Four Sleepers moved through the bowels of the labyrinth. From a distance, they almost looked formidable.
At their head jogged a young woman with silver hair, clad in armour of flawless steel, elegant in its design and undeniably radiant. She moved with calm purpose, as if taking a stroll in this place was only natural.
Close behind her followed a pale young man, he was short and pretty unassuming. Dressed in armour fashioned from graphite-grey fabrics and muted grey accents. His onyx eyes seemed focused and weary, that was because he was sending mental commands to his shadow, who was scouting the path ahead for them.
Together, the two formed a striking contrast. A knight of blinding radiance and in her shadow - a dark squire.
Trailing them was a massive crab-like beast.
It was the Echo of the Carapace Scavenger Sunny had slain in their previous fight.
The Echo was promptly named "Scavy."
And sat atop the beast was Cassie and Yoru.
Cassie used the golden rope as reins to ride the scavenger whilst Yoru was slumped in her lap, steadily recovering from essence exhaustion.
"This is the worst…" Yoru groaned, feeling lethargic and weak.
'...Pretty nice view though.'
"Quit whining. You have no one else to blame but yourself."
Sunny's voice carried back from the front. Even while jogging, he found the energy to scold Yoru.
'Tch! Whatever...'
The remark stung all the more because Sunny was right.
It would have been smarter for Yoru to wait till they had established a camp and then tested the wish, but he had been too eager.
Still, the expenditure hadn't been as disastrous as he'd first feared.
Copying the effect of Nephis' dormant ability had healed Cassie, but it had also drained most of his meagre essence. Fortunately, not all of it. He could still summon Memories, which meant things could have gone much worse.
Now the group was still trekking towards the designated hill but that skirmish of theirs had eaten into a lot of their time.
With Scavy added to their ranks, however, their pace increased dramatically.
From time to time, they had to take detours to avoid fighting groups of carapace monsters. However, with a monster of their own by their side, the mood and mental state of the four Sleepers was much better.
It also gave Yoru the chance to mull some things over.
Dormant Aspect abilities usually didn't take a lot of essence to use, it was such a minuscule amount that it could be outpaced by an awakened's natural regeneration of essence.
Yoru's ability was the same. To summon a spear it consumed a negligible amount, but the tether the wish formed with his Miracle core was unstable, resulting in short cooldown of sorts.
But when it came to projecting the dormant ability of another, it seemed his natural regeneration couldn't keep up with it. Which was regrettable, but perhaps in the future, when his essence became more potent and he had more cores, this projection ability of his would be more viable.
He then turned his thoughts to the battle he had not too long ago.
Specifically, the aftermath - and why his Flaw hadn't triggered after killing the scavenger.
The answer was simple.
That fight hadn't been all that great.
Or at least he didn't believe it to be.
Yes, defeating a creature a whole rank above him was absurd by any reasonable standard. But to Yoru, it hadn't felt impossible.
It was just something very unlikely.
He thought that his flaw couldn't be avoided, that it was inevitable. But his battle today had proved otherwise.
This put a smile on his tired face.
'Life isn't so bad after all.'
That was when the usually quiet Cassie suddenly barked an order.
"Stop!"
'Eh?'
The group slowed immediately, tension snapping back into place. They exchanged uneasy looks, all of them sharing the same creeping premonition.
"What is it?"
The blind girl let go of the reins.
"Do you hear anything?"
They looked at each other, then shook their heads.
"No. Why?"
Cassie scowled.
"Help me get off this thing."
After they helped her, she stood motionless for a while, listening. Her scowl deepened. Then the blind girl cautiously kneeled and put her ear to the ground.
"What do you hear?"
Cassie licked her lips.
"It's murmuring."
Suddenly, a drop of water fell on Sunny's face. He raised his head and looked at the sky.
There, dark stormy clouds were gathering with unnatural speed. Pretty soon, they were bound to cover it completely.
Including the sun.
And when that happened…
His eyes widened.
***
Heavy drops of rain were falling on the ground all around them. Strong winds were howling between the coral blades, sending bits of mud and seaweed flying. Storm clouds had gathered in the sky, dimming the sunlight, and drowning the labyrinth in a cold twilight.
'This is crazy!'
Without the urgent care to avoid scavengers, the groups pace was extraordinary.
There was barely any resistance from the scavengers as well, since they too were panicking, burrowing into coral mounds and scrambling for shelter from the sudden storm.
The one or two that did oppose them were easily dissuaded by the flash of a sword, or Scavy clicking his mighty pincers.
Their desperate sprint against death continued. By the time they had reached the base of the hill the water had risen past even the thighs of his allies on the ground.
A crushing torrent of black water was rampaging through the crimson forest. Some distance away, a tardy scavenger was caught by it and thrown against the coral walls. The unbreakable carapace of the mighty creature cracked and burst open like a rotten egg.
Yoru swallowed hard.
Sunny shouted something to Nephis, urgency written into every movement. Nephis grabbed Sunny's arm and pointed back towards the Echo.
'Right...'
Understanding Nephis' intentions immediately, Yoru helped Cassie down, his hands clumsy but steady. Sunny quickly dismissed the Echo, its massive body dissolving back into his Soul Sea as the water surged closer.
Nephis lowered herself and allowed Cassie to climb onto her back, the golden rope securing them together. Rain plastered silver hair to Nephis' face as she turned and seized the wet cliff wall.
Sunny cast a brief, tense glance at Yoru before beginning the ascent himself.
Yoru clenched his teeth.
He couldn't use the wish to ascend since its elevation was much too slow to outpace the rising sea and he didn't even have enough essence to support all three of them.
'Bloodydamn...' Yoru thought regrettably, as he to began to ascend the cliff surface.
His fingers burned as they scraped against slick stone. The roar of water below grew deafening.
"Brace!" Sunny screamed.
The torrent hit.
The cliff shuddered violently beneath them. Yoru slammed himself against the stone, teeth clenched, as the impact sent vibrations tearing through his arms. Rocks broke loose above, crashing down past him into the churning darkness below.
Yet they all still held, somehow.
But the water kept rising.
It clawed upward with horrifying speed, black and relentless. It reached his waist, then his torso - its current tugging him with brutal force.
He climbed faster, frantically searching for holds as his body screamed in protest. The rain blinded him and the wind battered him. Every muscle felt like it was tearing itself apart at the exertion.
But the sea was merciless. It did not care.
When the water surged high enough to drag at his shoulders, Yoru felt his grip falter. His fingers slipped against slick stone.
'No-!'
...In the last second, a golden rope fell into the water beside him. Shaken, Yoru grabbed onto it and held with all his strength. The rope drew tight and lifted him out of the water. His feet touched the cliff wall again.
Not wasting any time, he resumed climbing with the help of the rope. Finally, a strong hand grabbed him from above and dragged his body over the edge of the cliff.
He collapsed onto stone next to Sunny, rain hammering down as he lay there gasping for breath.
Nephis lay nearby, her chest heaving and still gripping the rope. Cassie sat a short distance away, soaked and shaking but alive.
They had actually survived.
Yoru was relieved.
They outran the hellish storm and the escaped the clutches of that dark sea, but he knew exactly what would happen next...
Or maybe he didn't.
After all, this storm was supposed to happen yesterday. So, perhaps the centurion that was waiting for them had already gone on its way.
'Things really haven't been making much sense recently.'
Like how Nephis wasn't supposed to receive the Starlight Legion Armour from some random scavenger!
But Yoru was far too exhausted to think about it any longer.
'Having more than two near-death experiences in a single day shouldn't be my life, damn it. Just let me rest…'
With that thought, a terrible premonition crawled up his spine.
He desperately tried to convince himself it was nothing.
"Well done surviving that guys! Though I had no doubt we would. After all, with me here, your survival was basically guaranteed. I am the most miraculous-!"
[Bear Your Tragedy]
"Damn it!!"
His fears had come true.
"Shhh," Urged Sunny, who despite his exhaustion, rolled and stood on his feet.
Nephis turned her head and looked at him.
"What is it?"
Sunny grimaced.
"I don't know yet. Something feels wrong."
Knowing the events that were about to transpire, Yoru groaned and summoned the Savage Lie.
'Let's get this over and done with.'
***
'I really, really don't like this.'
Sunny had quickly found out why he was getting such a strange ominous feeling. It was because the hill in which they took salvation on, was actually not a safe-haven whatsoever.
In fact, It had been used as shelter for eight individual scavengers who were all long dead, slaughtered by an even bigger more menacing threat - An awakened monster.
After sharing this information with the group, a long argument over whether they should face the monster or not ensued. An argument in which Sunny lost.
Of course, he knew that there was truly no better option. It was either face the monster now, aided by the element of surprise, or stand against it in the morning and be cut down ruthlessly.
Knowing that did absolutely nothing to soothe his frustrations.
'It's "just" an awakened monster, she says… as if that's the most normal thing in the world!'
Sunny grit his teeth.
'That girl is completely mad. And that narcissist isn't any better.'
Sunny was a fool to think that Yoru was of the same mind as him. Ever since they met Nephis and Cassie, Yoru never questioned what Nephis wanted to do, he went along with everything happily, no questions asked.
Like an obedient little mutt… Sunny found it revolting.
But after a couple moments of brooding, he blinked.
'Hang on… am I any better?'
Sure, he complained. He argued. Whenever something sounded insane - which happened quite often around Changing Star - he made sure everyone knew exactly how he felt about it.
But in the end…
He still followed her.
'Bu- but it's different because at least I-'
Sunny froze mid-thought.
"...Ah. Damnation."
It didn't matter whether he argued or protested.
The end result was always the same.
This realisation made Sunny all the more frustrated with the situation.
Now, he was standing on top of the rocky ridge, looking down at the deadly monster.
Even from this distance, Sunny could tell it was far larger than any of the scavengers they had fought so far. Its bulky body was covered in thick, jagged plates of chitin, each one black and crimson like ancient armor soaked in dried blood.
Spikes jutted from its back in uneven rows, long and vicious, giving the monster a silhouette that looked more like a walking fortress than a living creature.
But the most terrifying feature was its arms.
Where the scavengers possessed heavy pincers, this abomination had something far worse.
From the joints of its limbs extended two enormous bone scythes.
They were long, curved, and wickedly sharp - pale blades that gleamed faintly in the dim light of the stormy sky. Each one looked large enough to cleave a scavenger clean in half with a single swing.
Sunny swallowed. The shadow was wrapped around his body, enhancing his physical abilities. Their plan was pretty solid and had a high chance of working.
Nephis absorbed all the fragments they had received from today's kills, as well as the eight dead scavengers on the hill.
So in total, she had consumed eleven shards which was equivalent to twenty two dormant creatures. While not tremendous, it was still a significant boost in physical abilitiy. Her body, had become stronger, faster, enhanced in every way.
They were going to need every bit of that strength to survive.
With a sigh, Sunny raised his hand and summoned the silver bell.
Then, he lightly shook it, causing the clear melodic ringing to resound amidst the storm.
Immediately, the monster below moved, turning its massive torso around and looking for the source of the sudden noise. As he saw Sunny, a mad crimson flame ignited in its eyes.
However, Sunny did not see any of this, because he was already facing the other way. As soon as the bell rang, he turned around and jumped down from the ridge without a second of hesitation.
The ridge wasn't very tall, but there was still a considerable distance to the ground. Sunny hit the rocks hard and rolled, trying to disperse the force of the impact. As soon as he got back to his feet, he ran, trying to get as far away as possible.
A moment later, the ridge exploded behind his back. The monster simply crashed into it with its hulking body, breaking through the layers of rocks as though they were paper. Simultaneously, there was a flash of lightning and a thunderclap, drowning the loud rumble of the falling debris.
The creature locked onto retreating Sunny and lunged forward, trying to pierce his body with one of its scythes. Shards of rock were flowing like a torrent from its spiked carapace.
Luckily, Sunny was already far enough. Without slowing down, he lowered his body, ran for several more meters, and then turned around.
The picture of the monster, who was more than three meters tall, rushing at him like a speeding train was enough to make any person falter. However, Sunny stood his ground, raising the Azure Blade above his head.
After all, he was the bait.
Half a dozen meters away from him, the monster finally reached their trap.
Almost unnoticeable in the darkness and the pouring rain, the golden rope was strung between two massive boulders at the height of the creature's leg joints. Earlier, Sunny had lowered his body to run beneath it.
Overwhelmed by bloodlust, the monster did not notice the tautly drawn rope and ran into it at full speed. If it was a normal rope, it would, without a doubt, immediately snap. However, the golden rope was a Memory, and being incredibly sturdy was one of its attributes.
The rocks it was tied to, unfortunately, were quite mundane. They shattered almost immediately.
But the damage was already done.
With its front legs suddenly jerked backward, the scythe slayer lost its balance and crashed into the ground face-first, sliding forward on wet stone and leaving behind a shallow trench. Sunny jumped away.
The monster was unperturbed. Almost immediately, two bone scythes pierced the ground, jerking its massive body to a stop. In the next moment, unexpectedly swift and nimble for its size, it was already beginning to rise.
If it was allowed to stand up, their fates would be sealed.
Fortunately, Sunny's Echo was faster.
The moment the monster fell, it stopped pretending to be one of the dead scavengers, got up and dashed forward. Just as their enemy was about to rise, it jumped on its carapace from behind, pinning the creature down with its weight, and locked its pincers on the creature's arms just beneath the point where the bone scythes began.
Despite the fact that the Echo was wounded by the spikes growing from the monster's carapace, it succeeded in immobilizing it, at least for a second.
A second was enough.
As though out of nowhere, Nephis, who was lying in ambush, appeared in front of the monster. Darting between its terrifying scythes, she leaned forward and delivered a devastating thrust with her longsword, putting her whole weight behind it.
They didn't know if the awakened monster had the same weak spot on its back as its lesser relatives, the scavengers, had.
However, there was no reason to assume that there was no gap between its carapace and torso armour. It was a mechanical issue.
Anything that had to be flexible could not be too rigid.
The tip of Changing Star's sword plunged into the narrow gap. Then, the sword disappeared into the monster's body, penetrating so deep that its hilt ended up brushing against the chitin.
'Hell yes!' Sunny thought, triumphant.
However, in the next second, his expression dimmed.
Because the creature didn't even seem to notice the wound that was supposed to be if not fatal, then at least heavily debilitating. Straining its body a little, it suddenly twisted, throwing the Echo off its carapace, and rose to its feet. The bone scythes scraped against the rock as it pulled them out from the ground.
Defenceless, Nephis was right in front of it, her sword still stuck in the monster's flesh.
'Oh no!'
Sunny was too far away to do anything, circling around the massive creature to attack it from behind. The Echo was on the ground, still reeling from being thrown off the enemy's back. It didn't seem like it could help either.
For the moment, Changing Star was on her own.
But then, a sudden wail tore through the sky.
The sound was unlike anything Sunny had ever heard. It wasn't the roar of a beast or the shriek of some monstrous predator.
It sounded like the sirens he would hear when a nightmare gate opened nearby in the waking world.
A long, haunting cry that rose and fell like a voice echoing through a drowned cathedral. The sound cut straight through the roaring wind and crashing waves, sending a cold spike of dread down his spine.
It even gave the Monster pause, who stopped just short of cleaving Nephis in two.
Sunny suddenly felt a new shadow enter the range of his shadow sense. Whatever it was, it moved with tremendous speed, so much so that he couldn't even register its shape by the time it had breached the surface of the dark sea and emerged into the open air.
The creature rose into the air, ascending higher and higher. For a moment it was nothing more than a vast silhouette writhing in the darkness.
Then lightning tore across the sky.
Sunny's breath caught in his throat.
And the creature was revealed.
A grotesque mass of pale, slick flesh twisted in the air like some nightmarish serpent dragged up from the deepest trenches of the ocean. Long ridges ran along its back like jagged blades, and rows of massive fins or limbs unfurled along its sides, thrashing violently as it climbed higher into the storm.
And its eyes…
Dozens of them.
Small, glassy spheres scattered across its skull, reflecting the lightning like drops of black oil.
Somewhere along the abominations back... rested two feathered onyx wings.
Sunny's eyes widened.
'What the hell is that thing!'