Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Chapter 569: Ghostbusters (XXII)

"Oh, Saint, the woman you are— ow!"

Sunny received a staggering finger flick to the forehead. He pouted:

"Won’t you at least say you missed your adorable master? Huh? Where are you looking?!"

Sunny’s newly evolved Ascended Devil turned away, as if embarrassed by his behavior. He huffed, before looking the flawless creation from the top of her helmet to the tips of her boots.

A lot of craning was asked of his neck. Because damn!

Saint, now towering above Sunny, was obscured by beautiful onyx armor. Her stone body was slender and graceful, but at over two meters tall, Saint seemed imposing. Her oppressive presence was worthy of a Devil.

The black armor itself had changed — changed was an understatement, because by the Nightmare Spell it morphed into something unrecognizable!

It had always been a product of magnificent craftsmanship and seemed even more superb and menacing now. The carefully carved stone seemed submerged in darker hues, so deep in fact that it was like they were dipped into the deepest pits of shadow and Darkness.

Oh, but Saint was not all dark and gloom, no. Because she shined.

Gold.

Molten aureate cracks split her armor, shining with the same hue as Divine ichor as they flowed like holy rivers across the lightless depths of her onyx carapace. They branched out from her chest — her heart — spreading across her torso and diluting as they reached the tips of her gauntlets and sabatons. At the center of her chest, a pulsing silhouette lingered under the golden cracks, spewing veins of shadow — no, Darkness across her being.

It was as if her tenebrous armor was a seal, one that had been broken by Destruction and reforged with gold.

Because that was what it was. What the rivers of molten gold implied.

Destruction.

Saint’s skin, which had been grey like a stone before, then white as alabaster, was now smooth and black as polished onyx. Her ruby jewels burned with ominous crimson flames, but deep within them was a hint of gilded light.

Her familiar stone sword was whole once again — having been destroyed against the War Maidens in the Temple of the Chalice — formed from flowing Darkness, it appeared utterly black, with a feeling of dark, nebulous power radiating from its stygian blade. And that was in her left hand.

Because in her other, it seemed that she had completely forsaken her shield.

In its place, a greatsword forged from blinding Destruction crackled, as if wishing to be drawn, wishing to be used, wishing to slay the arrogance within the hearts of humans and purify the Corruption within the souls of Nightmare Creatures. Golden, as it was, greatly contrasted her blade of Darkness with its aureate radiance.

Two swords. One from the boundless Dark. The other from the spreading Destruction.

With her mixed crimson-gold gaze, Saint eyed Sunny curiously for a moment, her weapons disappearing in a flash of light and Darkness as they were absorbed into her armor. Then, she reached out towards him — afraid he was going to get flicked again for leering at a woman, he covered his forehead...

Only for Saint to poke his cheek, applying more pressure until it hardened under the Marble Shell’s gift.

There was a satisfied glimmer beneath her visor as she nodded at him in approval.

’...Oh.’

Now that he thought about it, the Marble Shell was very similar to Saint’s armor, going as far as to share similar if not the same traits. The first time she saw it was back in Belobog, but there wasn’t enough time for her to properly pay attention. Now, within the safety of his room, it seemed she showed a sense of appreciation for their shared armor.

Sunny smiled.

"Your armor looks really cool too, Saint!"

The taciturn Devil did not respond — she did not need to, and she simply refused to. However, Sunny did notice the way the chin of her helmet rose somwwhat.

As shimmering runes entered his vision, he excitedly checked the changes to his Shadow.

Shadow: [Onyx Saint, Black Halo of Ruin].

’Onyx, huh? And... Black Halo of Ruin?’

It seemed that her metamorphosis was so great and profound that the Nightmare Spell saw it fit to expand her name. As for the new Onyx adjective... it made him wonder if, when Sunny became a Saint, his Marble Shell would become the Onyx Shell?

Shadow Rank: Ascended.

Shadow Class: Devil.

He didn’t need to really check, but it was good to know that he was right about Saint becoming a Devil. Using the special vision granted to him by Weaver’s blood, he glimpsed beneath her surface.

Four black nodes of radiant Darkness hung within the abyssal expanse of her soul. Each one of them shone with the faint light of Divinity, and somewhere deep within that abyss, Sunny saw a spark. The spark of the primordial anger that threatens to Destroy the Universe.

One that he was supposedly [Fated] to face, if Kafka and Elio were to be believed. How did they expect him to face an Aeon, anyways?

Sunny shook his head, continuing.

Shadow Attributed: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Ember of Divinity], [Abyssal Ruin], [Heart of Darkness].

[Ember of Divinity] Attribute Description: "Deep within your soul, an ember of divinity shines, almost ready to erupt into a radiant flame."

Saint’s [Spark of Divinity] grew into an ember. AR-26710 had the [Flame of Divinity], while Sunny had the [Essence of Divinity]. He didn’t know if there was any boons for having Divinity at all, beyond certain circumstances as well as the heightened quality of his own Shadow Essence, but he wouldn’t say no to more of it.

Was there a level beyond [Essence of Divinity]? He did not know.

In any case, it was the other true Attributes that caught his attention, one of them replacing [Destined Destroyer].

[Abyssal Ruin] Attribute Description: "Once, a treacherous shadow stole the Authority of Ruin, planting its seed into his most trustworthy accomplice. That seed has bloomed into a beautiful flower within her lightless soul — and as the prideful Prince of the Underworld once proclaimed, all that is beautiful has not one, not two, but seven blades pointed to those foolish enough to become entranced. Of course, this Shadow does not need seven blades, nor does she need to be entrancing. All the Shadow Saint needs is a foe to point her sword, and Ruin will follow."

’I wonder who this treacherous guy could be...?’

Sunny snorted, but his gaze was enchanted by the runes within his vision. If [Destined Destroyer] was a promise that Saint’s evolution would diverge onto the Path of Destruction, then, then [Abyssal Ruin] was the realization of that promise. What else could explain the changes to Saint’s armor, as well as the golden great blade she had been carrying before?

There was another Attribute, however.

[Heart of Darkness] Attribute Description: "A vestige of an ancient darkness dwells in this Shadow’s heart, granting her tenebrous powers."

...The description was much shorter. He got the gist of it, at least, but he did hope for some exposition like in the other Attribute. It seemed that Nether was not a fan of hot women, and felt threatened by their seduction.

Then again, Sunny did get his heart ripped out by a gorgeous Saint. Twice, actually.

At this point, Sunny basically expected any female Saint to try that stunt on him.

Shadow Abilities: [Weapon Sage], [Underworld Armament], [Ruin’s Halo], [Mantle of Darkness], [Blade of Darkness].

Three! Three new Abilities! He had expected a single one when she became a Devil, but this was a pleasant surprise.

[Ruin’s Halo] Attribute Description: "This Shadow has consumed The Blemished One’s Light with True Darkness, carving it from the Aeonic Paths and transforming it into an elemental affinity. The Shadow Saint’s Light was tamed by her Dark, and so, it can do what her Darknesss can, as well."

Before considering what exactly the Attribute implied, he appreciated certain statements and explanations. The Blemished One was an interesting way to refer to Nanook, likely referring to the scar of golden ichor etched into THEIR avatar’s chest. It should be known that nobody knew what an Aeon looked like, and it was believed that gazing at THEM would result in madness, and only madness.

The depictions of Aeons were based on THEIR avatars, specific forms that the human mind can comprehend. Whether that was a defense mechanism of the human mind or if it was mercy from the Aeons THEMSELVES was unknown, but it was likely the latter.

...Or rather, Aeons simply could not interact with the world in THEIR full capacity. THEY couldn’t even touch the Dream Realm, according to common information, and THEIR presence in the Waking World may have been so limited that THEY had no choice but to use THEIR avatars.

Something Sunny found interesting was that the runes described Saint as having torn a part of Destruction from Path Space, the imaginary realm that Sunny once entered when he first grabbed the Lance of Preservation. All Paths operated in Path Space, running parallel to the real world.

Saint did not merely wield Destruction, however. She converted it from a Path into an elemental affinity. Frankly, he didn’t even know that was possible... furthermore, ’Light’ was a rune that could be translated into ’Ruin,’ and of course, ’Destruction.’

He wondered if Saint was so special that she was able to weaponize a Path for herself, or if anyone could do so under the right conditions. For now, he decided to assume that she really was that amazing.

Sunny had his guesses on what the Ability actually did, but decided to continue reading.

[Mantle of Darkness] Attribute Description: "Darkness embraces this Shadow. When surrounded by darkness, and True Darkness more so, her swiftness and might will increase. Her wounds will be healed, and her heart will grow fuller."

A conditional augmentation, then. One that gives her hastened recovery, at that, both of flesh and Essence, assuming that ’heart’ referred to her infantile Shadow Cores. Overall, a very powerful Ability, and one that gives him a proper way to deal with beings who wield True Darkness.

Next was an Ability that followed the same naming scheme.

[Blade of Darkness] Attribute Description: "The True Darkness dwelling in this Shadow’s heart can be summoned in the form of a fearsome weapon, as long as the Shadow has mastered the use of that weapon. The Blade of Darkness can slay those of flesh and those of spirit; it never dulls, never falters, and never breaks. Alternatively, the Darkness can be summoned to augment a mundane weapon."

...In other words, Saint had access to a weapon that can take any shape or form. It can strike intangible foes, and it was literally unbreakable. If that wasn’t enough, the fact that she could now directly augment a weapon Memory was simply the cherry on top... whatever that meant.

And, as Sunny suspected, the true function of [Ruin’s Halo] was a simple one. It gave Saint the opposite power of both [Mantle of Darkness] and [Blade of Darkness], using Destruction instead of True Darkness. If she could make a weapon of Darkness, she could make a weapon of Light. If Darkness strengthened her, Destruction would do the same.

How those Abilities worked in tandem was something he was unsure of, but there was one thing he learned.

Earlier, when Saint was carrying the aureate greatsword of Light, the shadows of Sunny’s room did not part. The wisps of True Darkness did not consume the surrounding shadows, either. In fact, the Light would have been unnoticeable if it wasn’t for Sunny’s power to see through shadows. It was as if all three elements managed to coexist as long as they were under Saint’s authority...

Shadow, True Darkness, and Light... True Light. A triple affinity born from Onyx Saint, Black Halo of Ruin. A legendary balance born from ancient forces and revolutionary creations.

It was funny, really. Sunny’s own Destruction powers chased away the shadows without remorse. What kind of Divine Shadow was he?

Sunny crookedly smiled:

"You’re really scary, Saint."

How did she respond? Well, she gazed at him for a moment...

Then proudly slammed her fist against her chest.