Sunny stumbled violently and nearly crashed into the ashen ground.
Only Cassie's quick reaction saved both of them from falling.
The blind girl tightened her grip around his shoulders and instinctively leaned backward slightly, helping him regain balance while he desperately forced his exhausted legs to keep moving.
Ash-grey leaves scattered beneath his feet as he pushed himself forward once more.
Every breath burned.
His lungs felt like they were on fire.
"Sunny?" Cassie whispered anxiously near his ear. "What happened?"
Even without sight, she imdiately noticed the sudden change in his movents. The tension in his body, the uneven rhythm of his breathing, the panic hidden beneath his hurried steps…
She could feel all of it clearly.
To be honest, Sunny was in absolutely no condition to answer.
Running uphill at full speed while carrying another person was already exhausting enough. Carrying Cassie while lacking the enhancent of his shadow made it even worse. His muscles scread in protest with every step, and black spots constantly threatened to invade the edges of his vision.
Still, he forced himself to speak.
"The Echo nearly died," he rasped.
Below the hill, Senrix clicked his tongue.
"Damn it…"
Without slowing down, he stretched one hand backward and casually fired several compressed bullets of crimson fla toward the Carapace Demon.
The projectiles exploded against the steel armor of the monster in bursts of fire and heat.
Unfortunately—
The awakened demon barely cared.
The creature didn't even glance toward the explosions.
Instead, its burning crimson eyes focused on a completely different target.
A lonely human-shaped shadow frozen awkwardly against the ash-covered ground.
Sunny's shadow.
With the scavenger Echo dismissed, the larger shadow hiding it had vanished instantly, leaving Sunny's own shadow completely exposed with nowhere left to conceal itself.
Sunny's eyes widened.
'Crap!'
The Carapace Demon tilted its horned head slightly.
Then moved.
Its gigantic body blurred forward with terrifying speed.
One enormous scythe descended like a bolt of lightning and pierced straight through the shadow's chest.
Sunny flinched instinctively, fully expecting unimaginable pain to erupt through his soul.
But…
Nothing happened.
The shadow simply stared down blankly at the gigantic blade sticking through its torso.
Then scratched its head in confusion.
Completely unhard.
For a mont, even Sunny froze.
'…Right.'
Of course.
It was just a shadow.
It had no flesh.
No organs.
No real body to destroy.
Below the hill, the Carapace Demon slowly stared at the unhard shadow.
The crimson glow in its eyes deepened ominously.
anwhile, Sunny forced himself to continue running.
Ahead of him, the colossal black tree rose like a tower into the sky, its crimson leaves shifting gently beneath the evening wind.
'Just… a little more…'
His legs were shaking now.
Every second felt unbearable.
Beside him, Elysia suddenly appeared from the side, moving far more lightly despite the uphill climb.
Unlike Sunny, her breathing remained surprisingly steady.
"You look terrible," she said calmly.
"Thank you," Sunny wheezed.
"You're welco."
Even now, she sohow still sounded relaxed.
A silver arrow rested loosely in her hand while her sharp eyes constantly monitored the demon below.
Behind them, Senrix was the last one ascending the slope.
Unlike the others, however, he wasn't simply retreating.
He was actively provoking the demon.
Flas burst repeatedly from his gauntlets as he fired compressed blasts downward toward the Carapace Demon, trying to divide its attention.
Most of the attacks failed to do aningful damage.
But they annoyed the demon.
And right now, annoyance was enough.
"HEY!" Senrix shouted while firing another burning projectile. "Over here, ugly!"
The Carapace Demon slowly turned its head toward him.
Senrix imdiately regretted speaking.
"…Actually nevermind."
The monster suddenly ignored the shadow entirely.
Instead, its gaze shifted upward toward the giant obsidian tree.
Toward them.
Its intelligence had finally connected everything together.
Sunny's expression darkened instantly.
'Damn it!'
The demon lunged uphill.
The massive creature moved with horrifying speed, crossing enormous distances with every thunderous step. The ground trembled violently beneath its charge.
It was fast.
Far too fast.
"MOVE!" Sunny yelled.
Ahead of them, Nephis had already reached the enormous trunk.
Without wasting even a second, she discarded her seaweed rucksack carefully onto the ground before imdiately beginning to climb the giant tree.
Her movents were clean and efficient.
Like a blade ascending toward the heavens.
Sunny finally reached the roots monts later and gently lowered Cassie from his back.
The mont his burden disappeared, his knees nearly gave out entirely.
Cassie imdiately steadied herself.
anwhile, Sunny grabbed Nephis's abandoned rucksack and shoved it carefully toward Cassie.
"Be careful with that," he warned.
The blind girl nodded seriously.
She already knew exactly what the bag contained.
Soul shards.
Their precious resources.
At that mont, Senrix finally reached the tree as well.
Unlike Sunny, he looked far less exhausted despite fighting and distracting the demon the entire way uphill.
"That thing is REALLY angry now," he comnted casually.
"You think?" Sunny snapped.
Elysia imdiately stepped beside the tree and raised her bow once more, eyes narrowing toward the approaching demon below.
"I can slow it a little," she said quietly.
"But not stop it," Nephis answered from above.
Elysia nodded once.
"I know."
By now, Nephis had already climbed onto one of the lower branches. Standing above them, she summoned the golden rope and imdiately threw one end downward.
Sunny caught it instantly.
"Hurry!"
He quickly tied a loop and handed it toward Cassie.
"You first."
Cassie hesitated briefly.
"But—"
"You first," Sunny repeated firmly.
She nodded reluctantly and prepared to place her foot into the loop.
Then Sunny suddenly froze.
"Wait."
Cassie blinked.
"What?"
"Summon your staff."
Confused, she still obeyed imdiately.
A mont later, the enchanted wooden staff appeared in her hand.
The mory possessed the ability to manipulate wind, though they rarely used it during travel.
Now, however…
It could save their lives.
Sunny moved behind Cassie and gently guided her shoulders, positioning the staff toward the slope behind them.
"Use the wind," he ordered.
Cassie trusted him completely.
The mont she activated the mory—
A violent gale exploded outward across the Ashen Barrow.
Ash-grey sand and crimson leaves erupted into the air in every direction.
The sudden storm partially blinded the charging Carapace Demon below while stripping enormous sections of loose ash away from the hill's surface.
At the sa ti, Sunny's shadow shot across the ground at incredible speed, racing back toward him after escaping the demon.
Even against the awakened creature, the shadow remained faster.
For now.
"Good," Sunny muttered urgently. "Now go!"
He helped Cassie place her foot into the rope loop before stepping away.
Above them, Nephis imdiately began pulling the rope upward with astonishing speed.
Cassie ascended rapidly toward the branches.
But below—
The Carapace Demon was getting closer.
Much closer.
Each thunderous impact of its gigantic legs shook the hill violently now.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Sweat dripped down Sunny's face.
His heartbeat thundered painfully in his ears.
Beside him, Senrix slowly rolled his shoulders and ignited crimson flas around both gauntlets.
Elysia drew another arrow calmly.
"You're not seriously planning to fight it here, right?" Sunny asked weakly.
Senrix grinned.
"If it reaches you before the rope cos back, then yeah."
Sunny stared at him like he was insane.
Elysia sighed softly.
"He actually ans that."
Above them, Cassie finally reached the lower branches safely.
Nephis imdiately pulled her onto the tree before throwing the golden rope back downward once more.
The rope descended through the swirling ash.
And beneath the crimson leaves of the giant tree—
The Carapace Demon finally arrived.
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