Sunny stood at the peak of a tall coral mound, observing the battle that raged below. There was a slight frown on his face, but his eyes were calm.
The Dreamer Army was besieged from two sides. One horde of abominations was slowly devouring its front line, while another had descended on them from above, stalled for now by the vast net of sharp iron wires.
…It was like a scene from a fever nightmare.
Every second, humans were dying, torn apart by the claws and fangs of the harrowing horde of monsters. Their cries and screams fused with the roaring wails of the Nightmare Creatures into a deafening wave of dissonant noise. That wave washed over the crimson coral, sending a chill running down his spine.
Turning away from the bloodsoaked visage of the battlefield, Sunny glanced at Nephis.
Changing Star was sitting on the ground. Her face was calm, and her eyes were closed. On her forehead, the gem of the Dawn Shard burned with furious white light, feeding hundreds upon hundreds of Memories with raw power. She appeared to be in the depths of profound meditation, seemingly not affected by the horrible decimation that was happening below them at all.
Cassie was standing beside her, looking at the ground. Her hand rested on the hilt of the Quiet Dancer. The other two Echoes of the blind girl had been with the first line of the army during the initial charge; by now, they were already destroyed.
Sunny wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. The time for conversations was over.
Instead, he faced the Crimson Spire. His gaze lingered on it for a few moments, then slid back to the terrible sight of the slaughter. Straining his eyes, Sunny tried to distinguish the figures of Effie and Kai in the chaotic formation of the Dreamer Army.
'Don't die just yet, fools…'
***
Down below, surrounded by those warriors of the first line that still stubbornly clung to life, Effie had long forgotten about anything else but bloodshed and strife. The scope of the world had narrowed to the suffocating confines of the furious battle, consuming both the past and the future.
The was only the present, and the present consisted of nothing but violence and death.
…And killing, of course.
With a mad grin on her bloodied face, she faced one abomination after another, crushing, breaking, and tearing them apart. Her tall, lean body had turned into a lethal battle machine, moving with ferocious speed and devastating power, deadly precision and murderous will. Both Zenith and Dusk behaved like natural extensions of her limbs, alternating between attack and defense to reap one profane life after another.
Her armor had been pierced several times, but she paid it no attention. It didn't matter. All that mattered was to kill as many Nightmare Creatures as possible, to obliterate as many of the hateful monsters as she could. Their corpses piled up, carpeting the crimson coral with an uninterrupted bleeding mass of broken flesh. After a while, Effie had to start watching her step carefully.
Despite that, the number of abominations showed no sign of growing smaller. It was as though the horde was endless and boundless. But she wasn't scared…
In fact, Effie was enjoying herself.
Oh, this was so exhilarating!
Dodging a serrated claw, she lunged forward and crushed the ribcage of an attacking monster with the rim of her shield, then used the remaining momentum to skewer another one on her spear. With no time to retrieve her weapon and turn, she used the shaft of Zenith Shard to deflect a blow from a mighty pincer of a carapace scavenger and kicked the beast viciously, shattering the adamantine shell of its armor.
Other Sleepers were fighting around her, using the fearsome huntress as an anchor in the sea of death. They were still holding, still breathing. Two other islands of resistance had formed around Gemma and Caster, who were also in the throes of the battle trance.
The proud Legacy had turned into a whirlwind of ghostly steel, eviscerating any creature that dared to approach him. His movements were so fast that his enemies' blood could not even fall to the ground. As the result, Caster was constantly surrounded by a cloud of red mist.
The experienced Hunter fought with cunning and skill, sending one abomination after another into the embrace of death. Whatever wounds appeared on Gemma's body were soon gone, not even leaving a trace. Numerous fearsome creatures had been slain by his hand, unable to do the tall man any harm.
…And yet, humans were dying. One after another, they fell, leaving less and warriors to hold back the gluttonous horde.
As Effie fought, a sudden thought entered her mind, sending a slight shiver running through her body.
'...Heavy. That damn shield is so heavy…'
She was growing tired.
***
Kai had lost count of the number of monsters he killed. Because of the constant cycle of losing blood and magically getting it back, he felt slightly lightheaded. Luckily, he had yet to miss a shot… maybe?… and was able to continue firing.
More and more corpses fell on the iron net, their blood flowing on the people below. It was as though they were now fighting in the rain. A red, fetid rain of blood…
Blood, blood, blood. No matter where he looked, he saw nothing but blood.
He was sick of it.
Gritting his teeth, Kai drew his bow once again, aimed between two dead creatures above him, and sent an arrow flying.
[You have slain an awakened…]
They were running out of arrows.
The siege engines were running out of lances, too.
And the damn Messengers were still circling high above, not even trying to descend.
'Why, why aren't they attacking?!'
Looking down, Kai tried to catch his breath and muttered:
"Curses…"
Why was it so dark? He couldn't see where his quivers were.
Something shifted in his mind, and then he blinked.
Looking up again, Kai realized that the entire net was now covered with corpses. There were so many dead Nightmare Creatures that they formed a macabre carpet that veiled the battlefield from the sun.
There wasn't a lot of daylight seeping through the net now, and it was growing darker and darker with each second.
His eyes widened.
Not because of the deep darkness, but because Kai suddenly heard the iron wires groaning under all that weight. Almost as if strained too much and on the verge of tearing apart.
The protective net was going to break soon.
His face paled.
'Oh no!'
***
On the tall mound of crimson coral, Changing Star suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Sunny.
"It's time."
Chapter 322: siege of the Crimson Spire (8)
Things were turning from dire to desperate for the Dreamer Army. The first line was almost gone, and the second was now completely engulfed by the horde of Nightmare Creatures. Seishan was still standing her ground, but just barely.
The archers under Kai's command were doing their best to eviscerate as many monsters as they could, but with their attention split between those on the ground and those diving at the iron net from above, the results weren't as devastating as they had been during the initial stage of the battle.
They were running out of arrows and ammunition, too. The siege engines were slowly disintegrating under the pressure of so many consecutive shots. The people were tired.
…And the iron net itself looked as though it was going to break soon. It was covered with a carpet of dead Nightmare Creatures, submerging the battlefield into dim twilight. With every minute, that twilight was turning darker and darker.
The human formation seemed to be balancing on the very edge of collapse.
It was at that moment that Nephis, who had been calmly meditating through all of that, suddenly opened her eyes.
In them, two blinding white flames were burning. Her pale face became illuminated by this radiance, like that of a merciless celestial creature.
Turning to Sunny, she remained silent for a moment, and then said:
"It's time."
He sighed.
Indeed, it was time for the two of them to enter the fray and play their roles.
As Neph stood up and summoned her sword, he flexed his shoulders and stretched his neck. The Midnight Shard, however, remained hidden in the depths of the Shadow Core.
Sunny glanced at Cassie, hesitated for a few seconds, and then smiled.
"Hey, Cas. I'll… see you on the other side, I guess."
She lingered for a bit, then nodded slowly and turned away.
'...Don't die.'
He sighed.
"That's my cue, I guess."
Together, he and Nephis walked over to the edge of the coral mound and jumped down, leaving the blind girl standing alone on its top.
Softly landing on the ground, Sunny waved to Neph and said in an even tone:
"I'll go first. Good luck."
With that, he turned in the direction of the battlefield and inhaled deeply.
In front of him, the desperately fighting Dreamer Army was intertwined with the nightmare horde in the darkness cast by the groaning net of iron wires.
The whole battlefield had turned into a realm of blood, death… and shadow. The more corpses piled on the net, the deeper and darker the shadows became.
This was Sunny's territory now.
Stepping into the darkness, he suddenly became almost invisible. The shadows embraced him as one of their own, hiding his figure and movements. Veiled in their embrace, he steeled his will and dashed toward the battlefield.
Moving forward, Sunny ran past the tent of the makeshift hospital where a group of people was supposed to be desperately trying to save those lucky few who had managed to receive a non-lethal wound.
Right now, however, the tent was partially toppled and engulfed in chaos. One of the flying Nightmare Creatures had somehow managed to squeeze under the net and was now wreaking havoc inside of it, its black body pierced by several arrows, but still full of deadly power.
Sunny moved past it without looking back.
Stepping through the deepest, darkest shadows, he ran past the line of siege engines and noticed the small figure of Aiko helping an exhausted Artisan load one last spear into position. The steel lance was clearly too heavy for the delicate girl, but she was pushing it up with stubborn determination.
Then, he was between the rows of archers. These people were continuing to fire, desperately trying to find clear spots between the numerous corpses piled on top of the trembling iron net. He saw Kai looking around with a lost look on his face.
Sunny wanted to stop and reassure his friend, but couldn't.
Sliding between these people without being noticed, he left the third line and dashed toward the second.
Here, his task of remaining unseen became much harder.
The second line had lost almost all pretense of order, but remained unbroken. With the warriors under Effie's command still taking the brunt of the horde and withstanding its pressure, Seishan had managed to prevent any abominations from reaching the archers.
…At least for now.
Dodging the defending humans and the attacking monsters, Sunny entered the crucible of battle. He wasn't here to fight, however. His goal was still ahead.
Moving unseen, he evaded several vicious skirmishes. Somewhere along the way, he noticed Seishan herself.
The beautiful woman was fighting with darkly fascinating grace. The Sunlight Shard rose and fell, guided by her slender hand. The amount of power delivered by these strikes, however, was nothing short of terrifying.
Every time the war hammer stroke, a Nightmare Creature was broken apart, with bits of chiting, bone, and streams of blood flying into the air.
It was still not enough, though. After another blow, a menacing figure of a carapace scavenger suddenly grasped the Memory in its powerful pincer and tore it away from Seishan's hand. In the next moment, a subtle change happened to the body of the graceful Handmaiden.
It seemed as though she grew taller, her limbs elongating, her spine twisting. Her smooth grey skin became like that of a shark, and her eyes rolled back, revealing a second pair of pupils, these ones vertical and surrounded by a sea of red.
Seishan's jaw unhinged, revealing several rows of terrible fangs. Dashing forward, she easily broke the carapace of the Nightmare Creature with her bare fist. A fraction of a second later, her jaws closed on the joint of the pincer, piercing the chitin, and tore the entire limb apart.
Leaving that disturbing scene behind, Sunny moved into another layer of shadows and ran toward the first line.
There, the mass of abominations and surviving humans was almost impenetrable. And yet, he had to pierce it.
Drawing in a deep breath, Sunny dove into the sea of Nightmare Creatures.
Moving between the endless horde of monsters like a dancer, he dodged and avoided their chaotically moving bodies, keeping to the shadows. If he was noticed, he was going to be torn apart in mere seconds. If he slowed down, he was going to be crushed and obliterated.
Like a shadow, Sunny slid between them. A few times, he had to quickly dash beneath an especially tall abomination or jump over another. For a few seconds, he even ran on top of these horrible monsters, jumping from the shoulder of one to the carapace of another, and then back to the bloodied, slippery ground.
On his way, he saw Effie. The huntress had either lost or dismissed her shield, and was now spinning her spear and using it to deliver both piercing and slashing attacks, drawing wide arks in the air with its bronze blade. Her body was covered in blood and her armor was broken and shattered.
But on her face, there was a wide, joyful grin.
Leaving it all behind, Sunny moved deeper into the horde of monsters. A few times, he thought that he would be noticed. But in the end, the shadows had kept him safe.
And after a while… an eternity, maybe… he finally broke free of the endless mass of Nightmare Creatures.
Now, there was nothing in front of him but the wide expanse of the cursed black water.
…And the mass of the Crimson Spire stretching endlessly into the skies.
Chapter 323: Siege of the Crimson Spire (9)
Sunny froze for a moment, captivated by the all-encompassing expanse of the cyclopean spire that towered above the entire world.
Almost at the same moment, the darkness behind him was suddenly annihilated by a blinding explosion of light. The noise of the battle changed, somehow growing even more intense. The howling of the nightmare horde grew louder, but also became slightly muffled, almost… anxious.
Changing Star had finally joined the fight.
A moment later, hundreds of human voices rose in a deafening battle cry, their spirit lifted, their crumbling resolve restored. With Nephis arriving on the battlefield, the balance of the whole battle shifted. The Nightmare Creatures surged to destroy the radiant figure, only to be obliterated by it. They almost seem to melt under the furious assault of the incandescent blade, turning into cinder and ash.
Neph's arrival brought a moment of relief to the exhausted warriors of the Dreamer Army. Instead of using it to catch their breaths and regroup, however, they chose to use this opportunity to launch into a ferocious attack, making the horde shudder and recoil.
…Sunny was not paying any attention to what was happening behind his back, though. His eyes were locked on the bridge of crimson coral that stretched across the vast whirlpool of black water, creating a path to the island on which the cursed Spire stood.
On it were countless abominations, each of them pushing, howling, fighting for their turn to taste soft human flesh.
However, the harrowing mass of them wasn't endless anymore. He could actually see the tail of the nightmare horde, with the distant half of the bridge being almost empty.
Not that it was going to make things easy for him. As soon as Sunny escaped from beneath the iron net, he became illuminated by the bright sunlight, with nowhere else to hide. Completely exposed.
The eyes of numerous monsters were already on him, bloodlust and hunger igniting in their depths. If he wanted to use the bridge, he was going to have to cut his way through the undulating mass of Nightmare Creatures.
'Saint.'
Answering his call, the marble demon appeared from the shadows, her ruby eyes burning with cold menace behind the visor of the onyx helmet. The taciturn knight stood silently on the shore of the rushing black water, gazing at the horde of monsters across its dark expanse.
Sunny took a few steps back and glanced at the mass of abominations who were already lunging in his direction.
'Here goes nothing…'
Dashing forward, he crossed the distance to the Saint… and jumped.
The Shadow raised her shield, allowing him to step on it, and then pushed away with all her incredible strength. Simultaneously, Sunny launched himself off this unlikely springboard and shot into the air.
The wind whistled in his ears.
Soaring above the mass of black water, and all the horrors that hid in its depths, he flew toward the Crimson Spire with terrible speed. The Dark Wing turned into a blur behind his back, making Sunny weightless, and thus prolonging this state of flight.
It was still not nearly enough to reach the island, however.
In a few short seconds, he crossed almost half of the wide surface of the dark whirlpool. But then, his momentum slowed, and soon, Sunny started to fall. Thanks to the transparent cloak, he didn't plunge straight down, instead gliding through the air, slowly approaching the seething black water.
He was never going to make it.
…But then, he was never planning to.
Twisting his body, Sunny hurled the Prowling Thorn at the crimson coral of the bridge. As soon as the heavy kunai bit into it, he forcefully pulled on the invisible string, changing the direction of his flight.
A few seconds later, Sunny landed on the bridge in a roll and jumped to his feet. Behind him, the tail end of the nightmare horde was still oblivious to his presence.
In front of him was a clear path to the Crimson Spire.
Dismissing the Dark Wing and summoning Shadow Saint back into his core, Sunny ran forward without wasting even a moment to look back.
***
Soon, the Crimson Spire eclipsed the whole sky. It seemed as though the world suddenly made a ninety-degree turn, the ground itself becoming vertical instead of horizontal. Even craning his neck, Sunny couldn't see the top of the ominous tower anymore.
It was as if the Dream Realm was like a box, and he had reached one of its walls. The edge of reality itself.
Throwing all unnecessary thoughts out of his head, Sunny rushed toward the Spire. His goal was almost in sight.
'Seven severed heads… guarding seven locks…'
This was what Cassie had told them a year ago, at the start of this cursed journey. Somewhere at the base of the Crimson Spire, there was a place where one could insert seven keys into seven locks to seal the curse of the all-consuming darkness underground once more, thus restoring the oath of the ancient heroes.
Shard Memories had given ChangingS Star's cohort these keys, and now, Sunny held all of them in his soul.
He just had to find the locks…
And very soon, he did.
Hidden behind a tall mound of crimson coral, a vast expanse of flat surface led all the way to the walls of the corrupted Spire. On it, arranged in a wide semi-circle, seven giant heads stared away from Sunny.
Despite the fact that they were facing the other way, he recognized them immediately.
These were the stolen heads of the seven colossal statues that stood across the desolate hell of the Forgotten Shore, ones that had been torn off their shoulders by the Crimson Terror thousands of years ago and then brought here, to lay at the base of its citadel for all eternity.
The Lord, the Priestess, the Knight, the Hunter, the Builder, the Slayer, and the Stranger.
Their gazes were aimed at the gargantuan gates of the Spire.
And there, on those gates, the image of seven shining stars was engraved into the ancient stone.
Each star had a dark keyhole in its radiant center.
Chapter 324: Siege of the Crimson Spire (10)
Summoning Saint to stand side by side with him once again, Sunny glanced at the gates of the Spire, grimaced, and jumped down from the mound of coral.
'I don't like this at all…'
Out there on the island, it was quiet. Too quiet.
Even though all the Nightmare Creatures were now behind him, slowly devouring the Dreamer Army, the open space pierced by the gazes of the severed heads of stone colossus was too ominous and foreboding to not spell trouble.
But Sunny was done being afraid a long time ago.
'You fear me, instead.'
Walking forward, he passed between the giant heads and entered the empty space in front of the cyclopean gates. Feeling as though someone was staring at his back, Sunny shivered and approached the seven locks.
Halfway to the gates, he stopped, hesitated for a moment and then looked back, at stone heads.
This was the first time he saw the faces of the seven heroes.
The face of the Lord was noble and dignified, the face of the Priestess — beautiful and gentle. The Slayer was arrogant and cold, her lips twisted in a crooked grin. The Stranger wore a helmet, darkness nesting in the crack of its visor.
'...People. They were just people.'
Turning away, Sunny sighed, then shook his head in dejection.
'I won't judge you for what you have done. But I hope… I really that we will be able to do better.'
With that, he took another step forward… and froze.
Something had changed on the stretch of land between him and the gates of the Crimson Spire. A cold wind suddenly howled, throwing bits of coral into the air.
Those pieces of did not fall down. Instead, more and more of the crimson shards flew up, slowly forming into seven twisted silhouettes.
Sunny cursed and outstretched his hand, summoning the Midnight Shard into it.
A few seconds later, seven golems of crimson coral stood in front of him and Saint, blocking the path to the star sigil. He recognized their shapes.
The armored figure of the Knight. The slender figure of the Slayer. The graceful figure of the Priestess…
Vile, corrupted facsimiles of the seven heroes slowly moved, raising their weapons to point at him. Their movements were crude and inhuman, but radiated a sense of terrible, profane power. Despite their outward appearance, he felt that these creatures were desecrating the memory of the ancient heroes instead of manifesting it.
Sunny grinned and walked toward the coral golems, the blade of his sword pointed downward.
"Seven of you? Do you really think this will be enough to stop me?"
His dark eyes gleamed, turning cold and ruthless.
"...Well then, fools, come and get me!"
With that, he dashed forward and raised the Midnight Shard.
Before Sunny could strike, however, the Stranger appeared in front of him as though out of nowhere and put his round shield in the path of the austere tachi. Hitting it felt like hitting a mountain.
Sunny's eyes widened.
'Fast…'
A fraction of a second later, he noticed a beak of a war hammer flying toward his temple with terrible speed. Gritting his teeth, Sunny shifted and blocked it with the blade of the Midnight Shard.
As a painful shockwave rolled through his body, he was thrown backward and slid on the red coral, then groaned and spat a mouthful of blood.
'Damn it! How are they so strong?!'
Looking up, he saw seven tall figures approaching him with steady, inevitable malice. Each of the golems was powerful enough to rip an entire cohort of Sleepers to pieces.
To his side, Saint raised her shield and hit its rim twice with the blade of her sword.
'Whatever. Let's do this!'
***
Back across the whirlpool of black water, the Dreamer Army was still furiously resisting the horde of Nightmare Creatures. By now, all of the monsters had left the coral bridge and descended upon the Sleepers, consumed by the mad desire for human flesh.
There was no distinction between the first and the second line now. All those still alive were engulfed by the bloody chaos of the slaughter, desperately trying to survive in the midst of absolute chaos.
Changing Star was at the center of the terrible bloodshed, shining like a radiant sun. She fought alone, because no one else could survive the devastating pressure that the horde exerted in the zealous attempts to extinguish that light. Any human that tried to approach and help her was immediately torn to pieces.
Indifferent to everything, Nephis moved like a furious deity, eviscerating one abomination after another. All around her, burning corpses littered the ground, their cursed blood boiling and evaporating into the air. Not only was her presence relieving the pressure from the rest of the Sleepers, but they also found strength in it.
As long as Changing Star fought for their salvation, how could they give up? As long as her light was there to banish the darkness, how could they lose hope?
That was why no monster had managed to break through the remnants of the first two lines and reach the archers.
Standing on the slippery surface of the crimson coral, Kai gazed at the terrible scene of the massacre below him, and then raised his face to the sky.
Instead of the sky, however, he saw the dark mass of bleeding corpses carpeting the iron net. His face paled, light disappearing from his eyes.
As the last officer of the Dreamer Army to not engaged in the melee, he was the only one who could see the bigger picture.
He was the only one who knew that the iron net was mere minutes away from breaking.
When it did, the mass of sharp iron wires and all the crushing weight of countless dead monsters was going to fall on the remains of the human formation, spelling their doom.
Someone had to do something…
And that someone was him.
Kai blinked, then closed his eyes for a moment.
'Of course. I am the only one who can.'
Nothing could stop the collapse of the iron net. But the manner in which it collapsed could be controlled. All they had to do was to cut it at a suitable spot, allowing for the mass of dead Nightmare Creatures to fall down without burying the fighting humans beneath it.
And who could cut the iron wires beside a person capable of flying?
The only problem was that once the net was cut… nothing was going to stop the five Spire Messengers from entering through the breach.
He was going to have to lead them away from the battlefield, too.
'...Yes. Yes, this is what I have to do.'
Dismissing his heavy bow, Kai stared at the ground for a few moments. An elegant falcata slowly appeared in his hand.
And then, with an expression of dark resolve appearing on his face, he pushed himself off the crimson coral and flew to the strained iron net.
Chapter 325: Siege of the Crimson Spire (11)
"Argh! Damn it!"
Effie stumbled back and swiped the Zenith Shard in a wide arc, cutting through the bodies of several Nightmare Creatures. With her other hand, she took hold of the oversized translucent tick that bit deep into her thigh and tore it away, losing a chunk of flesh in the process. Before the repulsive creature had time to sever her fingers with its sharp mandibles, she crushed it in her fist.
Feeling hot blood streaming down her leg, she grimaced and unceremoniously wiped the pulverized remains of the tick on the fabric of the Sunlight Shard, then spun to follow the trajectory of her spear.
Effie was tired. So, so tired. She was utterly exhausted.
…But there was no end to the nightmarish horde.
'Can't you all just die, bastards…'
Catching the shaft of the Zenith Shard with both hands once again, she thrust it back and skewered another abomination with its sauroter, then tore the sharp spike away and dashed to the side. A moment later, a terrifying scythe of a carapace centurion sunk into the spot where she had just been. Effie spun the spear and lashed out with it, piercing the chest of the massive creature and killing it on the spot.
As the heavy body fell to the ground and sent tremors through it, she had a second to draw in a pained, raspy breath. Her wounded leg almost buckled.
'Why is no one covering my back…'
Effie looked around to check on the fellow Sleepers who had been fighting by her side, but failed to see anyone.
All around her, there was nothing but the endless mass of Nightmare Creatures.
Everyone was already dead.
…Except for her.
"Ha. Ha-ha. Ha!"
Effie was left alone in the sea of monsters, separated from the remnants of the Dreamer Army by an impenetrable wall of claws and chitin. She only knew that someone was still alive and fighting back there because of the radiant white light that continued to illuminate the vast expanse of the battlefield… of this tomb that they had built for themselves from iron wires and dead Nightmare Creatures.
Not that the light could reach where she stood. Here, there was nothing but darkness.
She didn't have much hope of reaching it, too.
Effie looked at the ground and smiled bitterly.
Then, she raised her head high and stared at the approaching tide of monsters, her eyes sparkling with dark amusement.
"Come then, beasts. Oh, what a feast this will be…"
***
Sunny barely avoided the blade of the coral sword and deflected it to the side with the Midnight Shard. Then, he tried to counterattack, but was forced to jump back with a muffled curse. A sharp stiletto flew past his face, leaving a shallow cut on his cheek.
'Damned abominations!'
Currently, he was facing against three golems at the same time. The Knight, The Slayer, and the Priestess were trying to surround him. They moved with terrifying speed and possessed enough power to obliterate a Sleeper with laughable ease.
Luckily, Sunny was not just any Sleeper. The shadow was wrapped around his body, making him faster and stronger. With its help, he was barely able to hold on and remain alive.
…For now.
Some distance away from him, Saint was facing off against the Stranger, the Builder, and the Hunter. Those three seemed to be even more ferocious than his own opponents, so the Shadow was having a lot of trouble, too.
'That doesn't make any sense…'
Sunny was not surprised that these constructs were far more powerful than him. But Saint was an awakened demon, and one of the most dangerous Nightmare Creatures of her Rank he had ever seen, no less. And yet, she was barely able to remain in one piece.
Good thing that the Lord had yet to join the fight. The seventh golem stood motionlessly some distance away, as though uninterested in the fight.
Because of how fast his enemies were and their numerical advantage, Sunny had to summon the Moonlight Shard as well. Now, he was holding the tachi in one hand and the stiletto in the other. This wasn't what he was used to and made his offense weaker, but allowed him to bolster his defense.
This was one of the reasons why Sunny was still alive.
Suddenly, a blast of light hammered into his eyes, making him stagger and blinding him for a few short moments. In the next second, the Priestess lunged at him. She wielded no weapons, but her coral hands were deadly enough to serve as a pair of them.
Trusting the Shadow Sense, Sunny dodged and brought the Midnight Shard down, hoping to catch the golem. His second hand moved, blocking a strike of the Slayer. Just as before, the impact almost shattered the bones in his wrist and sent Sunny reeling.
He had successfully resisted the attack and bought himself enough time to regain his vision, only to be faced with the furious threat of another assault, this one coming from the Knight.
Saint wasn't having any more luck. Her shield had been caught by the beak of the Builder's war hammer and pulled down, which gave the Hunter an opportunity to thrust his spear into the breach in her defense. At the same time, the Stranger was preparing to attack her from behind.
'This can't go on much longer… think, think!'
Sunny felt as though he was missing some crucial fact about this arduous, lethal fight. He had to solve it before the last golem joined in…
Twisting his body to deflect the incoming strike, he frowned.
…Why had the Lord not attacked?
There was something about it…
Suddenly, Sunny's eyes narrowed.
'Can it be?'
The golems were created in the image of the ancient heroes, and even wielded the same weapons. He had managed to resist his attackers for so long partially because he was intimately acquainted with their armaments.
After all, he held the Midnight and Moonlight Shard in his hands.
If their weapons were the same as his Shard Memories, just made out of crimson coral… was it the same for the Lard?
Did the Crimson Terror create its own equivalent of the Crown of Dawn, and was it currently feeding the seven golems with power?
The Lord was standing alone, seemingly indifferent to the battle that was happening in front of him.
…Just like Nephis sat away from the battlefield at the start of the siege, the gem of the Dawn Shard burning brightly on her forehead.
If the seventh golem was doing to the other six what Changing Star had been doing for the Dreamer Army… then, Sunny still had a chance.
Chapter 326: Siege of the Crimson Spire (12)
Glancing at the graceful figure of Saint, Sunny gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision.
He had no choice but to do it. Too much depended on his success.
A moment later, he feinted an attack and jumped back at the last moment, disengaging from the three menacing coral golems instead. At the same time, he sent the Shadow a mental command.
The taciturn demon froze for a fraction of a second, as though hesitating. But in the end, she did not.
Abandoning the measured cadence of her flawless technique, Saint allowed the spear of the Hunter to strike her in the chest. The force of that vicious attack was so immense that her onyx armor shattered, allowing the tip of the spear to bite deep into her stonelike flesh. Soon, a stream of ruby dust flowed out of the wound, painting the broken cuirass red.
But the Shadow did not pay it any attention. Catching the shaft of the spear with her shield hand, she twisted her torso and flung the towering coral golem away.
And then, she suddenly dashed to the side.
Before the terrible creatures could understand what was happening, she closed the distance and descended upon the three abominations attacking Sunny. Even though her attack was swift unexpected, they managed to react to it at the last moment. The obsidian steel of her dark sword was met by weapons made of crimson coral.
It gave Sunny the second he needed to get past them, nevertheless.
Dodging the hand of the Priestess, he appeared behind the three golems and ran toward the distant figure of the Lord.
Behind him, Saint challenged all six of the golems, tying the down with a ferocious onslaught of attacks. She paid dearly to buy him time, however. Just a second later, another attack got past her defense, leaving a deep crack on the black armor. And then another, and another…
Ruby dust flowed down like blood.
With a terrible grimace contorting his pale face, Sunny rushed to reach the seventh of the Star Sigil guardians.
***
Kai approached the dark mass of broken flesh and groaning iron wires, feeling cold drops of blood fall on his face. Changing the angle of his flight to move parallel to the ground, he clenched his teeth and lashed out with his sword.
The heavy blade of the falcata collided with the iron wires and easily sliced them apart. This net was created from the same thin metal as the webs of iron spiders. As such, it couldn't resist the sharpness of his weapon Memory, which was elevated almost to the Ascended Rank by the miraculous Crown of Dawn.
His hand, however, wasn't as strong. Even with his core brimming with soul essence, Kai was still just a Sleeper. As soon as he struck the net, a sharp pain pierced his wrist.
He screamed, but did not let the sword fall from his hand.
'Almost…'
As a long cut appeared on the net, many corpses fell down through the breach. Kai had chosen the target for his attack carefully, making sure that the rain of dead Nightmare Creatures would fall on the empty stretch of crimson coral between the largely intact line of archers and the remnants of the vanguard, which was embroiled in horrifying melee.
But this was not enough. The number of dropping corpses was too small to relieve the pressure from the crumbling net.
Dashing through the air, Kai made a turn and flew back. A few moments later, he delivered another strike. A second cut appeared on the net, crisscrossing the first one.
With a strange and melodic noise, four triangular sections of the net collapsed, creating a wide funnel through which a flood of bleeding carcasses fell. Even more slowly rolled in the newly formed depression, finally allowing sunlight back onto the battlefield.
And through that breach, he saw the sky once again.
Most of the flying Nightmare Creatures had been slain by the archers, with just a few still trying fruitlessly to break through the net. But high above them, five dark dots still circled in the clouds.
As soon as Kai saw them, a cold shiver ran through his body.
Because it felt as though they saw him, too.
A moment later, the Messengers broke the perfect symmetry of their circle and plunged down.
'No!'
Kai's eyes widened.
Dashing through the breach, he dismissed his Aspect Ability and allowed inertia to pull him down. A moment later, he landed on the carpet of dead monsters and desperately looked for arrows sticking from the bodies.
Tearing one, two, three… five of them from the flesh of the Nightmare Creatures, he simultaneously summoned his bow. He would have gathered more, but there was no more time.
As soon as his bow weaved itself from sparks of light, Kai pushed himself off the carpet of carcasses and shot upward. Then, he looked up.
The five terrifying Spire Messengers were descending upon him, wind whistling through their gruesome black feathers. Hunger and madness were burning in their eyes.
For some reason, it felt as though the heavens themselves were falling on him.
Flying toward the Fallen Monsters, Kai desperately drew his bow and send an arrow in their direction… then two, three, four, and finally five.
At that point, the Messengers were close enough to see every detail of their repulsive pale bodies.
The arrows Kai shot were mundane ones, and thus unable to do much damage to these harrowing abominations.
…Unless aimed perfectly by a master of the bow.
All five struck the base of one of the Messenger's wings, damaging it enough to send the vile creature crashing down, out of control.
Kai dodged to the side, missing the second one by just a few meters.
The third one was now right above him, its beak opening in a gluttonous glee.
That was when Kai made his sixth shot. Only this time, the arrow he sent flying was not mundane at all.
It was the Blood Arrow.
The hideous black Memory streaked through the air and hit the Messenger right in the eye, sinking in so deep that only its fletching remained seen. The terrible monster suddenly convulsed, and then fell down.
The melodious voice of the Spell sang into Kai's ear:
[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Cursed…]
But he had no time to listen to it.
Using the body of the creature he had just killed as a shield, Kai evaded the attack of the fourth Messenger.
But the last one…
The last one suddenly appeared right in front of him, leaving Kai no path to retreat, no hope of saving himself.
It was too late.
The terrifying black beak shot forward.
***
Effie did her best. She really, really did.
But in the end, there was only so much that a person could endure.
After an eternity of refusing to give up, covered in terrible wounds, she made a mistake. It wasn't a mistake, even.
Just the inevitable failure of a body put through too much pain.
After delivering another lethal blow, she tried to dodge an attacking monster, but at the most crucial moment, her mauled leg suddenly buckled.
With a short yell, Effie stumbled and fell to the ground.
The creature didn't give her a chance to stand up again. It jumped atop the huntress, pressing her into the ground. All she had time to do was grab the jaws of the monster to prevent them from closing on her head.
Effie wanted to throw the heavy abomination off her, but a moment later, another jumped on it, its mandibles biting into her shoulder. And then another, and another, and another.
Soon, she was buried under a crushing pile of frenzied Nightmare Creatures, sharp teeth sinking into her flesh.
'Hurts… it hurts so much…'
Effie gritted her teeth, remembering…
What it was like, to see that distant, pure light.
Chapter 327: Sieae of the Crimson Spire (13)
At the last moment, the coral golem moved, disappearing from Sunny's view. A fraction of a second later, it materialized a few steps away, just outside of the Midnight Shard's reach.
'...Bastard!'
It was too late to change the direction of his attack. Pulled forward and down by the inertia, Sunny was forced to finish his downward slash and stumbled, falling to one knee. He found himself in a dangerous position, wide open for an attack and with little ability to maneuver.
The perverse simulacrum of the Lord towered above him, his powerful frame radiating a sense of harrowing strength. On the forehead of the artificial creature, a polished piece of coral shined with intense crimson light.
That light seemed to sap the life from everything it fell upon.
Feeling a sudden weakness permeate his body, Sunny gritted his teeth and dashed to the side. A split second later, the fist of the Lord pierced the air with a cracking sound and shattered the ground, sending a rain of debris flying in every direction.
Twisting his body, Sunny spun and delivered a backhanded blow before his feet even touched the ground. The blade of the tachi scraped against the vambrace of the golem's armor, leaving a dip gash in it.
However, it didn't do a lot of damage.
Landing and sliding back on the coral, Sunny thrust his hand forward and send the Moonlight Shard flying at the golem's face. The creature easily swatted it away with its hand.
By the time it did, however, Sunny was already near, delivering a high thrust with the Midnight Shard. As soon as the Lord moved to deflect the austere blade, he changed the direction of his attack and turned it into a vicious horizontal cut.
Using every last bit of his finesse and prowess, Sunny brought down a rain of strikes on the golem. He was moving with astonishing speed and agility, his attacks and steps seamlessly flowing from one into another. It was as though the whole onslaught was just one fluid, continuous motion.
But no matter how swift and skilled he was, it all turned out to be useless.
The Lord was much faster, stronger, and more powerful. Even though he was temporarily forced to concentrate on nothing but defense, every second that passed spelled doom for Sunny.
Because somewhere behind him, Saint was being slowly destroyed by the six other golems. And as soon as she fell, he was going to die.
"Curse you!"
Pausing for a mere moment, Sunny gave the coral abomination a chance to attack. Its fist shot toward his chest with terrifying speed.
Turning his torso, Sunny avoided the blow and caught the hand of the golem between his body and his arm. This position didn't give him any advantage, because the creature was much stronger than him.
On the contrary, it immobilized one of his hands and forced him to let go of the hilt of the Midnight Sword with the other.
…But it gave Sunny purchase.
The Lord raised his second fist, ready to crush the human's skull with one deadly strike.
***
High in the skies above the battlefield, Kai was just moments away from death. He had wounded one of the Messengers, killed another, and avoided two more.
But the last one was now upon him, and there was no escape.
Time seemed to slow down. With his eyes opened wide in terror, he stared at the swiftly approaching beak of the harrowing creature. No matter how fast Kai was, he knew that this time, he wouldn't be able to evade his end.
If only he had one more second! A fraction of a second, even…
Fully aware that it was hopeless, Kai changed the direction of his flight. Despite it all, he had to at least try.
But it was hopeless.
Until…
At the last moment, something flashed through the air and collided with the black beak of the Messenger, throwing it slightly off course. That gave Kai the fraction of a second he was praying for.
Twisting his body, he allowed the beak to pass mere centimeters away from it, crashed into the side of the Messenger and bounced off of it, then stumbled away through the clouds.
A slender, graceful rapier suddenly appeared by his side and then circled around him, cutting a stray black locust in half. With its pommel facing Kai and its tip aimed at anyone who would dare to attack him, the Quiet Dancer glided through the air, forming a defensive sphere of sharp steel around the young man.
Despite its inanimate nature, the flying rapier somehow managed to convey the feeling of mean, arrogant, and bad-tempered protectiveness.
Staring at the elegant Echo, Kai couldn't help but smile.
'Thank you, Cassie…'
***
On the bloodsoaked battlefield, a small hill of monsters was moving and shifting, every horrifying creature in it lusting to taste the flesh of the person buried beneath.
It seemed as though there was no hope.
But what was hope? Hope was something that Effie had abandoned long ago.
She didn't need it.
All she needed was a roof over her head, delicious food on her plate, and the thrill of the hunt. The indescribable pleasure of being healthy, strong, and living.
With a tiny bit of misguided pride mixed in to spice things up.
He wasn't willing to die yet, not like this, not without giving it one last fight...
Suddenly, a muffled sound resounded from under the hill of monsters. It was a furious growl, full of rage, defiance, and a desperate will to survive. A moment later, the hill shuddered.
And then exploded, bodies of Nightmare Creatures flying away and rolling on the ground.
Straining her muscles to the point where it felt like they were about to explode, and then past that, Effie pushed the incredible weight away with her mighty shoulders and emerged from the seething mass of abominations.
She was still holding the jaws of the first creature to jump on her with her bleeding hands. With a ruthless motion, she tore them apart and threw the broken body aside. Her fist flashed through the air, crushing someone's skull.
Effie had lost the Zenith Shard somewhere, but it didn't matter anymore. With a bestial growl, she spun and fought, killing one monster after another with her bare hands.
She was not going to surrender. She was not going to back down. She was not going to...
After a while, no one was there to attack her anymore. Effie didn't know why.
To be honest, by then, she couldn't see much. Her vision was blurry, and slowly growing dark.
Met with the lack of resistance, she staggered and fell to her knees. She tried to draw in a breath, but something was blocking her throat, and something was wrong with her lungs. She couldn't.
'This... is... the end, I guess...'
Through the blurry dark fog, Effie suddenly saw a radiant figure approach.
She smiled.
'Is that you, Princess? Ah, I hate to admit it… but I… don't… think... I can...'
It was getting hard to form thoughts. Effie sighed, then closed her eyes, ready to give in to the comfort of oblivion.
But then, two cool hands softly touched her face, and purifying white flames rolled through her body, bringing the pain and the agony away.
***
Sunny was entangled with the Lord, the abomination's hand trapped between his arm and his body. The golem didn't seem to care about it that much, however. Instead, it raised his other fist and prepared to deliver the final blow.
Before he had the chance to do so, however, Sunny's empty hand shot forward.
Grabbing the shining piece of crimson coral with his fingers, he strained for a fraction of a second.
And then tore it from the creature's forehead.
The polished gem came out of the coral flesh of the terrible creature, dragging countless red threads with it. Sunny pulled as hard as he could and then twisted his hand, forcing the red strings to snap.
Something cracked inside the menacing Lord's body, and he suddenly staggered.
Without wasting this opportunity, Sunny released the golem's hand, raised the Midnight Shard high above his head, and then delivered a devastating downward slash.
The blade of the tachi collided with the crimson coral and shattered it, turning the towering figure of the Lord into a rain of crumbling shards.
Chapter 328: Siege of the Crimson Spire (14)
Left on the top of the tall mound of crimson coral, Cassie stood alone in the darkness.
Now that the Quiet Dancer had left her side, she was back to her previous self.
Lost.
Weak.
Frightened.
Utterly helpless.
The oppressive nothingness surrounded her from all sides.
But that nothingness was full of sound.
It swelled with the deafening cacophony of the nightmare horde's onslaught. Cassie heard howls, growling, inhuman screams, shrieks, and the scraping of chitin.
She heard the clangor of steel and the sound of flesh being ripped apart.
She also heard countless human voices calling out to any kind of deity that could save them. Full of fury, agony, bravery, fear, resolve, sorrow, strength, helplessness, hope, faith, despair, disbelief.
She heard them dying.
Standing above it all, Cassie shivered. She wanted to press her hands against her ears, but didn't.
…Her terrible vision was coming true.
And she was back to being lost in the darkness.
Just like before. Worse than before. Almost like on that first day in this cursed, forsaken, lightless land.
In this forgotten hell.
Back then, she had found herself stranded on a similar mound of coral. Only what surrounded her was the dark sea and not a horde of Nightmare Creatures.
But Cassie didn't know that. She didn't know where she was, and what was hiding in the boundless darkness. She only knew that she was alone, and helpless.
That she was going to die in that lonesome, cold nothingness.
She had given up. Sitting down on the hard coral, she hugged her knees and tried not to cry. Abandoned and forgotten, she waited for death.
But instead of death, a cold and indifferent voice came out of the darkness:
"...What are you doing?"
That was how she met Nephis, who saved and protected her ever since. Without even asking anything in return, not before, and not after learning of what Cassie's Aspect was able to do.
Just because she wanted to.
Nephis brought her out of the darkness and destroyed the bitter, all-encompassing prison of her loneliness. How was Cassie supposed to ever repay that debt?
And then, she met Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be callous and cruel, but was actually caring and kind.
And then, she had to make a choice.
…And now, she had to live with that choice.
Or die with it...
As Cassie stood, listening to the sounds of slaughter, a sudden gust of wind rustled her beautiful blond hair.
She flinched, and slowly turned to face the wind.
A moment later, her face paled, and her lips moved slightly.
'No!'
Left alone, away from the battle and anyone who could have heard her, Cassie closed her eyes and whispered into the nothingness:
"A storm… there is a storm…"
***
The Dreamer Army became much smaller, but still held on. In fact, it was slowly pushing the horde of the Nightmare Creatures back.
As the line of archers ran out of arrows and ammunition, those who had no suitable Memories to replace them summoned their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling numbers. The Artisans had done the same, abandoning their siege engines and throwing themselves into the crucible of combat.
The nightmare horde, meanwhile, had depleted its seemingly endless reserve of fresh bodies. With no more abominations crossing the bridges of crimson coral and lunging forward to join the massacre, its mass was slowly growing thinner.
With Changing Star serving as the unassailable core of the human formation and rallying fighters around her, with Effie stalling the entire horde to give the rest of the humans time to mend the breaches in their defense lines, for a few minutes, the flow of the battle froze in fragile balance.
The two opposing forces seemed to finally be evenly matched.
All it would have taken for the humans to turn that balance in their favor was one last furious push.
"Come on! Hold strong!"
"Lit yourself on fire!"
"Follow the Immortal Flame!"
As several people yelled, feeling that the fate of this battle was about to be decided, a gust of wind suddenly blew over the battlefield, bringing with it the smell of salt.
The light dimmed slightly.
Looking west, they suddenly stumbled and froze for a few moments. Their faces became as white as snow.
…Behind the Crimson Spire, an impenetrable wall of darkness was slowly devouring the world. It was approaching the battlefield with terrifying speed, numerous bolts of lightning illuminating its furious depths.
A storm was coming.
As it drew closer and closer, the surface of the black water that swirled around the island of the cyclopean tower suddenly trembled.
And then, it began to crawl upward.
First slowly, and then faster and faster, the black whirlpool swelled and moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral meter after a meter, its dark vastness rising and seething.
The cursed sea was coming to devour the Forgotten Shore.
The monsters that guarded the Crimson Spire, however, did not react in the same way as the usual Nightmare Creatures would have.
Instead of scurrying away to find shelter, they howled and shrieked in eerie triumph, and then crashed into the Dreamer Army with renewed fury.
Expressions of terror and despair appeared on people's faces. But there was nowhere to retreat, nowhere to run.
All they could do was stand and fight.
Even when the ground beneath their feet became slippery and slick, covered by a thin film of black water.
Even when the water continued rising.
***
[You have slain an awakened…]
[Your shadow…]
[You have received a…]
Spinning as soon as the remains of the Lord crumbled to the ground, Sunny dashed toward the remaining six golems to reinforce the heavily damaged Saint.
He didn't listen to the Spell, picking up only one piece of information from her words: the coral golems were of the Awakened rank.
…Made sense.
Just as a Fallen Tyrant was not supposed to be able to create minions of the same Rank, a Fallen Terror was most likely not capable of such feat either.
Previously, the coral constructs were fast and powerful enough to make Sunny think that they were Fallen creatures. But it was just the effect of the profane gem burning in the Lord's forehead.
Just like the Dawn Shard was able to elevate Awakened Memories to the boundary of the Ascended rank, so had the Lord enhanced his fellow abominations, bringing their power close to that of the Fallen.
But now that he was destroyed, the augmentation disappeared with him.
Sunny was confident in his ability to finish off six awakened Nightmare Creatures… for the most part.
As he ran, a strong gust of wind suddenly hit him in the back, almost making Sunny stumble.
'What the hell…'
Throwing a glance over his shoulders, he stared at the skies, his eyes widening.
An endless wall of darkness crashed into the Crimson Spire and swallowed it, painting the whole world black.
Stunned, Sunny gritted his teeth and turned away from it, a cold feeling of dread permeating his entire body.
'...Curse it all!'
Chapter 329: Siege of the Crimson Spire (15)
In front of him, Saint was barely holding on to life. Her armor was broken and painted red by the crimson dust that flowed from a dozen terrible wounds. The visor of the helmet was shattered, together with the side of her face. One of her ruby eyes was missing, replaced by a jagged black hole.
As he ran, a vicious blow of the Knight's sword got past the Shadow's defense and bit into her shield arm, severing it at the elbow.
Saint staggered and awkwardly lashed out with her sword. Then, she took a step back and fell heavily to one knee.
The menacing figures of the golems towered above her, approaching to deliver the final blow. The war hammer of the Builder rose, ready to fall down like a herald of destruction. The spear of the Hunter flew forward like a hungry predator.
The Shadow slightly tilted her head and faced her death. Her eerily beautiful alabaster face was calm and indifferent. The weapons of the profane constructs reflected in her one remaining eye, growing larger and larger as they drew closer.
…But in the end, all they managed to pierce was emptiness.
The wounded Saint dissipated into shadows, summoned back into the nurturing black flames of Sunny's core at the last second.
In the next moment, a wall of darkness swallowed the empty space in front of the Crimson Spire, bringing with it pelting rain and hurricane winds.
The storm was now upon them.
The six golems lingered for a few seconds, staring into the raging expanse of the terrifying tempest. They were submerged into its darkness, with only a rare flash of lightning illuminating the world. The wall of rain was so thick that it was almost impossible to see anything through it.
Suddenly, they discerned a hint of a movement to their left and swiftly turned, ready to attack the enemy. However, there was no one there.
A moment later, though, one of them suddenly shuddered, and then crumbled to the ground, its head flying off into the darkness. The flash of the blade that had decapitated it was so swift and unexpected that none of them had time to react.
It also came from the wrong direction.
The golems spun and raised their weapons… but instead of an enemy, all they saw was a heavy kunai appearing from the wall of darkness and hitting one of them in the neck.
The blow was powerful enough to make the golem stagger, but not that dangerous. The wounded abomination simply raised its hand and tore the dagger out of its coral flesh.
As it did, however, the figure of the Slayer that stood behind the rest of the golems suddenly fell to her knees. A moment later, her head slowly slid from her neck and tumbled down, revealing a perfect, smooth cut.
Sunny, who hid in the darkness, bared his teeth in a vicious grin.
'This is my domain, wretches. You are my guests now…'
Two dead, four to go.
Realizing that their enemy was capable of hiding in the shadows and seeing in the dark, the golems changed their tactic. The Knight, the Stranger, and the Hunter shifted to stand in a circle, protecting the Priestess with their bodies.
The Priestess, meanwhile, raised her hands to the skies.
In the next moment, a blinding light shot into every direction from her open palms, revealing Sunny, who had been just a few meters away from them and preparing to launch another attack.
'...Damnation.'
***
On the bloody battlefield, the remains of the Dreamer Army were besieged from all sides. They continued to fight with doomed determination, abandoning all fear and doubt. Even though the black water was already high enough to reach their knees, the humans continued to resist the horde of the frenzied Nightmare Creatures, slaying three for every one of them killed by the terrifying abominations.
Illuminating by the radiant light of Changing Star, not one of them tried to run.
Instead, they stalwartly stood their ground and fought. Some were smiling, and some were even singing.
…As more and more of them fell, forever disappearing under the cold surface of the cursed sea, the black water kept rising.
***
High in the skies above the battlefield, Kai and the Quiet Dancer were flying through the nets of lightning, dodging the attacks of three relentless Spire Messengers. The terrible monsters were infinitely faster and more powerful than the two of them, but had to rely on their wings to propel their massive bodies through the air.
Both Kai and his graceful defender flew thanks to magical abilities, and as such, could maneuver better than the winged abominations. This was the only reason why there were still alive.
As Kai dodged and evaded the onslaught of deadly attacks, he pelted the Messengers with precise shots of his bow. However, none were as lucky as his first one: the black arrow bit into the flesh of the powerful monsters again and again, drinking their blood, but all that achieved was slowing them down a bit.
But he didn't care. He never hoped to defeat the harrowing heralds of the Spire, to begin with. He just wanted to keep them away from the people fighting on the ground…
For as long as he could.
Flying through the storm, struggling against the crushing pressure of the wind and dodging bolts of lightning, Kai gritted his teeth and kept doing just that.
***
…Not pausing even for a second after his position was revealed, Sunny lunged forward and delivered a swift thrust, aiming at the closest golem — the Knight. The creature moved, deflecting the blade of the Midnight Shard with a coral parody of the noble weapon.
Now that the Lord was destroyed, the artificial creatures became considerably less fast and strong. They were no better than carapace scavengers, or maybe centurions…
Barely more powerful than Sunny himself, thanks to the shadow.
However, they were just monsters, while he was something much more deadly.
A kid from the outskirts who spent a whole year fighting for his life in the depths of hell.
He had the skill, the clarity, and the murderous will of a human.
Allowing the Midnight Shard to slide along the blade of his enemy's sword, Sunny made a step forward and raised his hands. The tachi changed its angle and then easily moved past the Knight's defenses, piercing his neck. One twist, and it flew out of the golem's flesh, disintegrating half of his neck in the process.
Continuing the motion, Sunny slammed his fist and the hilt of the Midnight Shard into the golem's face with enough force to break the remaining half.
[You have slain…]
Using the grounded footwork that he had learned in the countless spars with the Shadow Saint, he quickly repositioned himself and blocked the attack of the Hunter's spear. The Stranger was still trying to move past the Priestess to join the fight — Sunny had planned to use this to his advantage from the start.
Before his current opponent could react, Sunny delivered a deadly counterattack, cutting off one of his arms. A moment later, he pulled the tachi back, thrust it forward, piercing the Hunter through the chest, and then pulled it up, cutting the cursed creature apart.
[You have slain an awakened…]
The Priestess lunged forward, wishing to rip him apart with her bare hands, but was suddenly pulled back by the invisible string that had wrapped itself around her neck at some point in the fight.
That was all the time Sunny required.
As pieces of coral fell to the ground, the Spell spoke once again:
[You have…]
With the Priestess dead, the Stranger was left in the darkness once again. He hesitated and raised his shield, looking at the spot where the enemy had been just a second ago and listening to the sound of water through the roaring storm.
However, in the next second, something rustled behind him. The Stranger spun and delivered a wide horizontal slash with his sword, but then paused, staring down.
His sword hand was gone, cut cleanly at the wrist.
Then, something flushed through the rain and streaked across his body. The golem staggered, and then fell down, crumbling into halves as it fell.
Breathing heavily, Sunny lowered the Midnight Shard and looked at the six piles of crimson coral that were disappearing beneath the black water in front of him. Then, he spat.
"Who told you that you can hurt my Shadow, bastards?"
Turning around, he saw a bolt of lightning hit the gargantuan gates of the Crimson Spire. Arcs of electricity danced on its stone surface and then dissipated, leaving a ghostly afterglow in their wake.
Only the shapes of the seven stars continued to shine, as though full of energy.
Clutching his burning chest, Sunny looked at the black water that was already up to his knees and headed toward the Spire.
Chapter 330: siege of the Crimson Spire (16)
As the Dreamer Army was drowning in the rising waters of the cursed sea and the insatiable tide of monsters, Sunny approached the crimson tower.
Far away from the rest of them, completely alone, submerged in roaring darkness, he struggled against the seething mass of black waves and the hurricane winds to cross the last few meters that separated him from the shining star sigil engraved into its gates.
Finally, his hand touched the cold surface of the ancient stone. Wiping the rainwater off his pale face, Sunny stared at the radiant shapes of the seven stars.
'This better work…'
Summoning the first of the Oauth Keys, he lingered for a moment, and then carefully inserted it into the black chasm of the keyhole.
***
Separated from him by the vast expanse of the swelling sea of darkness, the surviving Sleepers desperately fought the advancing horde of monsters. The black water had already reached their waists, making it hard to move. The army was trying to retreat up the slope of the crimson coral, but the pursuing sea was much faster than them.
Changing Star was still slaying one monster after another, her radiance only growing brighter in the tenebrous hell of the furious storm. Raindrops were evaporating as they touched her brilliant skin, its incandescence making even arching bolts of lightning seem pale and bleak.
…Suddenly, an almost imperceptible ripple ran across the surface of the black water. A gust of cold wind blew over the Forgotten Shore, sending a shiver running through the hearts of countless creatures.
***
Moving on to the next star, Sunny summoned the second key and put it into the lock. Nothing terrible happened, so he struggled through the water to reach the third one.
'Terrible… what would that even look like? What can be more terrible than my current situation?'
As if to answer his question, somewhere behind him, a black tentacle suddenly rose out of the seething waves and blindly whipped through the air. Crashing into a mount of coral, it easily shattered it. A rain of debris fell into the water.
Just a moment later, countless others followed the first one.
Noticing this new development through the eyes of his shadow, Sunny cursed.
'Me and my big damn mouth!'
Luckily, the tentacles were some distance away, somewhere near the remains of the seven golems he had slain. But as the sea rose, they started slowly moving in his direction.
Hurriedly inserting the third key, Sunny dashed to the fourth star. Another Oath Key slid into its lock.
The water was now even higher, forcing him to struggle against its weight. A strong gust of wind hit Sunny in the back, almost causing him to crash headfirst into the stone gates.
As he put the fifth key into the keyhole, the tentacles were already alarmingly close.
'Curse it all!'
Sunny inserted the sixth Oath Key into the lock and dove into the black water, swimming toward the last one.
Just a few moments before the mass of twisting tentacles descended on him, he found the last shining star and drove the seventh key into its center.
Suddenly, the world shuddered.
***
The whole Forgotten Shore trembled.
Out on the battlefield, the surviving humans froze for a second, startled by the sudden change that rippled through the world.
The furious onslaught of the wind died down. The torrential flood of rain stopped. The continuous, deafening roar of the thunderstrikes grew quiet.
The terrible storm seemed to have ended as suddenly as it had appeared, dissipating into nothingness like a fragile mirage.
Even the Nightmare Creatures attacking them stumbled and paused for a moment, staring at the sky.
…And then, the dark veil of clouds was broken by a blindingly bright ray of sunlight.
As soon as it happened, the restless black water stopped rising, and then flowed in reverse.
The cursed sea was retreating.
***
"Crap!"
As soon as Sunny put the last Oath Key into the seventh lock, the whole Crimson Spire shuddered. An indescribable sound came from its depths, echoing through the darkness of the storm like a heavy, mournful sigh.
And then, the gargantuan gates opened. The giant slabs of ancient stone moved for the first time in thousands of years…
…The problem was, the gates opened outward, slamming into Sunny and dragging him through the mass of black water with terrible speed. The unexpected blow threw him off his feet and almost caused him to drown. Not to mention the fact that it hurt like hell.
The opening gate brought him away from the damned tentacles, at least.
After a while, Sunny was thrown onto the slope of a tall coral mound. Coughing a few times, he tiredly crawled a few meters up, then fell on the rough surface of the coral and turned around.
What Sunny saw made him blink, then open his eyes wide and stare in disbelief.
The dark sea was being sucked into the Spire.
The black water was flowing in reverse, rushing into the enormous doorway. The twisting tentacles and the harrowing creature they belonged to were carried away by that current, disappearing into that blackness, too.
The strange thing was, the amount of water entering the Crimson Spire was much larger than what should have been possible. Sunny expected to see it fill the cyclopean tower, but instead, it simply flowed inside and seemed to… disappeared.
As if swallowed by the Spire and banished into the depths of the earth.
Just a few moments later, the lever of the dark sea began to fall.
The storm died down, and the impenetrable veil of clouds was torn apart, allowing sunlight to illuminate the world once again.
And in a few minutes…
The cursed sea was no more.
Sunny stared at the clear surface of the crimson coral, which had been covered by the black waves not too long ago.
The bottomless dark ocean was gone without a trace. Even the black whirlpool that had surrounded the island was not there anymore, revealing a deep, uneven, empty semblance of a moat.
Then, Sunny stared at the sky, where a furious white sun was hovering right above the tip of the Crimson Spire.
A stunned thought entered his mind…
'Did we… did we do it?'
...Did he actually destroy the dark sea?