The Echo was more or less useless to him in its current state, but thanks to its [Awakened] Ability, it would possess the innate capacity to use Memories… which meant that Sunny could provide Echo Kurt with an armor and a weapon.
That question was… did he want to?
On the surface, that question was rather simple. Who wouldn't want to have a creature equal to a powerful Awakened in their service? But really, things were more complicated.
Sunny frowned, then raised a hand and poked the ghastly creature in the shoulder.
A new string of runes appeared near it:
[Transform Echo into a Shadow?]
He froze, thinking.
Having a human Shadow certainly had its benefits. But having any Shadow also demanded a tremendous investment of resources. Nurturing Saint was very hard on Sunny, and especially on his pocket. Less importantly, but still somewhat pressing, was the need to spend a hundred shadow fragments to complete the transformation.
Sunny had spent so much time and effort to get close to creating a third core, and the idea of being suddenly pushed back by a whole hundred fragments did not seem too alluring.
The point was, he felt reluctant to turn just any Echo into a Shadow.
So was Kurt a worthy Echo?
Even though Sunny was very curious to see what would happen if one of the silent shadows was placed into a human Echo, the answer was… no.
Sunny wasn't sure that he was.
There were two reasons.
The first one was rather simple, but also not too convincing.
Master Jet had said that all of them, seasoned Awakened, were walking one step away from the madness. Sunny felt like dragging around a reanimated copy of a man he killed would bring him closer to making that step. His humanity — and sanity, to be honest — were already on thin ice.
However, that wasn't the main reason.
The second reason, and the most important one, was the nature of the Shadows. Shadows weren't soulless, empty copies of their originals. They possessed a semblance of a consciousness, and a distinct personality… Saint was living proof.
Yes, she was created from a powerful Nightmare Creature, but her Attributes and Abilities were not what made her strong. Saint was strong because she was Saint. Her will, intellect, and unbreakable resolve were what made her such a deadly presence on the battlefield, and a valued companion for Sunny.
And that was why he didn't want to create a Shadow of Kurt. Yes, Kurt possessed powerful Abilities that shared the affinity with Sunny's Aspect.
But Kurt himself… was weak.
His weakness was the cause of why he had drowned himself in alcohol and distasteful hobbies, and why he had eventually surrendered to the burden of the Nightmare Spell and massacred defenseless humans in a fit of demented frenzy.
No matter how powerful, Sunny didn't want to possess a Shadow of an unstable butcher… but more than anything, he didn't want to possess a Shadow of someone who was weak. How could he rely on someone like that?
On the path he was taking, there was no place for weakness… at least not for the weakness of that kind.
With a sigh, he summoned Saint, and watched her appear near the naked figure of Kurt in a whirlpool of black flames.
The taciturn demon stared at him with her indifferent ruby eyes, not paying any attention to the human Echo. Seeing them side by side only made Sunny more sure of his decision.
He remained silent for a few moments, and then gestured at Kurt:
"Do you, maybe... want to eat him?"
Saint remained motionless for a few moments, then silently turned to the Echo and raised one hand. Her gauntlet easily pierced the chest of the dead killer, and a few moments later, his body disintegrated into a flood of white sparks.
Those sparks formed into three brilliant streams and entered into the darkness that hid inside the Shadow, then flowed into her three core remnants.
[Your Echo has been destroyed.]
Sunny felt a wave of bitterness wash over his heart, but very soon, it disappeared.
He was watching the shadow fragment counter in the runes describing Saint.
…Apparently, feeding on Echoes was much more nourishing for a Shadow. She received much more fragments than she would have from an Awakened Memory of the first tier.
Right now, the counter was showing a simple number:
Shadow Fragments: [200/200].
A triumphant smile appeared on Sunny's lips.