Cassie stood in front of Ki Song, her body no longer under her control since the queen's blood flowed through her veins.
The flood of information entering her mind brought on a headache, but she forced herself to keep listening.
Cassie felt her anger rise. They had tried to kill an innocent girl simply because she might become a threat in the future? The thought filled her with utter disgust.
Cassie smiled darkly.
"...You have my sympathy. How inconvenient."
Ki Song shrugged.
"Why, thank you. It really was. However, young Nephis was really the least of our concerns. Because, as you can imagine, the mutual responsibility between us three did not last long."
Cassie inhaled deeply.
"Was there something particular that caused you to grow openly hostile to each other?"
The Queen remained silent for a bit, then smiled wryly.
"Yes? No? It was a gradual process. At first, we were busy establishing our Domains, subjugating neighboring regions of the Dream Realm, and stabilizing our territories. But once we reached the ceiling of what we could achieve without encroaching on each other's lands, things turned much more tenuous between us. Both Anvil and I wanted to swallow the Stormsea, but neither could move without provoking the other. The Dreamspawn, meanwhile, was growing stranger with each year. The tension continued to build, until one day... we saw a chance."
Cassie raised an eyebrow.
"What chance?"
One of the youths chuckled.
"The chance to get rid of the Dreamspawn, of course. That guy, you see, aimed his attention at the moon."
Cassie blinked.
"The... moon?"
The Queen nodded.
"Yes, the moon. Earth's moon, to be precise — Luna. Well, not the moon itself, of course... rather, what is hidden on the moon."
'Huh...'
Cassie tried to suppress her curiosity, but failed.
"...And what, exactly, is hidden on the moon?"
The dead girl laughed melodiously.
Ki Song smiled.
Cassie's eyes widened as she listened to Ki Song. What was hidden on the moon was possibly a Category Six Nightmare Gate—a gate that, if conquered, would grant one the power of a god. There was also another possibility: the gate might be the Seed of the Nightmare Spell, the source of its invasion into their reality.
Cassie exhaled slowly.
'The world still holds so many mysteries...'
Ki Song remained silent for a little while, then sighed.
"In any case... the Dreamspawn grew intrigued by the moon, and so, he endeavored to visit it. And using the chance, Anvil and I made sure that he never returned. We massacred his followers and erased his name from the network, from the culture, from the annals of history, forbade the government to ever mention him again, and killed everyone who had ever met him face-to-face — well, most of them, at least."
A wicked smile twisted her alluring lips.
"There were no Citadels under his control, and we had hidden our existence — the existence of the Sovereigns — from the very beginning to limit the spread of his fame, and therefore of his Domain... even if it forced all three of us into the shadows. So, his Domain crumbled in an instant, and he was stranded on the moon, his power severely diminished. We had hoped that he would die there, but of course, we weren't that lucky. That fiend still draws breath out there, in the coldness of space, looking at us from above. He can even exert his influence somewhat, sometimes, albeit not too much of it."
Cassie frowned. What Ki Song was saying was obviously wrong... because on that day, the Dreamspawn had entered the Dream Realm and fought alongside Anvil and Ki Song against the Underworld.
Cassie's eyes widened as she finally understood why the Sovereigns seemed so eager to kill one another.
She had thought it might be because of the Underworld, but now she knew. It was because of Asterion!
"You said that you and Anvil imprisoned him on the moon with no way to enter the Dream Realm, but that was obviously wrong..."
Ki Song remained silent for a while, then took a deep breath.
"Both Anvil and I thought the fiend had no way to return, but we were wrong. From the beginning, that fiend could have returned at any time, yet he didn't—or at least he didn't show himself, lurking in the shadows."
"We both feared what that fiend was orchestrating in the shadows..." She fell silent, then chuckled. "Well, I feared him, but I don't know about Anvil."
"We tried to search for any traces of him to figure out what he was planning, but we found nothing. That fiend was a devil in human skin, and we couldn't let him roam the world freely. So, if we couldn't uncover his plans, we decided to crush him along with them. For that, we needed more power."
Cassie didn't need to hear what Ki Song would say next. The queen's words had confirmed everything she had theorized.
"Well... I seem to have answered all of your question, Song of the Fallen. How's that? Was that enough for a barter?"
Cassie lowered her head.
"...It's plenty, Your Majesty."
Ki Song nodded with a hint of amusement.
"I've shown you plenty of grace, then. What do I get in exchange?"
Cassie gathered her thoughts while inhaling deeply.
'Here it goes, then.'
Things would start happening fast once she opened her mouth. But that was the best course of action...
The Sovereigns had to be somewhat equal in strength when they clashed. And at the moment, the King of Swords was holding too big of an advantage.
She sighed.
"I mentioned knowing a lot of secrets, one of which is especially valuable. I'll share it with you as gratitude for showing me grace."
Straightening her back, Cassie lingered for a moment and then said in a somber tone:
"The King has secretly carved a path through the Hollows of the Breastbone and the Western First Rib. His troops will soon emerge from the jungle and attack the Lesser Stronghold Crossing from the rear — it will happen by the end of tomorrow, or perhaps even sooner. Now that Valor wants me dead, my life is tied to the well-being of the Song clan. So, I thought I'd let you know."
A heavy silence settled in the throne room. Seishan seemed startled, her eyes widening slightly... the Queen, however, remained composed.
A few moments later, she leaned forward a little.
"...Weren't there a Cursed Tyrant barring the path to the Hollows of the First Rib?"
Cassie lowered her head.
"There was. The King killed it."
Ki Song raised an eyebrow.
"He killed a Cursed Tyrant swiftly and quietly enough for its death to go unnoticed? Ah... how curious."
She remained motionless for a while. And then smiled.
"Well. That certainly changes things..."
***
The Song Army launched a surprise attack led by the queen's puppets. The Sword Army, caught off guard, was easily overwhelmed. Thankfully, the Queen spared the Sword Army and allowed them to retreat.
The Sword Army, led by Changing Star, regrouped and joined the King.
After days of traveling across the skeleton, both armies stood facing each other.
They were tired and exhausted. All of them longed for the war to end so they could return to their families.
From above, on the Chained Islands, Sunny looked down at both armies.
His mind raced with thoughts. The Sovereigns were a headache, but something far worse was waiting for them.
He had wanted to become a Supreme before this battle began, but he couldn't.
Nether could strike at any moment, yet he hadn't. Even Adam was growing frustrated.
Before him, the Sovereigns walked to the center of the battlefield.
Suddenly, he heard a voice in his mind.
[Sunny! Can you hear me?]
'Adam? Did he figure out when Nether will attack?'
[I can hear you.]
[Come quickly to the Nameless Temple now! Bring Weaver's Mask with you.]
Sunny remained silent for a moment. The urgency in Adam's voice suggested time was running out.
[I'm coming!]
The connection between them was cut. Sunny told Aiko he would be gone for a while.
Summoning Weaver's Mask, he ventured into the shadows, heading toward the Nameless Temple.
***
I see why people hate writing fanfics, when I was writing Asterion descending to the Dream Realm I never thought that he was prisoned in the moon. I thought he was just chilling there.
Anyway the last arc is here and finally I will finish this fanfic, I also plan to write another fanfic hopefully better than this one.
If you have any questions, you can find me in the official Shadow Slave discord. just go to the Fanfiction room, and search for mine, it's named after the FF name.
Leave a review on this fanfic, chapter and some power stones, so more people can read it.
See you again next time👋