Effie roasted a chunk of monster-meat on an open fire, whistling loudly. She was most likely out of tune, if Kai's expression on the others side of the fire was anything to go by - but that didn't dissuade her. Quite the opposite.
The monster she was eating had been one of the few remaining ones in the city. Nephis, Gunlaug and other powerhouses — herself included — had done a good job of pursing the place from abominations. In fact, the food situation of the dreamer camp was becoming increasingly problematic by day. Not that it mattered — they were going to leave tomorrow, anyway.
It had been two weeks since Nephis and Sunny had went and slain that corrupted creature… a feat that Effie couldn't quite believe even after everything that'd happened. A monster so vile it should have given most masters a pause had been gone just like that, even if it had required some serious explosive work from Nephis.
Time-travelers sure were scary.
Sunny was becoming quite scary as well, Effie noted. He was often sparring with Nephis, developing his skills further. By now Effie felt that she would stand no chance if they ever were to fight. It hurt a little to admit that, even to herself. Sunny was a complete newbie after all.
But mostly it felt good. To have such strong people on their side was a boon that couldn't be overestimated.
"Say, Kai… " Effie started. "Do you think princess and Doofus were actually lovers before?"
"Huh?" Kai startled. "Before… she came back, you mean?"
"What else would I mean, stupid?"
"Oh, they definitely were", Kai said. "Remember my Flaw?"
"Then", Effie continued, just now coming to the crux of the matter, "do you think they will be together again? Despite the age gap and stuff? If you ask me, Sunny is just the kind of — "
"Please", Kai interrupted, "I… don't think I want to hear what you're about to say."
"Don't you think it's an interesting question?" Effie said thoughtfully.
"I think it's not for us to discuss."
What a killjoy... How did he even become famous? By smiling prettily?
"Should we discuss Cassie instead?" Effie asked with a deceptively light tone. "That was something I really didn't expect — well, at first. After that you were kinda obvious, though. If it was anyone other than Cassie, they would have surely seen it coming… "
"That was not funny."
Effie just laughed loudly. Then she cursed.
"It's charred! I burnt that damned meatball!"
*******
It had been a productive two weeks, but mostly it had been two weeks of waiting. Sunny had participated in some hunts and seen firsthand the might of Gunlaug and his transcendent echo. He had also honed his battle style against Nephis and, occasionally, Effie, and watched how the artisans slowly built the necessary siege equipment.
But really, he had waited the whole time for this moment.
Sunny was currently under the Dark Cathedral, in the first of the underground chambers behind the secret door. In the middle of the room was the well and spiraling staircase which led to the chamber of Weaver's Mask.
This was an ideal place, for no one would willingly come here... for whatever reason. If Sunny had to guess, it was probably because they were creeped out. But really, they had no problems sleeping directly in the line of sight of the strange door. If there was some kind of monster hiding, they would have been done for days ago!
Exhaling deeply, Sunny summoned the Saint.
She was now taller than before. Whereas she had started out around the same height as Sunny himself, now she stood almost a head above him. That would have irritated Sunny in normal circumstances, but now he was mostly jubilant.
Saint's presence had grown and changed. She had cold aura around her, an aura that curiously reminded Sunny of Master Jet. Saint's skin and armor seemed to be darker as well, like lightless depths of the Underworld. The surface was smoother and seemed much more durable than before. And behind Saint… there seemed to be something, something enigmatic that Sunny could not quite perceive. It was like a cloak of impenetrable darkness flickering in and out of existence.
Grinning, Sunny took a look at her runes.
Saint was now an Awakened Tyrant. That alone felt startling.
Even though Sunny had now defeated many mightier opponents, he still remembered how terrified and powerless he had been in front of the Mountain King, in his First Nightmare. The creature had seemed inevitable, inescepable and impossibly powerful. The only thought in his mind had been that of an escape, and even then he had had little hope that he could succeed.
To have an Awakened Tyrant serving him now... that really put his journey into perspective. He had come a long way.
If he encountered Mountain King now, it would be the one escaping hopelessly.
Sunny bathed in the warmth of his accomplishments for some time, but then continued his survey. Some of Saint's runes remained same as before — [Stalwart], [Battle Master] and so on. But there were also two new additions.
[Mantle of Darkness] and [Guard of the Underworld].
Sunny's eyes gleamed with greed as he studied the runes.
Ability: [Mantle of Darkness].
Ability Description: [Darkness embraces this Shadow. When surrounded by darkness, and true darkness more so, her swiftness and might will increase. Her wounds will be healed, and her heart will grow fuller.]
It was a great ability, as far as Sunny was concerned. He often fought surrounded by darkness, after all — or shadows, to be precise. Still, the [Mantle of Darkness] wasn't going to be terribly effective in the upcoming battle against the forces of the Crimson Spire.
There was also the other ability, [Guard of the Underworld]…
Ability Description: [This Shadow is an authority among the Darkness. She can both subjugate creatures of Darkness or absorb them, increasing her might.]
That, in turn, sounded awfully potent. It was also in line with Saint's new Class, Tyrant… But Sunny had no idea what exactly the new ability did. There wasn't many creatures of True Darkness to serve Saint at the moment. However, she had indeed absorbed a flood of True Darkness while killing the dark creature of the castle.
"Could you activate that new Ability of yours?" Sunny asked politely.
Saint tilted her head — and in the next moment, everything became black.
Sunny managed to catch a glimpse of what happened, though — the space behind Saint, where the air seemed to undulate faintly, seemed to break and open a door to somewhere else — a vast and chillingly cold place where no light reached. From that space came a flood of darkness, embracing Saint and spreading like a pair of wings. There were sharp shapes and contours moving behind the veil of darkness, much like the weapons their adversary had created in the castle.
Sunny could not help but feel a bit frightened as a cold breeze blew over him, making his eyes water. He also could not help but smile.
That smile was a bit forced, but also a bit ominous.
… Now he was ready.
*******
Gunlaug's world was coming undone around him.
He was currently standing at the gates of the Cathedral, clad in his infamous armor. Everyone who saw him would shrink back in fear and quickly turn their gaze somewhere else. Behind him were his trusted lieutenants, Gemma and Teshai.
Well — trusted might have been bit of a stretch. One did not rule a place like Forgotten Shore without a healthy doze of paranoia. Gunlaug had no illusions about what went on in the head of his minions, especially Teshai's. The man was quite ambitious and didn't like to be told what to do, however hard he tried to mask that tendency. If Gunlaug had been weaker… if he had not been as careful as he was… Teshai or someone else would have betrayed him long ago and taken his place.
Of course, such a thing had been unthinkable up until the last few months. Gunlaug struggled to realize when everything had started to go wrong.
As soon as the threat of Immortal Flame's princess appeared, Gunlaug had tried to crush her. The force that had ambushed her in her room was a strong one. It had not even crossed his mind that they could fail.
The trap had not only ended in failure, though. He had also lost Harus, his most powerful fighter, in the process. That snake, Han Li Caster, had perished as well.
It was only recently that Gunlaug had started to realize a cruel fact: he had never even stood a chance.
In the world of the Nightmare Spell, there was always a stronger foe, a more terrifying monster, waiting to destroy you — that was an inevitable fact. Only this time that monster had not been a Nightmare Creature. She did not seem much like a human, either, to be honest… And when that truth was made to clear to him, Gunlaug did what any sane person had to do; what his own minions had had to do.
He bowed.
It was surprisingly easy, in the end… perhaps because, despite his burning hatred toward the abominable girl, he had felt hope for the first time in years.
How frustrating…
When Gunlaug stepped down from the Cathedral's steps, many pairs of eyes were looking at him. He felt a morbid satisfaction for the fact that they still feared him, at least, even if they feared Changing Star much more. He also felt strange melancholy. This would be every one of their's last day in the Dark City.
"Dreamers of the Dark City!" he bellowed, and his voice rang out much more dominant than he had anticipated. "Today we march to war!"
Changing Star was standing in front of the barricade, her own followers standing beside her. After Gunlaug's declaration, she raised her sword high, flames gnawing on the bright steel. In the next second, a cloud of them rolled towards the barricade. Changing Star's face remained blank, but her eyes shined like two bright stars. Her lips moved, forming a strange word that Gunlaug had never heard before. The word slipped out of his mind as soon as it came, but it left behind a bloody feeling of destruction and murder.
The barricade exploded.
The army started to march. First Changing Star and her cohort: that little devil in his black armor, huntress Athena, Nightingale and a harmless-looking blind girl. Then came Seishan with her handmaidens and after them, the bulk of the army: Gunlaug's own hunters and pathfinders, artisans with their siege engines and even a couple of echoes.
Gunlaug himself was the last to leave the safety of the barricade, feeling a long and dark chapter of his life coming to its end.
He didn't look back.
*******
They left the Dark City behind. Nephis kept a steady but brisk pace, not wanting to exhaust her army, but nevertheless eager to get to the next part of the plan.
They had around two hundred sleepers — entirely too small of a number. However, these were the strongest and deadliest sleepers the Dream Realm had to offer. They had been tested by continuous battle against the horrors of the Dark City and were armed to the teeth. Their resolve and skill were both admirable.
Of course, it wouldn't be enough.
As Gunlaug had said before, the army of the Crimson Spire was entirely too vast to be defeated by them. The sleepers were not only soundly outnumbered, but also weaker than most of the abominations they'd have to fight. As such, the survival of the army depended entirely on two factors.
Firstly, it depended on how long Nephis could stall the horde of monsters as an awakened. She was their strongest fighter by far, so she had to serve as a vanguard and brake the tide of nightmare creatures. Secondly, and more importantly, their success depended on how long it would take Sunny to seal the Dark Sea. With him already capable of generating essence, with the first step of the Shadow Dance firmly on his mind, and with Saint… it shouldn't be long, unless Fate had something really unpleasant in store for them.
They camped on the tallest coral pillars or islands above the water and resumed their journey on the morrow. The road was as harrowing as one would expect, but with Nephis's cohort, Seishan and Gunlaug taking the brunt of attacks, only three sleepers lost their lives during the march. Nephis still felt that loss keenly — it was wasteful, it was futile, and it was frustrating.
After seven days, they reached the battlefield.
Crimson Spire rose to the sky ahead of them like a bloodied spear, just as massive as Nephis remembered — or even more so. That cursed place had haunted her nightmares for a long time; it was good to have a chance to destroy it once more.
Around the red tower, a deep ring of dark water waited. Few coral bridges reached from one side to the other, connecting the island to the rest of the Forgotten Shore. On the island, hundreds of abominations sprawled: carapace scavengers, monsters and demons, carnivorous worms, corpses with red flowers growing out of their bodies, and many others.
Sensing the approaching army, the nightmare creatures moved.
First, the movement was slow. Then it gradually became more frantic, more purposeful, as more and more abominations caught the scent of the human souls coming from the other side of the dark waters. There was a cacophony of growls, roars and other, indescribable sounds coming from the massive horde as it rushed to the bridge.
The humans were visibly disturbed by the sight.
Nephis was standing in front of their formation. The battlefield they had decided on gave them a slight advantage due to the high ground, and so she could clearly see the flood of monsters coming for them.
"Do not despair", Nephis reminded the people behind her, turning so that she could monitor both the humans and monsters at the same time. "Remember the plan."
Their formation consisted of three lines. The first two lines were compised of the deadliest melee fighters, those with powerful offensive abilities or memories. Then came a row of archers and other ranged fighters and, behind them, artisans, healers and people who would be of little use in direct combat. Cassie was there as well.
From above, the formation resembled a giant cemicircle.
In front of them all was Nephis.
"Archers! At my command!"
Kai was hovering above the formation, looking very stressed about his newfound responsibility. Because of his vantage point and excellent marksmanship, he was the best person to command the archers - even if he himself wasn't quite convinced about his abilities.
"Now!"
A barrage of arrows, enchanted and mundane, as well as different kinds of mystical projectiles, rose to the sky. In the next second they fell in the sea of nightmare creatures, reaping many lives in the process. However, all their effort didn't so much as slow the abominations down.
That was Nephis's job.
With a clear focus and chilling intent, she activated her awakened ability. A familiar pain struck her like a hammer, but at this point it was nothing to her. She smiled faintly as the rolling waves of fire approached the tide of monsters and collided with it.
A lithany of howls and tortured cries rose to the air. Dozens of monsters were burnt to the death and charred to the bone. The rest caught fire as well, becoming even more crazed. Some even turned on their companions, biting and clawing at them in frenzy.
Nephis herself stepped froward and brandished her sword.
"Stand and fight!"
Let's see… I might have another core by the end of this day…