as the mask’s power wanes, ending the vision and sparing him total destruction, Sunny is left with the stark reality of the fracturing dark stone soaring skyward, a chilling reminder of his precarious existence.
Chapter 431 Fall From Grace
Plummeting into the Sky Below, Sunny clings to a treasure chest as the shattered remnants of the Twisted Rock rain down around him. Stripped of his protective armor to conserve shadow essence, he endures the relentless “Crushing” in a state of stark vulnerability, his only hope the struggling Dark Wing cloak. “The chain… the chain is failing!” he recalls his own panicked cry, a stark contrast to his current desperate descent. He dodges debris, a naked fugitive from the heavens, praying for rescue while simultaneously dreading the embarrassment of being seen in such a state.
As the destructive force of the Crushing gradually weakens, Sunny manages to navigate the treacherous field of wreckage. He feels the immediate pain subside, replaced by a grim awareness of his surroundings. The descent continues, a slow, angled fall rather than a controlled glide, with the precious treasure chest a heavy anchor. The Dark Wing strains under the unexpected load and the lingering effects of the celestial catastrophe, threatening to give way.
Emerging from the immediate danger zone, Sunny finds himself on the precipice of an infinite, terrifying abyss. The chilling realization dawns that his perilous journey has only just begun, with no clear path back from the boundless darkness of the Sky Below. He’s left with a stark, undeniable truth: escape is impossible without the means to fly, a capability he currently lacks.
Chapter 432 First Day of Nothing
Plummeting into the vast emptiness of the Sky Below, Sunny finds himself adrift in a boundless, cold darkness, with only the shimmering, pale light of distant false stars offering scant illumination. Still clinging to the treasure chest, he acknowledges the exponential increase in his falling speed, though the wisps of cold wind are the only sensation felt. Thankfully, he has managed to regain some shadow essence, enough to summon the Puppeteer’s Shroud, thus escaping the embarrassing nakedness of his earlier descent. His Dark Wing cloak, however, strains under the dead weight of the chest, and he calculates that reaching the Tear’s middle will take roughly a day, a timeframe he cannot reliably measure.
Sunny assesses his physical condition, noting minor internal damage from the Crushing and the lingering hurt from the battle with Mimic. His broken arm remains a significant issue, and while the mental onslaught from the Strings of Fate has faded, leaving only a fragment of the golden thread leading into the Tear, his mind seems to have conveniently erased the worst of the trauma. Acknowledging his lack of heroic beard-growing abilities, he sighs, accepting his current predicament. “Great. Now what?” he murmurs to the silent void, the question hanging unanswered.
Deciding that waiting for an opportune moment is futile, Sunny summons the Covetous Coffer, a miniature, iron-toothed box that scurries towards him on short legs. He transfers his pack’s contents into the surprisingly capacious Coffer, deeming it “Perfect” as it effortlessly swallows his supplies, a small comfort in the overwhelming emptiness.
Chapter 433 More of the Same Nothing
Sunny awakens not in his familiar room but to the unnerving sensation of falling. He finds himself still adrift in the abyssal darkness of the Sky Below, perched atop the corpse of a Fallen Devil, the same boundless void and distant false stars his only companions. Despite the precarious situation, he feels remarkably refreshed, aches and mental trauma having significantly subsided after a long sleep, estimating he slept for roughly twelve hours. His current predicament, however, remains unchanged: an endless descent, the treasure chest a heavy burden, and the golden thread of fate a distant, uncertain guide, hinting at a journey that could take another week or longer.
He drinks from the Endless Spring, the cool water a small comfort against the pervasive emptiness. Mentally, Sunny acknowledges the sheer audacity of his current resting place, a rather morbid joke on the defeated Fallen Devil. He muses on his situation, recognizing the lack of any progress or discernible change since his last conscious moment. His thoughts drift to the real world, to his luxurious sleeping pod that safely houses his physical form, and to Kai and Effie. He realizes they likely wouldn’t miss him, accustomed as they are to his prolonged absences in the Dream Realm, now busy with their own celebrated lives.
The sheer monotony of the void presses in, offering no new challenges or distractions. Sunny, despite his improved state, is still trapped in an unchanging descent. The silence of the abyss offers no answers to his unspoken question, “Great. Now what?”, leaving him to contemplate the vast emptiness and the long, arduous journey ahead.
Chapter 434 A Lot of Nothing
Sunny, still adrift in the Sky Below atop the fallen devil, begins to gather his spoils. He uses the Covetous Coffer to extract nearly fourteen hundred golden coins from the devil’s remains, a significant haul that momentarily makes his ordeal worthwhile. However, his relief is short-lived as he discovers the chest beneath the treasure is filled with the Mimic’s gruesome remains, soaked in foul-smelling blood. Despite the revolting sight, he manages to retrieve four large soul shards using the Moonlight Shard, adding them to his collection before sealing the chest, aware his provisions are dwindling.
With his immediate tasks complete, a crushing boredom sets in as Sunny realizes he has “nothing else left to do.” He attempts to alleviate the monotony by using the Cruel Sight’s [Light Eater] enchantment to project light into the oppressive darkness, revealing the positions of his two shadows. He tries to frame the endless descent as a “vacation,” a chance to “rest and laze about,” but his cheerful facade falters as he questions his sanity and engages in a one-sided conversation with his silent, unhelpful shadows.
The chapter emphasizes Sunny’s isolation and the sheer inactivity of his situation. He dismisses his shadows in frustration, proclaiming, “I am not going to go crazy!” His attempts to maintain morale and find purpose in the void are met with an unsettling lack of progress, leaving him to face the daunting prospect of enduring “weeks of this crap.”
Chapter 435 Listening to Nothing
Sunny’s suffocating boredom in the Sky Below is shattered by an unexpected, disembodied voice. Initially fearing he’s lost his mind or summoned a monstrous entity, Sunny cautiously probes the source, only to discover it belongs to another being stranded in the void. This unseen interlocutor reveals himself as “one of the Lost,” a soul whose body perished in the waking world, leaving him to persist within the Dream Realm. The stranger’s claim that he is “lost” transcends mere physical disorientation, hinting at a deeper, existential state.
The unsettling encounter is amplified by the voice’s ability to appear as if it’s “everywhere… around him,” a stark contrast to Sunny’s physical isolation. He grapples with the implications, remembering the rare instances of the Lost he’d heard of, beings whose souls clung to existence in the Dream Realm after their bodies’ demise. Yet, even with this potential explanation, Sunny remains wary, questioning the stranger’s true nature and how such a conversation is even possible, knowing the Lost are typically confined to their Dream Realm existence without the ability to interact.
The interaction shifts from Sunny’s internal struggle with monotony to a new, unnerving external presence. He learns the voice belongs to someone who “used to be a human once, I guess,” a revelation that deepens the mystery and fear. The stranger’s admission, “I haven’t spoken to anyone in a long, long time,” underscores the profound isolation he, like Sunny, endures, even as his presence brings an unwelcome and potentially dangerous disruption to Sunny’s grim solitude.
