Sunny did not know quite what to make of it, let alone how to feel about it.
“How curious."
He was glad that Morgan was still alive, though.
Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, then rose to his feet and continued moving forward while guiding Effie through the darkness.
“Come. We must hurry to the Hall of Imagination."
After a while, she said:
“Wait a minute..."
Effie grabbed his forearm as well, slowly increasing pressure.
“Was that why you did not let me eat the whole day? So that I could not think about anything except food by the time we reach that damn hall?!"
Sunny smiled sheepishly in the darkness.
“Oh, that... well, yes. I think it's going to work out great!"
As for Sunny himself, he had a far simpler way of getting to the heart of the Hall of Imagination without summoning the illusion of some Unholy Titan into existence.
He was going to release control of his incarnation and let his shadow enter in his stead, then retake control at the last moment.
His shadows did, indeed, have minds of their own — but he was pretty sure that the Hall of Imagination had not been designed to make the fantasies of shadows come true. Even if it did, whatever they could imagine was not going to be nearly as harrowing as what Sunny could.
Especially this shadow... the naughty shadow. Its fantasies were pretty transparent, most of the time...
There was only one way to find out for sure, though.
Effie was earnestly trying to crush his forearm in a vice grip, but Sunny simply ignored her — now that he had both the Bone Weave and the Flesh Weave, not to mention the Jade Shell, enduring such pressure was not a big problem.
It still hurt like hell, though!
Effie growled in the darkness:
“Hey, Shadow Boy! If you don't feed me right this moment, I'll eat you... instead?"
Her voice grew quieter and then fell silent, because at that moment, they reached the boundary of the Hall of Imagination.
The walls of the tunnels spread out, opening into a vast open space. It was full of darkness, and neither Sunny's sight nor his shadow sense could penetrate it.
They froze for a while, preparing themselves for the trial of the Hall of Imagination warily.
In the end, he sighed and pulled Effie forward.
"Let's go. The sooner we do... the sooner we can get into some kind of insane trouble, barely survive it, and return victorious with scary stories to tell."
Effie blinked a couple of times.
“What? Was that supposed to calm me?"
Sunny sighed.
“Yes. You might not know it, but I have a proven track record of doing just that. I'm still alive, aren't I?"
Effie's mouth hung open.
"No, you're not! You are literally dead! Two entire armies saw you kill yourself, and then get killed by Nephis immediately after that!"
Sunny grinned.
“What, was I supposed to die from just that?"
With that, he took a step forward.
They had already discussed the plan earlier, so there was not much left to say. Sunny positioned himself in the middle of the entrance to the Hall of Imagination, then concentrated and summoned Saint — having at least one Shadow covering for them was probably a wise move, and she was the best choice for this particular trial. The taciturn knight emerged from the darkness and glanced at him with her usual indifference.
This time, however, Saint's gaze lingered on him for a while longer, as if sensing remnant traces of the Jade Titan persona he had assumed in the Death Game.
Eventually, Saint took her place to his left, while Effie stood to his right.
“Ah. I don't like it..."
She raised a hand to grab his shoulder, Sunny got ready to temporarily release control of his incarnation, knowing that Effie and Saint would get him to where he needed to be.
“Just think about your favorite food. Actually, I've tried something very delicious recently! Have you ever tried... a barbequed Cursed rat? If not, I cannot recommend roasting one over lava enough..."
Effie sighed deeply, then mumbled a quiet curse and pushed him.
Together, the three of them entered the Hall of Imagination.
Sunny did not remember quite what happened next.
Next thing he knew, he was someplace else... He was someone else.