The battle raged on, bodies piled on the red coral, of both humans and abominations.
The strongest humans of the Forgotten Shore were already tired, forced to be in the front lines, they may have lessened the casualties, but it also pressured them even more. The first line was all but destroyed, the second line stood strong, but the third line was being threatened to be raided by the sky creatures.
The army had advanced to the point they were almost reaching Kira and Gunlaug. At that point, Kira's heat had already subsided, being all focused on his sword.
Burned and cauterized corpses surrounded the black knight, who was bathed in blood, making it look like crimson armor.
Breathing heavily, he sliced a Carapace Centurion's head completely off, the flaming sword illuminating his bloodied and mangled armor, he had received a multitude of attacks.
Exhaustion caught up to him, his movents starting getting sluggish, slow, weak. But that didn't stop him from continuing.
Gunlaug was also tired, his armor may not have received any damage, but that didn't an he himself didn't receive the shocks of the blows of the countless nightmare creatures that hit him. He could feel the blood underneath his armor flow outside his body.
Squashing another centipede, he swinged his axe towards another creature, and another, and another. He wouldn't stop until he reached the Spire.
Serpent in the form of the Carapace Demon was in a sorry state, the carapace mangled, and although it killed many of the horde, it was going to be overwheld soon enough.
Effie looked like a walking monster, bloodied, mangled, armor defiled, and yet, an elated smile perated her face. Her weapons seed like extensions of her limbs as she walked through every abomination that got in her way with inherent malice, destroying every one.
Gemma was… Holding up, protecting as many as he could, but his regeneration was not immortality.
Caster was a red blur on the battlefield, never stopping, never holding back.
Seishan continued her massacre in her monstrous form, slaughtering countless creatures.
But it still wasn't enough, there were just too many. Despite the steady advance, many Sleepers died for every step.
Seishan saw two of her handmaidens being pushed to the ground, being exposed to the attack of a Carapace Demon.
Her mind went blank, and she ignored all other stimuli and rushed towards her followers, but unfortunately, two Centurions got in her way.
Her eyes flashed in red, and she got so fast the first Centurion couldn't even react when she slashed its chest and bit off its throat.
[You have slain a…]
Seishan ignored the Spell and jumped past the corpse of the Monster, cutting the head of the other Centurion with her Ascended claws.
[You have slain a…]
She dashed once again, but the Demon had already killed one of the handmaidens.
'NO!'
The Demon was already thrusting its scythe-like limb towards the other handmaiden. And she was too slow to reach her…
A mory flashed in Seishan's mind.
It was the sa situation, she would be too late to save her subordinate, just like in the Bright Castle, against Fallen Demon.
She would fail, again, and she would have to learn the sa lesson… Again.
'I'm sorry…'
The Demon's scythe ca down like a hamr, it was not an attack a Sleeper could take on. The handmaiden would die, her handmaiden…
If the Demon hadn't burned in white flas before it could.
Seishan's eyes widened as Changing Star slashed the Carapace Demon, burning it into a crisp.
The leader of the Drear Army had joined the battle.
As her flas burned the horde of nightmare creatures, moving in an unpredictable, fluid sword dance that exterminated all abominations. Saving the front line from collapsing while wielding a new sword made of pristine, white stone that complented her swordsmanship.
Her presence was like a light in the dark, shining bright for all to see. All Sleepers saw the Changing Star, and all of them felt their determination flourish once more.
But instead of maintaining their ground, the army charged, fury of a decade was carried in each of their blades, standing shoulder to shoulder, they all pushed the horde of nightmare creatures back.
Until they reached Kira and Gunlaug to bring respite to the two Knights.
Nephis managed to approach each of them in the middle of the battle and healed them with her purifying flas, they rose once more. Using their cover to heal the other fighters that had been tired and wounded.
With all the strongest fighters together in the front line, the army continued to advance once more, and they would march further even more.
A Shadow wolf appeared out of the ground in the middle of the horde that was overwhelming Serpent and began his rapid carnage. Blood fell as the Wraith tore and ripped the flesh of the horrid abominations.
A Stone Saint made up of shadows passed through the front line and using their great skill and technique completely annihilated countless Scavengers and Centurions, even Carapace Demons fell easily to their sword.
Then, all seven mbers of the Shadow Watchers pierced through the battlefield, assisting them in the advance of the Drear Army.
Nix illusions fooled multiple creatures in the positions of their prey, making them fall off the coral bridge and saving Sleepers by making them disappear in the eyes of the creatures.
i's devastating aspect and swordsmanship made the deadliest nightmare creatures collapse in the fractured space.
Lycon used his skill and aspect to protect and heal the fighters that were wounded and even the Echoes, his aspect was one of the few that could reconstruct them, which helped the Echoes of his leader cause even more devastation.
rlin's overwhelming style of combat pressured all creatures who dared to approach her.
Kin and Lan made a destructive domain of death everywhere they passed.
And now, the Drear Army began to win, to overco the guardians, to win, even with still many casualties.
But the Cursed Heralds were still in the sky, still threatening to annihilate the third line. However, a charming archer was already flying to face them.
In all the chaos of the battlefield, many wouldn't notice…
But a subtle mist rose, not to create a territory, but to hide one person.
Sunny and Motza stealthily passed through the battlefield, avoiding all allies and creatures, using the chaos to hide themselves from any dangers.
The Heir of Shadows used the shadows under his command, while Motza used his mist to cover himself. Although Sunny could command the shadows to hide Motza, which he did, because of the assassin's lack of affinity to shadows and Sunny's own low rank, the shadows didn't hide Motza enough to hide from the horde, but using his own mist was enough to compensate.
Swiftly and nimbily, they passed through the bridge connecting the island to the mainland, shadows protected them all the way through. The battlefield filled to the brim with darkness helped them to pass undetected.
But a Carapace Centurion's leg pierced the ground right in front of Motza, he was moving too fast to stop, forcing to crash into the creature.
However, before the whole horde bore down on them, even before Motza fell on the ground, he unleashed the full power of his aspect.
A great, dense mist filled the rear end of the bridge, where multiple nightmare creatures were moving, making the abominations on the area confused and lost.
On the bright side, that let Sunny and Motza pass undetected once more, and also gave so ti to the Drear Army, not as many creatures would charge the front line for so ti.
They were able to reach the island relatively safely.
They silently climbed the hill where the entrance of the Crimson Spire was. The great tower was enormous, so much so it even covered the sky with its grandeur.
Soon, they reached the entrance, a semi-circle with seven statues with the seven heroes of the Forgotten Shore, the ones representing the enormous statues that stood throughout the Zone.
The Lord, Pristress, Slayer, Knight, Builder, Hunter and the Stranger.
The whole entrance was filled with red coral, infested by the depraved infection that hid the once pristine material that the Spire was built on.
Sunny passed his gaze through the place, and soon noticed seven holes in the great gate.
Seven keyholes in the shape of stars.
He took a step towards the entrance, and sothing changed in the air.
'Of course it wouldn't be that easy.'
Crimson shards flew into the air and began to join together, slowly forming into seven twisted silhouettes.
Sunless summoned [BloodRaven] and Saint, the taciturn Shadow manifested in front of him sword and shield in hand.
"How fast can your mist cover the area?"
Motza had overused his aspect, he was tired, so the output would be affected.
"... Not fast enough."
Sunless nodded, and faced the seven golems of crimson coral that blocked their path to the star sigil, the shapes were familiar.
The seven heroes, corrupted, vile copies of the heroes of the Forgotten Shore, raising their weapons towards him. They were crude, inhuman, and powerful.
Sunny quickly recognized the weapons they used, crude imitations of the mory Shard weapons of the heroes.
And on the head of the red golem of the Lord, the one who stood the furthest away, an imitation of the [Dawn Shard].
'Maybe…'
"Once you can summon enough mist, target the one in the back."
The order was heard loud and clear, and a small mist began to form, growing more and more as ti passed.
Sunless augnted himself with one of his shadows and [BloodRaven] with the other one, then dashed towards the golems, the Stranger quickly raised its giant shield to stop his advance.
'Fast…'
The odachi clashed with the giant shield, and a shock passed through Sunless, making him recoil.
He may have Ascended mories, but he was still a re Sleeper, even with the augntation of a shadow, he apparently didn't compare to the strength of the golems.
However, the coral shield of the Stranger was damaged, [BloodRaven] was not.
Six golems moved towards Sunny, Saint and Motza, malice and bloodlust inherent in their very creation.
The golem of the Lord stood back, arms crossed, Sunless' grew more and more certain of his theory.
'Fine, we can take you.'
This entire ti, Sunless' mind had been bombarded by ssages coming from the insidious voice of the Spell thanks to the work of his three Shadows in the front line of the battlefield of the red coral bridge.
[You have slain an Awakened…]
[You have slain an Awakened…]
[You have slain an Awakened…]
[You have received a mory.]
[You have slain a Fallen…]
At the sa ti his head was bombarded with infuriating ssages he was forced to ignore to focus on the battle, his core was also slowly growing more and more saturated.
Shadow Fragnts: [2600/3000]
Shadow Fragnts: [2606/3000]
Shadow Fragnts: [2612/3000]
Shadow Fragnts: [2620/3000]
aning he was stronger and stronger by the second. It also ant that if he didn't end the battle fast enough, he could beco a Devil and risk becoming vulnerable. After all, even with the slow manner that his cores saturated, the amount of creatures that were coming for the Drear Army was simply incalculable, way more than anyone expected.
Almost as if Fate itself wanted more abominations to appear…
But that didn't matter right now, he just needed to defeat these golems and open the gates.
And so, both parties advanced and t in the center. As the ones in the disadvantage in numbers, Sunny and his allies would, in theory, need to face two golems each.
But in reality, Sunny dealt with two of them, while Saint dueled three at the sa ti. Motza was much weaker than the others, so he could only hold off one golem.
And he could barely do that. The golem of the Slayer was insidious, deadly, fast, its attacks always aid at the vital points, always explored a weak spot, it was the reflection of a true assassin.
But Motza was an assassin. Their duel was a stalemate, the Wraithborn had received the best assassin training humanity had to offer, and on top of that he had the experience of five years hunting alone in the Dark City, he was more than a match for the simulacrum. All the while increasing the mist around them.
Sunless was facing both Pristress and the Hunter, to say the least, he was holding his ground, he now noticed just how much the augntation of the [Dawn Shard] really mattered. As a user of basically just Ascended mories, he didn't receive as much benefit as the others, so now that he was facing enemies that were augnted by a copy of the crown made him feel just how much the Drear Army needed the mory.
Saint however, had to hold three of the golems, the Knight, Builder and Stranger. And for the second ti ever since he acquired his Shadow, Sunny saw Saint overwheld.
Shadow Fragnts: [2694/3000]
Shadow Fragnts: [2700/3000]
'The one ti I don't want my core to saturate!'
Three hundred fragnts was not sothing that would take long for him to get the way the battle was going, for the first ti ever since he passed the First Nightmare, his core was saturating at an alarming rate.
And that also ant the army was facing an ocean of nightmare creatures. And even though he trusted his allies, they weren't invincible he needed to finish this.
He slashed his odachi at the elegant golem of the Priestess and kicked the Hunter away, going through them in an effort to reach the Lord.
[2730/3000]
The golems had no intention to let him through, and that grew even more evident as the Stranger broke away from the battle with Saint to stop him.
But the mist had grown enough for Motza to use it.
Disappearing from Slayer's sight, he appeared beside the running golem of the Stranger and sliced against its legs with [Assassin's Implent]. It wasn't enough to slice it off, but it was enough to make the golem stumble, clearing the way for Sunless.
[2776/3000]
He gave a ntal command to his Shadow, who widened her eyes and gripped her sword, throwing her shield away. She switched stances and focused only on offence, disregarding all self-preservation to overwhelm the golems.
The Knight and Builder were pushed back, and now with the way cleared, she dashed straight into the Stranger's back, completely toppling it to the ground while making a wide slash backward, chasing the Pristress and Hunter away. She would hold them off while Sunny killed the Lord.
[2790/3000]
Sunless finally reached the Lord, wasting no ti in attacking the indifferent simulacrum with his dark crimson blade.
The golem moved its arm to deflect the blade, but it was surprised as it t more force than expected. Its hand was cut through. It imdiately took Sunless more seriously, letting go of the indifferent stance and using its other hand to chase the human's head.
[2826/3000]
Sunny deflected the hand using his gauntlet and dismissed [BloodRaven], reaching the crimson ruby that was stored in the head of the golem with the hand that had held his odachi.
The Lord moved its head backward and let Sunny's hand pass before headbutting it, making Sunny's hand strike his own head.
[2860/3000]
He was dazed for a second, but recovered enough to be able to dodge the punch aid for his head.
Grabbing the arm of the golem, Sunless held the red coral that made up the Lord, before the vile simulacrum could react, he kicked deford knee of the Lord.
[2880/3000]
Making it kneel, its head got close enough to Sunless to reach the gem-like coral piece in its head.
And so he did, using his right hand, he grasped the gem and using the augntation of his two shadows, pulled it with all his strength, vine-like tendrils tried to pull the gem back, but Sunless was too strong.
Having all the strength vanish, the Golem of the Lord fell to a dagger made of crystal, one that suddenly appeared on its opponent's hand. The [Moonlight Shard].
The announcent of the kill was drown in the several other announcents that the Spell kept whispering to him.
[2923/3000]
Sunny turned to see Saint and Motza still holding off the other golems. His Shadow had been holding most of the simulacrums, so she was wounded, her armor had been mangled, helt cracked, ruby dust fell through her.
The spear of the Hunter pierced her chest, and the hamr of the Builder raised to et her head.
However, the imitation of the [Dawn Shard] was destroyed, so Motza, who was in a chokehold, was finally able to use all the power of his Ascended dagger.
Switching the grip of his weapon, he stabbed it deep inside the Priestess head, freeing himself and killing the golem.
The assassin then launched his throwing knives created by [Endless Torture], hitting the hamr that was already falling throwards Saint, changing the trajectory and making the Builder hit the Hunter, killing the fellow coral creation.
The golems froze for a second, only to be overwheld by the Heir of Shadows and his assassin. Now that the golems were re Awakened rank, the Sleepers could easily deal with them.
Sunless threw the [Moonlight Shard] towards the head of Builder while they were still absorbing the loss of strength, hitting the target and killing it instantly.
[2950/3000]
Motza dashed and swiftly overca the Slayer, dodging its dagger and slashing with his own dagger.
The Hunter's head was crushed after Saint gathered enough strength to resist the simulacrums.
The Knight and Stranger were the only ones left, and they were also annihilated.
A heavy kunai pierced the Knight, while a knife took away Stanger's neck.
[2967/3000]
Sunless quickly dismissed Saint and let her rest in the calming waters of his soul, then turned to the Crimson Spire to begin opening the gate.
But looking ahead, he noticed sothing bad. The whirlpools of water from the Dark Sea that surrounded the Crimson Spire rippled and expanded, then a shroud of darkness appeared behind the Spire.
A storm was approaching, and that ant the Dark Sea was approaching.
But the worst thing was, his core was saturated.
[3000/3000]
[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]
[Your shadow is taking shape.]
'Damnation!'
A sharp pain struck his chest as his body began to evolve from Demon to Devil. He was forced to fall down, still not able to bear the pressure of evolution without falling over.
"Motza!"
His subordinate that was staring at the approaching storm snapped his head towards Sunny and imdiately dashed to him.
"What happened?!"
"I'm evolving, but it doesn't matter! Give your hand!"
Sunless didn't wait for the confirmation of the assassin and forcibly grabbed his wrist, transferring the seven Oath Keys to him.
"Open these damn gates!"
Motza's face jumped from startled to determined as he snapped his body towards the entrance and rushed to it, already summoning a key in his hand.
As he did, the Dark Sea kept approaching, paying no mind to the struggle of the humans as the creatures under their waters began to appear.
A giant tentacle pierced through the approaching waters and slamd itself close to where the two Sleepers were.
Sunny was still struggling, the pain was more intense compared to the last tis, he could feel sothing was changing, his body was changing, even more than before.
What was worse is he couldn't even delay the evolution, any attempt t failure. He couldn't help but compare to a nightmare creature's evolution, where a Devil received an ability upon reaching the rank.
Motza had already turned two keys and was finishing the third.
Another tentacle slamd closer than the last one, which was also approaching the two Sleepers.
Motza turned the fourth and fifth key in rapid succecion.
Sunless struggled, tried to get up, but it was useless, it was like his own soul demanded this process. But sothing told him he couldn't be in there, not in that position.
Motza was almost finished, turning the sixth key and the final one in his hand, putting it in the keyhole.
Sunny sent a ntal command to one of his Shadows.
The tentacles found their target, on the verge of squashing Sunless.
But they never found their target, Motza turned the final key, and the whole Forgotten Shore trembled.
— —
The shockwave that changed the world itself made all beings tremble with the world.
The Drear Army, the nightmare creatures, the Dark Sea itself.
As the gargantuan gates of the Crimson Spire opened, Motza was carried by the doorway forcibly, being slamd to the crimson walls of the tower, but he was the lucky one.
Sunny found himself in the center of the entrance where a massive amount of water was being drawn to, the waters of the Dark Sea.
He couldn't do anything, the sea would drown him, squash him with the amount of force a enormous body of water would carry.
If not for his trusted companion, Wraith.
The shadow wolf had already been deep in enemy lines in the battle, so much so he was closer to Sunny than to the army itself.
That and his inate ability to move through solid material made him able to reach Sunny before the cursed Sea did, pulling him with his teeth bitting on Sunny's armor.
Taking him to Motza, his body hurt even more after being dragged through the ground.
But they did it, the Crimson Spire began to greedily absorb all of the approaching Dark Sea, together with the creatures in it.
The massive torrent of water of the Dark Sea entered the cursed tower constantly and rapidly, not stopping even for a second until all of it. Even the storm and darkness disappeared, leaving only the blazing Sun of the Forgotten Shore.
But as the sunlight touched his face, Sunny noticed sothing, the pain he was feeling amplified, and the progress of the evolution was sowhat interrupted.
It didn't take long to figure out why.
—
The few monsters and abominations left on the bridge made of red coral slowly fell numb and died. The Cursed Heralds that Kai was facing fell from the sky without any of his attacks landing it, the Drear Army was left stunned.
Nephis squinted her eyes as she stared at the sun that shined far above, sothing bothered her.
And her suspicions were confird as a clear ringing of a silver bell was heard throughout the battlefield. All of the soldiers turned to look at the origin of the sound, the hill where the entrance of the Crimson Spire rested.
The Shadow of the Stone Saint ca to her in a hurried pace and pointed at the hill at a seemingly desperate rate.
She imdiately understood.
Pointing her sword forward, she gave the command, screaming for all to hear.
"Go to the Spire! Run as fast as you can!"
And all compiled.
Gunlaug, the Shadow Watchers, Seishan and the handmaidens, the hunters, soldiers, Caster, artisans…
All that were left.
However, Nephis turned to the opposite direction, she needed to get Cassie and Lauma, they would-
As soon as she turned, she encountered both won she was thinking of. Cassie spoke with all the calm in the world.
"Neph, can you carry ?"
— —
As more and more Sleepers reached the protective darkness of the Crimson Spire, Sunless felt more and more pain.
Seishan and the Shadow Watchers had already reached the Spire, and were now in the corner where Sunny was currently suffering, evolving into a Devil.
Seishan was kneeling right beside her brother, gripping his hand to support him. She was dirty, bloodied, tired, long gone from the Princess of Song, but that didn't matter right now.
Many of the handmaidens survived, around thirty five were alive, still, she couldn't save all of them…
Even though the Shadow Watchers were in a completely worse state than Sunless, being bloodied, wounded, and exhausted, they were still more worried about their master. All completely confused about why he was in pain, never ever seeing him like this.
"Boss! C'mon! You can't die now!"
Lan's pained cries would normally be interrupted by Kin, but now, even the swordsman was worried too.
"Don't die like this…"
rlin kneeled beside the other side of Sunless.
"Lord Sunless…"
"Agh! Damnation! I'm not dying damn it!"
His outburst made everyone go quiet. But they stayed with him.
After what felt like an hour for Sunless, the pain finally stopped.
[Your shadow is complete.]
He breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the gate, the final Sleepers had reached the Spire.
Lauma breathed heavily and rested her hands on her knees.
Nephis appeared carrying Cassie.
They had done it.
Four hundred Sleepers reached the Crimson Spire.
But the Spell wasn't done speaking.
[You have acquired more rights from your Lineage.]
[You have acquired a new attribute.]
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