After Tessai's death at the hands of the demonic knight, the figure retreated back into the darkness.
The guards opened their eyes, but a moment later, they launched themselves at Ash, furious over the death of their leader.
The guards and hunters moved in unison alongside the echoes, but likewise, the outer sleepers joined the attack — including, of course, Nephis, Kai, Sunny, Caster, Effie, and Cassie.
Chaos emerged and began to claim its first victims. Hundreds of sleepers fought against each other, and their repressed rage, their bloodthirst, and their resentment, fueled by years of suffering, found their way to the surface.
The white marble began to stain red.
The guards were massacred indiscriminately, but their powerful memory armaments and their training gave them the upper hand over the disorganized crowd. In the chaos, distinguishing between ally and enemy was difficult, and the clash of echoes and different aspects made it an even more complex task.
Ash summoned the Sword of Seven, clashing against a hunter sent by Genma. Ash pierced through the hunter; the Blood Sacrifice enchantment activated, healing all his wounds and restoring him to his peak condition.
Now recovered, his body became a whirlwind of death. His targets were Gunlaug's hunters and the echoes, to reduce the pressure on the Changing Star followers.
Every time Ash eliminated a human being, he felt a wild rage filling him, increasing slowly, demanding more blood, more unbridled violence.
"Kill all the bastards!" shouted a sleeper.
"Judgment!" shouted another, and soon more voices joined in.
Screams of terror and pain filled the great hall. The floor became slippery with blood, and corpses piled up on the ground, their eyes open but empty of life.
Several hunters lunged at Ash, who spun on himself, cutting them down while a wide, demonic smile — full of madness and sadism — spread across his face. Blood stained his hair and face.
Ash raised his sword, blocking an attack from Genma, who held his own weapon.
"What kind of expression is that you have, boy?!" Genma asked, exerting more pressure, but Ash didn't yield.
Ash looked at Genma with the same madness-filled smile. He applied pressure, overpowering Genma and sending him sliding backward.
Beside Genma appeared several of his hunters, as well as a few maidens, who joined forces to face Ashfall.
Ash inhaled deeply. His eyes fixed on his targets, and without another word, he charged forward, swinging his sword, beginning a ferocious battle.
Genma kept Ash occupied while his hunters and the maidens attacked any weak point, but they couldn't penetrate the armor he wore.
Ash swung his sword, cutting down and eliminating hunters and maidens. After eliminating them, he lunged at Genma, landing a powerful kick that sent him flying several meters backward.
An echo of a shelled centurion lunged at Ash, throwing its sharp axe, but Ash dodged it, moving his sword and decapitating the echo with a single slash. It disappeared in a sea of sparks.
Ash smiled. His boots walked across the great pool of blood.
Genma cursed as he saw Ashfall walking toward him with that sword dripping fresh blood.
Genma tightened his grip on his weapon. Hearing footsteps, he turned for an instant and saw the leader of the castle's maidens, Seishan, who had a serious expression. Her hands were stained with blood after killing multiple sleepers.
"Seishan. Get out. I can deal with this thing," said Genma, irritated.
"I'm not here to help you. I came to avenge the death of my maidens at the hands of this thing," she expressed, staring fixedly at Ash, who stopped and looked at Seishan.
Ash took a step forward but then stopped because someone grabbed him. It was Cassie, holding Silent Dancer.
Ash looked at Cassie with wild rage and madness on his face.
"Snap out of your trance. This isn't you, Ashfall," said Cassie, making Ash look at the blind girl.
Ash closed his eyes and then sighed. His enormous, madness-filled smile faded, and his eyes regained the brightness of rationality. He had let himself be carried away too much by the sensation of battle, by the euphoria.
"Listen, you two," he said finally, after coming back to his senses.
"I propose something," he said, looking at Genma and Seishan, who stared back.
"And what would that be?"
"A way out of this cursed place to the waking world."
Genma frowned.
"Why should we believe you?" he asked.
"Just do it. You and us — we don't want to see more death. Gunlaug and Tessai are dead. Can we end this now and besiege the Needle and give you your freedom?"
Seishan narrowed her eyes, looking at Ashfall, searching for any sign of deception. Her gaze moved to her maidens, who were dying slowly.
Genma did the same, looking at his hunters and then at the leader of the Kido artisans.
"Agreed," said Genma.
Seishan nodded.
Ash looked at the two lieutenants and summoned his echo.
A massive raven materialized, rose into the sky, and brought down a powerful thunderbolt that boomed throughout the hall, stopping the senseless massacre.
The entire conflict stopped immediately.
Ash walked until he stood in the middle of everyone.
"Enough," he said, his voice filling the entire hall.
"This will get us nowhere. Instead of killing each other, let's do something more civilized: let's kill what prevents us from leaving this cursed place."
The sleepers looked at Ashfall with doubt.
"How would you do that? And why would we decide to listen to you?" asked a hunter.
"I could kill all of you. It wouldn't be difficult," he said as more of a fact than a declaration.
"And to answer your question: I have what it takes to do it. If you want, you can keep killing each other and die in this place. Or you can follow me and leave this hell you've been in for so long. The choice is yours."
The sleepers looked at each other. They saw the enormous raven, then the corpse of the Bright Lord. Making a decision, they dismissed their memories.
With that, all the chaos had come to an end. The number of sleepers who died in the end numbered around two hundred.