Within the vast and boundless shadow hiding inside Saint's mortal shell, five dark embers burned with lightlessness among the sea of darkness. Those embers were jagged and uneven, utterly lifeless — they functioned as a facsimile of true Shadow Cores, but weren't at all equal to one.

Now, however, that was changing.

As Sunny watched, his Shadow Core entered Saint's shadowy soul like a wandering comet. The moment it did, the depths of the vast shadow seemed to respond, and a dark whirlwind surrounded the nebulous sphere. Within the darkness, the edges of the Shadow Core seemed to blur. And then, a conflagration of black flame ignited in the shadow, blooming at the very heart of Saint's being like a tenebrous flower.

The flower had five petals, and those petals were drawn to each of the dark embers, nourishing and reforging them.

Making them complete.

The embers were being reborn in the nurturing dark flames. Their jagged edges slowly became smooth, and their lifeless coldness was replaced with flawless transparency.

Soon, they came to resemble perfect spheres, as well. Five oceans of dark flame burned inside them, making them look like lightless stars — no different from Sunny's own Shadow Cores. In fact, that was what they were now. And, infused with the power of these cores, a subtle change rippled through Saint's soul.

[You have lost a Shadow.]

The Spell announced the loss of a Shadow, but Saint was not destroyed. On the contrary, she was alive and well... as far as a Shadow Creature could be considered alive, of course.

‘A Shadow Creature...’

After following Sunny for nearly fifteen years as a Shadow, Saint had finally become a Shadow Creature. The difference between the two was subtle, but profound.

It was independence.

A Shadow was a subordinate being serving a master — it was a part of its master's soul, and therefore lacked true agency. A Shadow Creature, however, was a complete, self-sufficient individual. It had agency, free will, and the ability to choose its own path... whom to serve, whom to defy. Which battles to fight, and the reason to fight them.

Sunny was not sure which way of being was better. Being a Shadow or a Shadow Creature simply offered different things, as well as had different demands.

He did know one thing, though.

Being a Shadow, while beneficial in many ways, ultimately created a ceiling for one's growth.

There was a limit to how much one could grow while relying entirely on others, after all. To truly come into your power and become a person, you had to stand on your own two feet.

Well... or four, in the case of Nightmare. Or however many feet Mimic had.

Sunny looked at Saint, who seemed to be engrossed by her transformation. Most of the changes happening to her were invisible, transpiring on the mental and spiritual planes. The connection between them had been severed, and Sunny was not sure what Saint was experiencing... he suddenly felt lonely, as if a part of him had gone missing.

It did, quite literally.

Not only was Saint not a part of him anymore, but one of his shadows had disappeared, as well, becoming her shadow instead.

Now, finally, Saint was a complete being... a Shadow Creature in her own right. Sunny wondered what the future held for her. It used to be that humans coexisted with all kinds of creatures once, back when that word was not associated only with the Corrupted — but those noble creatures were long gone.

But now, there was Saint. She was the first and, for the moment, only Noble Creature in this dire era. As such, she was a natural ally of humanity — both humans and creatures were threatened by the spreading Nightmare, after all, and had to fight it together to survive.

But what would happen if the apocalypse was over one day, and the world still existed? Would people and creatures like Saint coexist once more?

Sunny truly hoped that they would.

Because if some bastard decided to bother Saint in the future... he wasn't going to hold back.

‘Just try it, bastards...’

But that was a matter for the far, vaguely possible future. For now, Sunny was more interested in the changes happening to Saint right here and now.

The most obvious one, of course, was that she did not depend on him anymore and had no need of his powers to continue existing. Sunny was also certain that Saint would become more powerful, since true independence and agency were bound to cause her Will to grow.

She might become more... personable, as well. Although Sunny had a feeling that being aloof and taciturn was simply in her nature.

There was one additional benefit, as well. Since Saint's shadow had once belonged to Sunny, she inherited some of his innate traits, such as the ability to augment herself and use the shadow as a scout. In short, she had her own invaluable helper now.

And more than that, since Saint was a Supreme Tyrant, her shadow had the capacity to contain shades. She could not create them, but she could command them — even if it was to a limited degree.

That limit was enough for Sunny to bestow the shades of Shadow Saints upon her, still. He did so without regret, knowing that Saint would make better use of them. She was the one who had slain most of them, anyway.

“Think of it as a bit of inheritance... a legacy, if you will..."

He smiled as Saint peered at him with her ruby eyes.

Then, his Shadow... his former Shadow... bent down, bowing deeply.

Startled, Sunny waved a hand.

“N—no, no! What are you doing? There's no need for that..."

He fell silent for a few moments, then grinned.

"You know it will go to my head."

Although Sunny was smiling, and felt greatly satisfied seeing Saint become a true living being, he also felt a bit of melancholy.

Saint was her own person now. One of his shadows was now her companion, not his. It was as if his children had left for the Awakened Academy... he could not help but feel both proud of them and worried for their future.

In truth, however, there was no reason to worry. It was Saint, after all — if he could trust that someone would do well, it was her.

The rest of them, though...

Sunny turned to look at his remaining Shadows.

He was planning to grant independence to Nightmare and Fiend, as well. The former was needed in Bastion to guard the Dreamscape — Sunny would entrust him to Morgan, and Morgan to him. Fiend, meanwhile, was uniquely suited to defend Ravenheart and its surrounding territories from the snow wraiths of the western wastelands. So, Sunny intended to make him Seishan's headache.

The Marvelous Mimic was the headquarters of the Shadow Clan, so Sunny was planning to leave it to Revel.

The same went for Serpent — however, Serpent was unique. Due to his [Grace of Shadows] Ability, it did not have to become independent, and neither was it in Serpent's nature.

That was why Sunny would only lend it to Revel, not part with it forever.

He wasn't going to grant independence to Slayer, either. The two of them had formed a working relationship after a while, but she was simply too dangerous to be unleashed upon the world... at least for now.

As for Vile...

Sunny had special plans for that brat.

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