The pre-dawn light was a bruise-colored smear on the horizon when Blaze began his morning ritual. He stood at the edge of the circular stone platform, his hands cupped as if holding a fragile rotating hellfire. He was trying to replicate the Hellfire Rasengan, but with a higher degree of stability.
Focus on the rotation, he told himself, drawing on memories of the training steps from the stories of his old world. Since I don't have a water balloon to practice with, I have to hold the image of the swirling core in my mind. One layer spinning clockwise, another counter-directional...
A spark of fire flickered in his bone palm, spiraling violently before dissipating with a sharp hiss. He gritted his teeth and started again. Nearby, the rhythmic clashing of wood and steel signaled that Sunny was back at his grueling swordsmanship drills under Nephis's watchful, unforgiving eyes.
The peaceful monotony of training was shattered by a piercing scream.
Blaze spun around. Cassie was stumbling toward the edge of the platform, her face a mask of pure horror. Her blonde hair was a tangled mess, and her hands were clawing at the air as if trying to find a wall that didn't exist. She was inches away from the two-hundred-meter plunge into the churning, dark waters below.
In a blur of motion, Blaze surged across the stone and caught her just as her heel slipped over the precipice. He pulled her back into the center of the platform, pinning her arms gently but firmly to her sides to keep her from thrashing.
"I've got her!" Blaze called out to Sunny and Nephis, who had frozen in mid-spar.
He slid to the ground, pulling the trembling girl into a tight embrace. He could feel her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. "I've got you, Cass. It's alright. You're safe. Everything is fine... breathe with me."
He began to stroke her hair, his voice dropping into a low, melodic hum. To soothe her shattered nerves, he began to sing Binks Booze
(For those who dont know,it is from One Piece)
"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho..."
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks's brew... Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide..."
As he sang, Sunny and Nephis stood by, drawn in by the rhythmic melody. Slowly, the rigidity left Cassie's body. Her gasping breaths leveled out, and she leaned her forehead against Blaze's chest, the shivering subsiding into a dull tremble.
By the time Blaze reached the final verses, the platform was silent. He looked down at her pale face. "Cass? Are you back with us?"
Cassie nodded weakly. "Much... better. Thank you, Blaze."
He released her, giving her space to breathe. Sunny approached, looking awkward as he wiped sweat from his brow. "Can I have some water?"
Cassie blinked, looking confused for a second before gasping. "Oh! Oh, sorry. Yes, of course..." She handed him the bottomless bottle. Sunny drank deeply before handing it back to her, then reached out and gave her a clumsy, well-meaning pat on the shoulder.
"Everything seems to be fine now," Sunny muttered. "Uh... did you dream of another vision? You can tell us. If you want."
*****
Cassie hesitated, her fingers white-knuckled around the bottle. "I... I don't know. Maybe it was just a nightmare."
"It's okay," Blaze said, his voice encouraging. "Tell us what you saw."
Cassie took a shaky breath. "At first, I saw a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals. Something vast was churning in that dark. I felt that if I looked at it directly, my mind would simply cease to exist. As I watched, the seals broke one by one... until the last one shattered."
She shuddered. "After that, my mind felt like it broke into a thousand shards. Most were dark. I've already forgotten them. But the others..."
She looked up, her sightless eyes wide with a terror that seemed to bridge the gap between worlds. "I saw the human castle again, but it was night. There was a lonely star burning in the black sky, and above it... a massive, different Fire. It felt ominous, ancient, and powerful. Something darker. The castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls but it suddenly vanished."
Sunny's face went pale, but Cassie wasn't finished.
"In front of a throne stood a Dragon,it emit a roar where my Collapsed,Its presence was so chaotic that I feared my brain would melt. I saw a corpse in golden armor on a throne; a woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monsters; an archer trying to pierce the falling sky."
She swallowed hard. "In the end, I saw a terrifying crimson spire. At its base, seven severed heads guarded seven locks. And at the top... a dying angel was being consumed by hungry shadows. When I saw the angel bleed, I felt like something precious—something that can't be described—was being stolen from the world. Then, I felt so much sorrow and rage that I woke up."
The silence on the platform was deafening. Blaze's mind was racing. 'The Angel and the Shadows... that part aligns with what I know. But a Dragon? Where did a Dragon come from? And a fire above the star... that has to be me. What the hell did I do in that vision?'
Sunny sighed, trying to break the tension. "Maybe it really was just a nightmare, Cass. Your other visions were clearer, right? Perhaps this is just a side effect of being in the Dream Realm."
The relief on Cassie's face was palpable. "You really think so?"
"Why not?" Sunny lied smoothly. "It's a possibility."
********
A few hours later, the group sat on the western edge of the stone platform. Below them, the Scavengers were finishing their feast on the giant shark-like carcass.
"Were there always that many?" Nephis asked, her eyes narrowed.
Sunny checked his shadow. "No. They've converged. The meat is almost gone. By tomorrow, they'll be roaming the labyrinth again, hungry and looking for fresh prey."
The situation was grim. Moving now meant navigating without a scouted path, but staying meant being surrounded by a starving horde.
"I don't want Cassie spending another night here," Nephis said firmly. "Let's leave."
"Same here," Blaze agreed.
As Sunny opened his mouth to weigh in, a sudden commotion erupted below. The shark carcass—stripped almost to the bone—revealed something shimmering in the mud. Two massive, luminescent crystals.
Sunny's eyes widened. "Are those..."
"Yes," Nephis whispered. "Shards of two Transcendent Soul Cores."
"Should we—" Sunny started, his greed momentarily overriding his caution.
"Wait," Blaze interrupted, his hand dropping to his sword.
"Wait and listen," Nephis added.
From the depths of the labyrinth, two massive shadows elongated across the coral. Two creatures stepped out, and Sunny felt a cold sweat run down his spine. They looked like Scavengers, but they were monstrous evolutions—towering over three meters tall, their carapaces a deep, blood-soaked scarlet and black. Vicious spikes erupted from their joints, and instead of pincers, their arms ended in long, curved bone scythes.
The lesser Scavengers shrieked and scrambled out of the way. Those who weren't fast enough were casually bisected by the bone scythes, their azure blood painting the mud.
"What the hell are those?" Sunny hissed.
"Monsters," Nephis said flatly.
"Might be Carapace Centurions," Blaze guessed, his eyes tracking their movements. "The next class up from the ones we killed."
The two monsters reached the carcass, picked up the Transcendent shards, and simply turned around, carrying the treasures back into the dark maze.
Sunny blinked, his voice trembling slightly. "Do we... do we still leave now?"
Blaze shook his head. "No. We stay here for today and leave tomorrow. We don't want to run into those things in a narrow passage."
Nephis turned her gaze toward the retreating giants. "Sunny... get your shadow to follow them. I want to know where they're taking those shards."
======================
Guess the Dragon,It is easy.