Chapter 1339 Moving On

Chapter 1339 Moving On

The Chain Breaker was steadily advancing down the Great River. The gale Nephis could summon by uttering its name was not powerful enough to push the ship as fast as it had pushed the ketch, but to their luck, the winds were blowing in the same direction.

Carried both by their power and the current of time, the graceful vessel rushed forward at great speed.

All around them, there was nothing but sunlight and sparkling water. The vast expanse of the Great River was beautiful and exhilarating... of course, great horrors were hiding behind the deceptive facade of its beauty.

But nothing had attacked them yet.

...Life went on.

Sitting in the shade of the sacred tree, Sunny felt strangely indignant about that fact.

He had been constantly busy during the week they spent patching up the battered ship, which was a mercy. Now that there was really nothing for him to do, Sunny found himself feeling numb and hollow. His lightless soul seemed even darker than usual these days.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the calming sound of the rustling leaves.

'Just... how much can a person endure?'

He was tired of loss.

He was also tired of losing.

'Sometimes it feels like I was better off not caring about anyone except myself. Those were the days, weren't they?'

As he smiled crookedly, a familiar voice suddenly resounded from above:VIsit n0(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

"Do you mean the days of being a frightened, pathetic, miserable little wretch that not a single person in the world cared about, in turn? Well... I suppose it's indeed the best you deserve. That's how you'll end up anyway, eventually."

Opening his eyes, Sunny looked up with a dark expression.

The Sin of Solace was standing above him as if nothing had happened. The loathsome wraith looked like he always had... exactly like Sunny. The bastard was even wearing a perfect copy of Ananke's mantle. His face was full of cold contempt.

Sunny scoffed.

"Wow. Look who decided to show up. I thought you chose to crawl back into whatever pit that had spawned you and never come back. Where the hell have you been?"

The apparition smirked.

The apparition grinned.

Without saying anything, he lingered for a while, then looked down and touched the sleeve of Ananke's dark mantle.

"By the way, what a wonderful mantle. You should really get more people killed and collect a piece of clothing from each one. Then, we'll be able to add an apparel section to the Brilliant Emporium. Ah! Shame you didn't think of that in Antarctica..."

Sunny growled and swiped at the grinning apparition, but he was already gone. The sword wraith had disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared.

'That bastard!'

Gritting his teeth, Sunny leaned back and stared at the swaying branches of the sacred tree. He was full of dark anger.

But...

The appearance of the Sin of Solace had distracted him from his melancholy, at least. Until those last words plunged him right back into dejection.

He sighed.

'I'll learn the truth eventually...'

For now...

He had felt better when he was busy, so the best solution for this dark mood would be to make himself busy once again.

Controlling the sails did not take much of his attention, so Sunny had to do something else.

Luckily, there was a lot for him to do.

He had to continue studying the Estuary Key. He also had to weave a lot of Memories to help Nightmare Ascend, as well as come up with ways to make the members of the cohort stronger.

'Let's get to it, then. There is a week or two left before we reach Fallen Grace. I can achieve a lot in two weeks...'

Abandoning the shade of the sacred tree, Sunny went to the bow of the Chain Breaker, where Ananke's ketch was fastened to the deck. He and Nephis had retrieved it from the water before setting sail, planning to use the ketch as a lifeboat if the need arose.

Summoning the Shadow Chair, he placed it near the battered sailboat, sat down, and looked at the glistening expanse of the Great River.

Then, Sunny sighed and contemplated what task he would tackle first.