Sitting on the cold stone floor, Sunny inhaled deeply and looked at the people that surrounded him.
All of them were exhausted, wounded, covered in blood, dirt, barely staying conscious. Their armor was broken and torn, and their faces were deathly pale. They sat on the ground, too tired to move or talk, breathing heavily, and stared down with empty eyes.
There were so few of them left…
But also much more than he had expected.
Around two hundred Sleepers out of a thousand had survived the battle of the Crimson Spire. They were the strongest, the bravest… but mostly, the luckiest warriors of the Dreamer Army. Four-fifths of it had been eviscerated in the slaughter.
Not to mention another two hundred or so that had died during the march and tension with the host.
This two hundred was all that remained of more than a thousand humans that had been surviving on the Forgotten Shore before Changing Star had arrived in the Dark City like a brilliant omen of disaster. Like a herald of ruinous change.
But Sunny was appalled and horrified as much as he was surprised and elated. He had honestly thought that the number of people who would make it this far was going to be in the single digits.
...Looking around, he searched for familiar faces.
Nephis and Cassie were there, of course. So was Kai. Effie was slumped against a wall, dressed only in her white chiton, which was now torn and painted completely red with blood. Her armor seemed to have been completely destroyed.
Caster was also there, bandaging a shallow wound on his shoulder. Compared to other survivors, he seemed strangely clean. However, his armor was seriously damaged, too. It seemed that even incredible speed had not been enough to avoid the fury of the nightmare horde.
Seishan stood slightly apart from the rest of them, surrounded by a dozen surviving Handmaidens. The beautiful woman was heavily injured, the luster of her skin and sparkling eyes growing bleak and dim. From what Sunny could see, she was barely alive.
He also noticed Aiko, who was sitting on the floor, wiping tears off her delicate face.
But there were also many people whom he did not see.
The scarred hunter who had welcomed them into the outer settlement after their long expedition was dead. So was Park, his nonchalant friend who had been responsible for turning Effie into a folk hero with his tales.
The talkative watchmen who had asked Sunny about his opinion on who could have killed Harus were now dead, too. So was the young man who had thought that talking to Sunny was a headache.
Stev, the ample giant that had been in charge of the Memory Market during Night Lord's reign, did not make. Perhaps this was why Aiko, his friend, was now silently shedding tears.
Even Gemma, Marvin, the Librarian, the dauntless leaders of the Night Lord ord legion had perished. Out of three hundred Night lord legion members more than half had died. Only around one hundred thirty members left.
Sunny did not know what could have killed these formidable captains, but suspected that their last hunt had been a truly terrifying sight to behold.
Among the captais only Tessai, Gunlaug, Harus, Talos, Izanami, Seishan and Sevatar was alive.
Most of them surrounding the broken figure of the Night Lord. Sunny shivered thinking what could have done this terrible number to this man. He is one of the two strongest sleeper in the Forgotten Shore after all.
And so, so many more were dead.
Their absence pressed down on survivors like an unseen weight.
But those who survived had no time for sorrow, at least not now. They weren't free of this nightmare yet.
In fact, there had just entered the very belly of the beast.
***
Turning away from the hundred Sleepers, Sunny looked into the depths of the Crimson Spire.
Once, the entire tower must have been hollow, but now there were growths of coral everywhere inside. They resembled frozen waterfalls of blood, as if rivers of it had once streamed from the top of the Spire and then suddenly turned solid. Because of that, it was hard to see what hid in the depths of the cyclopic construct. Further away, the interior of the tower was shrouded in the cold darkness.
Lingering for a few moments, Sunny decided not to send his shadow to explore. The Crimson Terror had already proven its ability to hurt the it, so he was unwilling to risk the well-being of his invaluable helper.
Instead, he glanced at Neph.
Changing Star was peering into the growing brightness that drowned the Forgotten Shore. By now, the light of day outside was almost blinding. On her face, there was a strangely thoughtful expression.
As Sunny watched, she turned around and raised her head, looking in the direction of the Spire's tip.
After a while, she frowned, and then faced the surviving humans. Her calm voice echoed in the darkness of the ancient tower:
"It's time to go. Gather your strength. We are almost there!"
The Sleepers and Night lords looked at her with tired eyes, the light of hope igniting in them with renewed strength. Slowly, they rose to their feet. Those who were relatively fine supported those who were seriously wounded. Those who had lost consciousness were being carried by their friends or fellow warriors.
Soon, the procession of humans headed deeper into the Spire. Nephis was walking at the front, holding Cassie by the hand. Somehow, Sunny ended up side by side with them.
Looking at the two young women, he wanted to say something, but no words came to his mind. Instead, Neph was the one who spoke.
Glancing at Sunny, she hesitated for a while, and then said:
"Thank you. For ringing that bell. And… for everything."
He looked at her for a long time, and then shrugged.
"There's no need to thank me. We are allies. Are we not?"
She smiled slightly and remained silent after that.
Soon, they passed through the barrier of coral and approached the center of the Spire.
There, the dark sea was imprisoned under an indomitable seal.
In front of them was a vast pool of black water. Its surface was perfectly still and flat, like that of a harrowing mirror made from pure darkness. Although the water was opaque and no one could see how far down that gargantuan well went, Sunny felt as though it was unimaginably deep. He felt that it reached such depths that mere thought of light would be impossible there.
As they watched in solemn silence, a subtle ripple spread across the surface of the imprisoned sea. It was as though it was straining to spill over the edges of the pool and break free. However, the invisible powers that held it down were too mighty to overcome, even for this vast, boundless, inconceivable creature.
Turning away from the eerie black mirror, Sunny peered into the darkness and frowned.
Hidden in the shadows, far away from the light of human lanterns, countless figures were standing motionlessly, staring at them.
At first, Sunny wanted to shout to warn everyone, but after observing the silent figures for a few moments, he changed his mind.
Hidden in darkness, countless coral golems were staring mindlessly into the distance. They were very similar to the creatures he had fought to get to the Star Sigil, but also different.
Because they weren't copies of ancient heroes… just that of mundane people.
As such, they wouldn't be too dangerous. A single Sleeper could fight dozens with ease, let alone the experienced, powerful warriors of the Dreamer Army. More than that, the golems did not seem to be hostile.
Some of them stood motionlessly, while some aimlessly wandered about. These sad, empty things were even more lifeless than Echoes. He felt that they weren't really creatures, even. Just… physical manifestations of the Crimson Terror's madness, perhaps. A representation of its broken psyche and scattered thoughts.
He was sure that each of these golems represented one of the souls that had been sacrificed to the artificial sun and had once flowed through its vessel, becoming a part of it. Forever.
…There were thousands of them, and even more had to be hidden somewhere out of sight.
Lingering for a bit, Sunny informed Nephis of his discovery. She frowned and glanced into the darkness, then nodded.
"We will be careful."
Now that they had a better understanding of the ground level of the Crimson Spire, it became clear that the Gateway was not on it. To find it, the remains of the Dreamer Army were going to have to ascend higher.
There were no stairs or lifting mechanisms in sight, but luckily, many of the twisting coral pillars were wide enough for several people to walk on them, and not as steep as to make things too difficult. The Sleepers could use them to easily reach the next level.
…However, as soon as Sunny stepped forward, Neph suddenly pulled him back and shouted:
"Everyone, back!"
Just a moment later, a wide ray of blinding light fell from somewhere above and swiped across the interior of the Crimson Spire, annihilating the tranquil darkness.
It didn't take a genius to realize that the ray was imbued with the same soul-destroying property as the deadly beams of sunlight outside… only this one seemed much more powerful.
It was also different. Although its movements were erratic and strange, they were unmistakably aimed at the exhausted mass of human invaders and full of intent.
"Hide in the shadows!"
Swiftly, the Sleepers dove behind growths of coral and pressed themselves against them. A few unfortunate ones lingered for too long and were exposed to the light. They didn't scream or struggle, just fell down to the ground, their lives extinguished in a split moment.
The rest froze, consumed by tense fear.
Sunny found himself leaning against a slightly inclined pillar of coral, Nepth and Cassie by his side. Carefully looking out, he saw the deadly beam of light grow dim and dissipate. A moment later, however, several more fell from above, tearing the darkness apart.
But that was not all.
Guided by the light, the mass of coral golems suddenly surged forward, moving toward the place where the Dreamer Army was hiding. Their movements, which were aimless and mindless before, were now full of malevolent will.
'...Crap.'
Turning to Nephis, he summoned the Midnight Shard and asked:
"What now?"
She lingered for a bit, and then said evenly:
"Someone will have to attack the Crimson Terror directly to draw its attention away."
Sunny smiled, feeling a strong sense of deja vu.
"And who might that be?"
Changing Star sighed and took a step back, summoning her silver sword.
"...Me. The Night Lord is out commission. It has to be me."
He frowned, feeling very reluctant to say his next words. But in the end, he still couldn't help but say them:
"Are you crazy? That's a Fallen Terror we're talking about!"
Nephis didn't answer, instead looking up, as though trying to discern the source of the blinding rays of annihilating light.
Sunny gritted his teeth and added:
"Alright, whatever. Say someone really needs to distract that thing. But why does it have to be you alone? Because you are the great daughter of the Immortal Flame clan? Don't tell me that you started to believe in your own bullcrap!"
Neph gave him a strange look and then shook her head.
"No. It can only be me because of my sword."
Sunny stared at the silver longsword, confused. A lifetime ago, after their first meeting on the Forgotten Shore, Nephis and Cassie had told him about their Memories. The sword in particular had an extremely rare enhancement…
"I am the only human on the Forgotten Shore who has a Memory that grants them a measure of protection against soul attacks. So I am the only one who can approach the Terror and survive."
It was hard to debate against logic. Still, Sunny was not done voicing his objections… only that Changing Star didn't give him a chance to.
Turning to Cassie, she took the blind girl by the hand and said:
"Cas. Give me your wing cloak."
A few seconds later, the transparent fabric of the Dark Wing appeared on her shoulder. Without wasting any time, she then looked at Sevatar.
"Once I'm gone, lead the people to the Gateway. Make sure that everyone escapes."
With that, Nephis bent her knees, and then jumped with all her might. Supported by the enchanted cloak, she shot up with considerable speed, then pushed herself off the pillar of coral and flew into the darkness.
The ray of light swiped in her direction, but Changing Star somehow managed to dodge it, crashed into another coral growth, and launched herself off of it a moment before another annihilating beam of light had reached it.
With most rays now pursuing Nephis as she leaped from one coral pillar to another, ascending higher and higher, the Dreamer Army could once again move.
Sevatar rallied the sleepers and yelled:
"Follow me!"