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 shock troopers, 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 took the position of Diablo. 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, Izanami gazed at the terrible scene of the massacre below him, and then raised her face to the sky.
Instead of the sky, however, she saw the dark mass of bleeding corpses carpeting the iron net.
As the last officer of the Dreamer Army to not engaged in the melee, she was the only one who could see the bigger picture.
She and Kai were 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 cut the net...
And that someone was Kai. Izanami gestured.
Kai blinked, then closed his eyes for a moment.
'Of course. I will do it."'
Nothing could stop the collapse of the iron net. But the manner in which it collapsed could be controlled. They had planned for this after all.
Now, 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.
Kai was going to have to lead them away from the battlefield, too.
'...Yes. Yes, this is what I have to do.'
"Don't think too much. I have your back. We will kill the spire messengers together after." Izanami consoled.
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.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.
Suddenly, their malevolent eyes became vacant for a few moments... Only for few moments. But that was enough.
Flying toward the Fallen Monsters, Kai 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 opened 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.
Suddenly a deadly javelin shoot up form below and logged in to neck of the spire messenger. And the quite dancer hit the beak of the Spire Messenger, making it's trajectory divert.
As the massive bodies of the fallen monsters plummeted from the sky, Izanami heard the voice of the spell announcing the kill.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster...]
"Two down. Three more to go." Izanami muttered.
"Two more to go." Izanami muttered as she saw the first one landing on the part of the net where the eighth company was. The spire messenger broke through the iron net and landed amongst their formation.