After recovering his breath, Reinhard stood up from his spot. Cassie, who had his left arm in a deadlock, reluctantly let go.
"What is it?"
Seeing Sunless and Reinhard get up almost at the same time, Nephis asked cautiously.
"I don't know yet. Something feels wrong," Sunless replied.
Then their eyes shifted to Reinhard.
"I wanted to check for any threats, just in case."
Taking their instincts seriously, Nephis stood up and summoned her sword. While she did that, Reinhard and Sunless looked around.
At first, nothing seemed out of place.
[New Attribute Acquired.]
[Attribute Name: Echo Perception.]
At that moment, lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the small island.
Sunless noticed that the things he had thought were tall boulders were actually bodies of several Carapace Scavengers resting nearby.
That was bad.
But what Reinhard saw was worse.
Echo Perception highlighted the silhouettes of living beings around him. It worked on Sunless, Nephis, and Cassie — but not on the Carapace Scavengers.
That meant they were already dead.
And while Sunless had no way of seeing past the high ridge, Echo Perception could reveal silhouettes through walls as well.
What Reinhard saw left him cursing his luck.
Fuck the gods!
There was a Carapace Centurion, an awakened monster.
And a few meters away from it... another one.
Two Carapace Centurions.
Noticing the expression on Sunless's face, Nephis tensed.
"Sunny?"
He slowly turned to her and whispered,
"Don't speak. Don't move. Just... stay where you are."
"No point in that."
"What? Why?"
"Those Carapace Scavengers are already dead," Reinhard replied, looking straight at Sunless.
Leaving him to process that, Reinhard turned to the two girls. To clear their confusion, he explained,
"There are eight bodies of Carapace Scavengers around us, but all of them are dead."
As the three wondered what could have killed the scavengers, Reinhard prepared himself to throw out the biggest statement of the century.
"Past the ridge ahead, there are two Carapace Centurions resting a few meters apart."
"What?!"
Two simultaneous cries of shock escaped Sunless and Cassie. Reinhard almost wanted to chuckle, but the situation demanded seriousness.
He glanced at Nephis.
A bolt of lightning flashed again, illuminating everything around them. In its aftermath, it looked as though two white sparks had ignited in Nephis's eyes. Soon, the reflection disappeared, leaving them gray and inscrutable once more.
What they had to do was already decided, and it seemed Nephis had already resolved herself to do it.
I don't think I actually mind her company anymore.
Nephis tilted her head and whispered, almost as if speaking to herself.
"Awakened Monsters."
"Yeah. So, what should we do?" Sunless asked,.
Nephis stayed silent for a moment, then turned to Reinhard.
So, how are we breaking the news to him?
Reinhard looked at Sunless.
"There is no other choice."
"We have to kill them."
***
Sunless stared at both of them, momentarily speechless. The way his widened eyes shifted comically from Reinhard to Nephis and then back again would have made anyone laugh if the situation had been different.
"Are you nuts?"
I actually take that as a compliment.
There was no place for reasonably sane people in this deranged world anyway.
Sunless cleared his throat and added,
"Have you two even thought this through? How are we supposed to kill not one, but two?"
I am going to do the heavy lifting, like always.
Nephis inhaled slowly.
"We don't get to choose. There is simply no other option."
She glanced at Cassie, who was listening with a pale face, and explained,
"We can't leave before morning, and neither can they. Once the sun rises, they'll see us easily and attack. Then our only advantage — the element of surprise — will be gone. If we have to fight them anyway, it's better to strike first."
Nephis looked around before adding,
"It's not completely dark yet. Barely, but I can still see. Once night fully falls, that won't be the case anymore. We have to attack soon."
Sunny shook his head.
"If it were one, maybe beating it would be possible. But two? The most dangerous battle we've fought so far was against three Carapace Scavengers, and those things killed eight of them!"
Time for me to declare my own death sentence.
"Monsters don't have enough intelligence to coordinate. I'll take one. You two fight the other."
Thinking about fighting an Awakened Monster alone as a Sleeper was practically suicidal, but it was also the only realistic option.
Even with [Assassin] activated, the closest Reinhard could get to a Carapace Scavenger was around three meters before being noticed. A centurion would possess even sharper senses, even while resting. Killing one would be far harder too. Considering all that, assassination was not a viable option.
They had to split up.
Nephis and Sunless alone would struggle to accomplish much, and if there was anyone among them with the highest chance of surviving a direct fight alone, it was undoubtedly Reinhard.
Sunless turned toward him.
"That explains nothing! They're monsters! Have you forgotten that all four of us are just Sleepers? Dormant humans aren't supposed to fight Awakened Beasts, let alone monsters. The fact that we can reliably kill scavengers is already abnormal!"
Dumbest take yet.
No matter how the argument ended, the fight was inevitable.
So Reinhard stopped wasting time.
Without another word, he stepped away from the discussion and turned toward Cassie. The sudden movement pulled both Nephis's and Sunless's attention toward him.
"Continue," he said calmly as he approached her.
Nephis, still keeping Reinhard in the corner of her vision, addressed Sunless.
"We are abnormal, Sunny."
When he said nothing, she sighed.
"You and I aren't ordinary Sleepers. Don't try to deny it."
Reinhard crouched in front of Cassie.
For a brief moment, he wondered why Nephis hadn't included him.
Then she continued.
"And I don't even need to mention him."
Hah. Nice play.
I wonder if she's trying to raise my value in Sunless's eyes so he believes we actually stand a chance... or if that was genuine praise.
Maybe both.
Sunless gritted his teeth, unable to refute her logic.
Meanwhile, Reinhard quietly turned to Cassie. Though he spoke softly, he had no doubt Nephis and Sunless could still hear him.
There was simply no point in hiding it anymore. Nor did he particularly feel the need to.
"Transfer it to me."
Sunless and Nephis both fell silent, their attention drawn fully to the interaction before them.
If Reinhard was asking for a memory from Cassie in the midst of this issue, then it must be important.
Cassie hesitated for only a second before nodding.
Reinhard took her hand. After a pulse of light traveled between them, he received it.
And then it appeared in his hand.
Axiom of Virtue.
The sword that could never be unsheathed against an unworthy opponent.
The sword that, once drawn, did not permit defeat.
It had returned to its master.
And this time, a treacherous being had made certain of its unsheathing.
***
Did you lowkey expect an update so soon? lol.
Anyways, what do you think about the last line?
Is it actually a weaver? or the stringy thingy from Cassie's vision, or are they both the same?
Wait, what about the treacherous Smith who created the Axiom of Virtue, like told in its description? Or the guy at the top of the dark city's castle with the bright hammer?
Wait, what if all of them are the same person?
Only Weavor knows, or maybe even he doesn't.
Questions, questions, hmmm.
I will let you know just one thing.
Every choice (be it from me or Reinhard) has a reason.
I feel like some big prophecy-telling wizard fr.
Anyways, big changes from canon will start from this point onwards, as will major hints and foreshadowings, so open your two brain cells up and start creating some neural connections. (idk if that makes sense.)