For a few minutes, no one said anything. The rain pounded their bodies fiercely; every now and then, a lightning bolt illuminated the darkness. Ash set Cassie down on the ground after removing the rope that bound them.
Ash looked around but couldn't see anything. The darkness was profound, the wind and rain limiting his vision to just a few meters ahead.
After a few minutes, Nephis asked something he barely heard.
Ash watched as a lightning bolt illuminated the sky, revealing the other side of the area where they were. He saw eight scavengers lying on the ground, motionless.
Ash said nothing. After a brief exchange of few words, Sunny stood up and ventured into the shadows of the cliff.
A couple of minutes passed in silence until they heard footsteps. Ash looked and noticed the boy had returned.
"What's happening?" Ash asked, though he already knew the situation.
"There are eight scavengers around us. But they're all dead. The killer is one of those big monsters we saw—the one with the crimson pattern on its shell and scythes instead of pincers. It's hiding from the storm under a rocky ledge not far from here."
A lightning bolt illuminated the entire space, allowing each to see the other's expressions. A strange look—perhaps greed? Or something else—shone on Changing Star's face.
A look of nervousness was on Cassie's expression.
A tense one on Sunny's, and a calm expression was on Ash's.
"An Awakened Monster," said Nephis.
"Yes. So, what do we do?"
"Kill it." Was Changing Star's simple response.
"Are you crazy?" Sunny immediately asked.
"I mean... have you thought about this? How are we supposed to kill that monstrosity?"
Nephis breathed slowly, her face becoming one full of decision and firmness.
"It's not a matter of thinking about it. We simply have no other choice."
Sunny looked at Ash, trying to get help to convince her it was madness.
"I agree with Nephis, Sunny. We can't leave this cliff until sunrise, and the monster can't either. If the sun comes out, it will inevitably see us and could easily kill us, losing our only advantage. If we're going to fight, why leave it for later? Why not attack it now?"
Sunny shook his head.
"That still doesn't explain how we're going to kill it. That thing took out eight scavengers like it was nothing. They're not even its opposition. We don't even know its weaknesses."
"It's just an Awakened Monster," Nephis said calmly.
Provoking an incredulous look from Sunny.
"What do you mean, 'just' an Awakened Monster? Have you forgotten that the four of us are only Sleepers? The fact that we can reliably kill scavengers is already abnormal."
"But we are abnormal."
Sunny didn't know what to say.
"You, Ash, and I aren't exactly normal Sleepers, right? Don't try to deny it. A normal person couldn't survive in this place."
'Well, she has a point,' Ash thought inwardly, silently observing the exchange between those two.
Ash looked at the sky; another lightning bolt.
'I don't like storms.'
...
Preparations happened quickly. The four formed a plan to kill the shell centurion as fast as possible.
Using rudimentary traps.
Ash had given the seven soul fragments he got from killing the scavengers, plus the eight Sunny took from the corpses, totaling fifteen soul fragments which Changing Star had consumed to strengthen herself.
After a while, Nephis finished absorbing the soul essence, looked at Sunny, and asked:
"Are you ready?"
The boy shrugged.
"As ready as I can be."
Nephis nodded and looked at Ash, who nodded without saying anything, then looked at the blind girl who tried to put on a brave face.
"Go and kill that thing," said Cassia.
Nephis smiled slightly, then turned.
"Let's go."
A few minutes later, Ash was near some rocks where the monster would be lured. His job was to drop the rocks along with the Echo he had obtained. Once it was pinned down, they would have to cut off its main method of attack—the scythes.
At that moment, he and Nephis would attack the monster, and Sunny would deliver the finishing blow.
Hearing the sound of a bell, he prepared.
After a few seconds, he saw Sunny jump over the rope, but the monster didn't. Immediately, the rocks fell onto the hard chitin, breaking apart. Without hesitation, he summoned his Echo, which jumped onto the Awakened Monster.
The Echo suffered damage from the monster's shell spines.
Ash jumped toward the monster. Noticing him, it swung its scythe to cut him in two. Ash swung his sword, stopping the monster's attack for an instant. But that was all he needed.
Nephis landed on the centurion's torso, sinking her sword where its supposed weak point would be.
The tip of the sword penetrated the hard chitin, its blade sinking so deeply that only the hilt remained, but nothing happened.
The monster shook itself, sending the Echo to the side. The monster stood up, its scythes ready to cut Changing Star.
Without hesitation, Ash lunged forward, swinging his sword. He felt something hard—it was like trying to cut a thick log with an axe.
The Awakened Monster's soul was strong, stronger than an Awakened Beast's soul. However, its will was weaker than Ash's, and so he wounded its soul, making the monster let out a loud shriek.
Nephis, without hesitation, left the monster's attack area an instant later.
The monster turned, focusing on Ash, who was the greatest threat to its insignificant bestial intelligence.
Ash watched as the monster moved its scythe at high speed, forcing him to defend himself. Using his sword, knowing that blocking was useless, he decided to redirect the force of the impact.
Upon receiving the attack, his feet left the ground as he was sent flying against a wall, leaving cracks.
The monster moved immediately but stopped because Sunny had attacked one of its articulated legs.
The monster moved its scythe, hitting Sunny and sending him like a battering ram to the other end.
Ash shook his head. The Misty Mantle had withstood the attack, preventing serious damage. Instead, the blow left him slightly dazed, but he recovered when the monster turned in his direction, its eyes glowing with intense crimson in the darkness.
'Hey, stupid Echo, ram it,' he mentally ordered.
Almost immediately, the Echo, upon receiving the mental order, lunged forward, ramming the Awakened Monster with all its strength and fury.
The Echo began an intense fight against the monster and was quickly losing ground.
Ash, now recovering, ran against the monster, landing a second and third attack rapidly, considerably damaging his enemy's soul, which weakened it.
However, he knew he would need more than ten blows to kill it, and time simply wasn't enough.
If he were an Awakened and had a stronger weapon, killing an Awakened Monster would be much easier.
The monster let out a shriek of fury and rage, cutting off one of the Echo's pincers and throwing it far away. Its shell showed cracks from the pincer impacts.
Ash landed two more blows on the monster before moving away, feeling his hair stand on end.
As he jumped back, a lightning bolt struck the monster directly, attracted by the sword embedded in its body acting as a lightning rod.
Threads of smoke rose from the monster's cracks as millions of volts of electricity coursed through its body.
Once the lightning ended, the monster shook itself, looking at Ash with murderous intent full of madness, fury, and rage.
The monster swung its scythe with all its might. Ash raised his sword, which was cut in half, and along with it, the tip of the scythe impacted his armor, sending him flying, making him hit the rock wall again.
A wave of pain coursed through his entire body.
At that moment, Nephis grabbed the hilt of her sword. Changing Star twisted her weapon and, with all her herculean strength, tore off a considerable part of the black chitin.
The monster attacked with its scythe, but Changing Star, with a quick and precise movement, cut off the monster's limb.
Letting out a shriek, the monster pushed Nephis away with its remaining scythe. Thanks to the armor she had exchanged with Cassie and its fortitude enchantment, the attack only sent her flying a few meters without serious damage to her body.
The monster lunged at Nephis to kill her when the Echo returned, full of wild fury and vengeance, using its remaining pincer, which it plunged deeply into the monster's flesh.
With a shriek, the Echo tore the monster's torso from its shell, killing it.
After casting a proud look at its destroyed enemy, the Echo fell to the ground.
Ash dismissed the Echo, letting it recover in his sea of souls.
Ash heard the Spell's voice in his mind.
[You have killed an Awakened Monster: Shell Centurion]
[You have received a Memory]
[Your soul grows stronger.]
'Ha. I win,' Ash thought, aching.
The three of them, in their own ways, were a mess. The one in the best condition was Changing Star, who approached Sunny to heal him with her flames.
Ash watched as Nephis used her flames, suffering from being burned alive.
The spectacle only lasted a few seconds.
After the light show, the great Changing Star—the one who would be the queen of humanity—staggered and then emptied the contents of her stomach.
'Well, I didn't expect that.'
Ash finally moved, feeling his body scream in pain from the direct blows he had received.
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
Ash watched as his Fang of Mist—that sword that had helped him in his battles—dissipated into bright sparks.
'It was a pleasure fighting by your side,' he thought with some sadness.
Ash walked toward Sunny, trying to give a smile, but it was only a small, cold smile.
"Hey, can you stand up?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I think I can walk," Sunny responded, accepting Ash's hand to get up from the ground.
Then Ash looked at Nephis, who was lying on the ground, exhausted from using her Aspect.
Without saying anything, he lifted her and placed her on his back. Nephis didn't even have the strength to walk, so she resigned herself to being carried by someone else.
When Ash and Sunny returned, they saw Cassie worried. After confirming they were alive, the four stayed together. After the rain ended, they all huddled together, falling asleep instantly while the shadow kept watch.
Early the next morning, Ash took the centurion's meat as well as the two soul cores.
Ash lit the campfire and, after washing the blue blood from the meat, prepared it. Due to the smell, the remaining three woke from their sleep and had a hearty breakfast.
After filling their stomachs, Ash simply sat at the edge of the cliff, bored, observing the coral.
The sun was high, and there were no signs of another storm soon. They would rest a few more days before continuing their advance west.
Their next objective was the bone cemetery, where the soul-devouring tree would be, as well as the shell demon.
Ash thought about the soul-devouring tree and sensed that it was still a great distance away—perhaps one or two weeks of travel if they maintained a steady pace and nothing happened like today.
Ash yawned, then used his ability, sensing Sunny and Nephis were to the west, apparently chatting. It's not like he really cared.
He had noticed the looks they gave each other. Although at this point it wasn't so obvious, to him it was clear that both were beginning to feel that spark that humans call symptoms of falling in love.
Thinking about love gave him mixed feelings. He had loved his mother, who was the most important person before she died. He had no siblings or even remembered his father's face.
As he recalled, his mother had told him he died in a workplace accident due to negligence by a major company, giving them a considerable amount of money.
Ash pushed those thoughts from his mind. He had no time to remember the past, especially when he was focused on surviving.
Soul Fragments: [138/1000]
Ash dismissed his runes before checking the new memory he had obtained.
Memory: [Sword of the Seven]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Level: II
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [Born from the darkness of the world, the seven brave ones made an oath to return light to the cursed land. Time erased their names and their faces. But on this cursed shore, only the steel remembers.]
Enchantments: [Keen] [Blood Sacrifice]
[Keen] Enchantment Description: [This sword is always sharp, and its edge never dulls.]
[Blood Sacrifice] Enchantment Description: [The more blood spilled by this sword, the stronger and faster the user becomes, even healing their wounds.]
Ash blinked reading the two enchantments.
This was undoubtedly unexpected. In exchange for losing his beloved sword, he obtained a much stronger and more useful one just when he needed it.
Ash didn't hesitate to summon his new Memory.
He watched as sparks of light wove together, and a second later, he held a long sword.
The blade was black as night, completely straight, about 115cm long, ending in a sharp point. At the base of the blade was a white engraving of a star, and ascending from it were six other similar white stars. The weapon's grip was about twenty-five centimeters long, and its guard was golden.
Overall, his new weapon looked cool, though it was heavier than his previous one.
"I like it," Ash murmured, dismissing the Memory. Then he looked in the direction of the blind girl.