Sunny dashed through the chaos, slaves screaming, soldiers shouting, the air thick with fear and smoke. The caravan guards were charging toward the abomination, but it was useless. One after another, they were swatted aside like flies.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sunny caught sight of a young soldier running beside him. The man looked barely older than thirty, his face tight with focus. He noticed Sunny too but didn't make any move to attack — he wasn't an enemy, at least not for now.
Then, to Sunny's shock, the man's pace began to surge. His movements blurred, faster than any normal human could possibly manage.
'An Awakened...' Sunny realized, eyes narrowing.
He could already feel himself lagging behind, his malnourished body too weak, too slow. The vessel he'd been given in this nightmare was pitiful, brittle bones, shallow breath, a body that barely obeyed him. Every movement felt like a struggle.
Still, Sunny pressed on. He'd fought Awakened before and survived, not through strength, but through cunning.
As he turned his gaze back to the battlefield, something flickered at the edge of his vision. A corpse twitched.
'Did I see that right?'
Sunny skidded to a halt, eyes narrowing on the dead slave. For a moment, nothing happened. Maybe he'd imagined it—
Then the body spasmed again, limbs twisting at impossible angles, face contorting into a beastly snarl. Its bones cracked as it lurched upright, eyes empty yet full of hunger.
Sunny didn't hesitate. He sprinted forward, sword raised. 'I'll finish it before it wakes fully.'
He dashed in, muscles burning, and with a few precise slashes, the creature crumpled.
A Spell rang in his mind:
[You Have Slain: Mountain King's Larva]
Sunny froze. His sword was buried in the creature's throat, blood dripping down his arm.
'A larva? From that thing?' His eyes widened. He turned toward the massive abomination still rampaging across the battlefield. 'So that's what this is... the Mountain King is an Awakened Tyrant.'
The realization sent a chill down his spine.
'This just got a lot worse.'
He watched the soldiers struggle below, their blades bouncing off the creature's hide. It was a massacre. None of them stood a chance, dormants against a tyrant. They were nothing but cannon fodder.
Sunny's mind flashed back to something Ki Song once told him.
⸻
"What do you think the essence of combat is?" Ki Song's voice echoed, calm and cold.
Sunny had thought for a moment, eyes downcast. "Survival."
Her lips curved slightly. "No. The essence of combat is failure. If you're forced to fight, you've already lost."
⸻
And so, Sunny chose not to fight.
Not yet.
Moving silently, he slipped away into the shadows of the camp. Fighting a tyrant here would be suicide. Instead, he'd study it, observe, learn, survive.
He gathered what he could from the wreckage, looting weapons, food, clothes, and water, then began his climb up the mountain. The path was steep, the night air cold. He figured the exit to this nightmare had to be at the summit. Why else would the caravan be heading there?
His sisters had drilled into him every possible nightmare scenario, but this one was on another level entirely. 'Why this place?' he thought bitterly. 'Why throw me into a nightmare with an Awakened Tyrant?'
Maybe it was because of his [Fated] Attribute. The thought made him grit his teeth as he trudged on through the night.
Hours passed. Eventually, he found a dark cave and slipped inside, too exhausted to continue. He ate some of the stolen rations, his body shaking with fatigue.
'This vessel is worthless...' Sunny muttered to himself. Even after a full night and day of walking, his limbs felt like lead.
As he rested, his mind drifted back to the Awakened soldier he'd seen earlier. 'I wonder if he made it out alive.'
The man had fought with precision, efficient, experienced. Definitely not a regular guard.
Sunny's eyes flicked toward the cave entrance, instincts prickling.
The Mountain King had been blind, he'd noticed that much. During the battle, it didn't attack by sight but by sound. Soldiers who thought they'd found its blind spot were grabbed anyway, the creature could hear everything. Breathing. Footsteps. Even the shift of a pebble underfoot.
Which meant stealth would only get him so far.
A faint sound reached his ears... too soft for a normal person to notice, but Sunny's senses were razor-sharp. He tensed immediately.
'No... it can't be here already.'
He rose to his feet, hand on his sword. His body screamed with fatigue, but his mind was clear.
'Damn this weak body...'
A shadow moved at the cave's entrance. Sunny prepared to strike, until the figure stepped into view.
It wasn't the Mountain King.
It was the Awakened soldier.
Sunny blinked, momentarily stunned. 'So he did make it out...'
The man stopped a few steps away, scanning the darkness. "Is anyone there?" His voice was calm, even gentle, but Sunny stayed silent. He didn't want another human here.
"I know you're in here," the man continued, turning his head slightly. "You must be that slave boy who escaped up the mountain, right?"
'Damnation,' Sunny cursed internally. 'Already found me. His perception is insane.'
"I might be," Sunny replied cautiously, voice low.
The man nodded. "Smart of you to run when you did."
Sunny frowned. "You're not going to kill me? I left your people to die."
The man shook his head. "They weren't my people. I was just a hired sword for that caravan." He paused, his tone turning grim. "I want to get off this mountain alive. But the Mountain King's right behind me, and it won't stop until everything breathing is dead."
Sunny's eyes narrowed. "So you want me to sacrifice myself to buy you time?"
"Not at all," the man said evenly. "I want us both to survive."
Sunny gave a tired, crooked smile. 'I can already see where this is going.'
"Alright," he said quietly. "What's your plan?"
"It's simple, real—"
A deep rumble cut him off. The air trembled.
Sunny's expression hardened. He stepped toward the cave entrance, blade ready.
'Well... no time for planning now,' he thought grimly.
'It's here.'