The terrifying reality of their situation settled over Sunny like a suffocating blanket.
What had initially looked like random mounds of splintered timber and rusted ship nails were rapidly pulling themselves together, twisting and snapping into towering, menacing humanoid shapes. They had no faces, only jagged, featureless heads that snapped back and forth as if searching for a scent. Their arms did not end in hands, but rather in long, incredibly sharp wooden blades that looked as though they had been soaked in dried blood.
'Fallen,' Sunny thought grimly as they began to trudge up the slope toward them. 'And there are entirely too many of them.'
Beside him, Cielle did not hesitate for a single fraction of a second.
The moment the closest Sailor Doll raised its jagged wooden blade, her white wings flared outward with a sharp, concussive snap that kicked up a cloud of black moss. She launched herself directly into the freezing air.
She hovered for a brief moment against the gray sky, her pale face completely devoid hesitation. Then, she folded her wings tight against her body and dropped like a falling star.
Cielle executed a flawless dive, bringing the full momentum of her descent right into the heavy shaft of her spear. She crashed directly into the torso of the leading Sailor Doll. The force of the impact shattered the creature's wooden armor instantly, the gleaming silver tip of her spear driving straight through the thick timber and bursting out the other side in an explosion of splinters and foul green sap.
The towering creature let out a horrifying, rattling groan before its entire body simply gave out, collapsing backward into a ruined pile of dead wood.
A familiar, chilling voice whispered directly into her ear.
[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Sailor Doll.]
Cielle ripped her spear free from the wreckage with a sharp twist, her feet landing lightly on the shattered wood without giving her a cut. She cast a brief glance back toward the ridge.
"They are very sturdy." she stated simply
"Fantastic," Sunny muttered, a bitter taste flooding his mouth. "Just what I wanted to hear today."
Sunny immediately ordered Gloomy to detach from his feet, sending the shadowy silhouette sliding across the moss to wrap entirely around the imposing figure of Saint.
Saint's ruby eyes flared with a sudden, terrifying intensity as the shadow augmentation took hold, drastically multiplying her already overwhelming physical strength.
She met the charge of the next three Sailor Dolls head on.
The first wooden creature swung its blade-like arm in a sweeping horizontal arc aimed directly at her neck. Saint did not even bother to raise her sword to block it. She simply stepped into the strike, letting the heavy wooden blade crash directly against her shoulder .
The impact produced a deafening crack and a shower of bright sparks, but the stone knight did not budge a single inch. Her body simply shrugged off the devastating blow as if a child had hit her with a stick.
Before the creature could pull its arm back, Saint pivoted sharply on her heel and swung the Midnight Shard in a two handed cleave. The dark blade tore through the thick timber of the Sailor Doll's waist, severing the monster completely in half with a horrifying crunch.
Sunny did not have the luxury of watching his shadow fight. He had his own problems closing in fast.
A towering Sailor Doll lunged at him from the right, thrusting its jagged arm forward like a lance. Sunny stepped smoothly to the side, letting the heavy thrust pass harmlessly by his shoulder. He brought Cruel Sight up, slicing directly through the thick vines binding the creature's arm joint. Sunny was pleasantly surprised at the sharpness of the blade. The wooden limb hit the moss with a heavy thud, but the monster did not even flinch, immediately swinging its other blade toward his ribs.
Sunny ducked under the wild swing, feeling the wind of the heavy blow ruffle his hair. He pushed a burst of essence into his weapon, utilizing its unique enchantment.
The dark metal of Cruel Sight shifted and elongated in a fraction of a second, the heavy sword smoothly transforming into a long, deadly spear right in the middle of his counterattack. Utilizing the reach, Sunny drove the spear tip directly upward, piercing through the bottom of the creature's featureless wooden head and shattering whatever held it together.
The monster collapsed into a pile of dead splinters, but two more immediately stepped over its remains to take its place.
"There are too many of them!" Sunny shouted, smoothly transitioning Cruel Sight back into its sword form to parry a heavy downward strike. The force of the blow rattled his teeth, even with the shadow augmentation reinforcing his bones.
"They are slow," Cielle called out from somewhere above him. "But they hit very hard. Try not to get hit."
"Thank you for that brilliant insight!" Sunny yelled back, gritting his teeth as he barely dodged another sweeping blade. "I was heavily considering letting them stab me just to see what would happen!"
Cielle did not reply to his sarcasm. She was entirely focused on her work.
She was acting as an untouchable force of destruction from above. The Sailor Dolls possessed terrible strength and resilience, but their wooden bodies were heavy and their movements were incredibly predictable. Cielle hovered just out of their reach, her green eyes tracking the chaotic flow of the battlefield without missing a beat. Whenever a cluster of monsters tried to flank Sunny or overwhelm the stone knight, she would fold her wings and drop like a stone, driving her spear through their bodies before instantly launching herself back into the sky.
It was a mesmerizing, terrifying dance. Sunny weaved through the lumbering giants on the ground, while Cielle rained death from the bruised clouds above.
But the sheer numbers were beginning to turn against them.
The piles of debris scattered around the massive shipwreck seemed almost endless. Every time they reduced a Sailor Doll to splinters, the creeping green vines would simply slither out from the cracks in the ship's hull, wrapping around new mounds of timber and pulling them together into fresh abominations.
Sunny found himself pushed further and further back, though this was not a desperate situation, he was not really in the best mindset as well. He deflected a heavy strike from a monster in front of him, but the parry left him slightly off balance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two more Sailor Dolls stepping out from the shadows of the dead tree, moving to cut off his only escape route.
He was suddenly caught in a brutal, three way crossfire.
The monster in front of him raised both of its jagged wooden arms for a crushing overhead slam, while the two flanking creatures swung their blades in horizontal arcs. Sunny was just about to step into the shadows when a massive rush of wind hit him directly from above.
Something gripped the heavy collar of the Puppeteer's Shroud with an iron grip. Before Sunny could even process what was happening, he was violently yanked completely off his feet.
The ground fell away beneath his boots in a stomach churning rush. The three jagged wooden blades crashed together in the exact spot he had been standing a fraction of a second prior, the terrible impact sending a shockwave of wood pieces flying in all directions.
Sunny dangled helplessly in the freezing air, his boots a full meter off the ground. He looked up, his eyes widening in shock.
Cielle was hovering right above him, the rhythmic beating of her white wings keeping them both suspended in the sky. She had one hand tightly gripped around her spear, and her other hand was firmly locked onto the back of his collar,she looked rather cool if he was being honest.
"You are very heavy," Cielle informed calmly, her voice slightly strained over the roaring wind.
"Just drop me over there!" Sunny yelled, pointing frantically toward a small clearing slightly closer to the massive hull of the ruined ship.
Cielle nodded once, shifting her wings to glide smoothly over the heads of the snapping, reaching Sailor Dolls. She released her grip on his collar, dropping him neatly into the small pocket of open space. Sunny landed heavily on his boots, rolling through the impact to immediately bring Cruel Sight up in a defensive guard.
The scattered piles of debris were still shifting. Dozens of new wooden monsters were pulling themselves from the dirt, their jagged arms raised toward the intruders. The dead, withered tree coiled around the ship seemed to almostmock them.
Killing all of them was completely pointless and entirely suicidal. The real goal was not to clear the island. The real goal was to get inside the ship.
"We need to move!" Sunny shouted, his voice carrying over the horrifying creaks and groans of the wooden army. "We cannot stay out here! The ship is the only defensible position!"
He looked toward the taciturn stone knight, who was currently holding off four massive Sailor Dolls simultaneously, her dark blade was a blur of motion.
"Saint!" Sunny commanded, pouring his intent into the mental bond they shared. "Hold the line! Keep the bulk of the swarm away from the hull! "
The imposing monster did not offer any confirmation, but her ruby eyes flared brightly in the dim light. She stepped aggressively forward into the thickest cluster of enemies, her stone armor absorbing tremendous blows as she drew the attention of the entire horde.
With the main force distracted, Sunny turned his sights entirely toward the gaping breaches in the shattered bow of the vessel.
He began carving a path through the remaining monsters. Cruel Sight shifted constantly in his hands, acting as a cleaver to smash aside incoming blades, and then instantly extending into a long spear to pierce the vital points within the timber bodies.
Every time a Sailor Doll managed to step out of his line of sight, Cielle was already there.
She abandoned her hovering position, turning herself into a relentless, high speed missile. She ran cover for him, her white wings folding tight as she dive-bombed any creature that dared to step into his blind spots. They moved together with an unspoken synergy, a beautiful dance of shadows and silver wings carving a direct line through the army of the fallen..
The massive, tilted hull of the ruined ship finally loomed directly over them, the ancient wood smelling heavily of rot and something sweet..
Cielle shot forward, her wings carrying her over the last line of desperate monsters as she landed smoothly on the tilted deck of the shattered bow, her feet finding perfect purchase on the slick planks. She spun around immediately, her green eyes scanning the chaos below.
Sunny was only a few metres behind her, sprinting hard as he drove his spear through the chest of a lunging creature. He ripped the blade free, dismissing the memory back into his soul to free up his hands. He hit the base of the hull and jumped, launching high into the air toward the broken edge of the deck.
It was a good jump, but the angle of the tilted ship was steep, and his boots slipped slightly on the mossy wood as he grabbed the edge of the breach.
Before he could even attempt to pull himself up, a small, pale hand shot out and gripped his wrist with surprising strength.
Sunny looked up, his breath catching in his throat.
Cielle was kneeling on the edge of the shattered deck, her white wings flared out behind her to balance his weight. She pulled hard, hauling his entire body up over the jagged wood with an effortless tug.
Sunny stumbled onto the solid planks of the ship, catching his balance just before he crashed directly into her. He found himself standing incredibly close to her, their chests almost touching as they both gasped for air.
Behind them, down on the black moss of the island, the massive army of Sailor Dolls continued to clash violently against the impenetrable defense of the stone knight. The terrible sounds of splintering wood and grinding stone echoed loudly through the air.
But Sunny could barely hear it.
He was staring down at Cielle. Her hair was slightly messy from the violent wind, and a faint flush colored her usually pale cheeks. She was looking right back at him, her green eyes clear as ever, her hand still resting lightly on his forearm where she had pulled him up.
He felt a sudden, massive wave of heat rush directly to his face.
"You are safe," Cielle stated quietly, her thumb brushing lightly against his bracer.
"I am," Sunny managed to croak out, desperately wishing the floorboards would simply open up and swallow him whole. "I definitely am."