They had faced off a Spire Messenger once before. Back then, it had killed several veteran hunters in a span of just a few seconds. In fact, they had only managed to drive it away due to Effie's monstrous strength.
Now, there was no reason for the messenger to retreat, and there was nowhere to retreat either. The only way this battle ends is death.
The cohort had grown a lot stronger in the span of those few months. And this time, Lucien was not planning on holding back.
There was also the crown gigabuffing him, but let's not dwell on that.
With his aspect empowering his speed to the fullest degree, he could finally move faster than the fallen abomination. Three cores, that's what it took to outspeed it.
A grin slowly crawled up his face as he jumped away from the monster's trajectory. He finally had a chance of killing it.
But before that.
Lucien's gaze snapped towards the looming statue. Nephis had warned them not to kill the thing before touching the statue, such was the requirement of obtaining the shard memory.
There was no way in hell he was going to hold back when his life was on the line.
His body turned into a blur, and a loud boom echoed in the cavern as he went supersonic. It took him a second to reach the statue. Stopping in front of it, he placed his palm over the cold stone.
But then something caught his eye. Some distance away from the statue, a massive gash marred the surface of the mountain. It was as if a titanic being had taken a knife and stabbed it through the ground.
There was something down there, something important. But then a blood-curdling scream brought him back to reality.
When he turned back, the herald had already begun gliding towards him. A small mass had grappled on to it.
Sunny flew through the air and collided with the messenger's left wing. His blade met the flesh of the monster and cut into it, crippling its wing.
That did not stop it, not entirely. It still had another wing, and it was gliding towards Lucien at a terrible speed still.
Glaring defiantly at the fallen monster, he grabbed his sword with both hands. Purple lightning leaked out of the folds of his armour.
And then, he ran, breaking the speed limit once more.
His target? The right wing.
Just as it seemed that a collision was imminent, Lucien entered his soul sea. The colours and sounds of the world disappeared, replaced with the quiet tranquility of his soul sea.
The storm, enhancing his speed, suddenly disappeared, and the coat of lightning covering him flowed into his sword, imbuing it with explosive strength.
The Storm blade was like a beacon in the darkness of the hollow mountains, and even though he was no longer strengthening his speed, the momentum still carried him forward.
And the dark blade cut into the hard flesh of the Spire Messenger.
No longer able to control his momentum, Lucien crashed into the ground, rolled, and stood back up. Behind him, the severed wing of the Messenger fell to the ground with a loud THUD!
His wrist had already started going sore from the sheer force behind that blow. In fact the only reason his hand wasn't a mangled mess was because of the stone armour.
Despite that, the Messenger did not seem perturbed. On the contrary, it opened its terrible beak and let out a blood-curdling shriek, then lunged towards him.
Lucien dove to the side, amplifying his speed once more. But he was too slow. One of the limbs of the Messenger grazed past his abdomen, tearing through his armour like it was made of paper.
Letting out a string of curses, he ran towards the rest of the cohort, the Messenger hot on his heels.
Effie moved in time to intercept it, raising her shield to deflect the blow.
However, this time, a wide crack appeared on the surface of the round shield.
Before the huntress could even react, several powerful limbs shot at the cracked shield, each striking it with the force of a cannonball. Finally, the Memory gave in and shattered — along with Effie's arm.
'Crap!' Lucien rushed towards her, and then past her. Focusing entirely on enhancing his speed, he sliced at its neck.
A moment later, he twisted his body, barely dodging a talon strike. Ducking and weaving through the monster's attacks, Lucien kept attacking the same spot over and over again until.
SPURT!
A shower of blood drenched the front of the Messenger. But instead of retreating to tend to its wound, it only redoubled its offence.
He wasn't the only one attacking it. Throughout his assault, the Blood Arrow would strike the monster and disappear the next moment. Nephis and Effie were attacking it from the sides. Quiet Dancer was zipping around the massive abomination, aiming at its eyes. And Stone Saint was playing on the defensive, using her shield to deflect its attacks before counterattacking.
Lucien frowned, 'Where's Sunny and Caster?'
Just as he thought that, the Stone Saint changed its attack style. Gone was the elegance, patience, and grace. Replaced by a madness for blood, she fought beside him.
'Doesn't matter.' Lucien thought, continuing his onslaught, this time enhancing both his speed and strength. His blade cut deeper, and even more blood poured out of the Messenger's body. It was now covered in the black liquid.
Lucien's storm sense tingled as a small frame slid under the abomination. A moment later, it staggered and fell down. Then its attention shifted, and its mad gaze fell upon Sunny, who was lying on the ground.
'He's not gonna make it!' Lucien panicked as the Messenger tried to stab him with its beak.
Before he could act, Nephi's incandescent sword flashed through the air, and deflected the attack.
Instead, the beak pierced the Starlight Legion Armor and tore through Changing Star's shoulder, almost severing her left arm. Nephis was thrown aside in a rain of blood, while the abomination opened its mouth and let out another deafening shriek.
Another presence entered his vision, and a dark expression fell on Lucien's face. Caster was moving to finish off the abomination, his ghostly green sword moments away from killing the being.
Lucien glanced at Sunny, who seemed to be thinking the same thing: Caster cannot get the shard memory, no matter what.
The Storm Blade moved in a purple arc, aiming to finish off the abomination before Caster could. The legacy noticed that and redoubled in his efforts, suddenly gaining a burst of speed.
Lucien smiled, and his blade veered off course, deflecting the jian. At the same time, a heavy triangular dagger flashed in the air and sank into the creature's eye, penetrating through it deep enough to reach the brain.
In the world of slowed time, Caster glared at Lucien in indignant rage, demanding an explanation.
Still smiling, Lucien mouthed the words 'No one will believe you.'
The legacy's face went through anger, disbelief, and contempt before finally settling on disdain.
The Messenger froze. Its ugly raven-like head swayed slightly. The beak fell open, revealing rows of sharp teeth and a long, wet, crimson tongue.
Looking at the monster with a dark expression, Sunny pulled on the string of the Prowling Thorn, wreaking havoc inside its skull. The kunai tore through the round black eye on the way back, flying into the air in a stream of blood, bone, and chunks of brain matter.
Finally, the creature convulsed and crashed onto the ground. Its eyes dimmed, then glossed over.
The cohort was in a pathetic state.
Effie had the bones in her arm shattered into tiny pieces, with sharp splinters tearing through her skin. Her ribs and lungs were wounded, too. Caster was bleeding heavily from the four gashes left on his torso by the Messenger's claws. Kai lost too much blood to the Blood Arrow and was now on the verge of fainting.
Nephis' left arm was partially severed and barely attached to her body. The sight of it was ghastly.
Lucien…was mostly okay. Except for the deep gash on his abdomen, as if some terrible nightmare creature had taken a nibble of him and then decided it wasn't worth it.
Only Sunny and Cassie were more or less in one piece.
But the Spire Messenger was dead, and they were not. That's all that mattered.
Lying on the black sand, Effie suddenly laughed, Sunny gave her a strange look.
"Have you lost your mind? What are you laughing at?"
The huntress shrugged, then grimaced from pain.
"Oh, it's just… I was thinking whether we are legendary heroes now or just, you know… fools of legendary proportions. All of us in the outer settlement — the Castle too, I guess — heard the stories about the incredible exploits of the first cohort hundreds of times. Killing a Spire Messenger who made its nest in the throne room, and all that. But I never once thought that I would actually do something that impossible as well."
Lucien chuckled, "I'd say it's a bit of both. After all, only a fool would dare to face a Spire Messenger in battle. And only a legendary hero would manage to kill it."
He turned to face the huntress and grinned, "We're now officially stronger than the First Lord cohort. The strongest group of sleepers these shores have ever seen."
Sunny sighed.
"You do know how one becomes a mythical hero, right? It's really easy, you just have to do something outlandish and then die. The death part is the key actually. So I would rather not be a hero, ever."
With that, he stood up and walked away.
A moment later, Lucien muttered, "Well someone's got a stick up their ass."
Effie exploded in laughter next to him.
There was another reason why Lucien was in such a good mood.
Ever since they fought the Spire Messenger, the voices had finally stopped. And they had not returned after they killed it. He dared to hope that he was free from it.
Only for that hope to be shattered as the whispers returned with a vengeance.
Giiiveeee…iiinnn…
With his good mood now foiled, Lucien sat up and tried to ignore the voices. Fishing out a piece of metal, he once again began fidgeting with it. Somewhere to his side, Sunny and Effie were talking about trading memories.
Llluuciieenn….Sstoorrmborrn….jooooiiiin usss…
"Shut up." He muttered.
Nephis had joined the conversation now, offering to trade a different memory. He glanced towards them and saw Effie holding a new shield. Was that the memory Sunny had gotten from killing the Messenger?
It isss…yoouurrr dessstinyyy…giiivve innn
"Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!" He yelled through his teeth, his palms pushing against his ears in a futile effort to drown out the voices.
Someone walked up to him, and he barely heard them say:
"Uh, Lucy?"
Lucien blinked in surprise as the voices calmed down. Slowly, he put his hands down.
"Yeah?" He turned to face Effie, who had knelt down next to him.
"Are you okay?" A hint of concern laced her voice.
"Yeah, of course," Lucien lied, "I'm fine."
He was not fine. Not in the slightest.
"Are you though?" Effie said, grasping his shoulder with her one good hand. She seemed adamant about not letting this go.
Lucien grabbed her hand and forced a smile, "Effie, I'm alright, I promise."
"If you say so…" Reluctantly, she let go and instinctively turned to Kai to confirm his statement.
The archer glanced at Lucien, only to find him glaring at him. 'Don't you dare.' He seemed to say.
Gulping nervously, he looked at Effie and nodded. Lying for Lucien.
As soon as Effie left to get treated by Nephis, Kai walked up to him and asked:
"Why?"
"Why what?" Lucien asked, playing the fool.
"Why did you lie?"
Lucien stayed silent for a while and then sighed, "I don't want her to worry about something she cannot fix. We cannot afford to be distracted here; a single mistake will mean the death of us."
He frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
Taking a quick look around them, Lucien leaned in and said:
"I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't tell them about it. At least not until we're out of the mountains."
Kai hesitated, struggling to make a choice. Eventually he agreed, "I promise."
So Lucien told him about the whispers that had been plaguing him ever since they entered the hollow mountains. How he deduced that they were connected to the new attribute he had received. How they had slowly learned to speak in the human tongue and began calling him by his name.
Kai looked horrified, "You have been hearing them all this time?"
Lucien nodded, "Yeah, it's been…annoying to say the least."
"Lucien, that's a serious problem. You need to tell the others-"
"No," Lucien interrupted, "Don't tell them, not yet. You promised."
Kai stared at him for a while before finally sighing and nodding, "Fine, but you have to tell them about it the moment we're out of the mountains. If you don't I will."
"That's fair," He said and held his arm out.
"Deal?"
"Deal."
In the end, they had to spend a couple of days in the vast underground cavern. Nephis had to recover from her ghastly wound and the strain of healing the rest of the cohort, while all of them had not liked the idea of venturing back into the mist with their Memories damaged.
Lucien did not know whether it was because of his exhaustion or because of his prolonged stay in the mountains, but the whispers had intensified tenfold.
Worse still, they had learned to speak in full sentences. It got worse day by day, and he was getting tired of it. It had gotten so bad that he couldn't even fall asleep anymore with the constant whispers in his ears.
Lucien's mind suffered as a result. He was tired; he needed to sleep. He could barely think properly anymore.
Soon, the day they were going to leave arrived. Lucien was not ready. His movements had become sluggish, his mind had grown groggy, and the whispers were finally getting to him.
He no longer had the strength to resist.
Lucien Stormborn.
'Shut…up…' He grumbled silently.
Join us.
'...no.'
"Lucy?"
Someone was calling his name. He should respond…right?
You know you cannot fight it. Hearken to the call, this is your destiny.
'...It's…not!…' He thought stubbornly.
"Hey, Lucy."
'Whoever it is, shut up.'
Just give in, last spawn of Storm. Your destiny was set in stone long ago.
'Screw….you…'
"Lucien!"
Lucien froze, blinked, and looked down. His left foot was hovering over the edge of the ravine. He stumbled backwards, away from the ledge.
'What the hell?'
"What the hell is going on with you?" Effie said, echoing his words. She seemed angry. "And don't you dare lie to me again."
Lucien paused for a moment. Should he tell them the truth? He turned around to face her and opened his mouth to say something.
Effie was glaring at him, but then her gaze turned to something behind him. Her glare turned into shock and horror.
Lucien realized what it meant a bit too late. He turned around just in time to see five massive pillars of stone heading towards him. No, they were not pillars.
They were fingers.
His eyes widened, and he activated his aspect, trying to jump away. But to no avail. The fingers of stone wrapped around him, dragging him down.
Destiny cometh!
"Lucy!"
"Lucien!"