In the next ten minutes, the foundations of Sunny's worldview were shaken to the core. Kai had drowned him in a torrent of questions… all of which had nothing to do with anything even remotely important!
What interested the charming Sleeper were very strange things like what types of shoes were in fashion, which celebrity wore what to some pompous award ceremony, who of them had a scandal and what was that scandal about, what was the latest dance craze, and so on.
He was endlessly curious about that type of stupid crap and absolutely indifferent about all of Sunny's dark secrets.
It was almost insulting.
What's worse, Sunny felt like a complete fool because he couldn't provide even a single answer. What did he know about fashion and high culture? Nothing!
After a while, Kai's enthusiasm had waned. Looking at Sunny with a comically disheartened face, he sighed and gently asked one last question:
"Sunny, tell me honestly… were you a hikikomori in the real world as well?"
Sunny blinked.
'What is this fool talking about?'
"A hik… a what?"
Kai cleared his throat and offered him an apologetic smile.
"Ah, you know… a recluse? A shut-in? Someone who lives under a rock?"
Sunny stared at the gorgeous young man, feeling like the world completely stopped making any sense ever since they had met.
"What are you talking about? Why would I live under a rock? You would freeze to death! I lived in a cargo container once, but it had four walls and a roof, at least…"
Kai sighed one more time and turned away.
"I see. Well, sorry to bother you. It's just that I've been stuck in this place for about two and a half years now, and life here is so monotone."
His beautiful profile was radiating melancholy and sadness, as though Kai was lamenting something serious, as opposed to utter rubbish.
'Two and half years… that dimwit survived here for two and a half years?'
Sunny was surprised to hear that. Kai seemed like a nice guy, but not exactly someone well suited for the ruthless nightmare of the Forgotten Shore. Perhaps he had underestimated the charming Sleeper… or perhaps there was another, much simpler reason.
Sunny frowned.
There was a group of people who tended to live here the longest. Suddenly suspicious, he asked in a cold tone:
"Are you a part of Gunlaug's gang?"
Kai looked at him with surprise.
Then, he chortled.
"Gods, no! If there's one thing I absolutely despise, it's bullies like him. I would rather die than become one of Gunlaug's minions. Plus, the man has no style. That armor of his is the most hideous thing I have ever seen!"
However, after saying that, he suddenly grew quiet and added after a few seconds in a dejected voice:
"But I do accept jobs from his lieutenants from time to time. That is the reason why he tolerates my existence, so I don't really have a choice."
Sunny hesitated for a bit, but then decided that he believed the other Sleeper. He really didn't look like one of Gunlaug's thugs. Besides, if he had been one of them, no sane person would have dared to kidnap and imprison him. Members of Gunlaug's cohort were nearly untouchable.
Which meant that Kai was, indeed, much more capable than Sunny had given him credit for.
'Interesting.'
Noticing that the eerie sobs of the Fallen beast had grown sufficiently distant, he shifted his perspective to the shadow and made sure that the terrible creature was already far away.
Standing up, Sunny dismissed the glass bottle and said:
"We're safe now. Time to move."
Once they were ready to leave, he summoned the shadow back and prepared to take the first step forward. However, then Sunny suddenly stopped and glanced at the charming young archer with hesitation.
"Hey, Kai. Can I ask you a question as well?"
The older Sleeper smiled, honesty and eagerness written all over his face.
"Of course!"
Sunny was silent for a couple of seconds, then said in a strange voice:
"That armor of yours… do you wear it because it's the best one you could get, or because it looks good?"
Kai looked at him with confusion. Raising one exquisite eyebrow, he said:
"I don't understand the question. Is there a difference?"
Sunny closed his eyes, sighed, and turned away.
"Never mind. Let's go."
As the sun rose above the horizon, they went deeper into the city, slowly approaching its center.
***
The castle stood on a tall hill in the middle of the cursed city. It was grand and magnificent, with dozens of towers rising into the air, each supported by a number of elaborate arches and columns. Grotesque gargoyles were staring down on the ruins from under the eaves.
The road leading to the castle was as impressive as the castle itself. It was narrow and heavily fortified, circling the hill in a way that allowed the defenders of the castle to endlessly rain arrows down on any possible attacker.
At the end of the road, a grandiose staircase led to the gates of the castle. In front of it, there had once been a vast stone platform, meant to serve as the gathering ground for the soldiers in case the enemy was to somehow breach all but this one last line of defense.
Now, the platform had turned into a makeshift settlement, with small shabby buildings made out of stone, wood, and anything else the inhabitants of this slum could get their hands on standing chaotically here and there, forming messy groups and narrow alleys.
This place did not look like the outskirts where Sunny had grown up, but it had the same unmistakable air of misery, fear, and desperation.
As the two of them approached the outer settlement, several Sleepers greeted Kai with friendly smiles.
"Hey, Night! Glad to see you, man. Where have you been lately?"
Kai smiled in embarrassment.
"Ah, you know. Flying around. What about you, pal?"
While the charming young man was exchanging pleasantries with his acquaintance, Sunny cautiously looked around.
The place had imperceptibly changed since the last time he was here. The settlement itself seemed to be almost the same, with just a few buildings slightly changing shapes. The people, however… people somehow seemed more energized and confident, as though the ever-present fear of death and starvation was not as pressing anymore.
However, there was a strange sense of tension in the air.
'I guess she was busy in these three months, too.'
Finally managing to end the conversation, Kai turned to him and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry about that."
Sunny frowned.
"Why are they calling you Night?"
The charming young man stared at him, then cleared his throat and said with a bit of strangeness in his voice.
"Oh, you really don't know. Well… it's a nickname of sorts. Nightingale, that's how I am known around these parts."
'What a stupid nickname,' Sunny thought, and decided to get things done as quickly as possible.
He couldn't wait to leave this depressing place.
"Alright, since we're here, time to make good on your promise."
Kai gave him a nod.
"Sure. What do you need me to do?"
Sunny looked around, making sure that no one could hear them, and said:
"It's simple. Go into the castle and find out about who is selling Memories, and what the price is. Then come back and report to me."
His companion blinked a couple of times, clearly surprised, then shrugged.
"No problem. But it's going to take a while. If you want the best information possible, of course."
Sunny grimaced.
"Do as you see fit. I'll be waiting for you in that alley over there."
Kai looked at him one last time, smiled, and walked away.
Feeling nervous and tense, Sunny walked other to a secluded alley and rested his back against the wall. He tried to become as small and unnoticeable as possible.
Being here was making his skin crawl. Maybe his decision to come back was a mistake, after all. Maybe he should simply turn around and walk away.
However, he didn't. Deep down inside, he knew that he had to take this opportunity to gather as many Memories as possible, so that his Shadow could become stronger as fast as possible.
Perhaps he would never get this opportunity again.
Time slowly passed. An hour went by, then another. Kai was certainly taking his sweet time gathering the information Sunny had asked from him.
However, nothing bad had happened. Yet.
Sunny was almost starting to believe that he was nervous for nothing, but then, of course, the thing he dreaded the most became a reality.
A calm, painfully familiar voice suddenly resounded from somewhere behind him.
"Hi, Sunny."
He froze, feeling like a beast caught in a trap, and then slowly turned around. A strange, complicated expression appeared on his face.
Forcing out a smile, Sunny licked his suddenly dry lips and said:
"...Hey, Neph. Long time no see."
Chapter 122: Four Months Ago
Nephis changed a lot since the last time Sunny had seen her.
Outwardly, she looked almost the same — tall, firm, and strangely distant, as though existing slightly apart from the rest of the world. She was still wearing the Starlight Legion Armor, which accentuated the graceful lines of her slender, lithe body. Only now, there was also a white cloak draped over her shoulders, close in color to the pristine metal of the elegant plate armor.
Changing Star's silver hair was much longer now, almost reaching her shoulders. Without the short tomboyish cut, she looked strangely mature and feminine, making Sunny's heart beat a little faster. Her calm grey eyes were as striking as ever.
The true changes, however, hid much deeper. Perhaps only a person who knew her as well as Sunny did could notice them, or perhaps it was precisely because he had come to know her so well that the veil of detached indifference shrouding her true self cracked, revealing the deeper feelings beneath.
Nephis seemed to be much more alive now, much more present. Her eyes shined with resolve and determination, radiating an almost infectious feeling of temperate confidence.
…This was her power. The power of conviction.
Sunny shivered under that gaze.
Neph was the person he longed to see the most and, at the same time, hoped to never see again. She was the true reason why he had to leave the castle.
Stirred awake by this fated meeting, a torrent of memories rose to the surface of his mind.
If only he had known at the time…
Well, it would not have changed anything, really.
***
Four months ago, on the night that they had ventured into the cursed sea on a boat made of demon's bones, Sunny was shivering in the wind.
…After an eternity spent in the cold embrace of darkness, the endless night of their escape was finally drawing its last breaths. He shifted and turned to the east, where a ghostly line of pale lilac appeared over the horizon.
Trembling, he licked his lips and said in a raspy voice:
"Cas. Cassie. It's morning."
After he uttered these words, the last remnant of strength that had kept Sunny going disappeared, and he slumped on the stones, his chest rising heavily and then falling.
A new dawn was ready to bathe the desolate hell of the Forgotten Shore in warm sunlight. They had survived.
The three Sleepers were perched on a giant stone hand that protruded from the black waves, as if held above the lightless abyss by a goddess. Sunny and Cassie were holding each other for warmth, while Nephis was lying in the center of the stone palm, still unconscious. Visible through the gaps in the shattered armor, her ivory skin was pale and listless.
'We did it.'
They had escaped the clutches of Soul Devourer, sailed through the cursed darkness, and even lived through a battle with the horrifying dweller of the depths… by some miracle.
Sunny couldn't quite believe that they had actually managed to pull their daring escape off. From the moment he had learned about the enthrallment hex put onto their minds by the ancient fiend, he felt that the chances of ever saving themselves from the gluttonous evil tree were more than slim. Perhaps because it had taken away his most dangerous and tested weapon... his mind.
And yet, somehow, they had succeeded.
Utterly exhausted, Sunny closed his eyes and listened to the dark sea as it retreated to hide from the coming sun. Without even noticing it, he slipped into the embrace of sleep.
When he awoke, the sun was already high in the sky. Sunny expected to feel crippled now that adrenalin had left his battered body, but, to his surprise, he wasn't in even half as much pain as he had anticipated. Blood Weave was truly a miraculous Attribute to have for someone as prone to disasters as he was.
Even his broken finger wasn't hurting that much anymore.
Sunny still had to groan while sitting up, though.
Cassie was sleeping by his side, as drained by the events of the previous night as he was… perhaps even more so. Her delicate face seemed vulnerable and pale, twisted in an anxious frown. Sunny sighed.
Nephis had yet to regain her senses. At some time while he slept, the blind girl had used her cloak to cover Changing Star, helping her to preserve some warmth. Neph lay still and motionless, her face drained of all color. Only the quiet sound of her breathing told Sunny that she was still alive.
He trembled, remembering the harrowing sight of her mangled flesh restoring itself in the crucible of purifying flame. Unleashing that flame always took a heavy toll on Nephis, bringing her unimaginable pain and suffering. Who knew what price she had paid to pull herself away from the doors of oblivion? He had not even realized before that she could use it to heal herself.
Perhaps there was a reason why she had never done so in the past. Only time could tell.
'It's time to assess the situation.'
Turning away from Changing Star, Sunny looked around, trying to discern their current circumstances. His heart was heavy.
If they had survived the attack of the tentacle monster and the ensuing shipwreck only to find themselves stranded in the middle of the cursed sea, with no way to continue forward, that would be a truly macabre twist of fate.
To the east of them, there was nothing but the empty expanse of the colossal crater. Same thing for the…
Sunny froze, noticing a dark line in the distance. That was… that was the western edge of the crater. They had almost crossed it!
Feeling a strange excitement grasping his heart, Sunny quickly turned around and looked west. His eyes widened.
For a few moments, his head was silent and empty. Then, a single thought appeared in it:
'We were so close…'
He sat quietly for a long time, forgetting about everything else. A few hours later, Cassie finally woke up. Feeling that he wasn't next to her anymore, she called in a frightened voice:
"Sunny?"
He licked his lips.
"I'm here."
Cassie sat up and stretched her hand out, finding his shoulder.
"Why… why do you sound so strange?"
Sunny blinked, then slowly turned his head to look at the blind girl. A tentative smile found its way onto his face.
"Cassie… we found it. We have found that city you saw."
***
In the end, Nephis had remained unconscious for two whole days.
Sunny was really starting to worry about her, but then, on the third day, Changing Star had finally come back to her sense. At the time, he was sitting on top of the giant hand's index finger, staring west with a warm, excited feeling in his heart.
They did it! They were finally going to go home!
Sunny couldn't wait to return to the real world. He didn't even care about becoming an Awakened and the corresponding leap in power and status that much anymore.
All he cared about was his soft bed, mountains of delicious food, and limitless hot showers.
Sunny lowered his head and glanced at Nephis, trying to determine if there was anything wrong with her. In the webtoons, one of the characters was bound to suffer from something like amnesia right before things were about to take a turn for the better.
But Changing Star seemed to be fine. She was still the same Neph he had known — tall, firm, and strangely distant, as though there was an invisible barrier separating her from the rest of the world. When the gaze of her striking grey eyes fell on him, Sunny felt his heart beating a little faster.
He smiled.
'Thank gods!'
Nephis frowned, lowered her head, and then asked in a flat tone:
"Why are you smiling?"
Realizing that he was grinning from ear to ear like a fool, Sunny blinked, then tried to shrug with false indifference.
'Abort, abort! Divert her attention!'
"Look behind you."
The sight of what lay in the west was one of the reasons for his good mood, so it wasn't that much of a stretch.
Neph stared at him for a few moments, then sighed and turned around.
Behind her, a tall city wall built of grey polished stone towered above the slopes of the colossal crater.
That wall was a sign that all their suffering was not in vain, and that all their dreams were about to come true.
It was hope.
Chapter 123: Helping Hand
Soon after Nephis had finally come back to her senses, they prepared to leave the shelter of the giant stone hand. The morning had just begun, so there was plenty of time to cross the remaining distance and climb out of the deep and vast crater. If all was going to go well, they would meet the next sunset on top of the tall wall of the mysterious city.
Of course, numerous things could go wrong between now and then. But, for some reason, Sunny felt optimistic.
This was a rare moment for his cynical, paranoid heart.
Just like before, Sunny and Neph took turns climbing down a few dozen meters and lowering Cassie to one another with the help of the golden rope. However, they had grown considerably stronger since the last time they had to do it.
Sunny remembered how tiresome it was to descend from the giant knight's statue in that way and chuckled. Now, he felt as though he could do it three times in a row, and considerably faster, too. Even though he had spent the last few days in an endless nightmare and brought his body to the point where it was about to shut down, now, there was nothing but resilient strength filling his muscles.
These two months that they had spent in the perilous hell of the crimson labyrinth, constantly fighting for their lives and slaying monsters that no Sleeper should ever face one after another, had made all three of them much more powerful.
Sunny doubted that a lot of Awakened had ever gone through this ruthless of an initiation and lived to tell the tale. Once he returned to the real world, he would most likely be considered one of the elite representatives of the current generation.
'Huh, that might actually be a problem.'
Well, he could always blame everything on Nephis. She was already close to being a mythical existence — the last daughter of the legendary Immortal Flame clan, one of the few Awakened in history who had managed to receive a True Name in the First Nightmare, the top student in her batch of Sleepers in the Academy, and so on.
People would easily believe that a prodigy like her had been able — and willing — to carry two pathetic weaklings on her back all the way to the Gateway.
Sunny just had to choose his words carefully when describing the events leading up to their triumphant return. Luckily, in that regard, he was a master.
Entertaining himself with such thoughts, he didn't even notice the flow of time. Soon, they were already approaching the ground.
Just before jumping into the soft black mud, Nephis looked at Sunny and said:
"Stay vigilant."
She didn't have to remind him. Sunny knew that the last stretch was often the most dangerous — mostly because it was natural for people to allow themselves to relax in these moments, falsely believing that the worst was already behind them. Numerous Awakened perished tragically with their goal already in sight.
He wasn't planning on becoming one of them.
Sunny carefully lowered Cassie down, watched as Neph helped her step out of the rope loop, and jumped down. He landed on the ground in a nimble roll, immediately jumped to his feet and outstretched one hand, ready to summon the Midnight Shard at a moment's notice.
However, nothing was trying to kill them.
Sunny and Nephis exchanged tense looks, and then slowly walked forward.
With each minute, the distant grey wall was growing closer.
At some point, Sunny gestured for Changing Star to stop and turned around, curious to take a look at the statue whose hand had saved them from drowning in the dark depths of the cursed sea.
Out there on the slope of the colossal crater, slightly tilted to the side, a giant statue of a slender woman dressed in a light flowing robe towered over the black mud. She was lovely and graceful, with a slim waist and delicate arms outstretched to the skies, as though trying to embrace them.
At least that was how she had looked once, a long time ago. Now, one of the arms was broken off, with only its shoulder remaining in place. Luckily, the other one was still there, and had served as a safe haven for the three Sleepers in their moment of desperate need.
Just as Sunny expected, there were seven shining stars carved into the stone surface of her robe.
What piqued his curiosity the most, though, was the fact that just like the giant knight, the graceful woman seemed to be missing her head. Once again, Sunny wondered if these stone titans were created without faces to begin with, or if something had beheaded them much later in a fit of destructive rage.
'...seven severed heads guarding seven seals,' he thought, remembering Cassie's frightening vision.
The mystery of that vision was nothing short of tantalizing. However, it seemed as though it was destined to remain unsolved — Sunny doubted that he would ever come back to this cursed place after returning to the real world.
There were many regions in the Dream Realm, and almost every one of them was far better than the hellish Forgotten Shore.
'To hell with all this crap!'
Sending silent gratitude to the statue that had saved their lives, Sunny turned around and headed west.
…As they approached the section of the slope that was almost vertical, something dangerous finally happened. Just as Sunny was about to step on a wide stone buried in the mud, the stone suddenly shifted and rolled to the side.
A terrible roar resounded across the vast emptiness of the colossal crater, making him shiver in fright.
Fearing that something was crawling from under the soil, Sunny jumped back and summoned his sword. To his side, Nephis was doing the same, while Cassie swiftly stepped back to not be in the way.
…However, there was nothing moving in the mud. No giant beast rose from it to feast on their flesh, no horrifying abomination had extended its limbs to pull them underground into its maw.
Then… what made that terrible roar?
Just as Sunny was trying to understand what was happening, a sharp pain suddenly pierced his right leg. Looking down, he saw… he saw…
The damn stone was chomping on his shin!
The stone, which turned out to be a bizarre Nightmare Creature, revealed a mouth full of long, sharp teeth on its surface. It awkwardly rolled a couple of times to reach Sunny and then tried to dig its fangs into his soft flesh.
It might have bitten Sunny's leg clean off, but, luckily, the leather boot of the Puppeteer's Shroud turned out to be too tough for the stone's jaws. So it was just munching on the leather in powerless resentment.
The situation was painful, but not at all dangerous.
Sunny stared at the stone, then raised his head and glanced at Nephis in bewilderment. Her expression was as indifferent as always, but after all the time they had spent together, he was able to recognize the similar kind of amusement written clearly on her face.
"Uh…"
Sunny strained his muscles, raised the trapped leg into the air and shook it a couple of times, trying to send the stupid stone flying.
However, the weird monster was really stubborn. With another thunderous roar, it doubled its attempts to gnaw on Sunny's shin, its stone teeth on the verge of shattering from all the pressure exerted on them.
'What a pathetic thing. The only hope of killing me it has is if I die from annoyance,' Sunny thought with a confused frown.
How could a Nightmare Creature like this even exist?!
'I guess there are losers even among their kind, eh?'
Shaking his head, Sunny allowed the shadow to wrap itself around the Midnight Shard and brought the tip of the blade down on the hungry stone with all the strength he had.
The tachi was met with some resistance, but managed to pierce and shatter the monster's stone body in the end.
The bizarre creature died while still trying to take a bite out of Sunny, defiant till the very end.
As the shattered remains of the stone fell into the mud, the voice of the Spell whispered:
[You have slain an awakened monster, Rolling Stone.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
[You have…]
Seeing a strange expression on Sunny's face, Nephis asked:
"What's wrong?"
He looked at her and blinked a couple of times.
"Uh… I just received a Memory."
Changing Star raised her eyebrow and said in an uplifted tone:
"That is great. What type of Memory?"
Sunny scratched his head, hesitated, and then answered:
"Uh. It's a… rock? An ordinary rock..."
Chapter 124: Desolation
Soon, they were standing beneath the impregnable stone walls of the mysterious city. Behind them, the great chasm of the vast crater stretched to the horizon.
Somewhere ahead, the lone human citadel in this loathsome region of the Dream Realm awaited. It promised to deliver them from this dark place and bring them home.
Sunny really couldn't wait to be finally done with this nightmare.
The city wall was built from massive slabs of grey granite. Still wet from the cold touch of the cursed sea, the ancient weathered stones looked almost black. Despite the thousands of years that passed since the mysterious builders of the wall had disappeared into the fog of time, it still looked monumental and unassailable.
The joints between the granite slabs were barely wide enough to insert a narrow blade.
Looking up, Sunny tried to guess the height of the wall. It had to be sixty meters tall, at least — twice as high as the Awakened Academy defense barrier, which was constructed with the help of both modern technology and various Aspect Abilities.
For a few moments, he wondered about the people who had erected this wall, the city behind it, and the giant statues that still stood lonesomely on the desolate shores of this cursed land. Their creations had withstood the onslaught of darkness and time, but the creators were gone. Who had they been? What terrible fate had befallen the citizens of the ruined city?
But then, Sunny angrily shook his head. These mysteries had nothing to do with him anymore. He was going home, never to return to this awful pit of horror and despair. Let someone else solve them.
After a short rest, they decided that it would be easier to climb the wall instead of circling it in search of an entrance. Even if they were to find a gate, there was no guarantee that it would be open.
Climbing the wet granite was not an easy task, but they somehow managed. When there was nothing to use as a hold, Sunny and Nephis resorted to using their swords by inserting them into the joints between the slabs. A few unpleasant cuts later, they found the right rhythm and made quick progress.
Enhanced by the consumed soul shards and shadow fragments, as well as the ruthless training regimen of the neverending battle for survival, their bodies were full of strength and endurance. Both of them were at the peak of human physical ability. Pretty soon, they had reached be top of the massive wall and climbed over its edge.
Without even needing to catch his breath, Sunny hungrily crawled forward, jumped to his feet, and gazed down.
In the ensuing silence, he could hear the sound of the golden rope scratching against stone. However, his heart was beating louder.
Soon, Nephis and Cassie joined him.
The blind girl grasped his shoulder and asked, her voice bright and full of hope:
"Sunny? What do you see?"
He licked his lips.
Beneath them, an expansive city lay in ruins. The beautiful stone buildings were broken and shattered, many of them turned into mere piles of rubble. There were no people walking along the wide streets, no clamor of voices to drive away the silence. Under the cold grey sky, the ruined city looked dead and mournful.
It was impossible to say what terrible disaster had happened here, but it was clear that it was not natural. Many of the collapsed houses were blackened by fire, with claw marks cut into the still-standing fragments of walls. Here and there, monstrous bones of ancient horrors protruded from the ground, telling tales of desperate battles that must have had taken place on these streets once, a long time ago.
Looking closer, Sunny felt cold sweat running down his back. There were strange shapes moving through the rubble, and even more hiding in the shadows. Seeing them filled him with an icy sense of dread.
The ruined city was teeming with Nightmare Creatures.
"There is… a vast, ruined city built of weathered stone. And there are numerous monsters wandering its streets. Just like you said there would be."
The tall city wall they were standing on was as wide as a road. It stretched endlessly in both directions, enclosing the vast ruins into a strangely perfect circle. Every so often, there were towers built into its impenetrable granite body, serving as bastions against potential enemies.
Who would have thought that one day this great barrier would serve not to repel the horrible monsters, but to keep the true horrors imprisoned inside?
But Sunny wasn't that interested in the wall. He wasn't even too interested in the monsters. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the tall hill towering above the ruins. On that hill…
"There is a magnificent castle standing on a hill in the middle of the ruins. It looks like… like something out of a legend. Its walls are built from radiant white stone, with tall towers and majestic spires piercing the sky. It stands above the city like a... a symbol of hope, the only thing in this hell that seems to be untouched by the darkness and… and…"
A wide smile appeared on Cassie's face.
"Yes! This is the castle I saw!"
However, Sunny didn't hear her. Just as he was describing the splendor of the bright castle to the blind girl, his gaze accidentally slid behind it.
Now, all he could see was the dark silhouette of a cyclopean tower that loomed above the world like an unholy spear made out of solidified blood. As soon as Sunny saw it, his heart was gripped by an unexplainable fear.
This was the Crimson Spire.
The feeling of horror it emanated was enough to make him never wish to gaze at it again. And yet, he wasn't able to look away.
By his side, Nephis was staring at it too, her thoughts a mystery. There was a tense, dark expression on her face. After a few seconds had passed, Changing Star was finally able to compose herself and turned away.
Looking in the direction of the castle, she frowned and said:
"The final stretch of the way to the citadel might be extremely dangerous. We must not hurry. Let's find a way down first…"
Chapter 125: A Feast in Time of Plague
Neither Nephis nor Sunny wanted to climb down from the wall, because that would leave them with no path of retreat should something terrible happen. Without the need to discuss it, they had decided to explore the nearest tower and see if there was a suitable way to descend from the wall inside of it.
They followed the slightly bending wall north, keeping an eye on the ruins below. From time to time, Sunny was able to notice the shapes of creatures moving through the desolate streets of the ancient city. However, nothing seemed to be interested in scaling its tall granite bulwark.
For the time being, they were safe.
However, he didn't feel safe. Instead, he kept glancing at the distant axis of the Crimson Spire and shivering.
That thing was seriously way too ominous.
'Good thing we will be out of here soon…'
That was the only thought that kept him from falling into an irrational panic. Their journey through the Forgotten Shore was about to end. They had endured a lot and survived through a lot. At times, he had not even been sure that they were going to make it out of here alive. But now, all their suffering was about to be rewarded. The path to freedom was already in their sight… they just had to overcome this one last hurdle to return home in glory.
...Soon, they were closing in on one of the mighty towers built into the wall. The structure was round in shape, rising above the main embankment by a good dozen meters. There was a wide wooden gate leading inside the tower, which was broken a long time ago, with only a few splinters remaining on the ancient iron hinges.
Behind the doorway, there was nothing but darkness.
Sunny felt that the sight of this entrance was a bit creepy. Of course, darkness was nothing to him. And yet…
Suddenly, Cassie tugged on his shoulder, forcing Sunny to stop. Both him and Nephis turned to her, their hands outstretched and ready to summon their swords.
"What is it, Cassie?" Sunny asked, alarmed.
In some situations, the blind girl was able to recognize danger before they could. Her keen hearing and sense of smell allowed her to sometimes perceive things that normal humans would not be able to.
Now, there was a scowl on Cassie's face. Turning her head slightly, she whispered:
"Listen."
Sunny held his breath and followed her words, straining his hearing to the limit. Soon, he was able to discern a strange sound coming from inside the tower.
Chomp. Chomp. Crunch. Chomp…
It sounded like… like something was being devoured there, flesh and bones being ground by sharp teeth. The nauseating sound of meat being torn and chewed made him grimace.
Sunny and Nephis looked at each other, then summoned their swords. Like usual, before the two of them moved forward, Sunny sent his shadow to investigate the potential enemy.
The shadow glided on the stones, quickly approaching the tower. Then, it dove into the darkness and concealed itself in the vast shade that permeated the structure.
Sunny was able to see inside…
The first thing he saw was several dead monsters lying on the stone in puddles of blood. The bloody trails left on the stone floor suggested that their massive bodies were dragged here by something very powerful. They were cut apart and eviscerated, as though dressed down by an enthusiastic butcher.
Then, he saw a large pile of gnawed bones lying on the stones. Some of them still had pieces of meat stuck to them, while others were split apart and emptied of even the marrow.
The next thing he saw was… a fire burning in a circle of stone shards, with several skewers of monster meat roasting above it.
Next to the fire, the source of the chomping and crunching sounds was sitting on the stones, munching on a well-roasted rib.
…It was a human.
In fact, it was a young woman. She seemed to be only slightly older than the three of them.
Sunny blinked.
The young woman was tall and attractive. She had hazel eyes and beautiful brown hair, currently tied in a simple braid. Her build was extremely athletic, with perfectly defined lean muscles rolling under the dewy olive skin with each movement. And there was… uh… a lot of skin on display, since she only wore a provocatively short white tunic, augmented with bronze greaves, vambraces, and a cuirass with leather pteruges.
While Nephis was slender and lithe, this stranger radiated a sense of vitality and vigor. Everything about her was lavish and generous, screaming of strength, potency and power.
The strangest part, however, was that there was an absolutely relaxed, comfortable, and happy expression on her face. In the months spent on the Forgotten Shore, Sunny had never, even for a second, allowed himself to lower his guard completely. Neither had Nephis or Cassie.
Even in the rare moments of rest, sheltered in reliable safety, they were always slightly tense, expecting all kinds of horrors to fall on them in an onslaught of teeth, poison, and claws. Even while under the hex of the Soul Devourer, there was always an invisible shadow in their hearts.
However, the young woman seemed to be completely content with being in this cursed place. In fact, she looked happier than Sunny had ever been, even in the real world.
As Sunny watched, the young woman messily devoured the meat of the unfortunate monster. The juices were flowing down her face and fingers. Done with the meat, she bit on the bone itself.
His eyes widened.
The adamantine bone of the Nightmare Creature was easily crushed between her teeth, and, closing her eyes in pleasure, the girl proceeded to suck out the marrow, then chew and swallow most of the bone itself.
Crunch. Crunch. Chomp. Crunch…
Finished with the rib, she threw its remains into the disturbingly sizable pile of bones at her feet, loudly burped with no decorum whatsoever, then immediately stretched her hand out to pick up another piece of monster meat from the fire, and sunk her teeth into it.
Sunny blinked a couple of times more, then shifted his perspective back and looked at Nephis.
"What did you see?"
He lingered for a bit, and then said in a hesitant tone:
"Well... it's either a very hungry human girl. Or a very gluttonous demon."
Chapter 126: Effie
Nephis stared at him for a few moments, then turned her head to Cassie and said:
"Follow behind us."
The three of them cautiously approached the entrance to the tower and lingered there, uncertain of how they should proceed.
In their minds, there were two outcomes to this unexpected situation.
One, the mysterious young woman would turn out to be a local Awakened. In that case, all their problems were going to be solved. If an Awakened happened to meet a group of Sleepers in the wild reaches of the Dream Realm, it was customary to guide them to the nearest human Citadel.
Of course, exceptions happened, but in general, Awakened strived to take care of Sleepers — in this alien land, humans had to band together. It was not only a moral obligation, but also in their own best interest.
Two, the stranger would turn out to be a Nightmare Creature. In that case, they were going to have a tough fight on their hands. Since the rank and class of the enemy were unknown, it was impossible to predict the result.
They just had to risk it.
Drawing a deep breath, Sunny followed Nephis into the cool darkness of the tower. Immediately, the appetizing smell of roasting meat hit his nostrils.
…His stomach growled.
'Crap!'
Before Sunny could react, a piece of bone flew past his head and hit the wall with enough force to shatter into tiny pieces. Belatedly, he raised the Midnight Shard and assumed a defensive stance.
But it was a little too late. The young woman had already been alerted of their presence.
Raising her head, she bared her teeth in a wide grin and murmured:
"Is someone hiding in the shadows? Why don't you come out to play…"
Her voice was deep, smoky and had a raspy huskiness to it. But what mattered the most was that she was speaking in the human language.
She was human!
Probably…
The stranger was still sitting in a relaxed pose, but Sunny didn't miss the subtle tension in her carved muscles. He had no doubt that the alleged Awakened could explode into a whirlwind of violence at any moment.
It was better not to provoke her.
Glancing at Neph, he followed her example and dismissed his sword. Then, the three of them hesitantly stepped into the circle of light cast by the bonfire.
The young woman looked at them in surprise and raised her eyebrows:
"Humans? Huh! Unexpected."
Then she smiled and shook her head.
"Ah, where are my manners?"
With that, she lightly rose to her feet. The white fabric of her tunic shifted slightly, revealing even more of her toned, powerful thighs.
Sunny blinked.
He had assumed that the stranger was tall, but only now did he realize how imposing her true height was. The woman stood considerably taller than even Nephis, not to mention Sunny himself. Complete with her robust physique, olive skin and archaic armor, she looked like an ancient goddess.
Craning his neck to look her in the eyes was sort of irritating, though. But Sunny had no choice. If he were to just look straight, his line of sight would land directly on her shapely… uh…
The young woman, meanwhile, wiped her dirty face with a forearm and gestured at the fire.
"Here, would you like to take a seat?"
Despite the polite invitation, they hesitated. After several seconds passed in awkward silence, Nephis finally took a step forward and asked the question that had been tormenting all three of them.
With her voice uncharacteristically tense and full of suppressed emotion, she cautiously said:
"Are you… are you human?"
The stranger stared at her with a blank expression, then blinked a couple of times.
"What else would I be? A horse?"
With that, she threw he head back and laughed loudly, amused by her own silly joke. Nephis and Sunny glanced at each other, confused as to what to do.
Meanwhile, the young woman giggled a few more times and looked at them with sparks of glee dancing in her eyes.
"Of course I am human! Why are you even asking? Anyway, come sit. My neck is tired from looking down on you."
With that, she sat down near the fire and assumed a relaxed pose. Nephis, Sunny and Cassie finally approached and lowered themselves to the stones, looking at the tall girl with hungry flames burning in their eyes.
She looked them over, then frowned a little.
"Haven't seen you guys around. Are you new?"
Nephis gave her a nod.
"Yes. We have just reached the city."
She was trying very hard to act like a normal, well-adjusted person. It seemed that her endless attempts to improve her social skills had not been in vain. If Sunny didn't know how awkward and clumsy Neph's natural state was, he wouldn't have suspected anything.
The young woman grinned.
"In that case, my condolen… wait. You guys survived for two whole months in the Labyrinth?"
She whistled and looked at them with newfound respect.
"That's a real feat. Congratulations."
Nephis lingered for a few seconds, then said:
"I'm Nephis, and these are my companions, Cassia and Sunless. We are Sleepers who came here during the winter solstice."
The young woman gave them a wide, friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Effie. Well, at least that's what people call me. I'm also a Sleeper."
Sunny frowned. So the beautiful giantess was not an Awakened, just a Sleeper like them. Strangely, he didn't remember ever seeing her in the Academy. Still…
Too impatient to remain silent, he leaned forward and said:
"Are you from the castle? There are people living there, right?"
Effie glanced at him. In her eyes, there was a hint of a strange emotion.
It almost looked like… pity.
"...There are indeed people living in the castle, yes."
Nephis and Sunny exchanged excited looks. Then, Changing Star cautiously asked:
"Can you take us there?"
Effie shrugged.
"Sure, no problem. Do you guys have shards?"
Sunny blinked. What did soul shards have to do with any ot this? They had retrieved two from that weird stone he had killed at the base of the wall. Was she going to ask for payment?
Nephis retrieved the soul shards and showed them to the tall girl.
"We have two."
Effie sighed.
"Only two? Well… it's better than nothing, I guess. Keep them. You'll need them later."
Not quite understanding the meaning of her words, Changing Star lingered, then said uncertainly:
"We were hoping to reach the Citadel and access the Gateway as soon as possible. How long will it take?"
The young woman stared at them for a long time, and then suddenly bent over in a fit of hysterical laughter. She laughed so long and hard that tears soon appeared in the corners of her eyes.
Unpleasantly surprised, the three Sleepers stared at her in shock. None of them understood the reason for this bizarre behavior.
'Is she… insane?'
Sunny frowned, reevaluating the situation. Previously, the local girl just seemed to be a bit eccentric. But maybe there was more to it…
Effie's laughter stopped as abruptly as it had started. Wiping her tears, she shook her head and said in a strange tone:
"Ah, sorry guys. I just couldn't help myself. Please, forgive my lack of manners."
Then, she straightened her back, looked them heavily into the eyes, and said:
"I can take you to the castle, but there is no Gateway there. In fact, there's no way out of this cursed hell at all. I've been stuck here for three years myself already. So… welcome to the Dark City, I guess. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, and all that…"
Chapter 127: Abandon All Hope
...Shellshocked by her words, the three of them stared at the young woman with pale faces. Sunny felt something brittle and precious shattering in his heart, piercing it with an almost physical feeling of pain.
'No. No, it can't be.'
It just couldn't be true. How could… how could all of this have been for nothing?
How could all of his hopes, dreams and desires just be destroyed with a couple of words?
How was it possible?!
Somewhere beside him, Cassie suddenly said in a tiny voice:
"What do you mean, there is no Gateway?"
Effie shrugged.
"It's very simple, really. I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but deep down inside you must have known already. Didn't you? The Forgotten Shore… it's not really a place where humans are supposed to survive. That's why you have never heard of anything like it in the school or the Academy."
Sunny's face got contorted with anger. Of course! Of course, the answer was always within his grasp. He was just too naive and foolish to grasp it.
The Dream Realm was vast and strange, with most of its regions barely explored by humans. However, there was at least a small amount of information available about them. Some were even fully under human control, with large Citadels like Bastion providing shelter to hundreds of thousands of Awakened.
And yet, when he had first come to the Forgotten Shore, Sunny didn't recognize any of the unique characteristics of this place. At the time, he had thought that his patchy education was to blame.
He should have realized the truth when neither Nephis nor Cassie managed to succeed where he had failed. Why would a region as unique as this one be utterly unknown? The most logical explanation would be that no one had ever returned from this deadly abyss to the real world to tell others about it.
What a fool he was! Just a few weeks in the comfortable life in the Academy, and he had completely forgotten that the world never played fair against people like him. The truth was always worse than his worst expectations, so why would this time be any different?
The world was a predator that always waited for an opportunity to devour you.
Why would he even expect anything else?
A familiar bitter taste appeared in his mouth.
Meanwhile, Effie continued in a gentle tone:
"Fifteen years ago or so, a group of powerful and desperate Sleepers managed to reach this city and claim the castle for themselves. Not because it had a Gateway, but because it was the only place that could keep them safe. At least for a while. Ever since then, a few lucky or resourceful people would find their way to the castle each solstice, only to get stuck here with the rest of us."
Nephis was sitting quietly, with only her clenched fists betraying the storm of emotions raging in her heart. Cassie was taking the news harder than both of them, though. After all, it was her vision that led them into this trap.
Her face was deathly pale, with an expression of pain and shock contorting its delicate lines. Closing her eyes, she whispered:
"But that's… that is not fair!"
Effie looked at her with pity. Then, she chuckled, smiled darkly and said:
"When was anything ever fair?"
…She was right, of course. Justice didn't really exist outside of the ethereal realm of human imagination. Sunny had learned that lesson a long, long time ago.
While he was stewing in his indignant despair, Effie's smile suddenly lost its grim undertone and turned into a happy grin once again. Leaning forward a little, she said:
"But it's not all bad! At least you have met me. You guys are incredibly lucky, really. If you hadn't run into a local, you would have been dead already."
Nephis stared at her and asked in a flat tone:
"Yeah? Why is… that?"
Her awkward manner of speech was back again in all its glory.
Effie sighed.
"The Dark City is simultaneously the safest place to be on the Forgotten Shore, and also the deadliest. It is safe because no sea monster can cross the wall, let alone reach the castle. But at the same time, it is far more dangerous than the Labyrinth because almost every Nightmare Creature here is of the Fallen rank."
Sunny blinked, feeling a cold shiver permeate his whole body. Fallen creatures… Fallen creatures were immeasurably more powerful than Awakened ones. Dormant humans like them had no business fighting against the latter, let alone the former. One awakened demon was already more than they could handle without resorting to summoning a true terror from the depths of the cursed sea.
Something much more powerful than the Carapace Demon would simply wipe them out from existence in a matter of seconds. Remembering countless shapes moving through the ruins, he couldn't help but tremble.
Was each… each of those shapes a Fallen monster? How would anyone survive even a day in this cursed city? They would have to be insane to even try!
Slowly, the magnitude of the perilous trap they had found themselves in began to seep into his mind.
Effie smiled.
"But you guys managed to stumble into me before descending from the wall. Otherwise, the Fallen Ones would have been feasting on your souls already. Lucky, very lucky! There are very few people in the castle who go out hunting in the ruins, let alone venture so far away from it. Meeting an experienced hunter like me was probably your only chance to avoid finding out about the true face of the Dark City a second too late."
She shook her head.
"That's, like… one to one thousand? Ten thousand? A million? At any rate, the odds were really not in your favor. Fortune is definitely in love with at least one of you, guys. So… cheer up! Do you want some meat? I had a truly amazing hunt today. It was so amazing that I don't even mind sharing."
Nephis didn't even look at the roasting meat and instead leaned forward, her words filled with intensity:
"If there is no Gateway here, why didn't you try to leave?"
Effie blinked a couple of times and looked at her with sincere confusion.
"...Leave? And go where?"
The meat was about to become burnt, so she leaned to the fire and removed the skewers, then replaced them with a couple of new ones. Then, with a sigh, she turned to Changing Star and said:
"You've been to the Labyrinth, so you know what it's like. There's nothing else but that damn coral and cursed sea for months of travel in every direction. You can't go on foot, you can't swim. You can't even fly, because there are swarms of dreadful flying abominations hiding in the clouds. But try to leave? Yeah, many have tried. They're all dead now. Actually, that's how the initial master of the castle had perished."
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"So, what? You guys just hide in the castle and wait for death?"
The beautiful young woman laughed.
"Of course not, doofus!"
Then she pierced him with an unexpectedly grim look of her hazel eyes and said:
"Most of us can't even get into the castle. The king demands his tax, you know? So we just wait for death outside."