Shadow Slave

Things were turning from dire to desperate for the Dreamer Army. The first line was almost gone, and the second was now completely engulfed by the horde of Nightmare Creatures. Seishan was still standing her ground, but just barely.

The archers under Kai's command were doing their best to eviscerate as many monsters as they could, but with their attention split between those on the ground and those diving at the iron net from above, the results weren't as devastating as they had been during the initial stage of the battle.

They were running out of arrows and ammunition, too. The siege engines were slowly disintegrating under the pressure of so many consecutive shots. The people were tired.

…And the iron net itself looked as though it was going to break soon. It was covered with a carpet of dead Nightmare Creatures, submerging the battlefield into dim twilight. With every minute, that twilight was turning darker and darker.

The human formation seemed to be balancing on the very edge of collapse.

It was at that moment that Nephis, who had been calmly meditating through all of that, suddenly opened her eyes.

In them, two blinding white flames were burning. Her pale face became illuminated by this radiance, like that of a merciless celestial creature.

Turning to Sunny, she remained silent for a moment, and then said:

"It's time."

He sighed.

Indeed, it was time for the two of them to enter the fray and play their roles.

As Neph stood up and summoned her sword, he flexed his shoulders and stretched his neck. The Midnight Shard, however, remained hidden in the depths of the Shadow Core.

Sunny glanced at Cassie, hesitated for a few seconds, and then smiled.

"Hey, Cas. I'll… see you on the other side, I guess."

She lingered for a bit, then nodded slowly and turned away.

'...Don't die.'

He sighed.

"That's my cue, I guess."

Together, he and Nephis walked over to the edge of the coral mound and jumped down, leaving the blind girl standing alone on its top.

Softly landing on the ground, Sunny waved to Neph and said in an even tone:

"I'll go first. Good luck."

With that, he turned in the direction of the battlefield and inhaled deeply.

In front of him, the desperately fighting Dreamer Army was intertwined with the nightmare horde in the darkness cast by the groaning net of iron wires.

The whole battlefield had turned into a realm of blood, death… and shadow. The more corpses piled on the net, the deeper and darker the shadows became.

This was Sunny's territory now.

Stepping into the darkness, he suddenly became almost invisible. The shadows embraced him as one of their own, hiding his figure and movements. Veiled in their embrace, he steeled his will and dashed toward the battlefield.

Moving forward, Sunny ran past the tent of the makeshift hospital where a group of people was supposed to be desperately trying to save those lucky few who had managed to receive a non-lethal wound.

Right now, however, the tent was partially toppled and engulfed in chaos. One of the flying Nightmare Creatures had somehow managed to squeeze under the net and was now wreaking havoc inside of it, its black body pierced by several arrows, but still full of deadly power.

Sunny moved past it without looking back.

Stepping through the deepest, darkest shadows, he ran past the line of siege engines and noticed the small figure of Aiko helping an exhausted Artisan load one last spear into position. The steel lance was clearly too heavy for the delicate girl, but she was pushing it up with stubborn determination.

Then, he was between the rows of archers. These people were continuing to fire, desperately trying to find clear spots between the numerous corpses piled on top of the trembling iron net. He saw Kai looking around with a lost look on his face.

Sunny wanted to stop and reassure his friend, but couldn't.

Sliding between these people without being noticed, he left the third line and dashed toward the second.

Here, his task of remaining unseen became much harder.

The second line had lost almost all pretense of order, but remained unbroken. With the warriors under Effie's command still taking the brunt of the horde and withstanding its pressure, Seishan had managed to prevent any abominations from reaching the archers.

…At least for now.

Dodging the defending humans and the attacking monsters, Sunny entered the crucible of battle. He wasn't here to fight, however. His goal was still ahead.

Moving unseen, he evaded several vicious skirmishes. Somewhere along the way, he noticed Seishan herself.

The beautiful woman was fighting with darkly fascinating grace. The Sunlight Shard rose and fell, guided by her slender hand. The amount of power delivered by these strikes, however, was nothing short of terrifying.

Every time the war hammer stroke, a Nightmare Creature was broken apart, with bits of chiting, bone, and streams of blood flying into the air.

It was still not enough, though. After another blow, a menacing figure of a carapace scavenger suddenly grasped the Memory in its powerful pincer and tore it away from Seishan's hand. In the next moment, a subtle change happened to the body of the graceful Handmaiden.

It seemed as though she grew taller, her limbs elongating, her spine twisting. Her smooth grey skin became like that of a shark, and her eyes rolled back, revealing a second pair of pupils, these ones vertical and surrounded by a sea of red.

Seishan's jaw unhinged, revealing several rows of terrible fangs. Dashing forward, she easily broke the carapace of the Nightmare Creature with her bare fist. A fraction of a second later, her jaws closed on the joint of the pincer, piercing the chitin, and tore the entire limb apart.

Leaving that disturbing scene behind, Sunny moved into another layer of shadows and ran toward the first line.

There, the mass of abominations and surviving humans was almost impenetrable. And yet, he had to pierce it.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sunny dove into the sea of Nightmare Creatures.

Moving between the endless horde of monsters like a dancer, he dodged and avoided their chaotically moving bodies, keeping to the shadows. If he was noticed, he was going to be torn apart in mere seconds. If he slowed down, he was going to be crushed and obliterated.

Like a shadow, Sunny slid between them. A few times, he had to quickly dash beneath an especially tall abomination or jump over another. For a few seconds, he even ran on top of these horrible monsters, jumping from the shoulder of one to the carapace of another, and then back to the bloodied, slippery ground.

On his way, he saw Effie. The huntress had either lost or dismissed her shield, and was now spinning her spear and using it to deliver both piercing and slashing attacks, drawing wide arks in the air with its bronze blade. Her body was covered in blood and her armor was broken and shattered.

But on her face, there was a wide, joyful grin.

Leaving it all behind, Sunny moved deeper into the horde of monsters. A few times, he thought that he would be noticed. But in the end, the shadows had kept him safe.

And after a while… an eternity, maybe… he finally broke free of the endless mass of Nightmare Creatures.

Now, there was nothing in front of him but the wide expanse of the cursed black water.

…And the mass of the Crimson Spire stretching endlessly into the skies.