I looked at the 14 sleepers whose faces were perplexed upon seeing Raven. Without a doubt, the sight of an awakened devil was more than disconcerting for mere sleepers.
I thought about dismissing the Echo, but I replaced it instead. Looking around, the wall of black flames would be extinguished in a few minutes and the army of spiders would return. So, it would be best to leave this place.
Finally, I looked at Silver.
"What are you waiting for? The wall of fire is not endless. I will take you to the city," I said, snapping them out of their stupor.
Little by little, the sleepers approached.
"I know you. You are Morning Star from the academy," said a sleeper.
"Yes, I am. My name is Lucian. Now, get on," I pointed to Raven, who looked a bit annoyed at serving as transportation.
It was proud of that, no doubt, but it would have to endure for a while.
After the sleepers climbed onto Raven's back, it took off, soaring across the sky towards the dark city.
"How did you find us? Or rather, how did you get this Echo?" Silver asked, tapping the body of the strange Echo a little, feeling it was incredibly hard.
The other sleepers had equally curious expressions.
Sitting on Raven, I summoned the first Vera Infinita and threw it to her. Silver looked at the bottle curiously.
"It's a memory that theoretically generates fresh water indefinitely. Pass it around among everyone; I see you are exhausted and thirsty."
Silver drank from the bottle, taking several sips until quenching his thirst, and then passed it to another sleeper, who took desperate gulps.
"Now, answer."
"Well, it's a bit of a long story. I arrived a few thousand kilometers to the west, where I fought scavengers, killed a Titan, then killed a demon, followed by a Great Devil, and then a devil... or rather, I recently killed another demon," I recounted.
Silver's eyes opened in absolute disbelief.
"W-what? Is this a joke?"
"No," my answer was serious, making Silver swallow hard.
"It's still hard to believe."
I looked at the girl with short black hair wearing dark blue armor.
"Well, you are on the back of a Devil's Echo. So it's quite believable," I replied, leaving the girl speechless.
"And how was it for you, Silver?"
"Uhm. Terrible. I fell into a large coral. All I had was a sword memory, which I got in my first nightmare. I fought those scavengers until a kind of winged creature attacked me; it was a fallen beast. I got armor, and then it was just killing and surviving until I found Chloe, and then, as the days passed, we found more sleepers." Silver's face turned sad.
"At first there were 20, but we lost 6 along the way," he said, clenching his fists.
Although I wasn't an expert on emotions, I could tell Silver felt frustrated by the deaths of his companions.
I said nothing for a few moments.
The sleepers continued passing the bottle to drink fresh water. Once the last of them drank, quenching his thirst, I dismissed the memory.
"You come from the dark city, right?" Chloe asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Is there a door? At the academy, they said that in citadels there is a door guarded by a guardian," she said hopefully.
However, I looked at her seriously and slowly shook my head.
"Listen," I said, looking at all the sleepers.
"That city," I pointed to the city we were approaching every moment, "is in ruins. There are possibly thousands of nightmare creatures among them: monsters, demons, beasts, and perhaps even tyrants. There is no door, but there is a safe place where they do not approach."
"Then we are going to die here," said a terrified female sleeper at the idea of dying.
"Without a door, we cannot return to the waking world," said another.
"Be quiet," I spoke firmly.
"In the city, there is no door, but there is a place that has one," I answered.
"A place?" Silver asked. "Which one?"
"It is a great crimson spire. However, it is dangerous, as we need to gather a few things," I explained.
Finally, Raven flew over the city until reaching the shining castle. After landing, all the sleepers got off the Echo.
Looking at Raven, I dismissed it, letting it return to the sea of my soul. The sleepers watched as the Devil's Echo was dismissed in dark flames.
Opening the castle doors, I let everyone inside, in silence.
Upon reaching the dining room, I used it as a meeting room.
Silver, Chloe, and the other sleepers gathered to hear what I had to say.
On the table, I summoned the Midnight Fragment and the Dawn Fragment.
"What are those two memories for?" Chloe asked, looking at the crown's sword.
"It's what we need to get out of this place. From what I've discovered, there are seven memories named Fragments. There is the Dawn Fragment," I pointed to the crown.
"The Midnight Fragment, the Lunar Fragment, the Dusk Fragment, the Zenith Fragment, and the Nightfall Fragment..." I paused.
"These seven fragments, when brought together, create seven keys to open the doors that will take us out of here."
"I see. The memories are the keys to open this crimson spire," said a sleeper.
"Correct. Each fragment is obtained by killing a guardian; it generally protects a statue. The Midnight Fragment I obtained after interacting with a statue of a headless knight and killing an awakened demon. As for the crown, I obtained it by killing a fallen demon in this castle."
Everyone's eyes opened in surprise.
"Lucian, do you know that, in theory, you could be the strongest sleeper that has ever existed, right?" Silver joked.
I scratched my cheek, a little embarrassed.
"Yes."
"You said these fragments are obtained by interacting with the statue. But where are they exactly?" Chloe asked.
"I have some ideas, but it will take time. I know where one of them is, but the journey is incredibly dangerous," I explained.
"How dangerous would it be?"
"An instant death kind. It's in the Hollow Mountains, more specifically beneath them, in the underworld."
"..."
"..."
"..."
No one said anything.
"We're dead," said a sleeper, voicing the thought everyone had at that moment.
"No one survives in the Hollow Mountains. No, it's better to say no one has ventured into that place in the Dream Realm," said another sleeper, like the heir of a clan.
"Are you really sure we need to go to the Hollow Mountains?" Silver asked.
"The most certain, yes; the only one, no."
"What about the other path?" Chloe asked.
"Take the second nightmare directly, find a seed, and conquer it to become ascended," I replied.
Silver sighed.
"The second option is ruled out. We are not yet awakened and cannot use essence, so we will die if we take the second nightmare to get out of this place."
"Which leaves us going to the Hollow Mountains," Chloe grimaced.
I looked at the duo; I could tell these two had quite a chemistry, and I sensed a certain romantic air, though they didn't seem to realize it.
"Lord Morning Star," said a sleeper. "You mentioned they are named fragments, right?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
The sleeper felt a bit nervous under everyone's gaze.
"Well, it's just that I have one of those memories," he said, summoning a hammer.
The memory was a hammer colored gold like the sun.
"When I arrived in this place, I fell in a strange place with a statue that moved on its own. I fell on it, and after being chased by something horrendous and dying crushed by the statue, I obtained this memory," the sleeper recounted.
"What is its name?"
"Dawn Fragment."
A smile spread across my face.
"Perfect, that's one of the memories we need. What is your name?"
"Richard."
"Good, Richard, well done," I said, encouraging the sleeper, who nodded quickly.
"Only four remain. For now, we will stay in this castle to strengthen our cores," I explained.
"We need to split up," said Silver.
"There will be a group that eliminates the nightmare creatures, another group that collects the fragments, and then another group that stays in the castle to review it and see what is useful or not."
"Agreed," I said, agreeing.
"Should we call you Lord Bright Lucian?" Silver asked mockingly.
I shrugged.
"Do as you wish; I know you'll try something worse anyway."
"Hey, my names are great, they have life, and they are not boring."
I looked at Chloe.
"How could you stand this idiot for so long?"
"With a lot of patience," Chloe said with a sigh.
"Hey!" Silver retorted indignantly.
"Lord Lucian, who will be on which team?" a sleeper asked.
"That is an excellent question. The main fighters will be Chloe, Silver, Richard, me, and you," I pointed to the red-haired girl, who jumped in surprise.
"Me!"
"Yes," I replied. "The remaining ten, divide yourselves so that five collect soul fragments and another five stay in the castle and explore it," I said, dismissing the memories.
After a discussion, the three teams of five members were finally complete.
After summoning Raven and having it bring a dead nightmare creature, we cooked it with fire and ate it for energy.
As we ate, night fell on the Forgotten Shore.
"Lord Lucian, what is your aspect?" Richard asked curiously.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Just curiosity," Richard said, chewing a piece of meat before swallowing it. "Someone with your feats must have a very strong aspect."
Hearing this, I smiled a little.
"It's not as cool as you think. I can only shape light," I said, using the light from the campfire to create a luminous orb.
"Wow... it's like having your own instant flashlight," the red-haired girl commented.
"I guess so. And what is yours?" I asked.
"Well, my aspect allows me to remove senses."
"Like how?" Chloe asked.
"I can remove sight, smell, touch, or anything else," Richard explained.
"That ability is terrifying," the red-haired girl commented.
"And yours?"
"I can charge things and make them explode."
To demonstrate, the red-haired girl grabbed a small stone, and after a few seconds, it exploded in her hand.
"The longer I charge it, the stronger the explosion."
Silver let out an impressed whistle.
"Well, my turn. My aspect allows me to increase my body in a general way: physically, mentally, sensory," he explained. "The increase is about 5 or 6 times my normal state."
"Hey, Silver, give me your hand."
Silver looked at me with a strange face.
"Hey, I swing the other way."
I rolled my eyes.
"Idiot, it's to give you a memory that would be good for you," I said, to which he said "Oh."
After taking his hand, I transferred the Underworld Mantle, at which Silver summoned the memory, a black tunic with metal parts.
"It feels a bit heavy, but it's better than my other armor."
"It's an Ascended memory; I found it while wandering the castle."
"Hey, by any chance, you don't have any other crazy memories, do you?"
"Uhm... I think so, it's a spear I got from killing a fallen monster."
"I want it," Chloe said excitedly.
"Sure. But do you have memories that are useless to you?" I asked.
"Yes, I have two that are useless to me," Chloe said.
"I have three," Silver added.
"I have one," Richard mentioned.
"I have one," said the red-haired girl.
After receiving the useless memories, I gave the spear to Chloe, and to the girl, I gave the Hound's quiver and bow, as she was more of a long-range type due to her aspect.
After dinner, we stood up. It was time for us to start hunting nightmare creatures to strengthen ourselves.
Briefly entering my sea of souls, I fed Raven the memories, increasing its counter to make it an Ascended Devil.
Once we reached the ruins, we decided to advance through the ruins closest to the wall, where there were fewer monsters to eliminate.
The plan for the week was as follows: During the day, when nightmare creature activity was lower, we would rest or search for useful items for the castle. At the same time, I would send Raven to find the rest of the statues or sleepers scattered across the Forgotten Shore.
At night, we would hunt nightmare creatures to strengthen ourselves.
Although my original plan was to leave the Forgotten Shore in a year, I would have to do it in two years. I needed numbers to deal with the army commanded by the Terror, as well as to locate and gather the seven fragments.
If nothing truly alarming happened within a year, we would be free from this place.