NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21: Duality
Once they had reached Iron Hand island, Sunny and Seele rested with their backs against a rock. He wanted to make some preparations before they got to their destination. He sent out the Happy Shadow to scout out the next island, as he didn't want to be surprised by some sort of apex predator.
Sunny tossed the Endless Spring over to Seele, who awkwardly caught it as she stared at the Memory in curiosity.
"It holds an infinite amount of water. Drink as much as you want."
"…Really?"
Instead of drinking out of the Memory, she flipped it so that the mouthpiece of the flask faced the floor. Water kept pouring onto the ground… and didn't stop. After a few seconds, a puddle started to form.
Glancing between the amazingly useful Memory and the ever-expanding puddle, Sunny sighed.
"I know… it's the greatest thing you've ever seen. It could probably be used to save millions from dehydration."
Seele looked at the Endless Spring with a strange smile on her face.
"You wouldn't mind if I took this with me, right? You know… to save millions from dehydration."
Sunny immediately shut her down.
"Screw the millions! If you don't want to drink any for yourself, then I'll just take it back."
Seele immediately took a large swig of the bottle, chugging down enormous amounts of water with large gulps. Once she was done, she wiped her mouth before handing it back to Sunny.
The treacherous shadow took a quick sip himself before dismissing the Memory. Sunny paused as Seele sent him a nasty look.
"…What?"
She shook her head with a disgusted expression upon her face. Sunny just shrugged at her response, seeing that he wasn't going to be getting any answers out of her.
***
'Can't he at least clean it before drinking out of it?'
[…I don't see the issue.]
Seele scowled at her other half. Sanitation was really important!
She had seen quite a lot of people die from unknown diseases in the Underworld. Most of them were contracted by simple things like drinking out of a cup previously used by another. Nat would probably nag at her if she learned about this…
[Hmph. Why should you worry about those pesky diseases? With your current body, I doubt that they could effect you.]
…She brought up a pretty good point.
[And he is much stronger than you, so it's impossible for him to get infected by anything.]
Seele's eye twitched. She didn't necessarily disagree, but it was still pretty rude to say something like that.
She sneakily glanced at Sunless, who had his eyes closed for whatever reason. She would usually be able to see another's soul core whenever she looked at them, but he seemed to be the exception.
Instead, she saw two orbs of darkness within his shadow. She caught sight of one of his shadows moving away, carrying another orb with it. She wondered if he was in a similar situation to herself, in which her own soul wasn't very orthodox.
At the same time, she had two souls in a single body, so there might have been a similar circumstance for him.
"Hey… Sunless?"
He opened his eyes, revealing them to be completely enshrouded in darkness. Did his eyes change whenever he used his Aspect?
"Just call me Sunny. What is it?"
[Don't ask him why he has multiple cores. Only ask if it is possible to have multiple.]
'Huh? Why though?'
Even though Seele couldn't see her other self, she could practically feel the sneer on her face.
[Were you not listening to him earlier? Don't pry into other people's secrets.]
Seele raised a brow, causing Sunny to have a look of confusion on his face.
'That's rich, coming from you. You're only saying that because he's your favorite!'
[Sh—shut up! I won't help you anymore! You could die for all I care!]
She went silent, most likely sulking in her soul sea. Seele mentally scoffed at how ridiculous her Flaw was.
"Uh… weren't you just calling my name?
Remembering that she was supposed to be asking Sunny a question, she asked:
"…How does someone get more soul cores?"
He didn't say anything for a second, seemingly thinking about something.
"…You can't be a human. The moment another core forms in your soul, you would be a Monster."
***
Sunny thinks that he answered the question pretty well without exposing anything. His words held truth to them. Sunny wasn't really a human, but rather, a divine shadow. AR-26710 was a fairy, and as such, the two of them weren't really humans.
By using the class "Monster" and the normal variant of the word as a way to make her believe that only Nightmare Creatures can have multiple soul cores, he wouldn't have to worry about his special qualities getting leaked.
For some reason, Seele's eyes widened. He didn't think that it was that surprising for a normal human to have a single soul core.
Sunny brushed it off as he stood up, patting down the Puppeteer's Shroud from any dirt. He paused for a second, before turning to Seele.
"Can you turn around for a second?"
She seemed a bit confused, but she looked away without any complaints. Once she did, Sunny dismissed the Puppeteer's Shroud, before immediately summoning the Mantle of the Underworld.
The reason for this was that the Happy shadow caught sight of some horrific abominations. Considering how strong they were bound to be, it only made sense for Sunny to put on his best armor Memory.
Sunny tapped Seele's shoulder, allowing him to notify her that he was done while also being able to check the strength of her Memories.
…A sour expression almost appeared on his face. How could the world be so unfair?
Why did everyone around him have Transcendent garment Memories!
Sunny realized that connections were much more important than he had thought. No matter how many Nightmare Creatures you kill, an Awakened couldn't casually get Transcendent Memories on their own.
Although Sunny was curious about who could have possibly gotten these Memories, he doubted he'd know who it was.
Seele blinked at the Mantle of the Underworld, realizing that he had practically changed right behind her.
"…Couldn't you have done that somewhere else?"
Sunny shook his head.
"No point in wasting time. Let's go."
***
Seele followed Sunny as they walked on the massive chain leading to the island that would supposedly lead to a flower field. If he was telling the truth, then they would probably find some horrific enemies…
'Seriously, is it really worth it?'
[Of course it is!]
'…So now you want to talk.'
Seele agreed that treading even the most dangerous jungle in the world wouldn't be too tall a task in order to see a flower field. However, that only applied to herself. Why did Sunny go through such lengths in order to help her? He could have simply told her where the island was, and hope that she didn't get lost.
[Hm… maybe… hehe.]
Her Flaw giggled in her mind, seemingly having found something funny.
'…Alright, spit it out. What is it?'
[…I don't think I should tell you. You probably wouldn't be able to understand anyways.]
Seele grit her teeth at her Flaw's words.
'What is that supposed to mean?'
[If you want to know, why don't you look through some of Natasha's romance novels. They might be boring, but you need all the help you can get.]
Seele… had no idea what her other self was talking about.
[Forget it. More for me…]
Seele was slightly disturbed by her Flaw right now, which had never happened before. Her more… unhinged version of herself never seemed to pose a threat to her, but now, she was a bit worried.
'What are you doing reading those crappy books?!'
Was she trying to corrupt Seele's mind? She didn't want to know about anything a Christmas cake would read… not that she knew what a Christmas was.
'Perverts, the lot of them!'
Before Awakening, the connection between the to was… shoddy at best. They weren't able to communicate with each other like they did now, and they couldn't clearly see through the other's perspective. They also hadn't shared memories, so there were numerous gaps.
Because of that, Seele wouldn't have known what her other self had been doing in the past few months. Fortunately, she only ever fought against Fragmentum, which was quite useful for protecting the Underworld. Thanks to this, Seele was able to deduce that her Flaw wasn't very sinister, despite having never met her.
Just a little crazy.
Using external means, Seele had been able to communicate a way to share her body equally. They used a day by day schedule, in which her other half would also be called out when the Underworld needed help.
Anyways, until Seele had Awakened, they hadn't even known each other's names. Of course, her Flaw never had a name in the first place.
Naturally, this meant that Seele had almost no idea what her other self was doing when she was in control. She had known that she would spend large amounts of time at Nat's clinic, but she was never told what exactly she had been doing there.
It turned out that her Flaw was actually just a pervert!
[I'm not a pervert! You're just mad that you will die alone, and I won't!]
'We share the same body, you retard!'
[That's a strong word from somebody who was abandoned by her parents and thrown into an orphanage!]
'…Kill yourself.'
[You first.]
Seele sighed. Her Flaw was definitely going to be the death of her someday.
The thought was strangely ironic, considering her Aspect.
***
Was it too late to opt out?
Sunny stared at the sight before him, wondering if it was really worth it.
The jungle loomed like a living nightmare, its dense canopy a suffocating cloak that seemed to swallow the sunlight whole. Thick vines, twisted and thick as serpents, hung down from the trees, their surfaces slick with moisture. The air was heavy with the sharp, earthy scent of rotting vegetation, the underbrush thick with a tangle of thorns and creeping moss that clung to every surface. The oppressive heat clung to Sunny's skin, making each breath feel as though it had to be ripped from his lungs.
But it wasn't the suffocating humidity or the endless maze of towering trees that made this jungle truly terrifying. It was the Nightmare Creatures. Abominable things that roamed its shadowed depths, horrors born of nightmare and myth. Their eyes glowed like coals in the dark, set deep in faces that were not quite human, not quite animal. They moved in unnatural silence, too fast, too quiet for the mind to comprehend. Sometimes, all that could be heard was the eerie scraping of claws against bark or the faint, guttural growl that rumbled through the underbrush.
The ground was alive with movement—swarming, shifting shapes that seemed to slither in the corners of his vision. There were the enormous, lumbering beasts that only half resembled anything known to man or animal, with matted fur and twisted limbs, their mouths filled with rows of jagged, crooked teeth. The air itself buzzed with the venomous hiss of unseen predators, the ones that hunted by scent and sound, too swift to be seen before they struck.
The jungle was alive, but it was not with life as humans knew it. It was a place where nature had gone mad, where the creatures that slunk through the shadows had evolved in ways that defied logic, their very existence a threat to any who dared trespass. And yet, within this malevolent wilderness, there was a terrible kind of beauty—a beauty born of raw violence, a delicate, dark ecosystem of terror. No one ventured here without reason, for the jungle did not forgive.
And this was what the two of them had to face if they wanted to reach the field of flowers.
'…Better chances than against a Saint.'
Sunny believed that his chances against these creatures of corruption was much better than they would be against the stoic powerful Saint of the Chained Isles. Dealing with monsters was much easier than going up against an intelligent human with four different Aspect Abilities, and much more experience than Sunny himself.
Sunny scowled slightly before looking at Seele. The girl had summoned an amethyst scythe that sent chills down Sunny's spine. It was fearsome, and must have been imbued by some insidious enchantments.
He knew that Seele was strong, as he had seen her kill a Fallen Demon with her bare hands — as a mere Sleeper, no less. Now that she was an Awakened, and was properly armed with a weapon, they might be able to match whatever was within this forest.
However, that did not mean that they should let their guard down. They were standing in a small clearing, which the creatures in the jungle seemed hesitant to enter. Sunny could feel countless shadows moving throughout this deadly jungle, and knew that they all had the ability to kill the two of them.
'…Guess we just have to kill them first.'