'Another day, another wretched soul for my collection!'
A week after checking out the area the Night Temple used to be, Sunny was sneaking through the shadows of Kravax. He had checked the apartment complex he used to recieve any messages from Constance, and it looked like another sorry fellow got caught in her grasp. After a quick beheading — he dragged out the fight a little for the viewers — he went back to the apartment complex to feed Ghastly Hunger.
Throwing the corpse — and the detached head — in the same spot he had devoured Kurt's soul, Sunny activated Ghastly Hunger. Immediately, a maw filled with rows of jagged teeth, along with a crimson, bloodthirsty eye appeared. A moment later, an intangible, transparent image of the man he killed floated above the corpse.
Without any input from Sunny himself, Ghastly Hunger seemed to bloat and inflate to an illogical size as it tried to consume the soul in a single bite. The soul itself seemed to be struggling, but with a quick inhale, Ghastly Hunger fully swallowed it's meal.
Unlike last time, the soul wasn't rapidly dissolving into nothingness. Sunny figured that it had to do with how Saint had eaten Kurt's shadow. The shadow of the lunatic he had just killed still remained in his Soul Sea.
Actually, this caused Sunny to frown as he began to ponder the mechanics of souls and shadows. Common knowledge said that souls were destroyed immediately upon death. This was information gleaned from Nightmares, remnants in the Dream Realm, and even Awakened who had Aspects related to the soul.
However, Shadow God had supposedly created death. That meant that shadows had to be involved with death, which also meant they were indirectly involved with souls. Suddenly, Sunny regretted not looking into the souls of the creatures he killed.
Whatever he killed had it's shadow added to his Soul Sea. The destruction of one of those shadows seemed to mean the rapid disintegration of that being's soul. But shouldn't the soul already be destroyed at the moment of death? At that point, Ghastly Hunger would have no uses.
Sunny sighed. He reminded himself to use the enhanced ability of Blood Weave to check the next time he killed something.
***
Ice cream sandwiches.
Some may call them blasphemous bastards of ice cream and sandwiches. Others call them innovative masterpieces.
Sunny? He considered them to be divine blessings.
He walked into the parlor car with all the grace of a man who'd never learned how doors worked. The automatic panel slid open with a soft hiss. Sunny kicked something imaginary on the floor just to assert dominance.
The room was dim — not dark, but the lights were lower than usual, like someone had decided this car was now a meditation chamber or possibly a funeral home. It smelled faintly of tea and burned electronics.
On the far couch sat Dan Heng, posture sharp and still, eyes fixed on the glowing screen mounted on the wall.
Sunny didn't notice at first. He was too busy trying to catch the melting edge of the sandwich before it slithered down his wrist.
"Ugh. Why is the cookie always too hard but the ice cream is already soup?"
He started licking the corner as ge tried to stop the dam from breaking.
The glow from the holoscreen lit up the otherwise dim room, casting pale blue light across the couches and floor. The soft hum of the Express was the only real background noise — until Sunny heard the crack of bone.
Onscreen, a masked figure slammed a glaive into an opponent's chest. The crowd roared, distorted slightly by the feed's compression.
Dan Heng sat on the couch, posture rigid, eyes locked on the screen.
Sunny froze in the doorway.
Onyx armor, a ferocious demonic mask… yeah, that was him alright.
He took a bite of his sandwich.
Dan Heng turned just slightly at the sound.
"You're up early."
Sunny replied with a mouthful of ice cream:
"I'm always up early."
Dan Heng didn't reply. His eyes flicked back to the screen, where Mongrel kicked a man so hard he flew across the forest, into a tree, and bounced.
Sunny pursed his lips.
'Now that I'm seeing it from the outside, was I always so damn strong?'
"I wasn't aware you were into masked madmen."
Sunny casually circled around and plopped into the seat beside him.
"Research. Mongrel's name comes up in too many reports to ignore."
Sunny slouched deeper into the couch, chewing slowly.
"Are you saying he's the real deal?"
Dan Heng nodded, his eyes not leaving the screen.
"He's efficient. Too efficient. Nobody knows where he comes from or how someone could be so specialized in murder. Even Saints have fallen to his blade."
Sunny sputtered. He was lucky that there wasn't any ice cream in his mouth.
Dan Heng raised a brow as he turned to Sunny.
"Is something wrong?"
Sunny innocently tried to look surprised — it wasn't that hard, considering that he really was shocked.
"Oh, it's just… that's the first time I've heard of this."
It probably made him sound ignorant, considering the death of a Saint was an event with drastic implications. If one died, most people would know.
Dan Heng shook his head.
"It's just rumors, but it's probably true. According to witnesses, Mongrel had assassinated a Saint of the Jepella Brotherhood. The information came directly from captured members of the organization."
Suddenly, the things Morgan had been saying during their fight started to make sense.
"Wow. What a jerk. Didn't even give the poor little Transcendent a warning?"
Sunny muttered, watching himself flip a spear behind his back and impale a charging brute without looking.
"Damn, he's cool. Anyways, I'll believe it when I see it…"
The next moment, Dan Heng switched to the fight against Morgan, causing Sunny to trail off.
"It was only a single blow, but imagine if that weapon was Transcendent. With no armor in the way, it would have cut right through."
Sunny stared at the way he weaved into swing, Serpent bouncing off of Morgan's skin before she snapped his neck. He scoffed.
"So what? First, he steals my armor, now he's killing Saints? Been there, done that."
Dan Heng wore a contemplative look.
"…It does look identical. It must be a common Memory."
Sometimes, a person could get multiple of the same Memory if they kill the same Nightmare Creature. It was the reason why both Sunny and Sparkle had the Dark Wing.
Dan Heng sighed.
"It's only a matter of time before someone tracks him down."
Sunny nodded, licking the edge of his sandwich to catch a melting drip.
"Hope they're cute."
Dan Heng frowned slightly at that, but said nothing.
Onscreen, Mongrel strangled the Awakened that could transform into a beast. His head twisted with a sickening snap. The crowd screamed.
Sunny tilted his head.
"You know, I've heard way more about this guy than any other Stellaron Hunter. What's up with that?"
Dan Heng shrugged.
"He's the only one who's a complete unknown. For the rest, their worlds of origin are known. Punklorde, Pteruges-V, Glamoth… and the Xianzhou. Nobody knows who or what he is, and that both makes people interested, and scares them."
'Yeah. Im officially the coolest.'
Sunny bit into the last of his sandwich and mumbled through the cold:
"Anyway, if you ever meet him, tell him that I have a lot to say."
Dan Heng didn't answer.
A few moments later, his eyes widened.
"Wait, what do you mean 'been there, done that?'"
Unfortunately, Sunny was already gone.