Smile of Heaven remained motionless, her head empty.

How many times had she imagined this moment?

Ever since Shadow revealed that somewhere out there, in the vast and harrowing world of the Nightmare Spell, there was an abandoned girl who was her daughter... how many times had she imagined meeting her?

At first, Smile of Heaven imagined their meeting with trepidation. She had turned out to be a pathetic mother, after all — worse than pathetic. There were mothers who abandoned their children, and there were those who despised and mistreated them. But how many mothers were there who did not even know that their child existed?

In that regard, Smile of Heaven had achieved quite a singular feat.

She could have found some solace in the hollow fantasy that her daughter had lived a good life even without her — the girl would have been raised by her husband and the elders of the Immortal Clan, after all. But Shadow had crushed that fantasy before it could even form.

According to him, everyone Smile of Heaven had known was either dead or gone. So how had that girl grown up? Who had she become?

Saint Cor had given Smile of Heaven some answers...

It seemed that her daughter had grown up to become someone outstanding. Someone qualified to challenge the Fifth Nightmare, at least — which meant that she was a Supreme. To Smile of Heaven, the champions of the waking world were still stuck at only being able to become Masters, so the idea of her daughter being Supreme was astonishing.

Some of her worries had been soothed by Wake of Ruin's words.

However, a new worry had been gnawing at her heart ever since.

She had met Shadow, after all. And Shadow... the cracks had not been very noticeable at first, but after the Underworld, she knew that he was a broken being. She understood that this Nightmare did something to Supremes that she had not experienced herself.

So, when Smile of Heaven thought about meeting her daughter on the way to the First Kingdom, she could not help but feel worried.

She wasn't worried about being met with scorn and hostility anymore. Rather, she feared to find her daughter just as shattered as Shadow seemed.

Still, she had never expected to meet her so soon.

And she had never imagined that her daughter would turn out to be the creature of legends — White Abyss, the mythical ruler of the First Kingdom. The being who had more or less single-handedly pushed humanity from the darkness of the prehistoric age into the radiance of civilization.

...Most of all, she had never expected to be met with such utter, heartbreaking indifference.

“T—the... the news of my death was highly exaggerated."

She spoke without really knowing what she was saying, her voice stiff and faltering. White Abyss studied her for a few seconds, then nodded lightly.

“I remember thinking as much, sometimes. Still, what an amusing coincidence."

Finally, Smile of Heaven managed to compose herself... somewhat.

She was still in shock, but she pushed that shock into a separate compartment of her mind and willed herself to deal with it later. For now, she needed to focus on the gorgeous creature in front of her... on her daughter.

“Are you r... really my daughter?"

Smile of Heaven felt that her question was incredibly rude — hurtful, really. After growing up without a mother, who would want to be met with doubt after finally reuniting?

But she still could not help herself from asking.

To her surprise... to her dismay... White Abyss did not seem hurt at all. No emotion stirred in her striking grey eyes, which remained cold and unfeeling — as if the very concept of feeling anything was alien to her.

White Abyss shrugged and turned away, gazing at the blackened corpse of the man called Kanakht. Her voice was even:

“One-billionth part of me is your daughter. Granted, it is an important part... the first part. So, it has some significance."

What did she mean?

Smile of Heaven forced herself to take a breath, hesitated for a moment, and then took a tentative step away from the edge of the bottomless pit behind her.

She felt rattled and discouraged, but she also felt a hint of hope. Yes, White Abyss seemed like a being completely devoid of humanity, a frightening and unfeeling eldritch deity...

But she acted to prevent Smile of Heaven from getting hurt by her flames.

That meant that somewhere, beneath all that alien indifference, her human spirit was not entirely snuffed out yet. At least that was what Smile of Heaven chose to believe, wanting to reach for that feeble flame and help it grow stronger.

What was it that Saint Cor had said?

‘Song of the Fallen says that if you want to find her, you need to travel to the ruins of the First Kingdom and convince someone called White Abyss to pay a visit to the Jade Palace.'

Song of the Fallen was a challenger of the Nightmare, just like White Abyss and Shadow. She had sent Wake of Ruin to liberate Smile of Heaven from the stasis crystal and pointed her in the direction of her daughter... so, even if her motives remained mysterious, Smile of Heaven was inclined to interpret them as goodwill.

She could only hope that Song of the Fallen still harbored an ambition to conquer this Nightmare, and that her actions pursued that goal.

And as long as the Nightmare was conquered, both White Abyss and Shadow — if he was still alive — would be brought back to the real world.

They would probably have a better chance of rebuilding themselves there.

Smile of Heaven inhaled deeply, wanting to continue the conversation with White Abyss.

'Wait, no.'

White Abyss... wasn't that merely a title? Suddenly ashamed, she realized that she did not even know her daughter's name.

So, overcoming her shame, she asked:

“What is your name?"

White Abyss spared her a short glance, then turned around to the charred corpse.

“Names come and go."

Her voice remained indifferent.

She remained silent for a moment, then added in a distant tone:

"Nephis... that is what I was called once, a long time ago. I think."

Smile of Heaven smiled faintly.

"That is a good name."

She hesitated a bit, then said in a sheepish tone:

“My name is Sable."

Even though most people used to call her by her True Name.

Smile of Heaven froze.

‘Ugh... I am an idiot, aren't I?'

What were the chances that White Abyss... that Nephis was unaware of her own mother's name?

And indeed, a second later, an indifferent response came:

"I know."

Then, there was silence.

Now that Smile of Heaven had somewhat recovered from her initial shock, she was able to take a proper look at Nephis. Despite the dire situation she was in... despite everything... she couldn't help but feel a peculiar warmth spread through her chest.

‘Just... just look at her! That's my daughter!'

Her pale smile widened a little.

They did, indeed, look very much alike. Nephis had inherited her father's eyes, but the rest of her resembled Smile of Heaven. It was just that she was taller, with a colder look... and much, much more gorgeous.

‘Look how lovely my daughter is! Look how much she has accomplished!'

Smile of Heaven could not help but imagine being the envy of all other moms. If she were to ever hear fellow moms boast about their children, she could just imagine someone saying,

"My son? He just graduated from the Academy... at the top of his year, naturally. Ah, thank you, thank you! Yes, he already has a job lined up in the government. And what about you, Neph's mom? She's an Awakened too, right?"

And then, Smile of Heaven would look down in pretend embarrassment and say:

"Oh, Nephie? Well, she... she's a Supreme now, so she's always busy. I rarely get to see her, but what can you do? Her work is so important!"

Who would dare to boast after Smile of Heaven had boasted?

Granted... her daughter was older than her, which wasn't a situation most people encountered.

‘What am I even thinking about?'

Her thoughts were in disarray, but that was only to be expected. With how Neph's presence affected people, it was difficult to remain in control of one's thoughts and desires — the fact that Smile of Heaven could keep her head straight was already a minor miracle.

The point was that Nephis — White Abyss — was in a precarious state.

Just like Shadow, who seemed to have become lost in the Nightmare, she was not entirely in her right mind.

Smile of Heaven needed to find a way to pull her back, but did not know how.

It was not something that could be done in a day or two, most likely.

So, for now...

The first step would be to bring her out of this ancient tomb and stay by her side. Perhaps Song of the Fallen knew how to help — so, following her instructions seemed like a good choice.

‘Right. I need to convince her to leave the ruins of this ruined kingdom and go to Ravenheart first.’

Smile of Heaven opened her mouth, intending to say something...

But at that moment, another sound broke the silence of the vast chamber.

It was an eerie, grating, frightening sound of someone's hoarse breath.

Looking up slowly, Smile of Heaven glanced to where Nephis was looking — at the blackened, skeletal remains of the original ruler of the First Kingdom.

At that moment, the charred corpse moved weakly.

White Abyss stared at him with a concerned frown.

"How tiresome."

With that, she ascended the steps of the throne with decisive steps and placed her hand on the corpse's shriveled chest.

A moment later, a flash of blinding light vanquished the darkness, and the silence of the vast chamber was shattered by a dreadful, agonized wail.

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