Attracted by the sudden burst of light and Sunny's belligerent shouting, the Carapace Demon appeared almost instantly in a storm of fury.
Its massive legs tore through the ashen sand, sending clouds of grey dust flying into the air. The polished steel of its armor reflected the firelight violently, making the creature look like a blazing war machine born straight from hell itself.
Two scarlet eyes imdiately locked onto Sunny.
A nervous chill shot through his entire body.
Still, he forced himself to grin.
"Yeah! Right here, you oversized pile of scrap!" Sunny shouted at the top of his lungs, trying very hard not to sound terrified. "Co get , fat lobster! This island belongs to now!"
Behind him, Elysia looked genuinely impressed.
"…He's actually provoking it."
Senrix snorted quietly despite the tension.
"He's either brave or suicidal."
"Probably both," Nephis muttered.
The Carapace Demon let out a deafening roar and charged.
Despite being as large as a house, the giant still could not quite reach the thick branches of the great tree with its scythes.
For now, Sunny was safe.
For now.
As the burning monster rushed beneath the branch, Sunny inhaled sharply, steadied himself—
—and threw both clay jars downward with all his strength.
The Carapace Demon reacted instantly.
Its scythes flashed through the air like lightning, splitting both jars apart before they could even hit its body.
But it was already too late.
The oily contents exploded across the demon's polished armor in a rain of liquid and shattered clay fragnts. The oil splashed over nearly the creature's entire tallic shell, coating it in a glistening layer.
The two substances mixed imdiately.
The corrosive centipede oil hissed violently against the steel armor.
Sunny held his breath.
For one brief mont, hope ignited inside him.
Then—
Nothing happened.
The oil that could lt through the near-indestructible chitin of scavengers and centurions failed to leave even the slightest scratch on the demon's strange alloy armor.
Sunny's expression darkened.
"That's ridiculous…"
Beside him, Senrix clicked his tongue.
"Told you that thing was abnormal."
Nephis silently stepped forward.
Sunny glanced at her and imdiately understood.
The corrosive effect had never been the true point of the plan.
The oil only needed one thing.
Its flammability.
Without hesitation, Nephis threw the burning torch downward.
The torch spun through the darkness like a falling star before striking the demon's oil-covered armor directly.
The world exploded into fire.
In an instant, blazing flas engulfed the Carapace Demon completely.
Fire climbed across the polished tal like living sunlight, illuminating the entire Ashen Barrow in violent orange light. Burning droplets of oil fell onto the sand below, igniting small patches of fla wherever they landed.
The giant demon beca a beacon in the darkness.
Exactly as Sunny intended.
For a mont, all five of them simply stared.
They had actually done it.
Sunny almost couldn't believe it himself.
Beside him, Cassie remained frozen, gripping the branch tightly. Elysia stared at the blazing inferno with widened eyes, while Senrix slowly grinned despite the danger.
"That…" he muttered quietly, "…is actually insane."
Sunny swallowed nervously.
Their plan had never been to defeat the Carapace Demon directly.
That would have been suicide.
Instead, they were using sothing far worse.
The dark sea.
The fire burning across the demon's body shone like a signal in the endless blackness of the Forgotten Shore. Any creature lurking beneath the cursed waters would see it.
And co.
Unfortunately—
They also had to survive long enough for that to happen.
The Carapace Demon suddenly roared.
The horrifying sound echoed across the island like rusted steel being torn apart by colossal claws. Sunny physically flinched as pain shot through his ears.
Through the flas, the demon's crimson eyes burned with pure hatred.
Sunny's confidence imdiately disappeared.
"…Right," he muttered weakly. "It's angry."
"Very angry," Elysia added.
Below them, the demon looked toward the great tree.
Sunny's heart nearly stopped.
If that thing decided to climb—
But then the Carapace Demon abruptly threw itself onto the ground instead, rolling violently through the sand in an attempt to extinguish the flas coating its armor.
The entire island shook beneath its weight.
Sunny cursed under his breath.
"Why is it smart?!"
Senrix grimaced. "Honestly, I would've preferred mindless."
The demon rolled again.
And again.
Slowly, the flas actually began to weaken.
Sunny's face paled.
"No… no no no…"
If the fire died before the sea creatures arrived—
Then everything they had risked would beco aningless.
But suddenly—
Nephis stiffened.
Her head slowly turned toward the dark sea.
Cassie imdiately tensed beside Sunny.
A second later, Sunny felt it too.
Sothing changed.
The world itself suddenly felt… wrong.
The rustling of the crimson leaves beca quieter.
The crashing waves beca louder.
The air itself grew heavy, as though so invisible pressure had descended upon the island.
Then the temperature dropped sharply.
Far beyond the shore, thick white fog appeared above the black water.
The Carapace Demon noticed it imdiately.
The giant stopped rolling and slowly rose to its feet, flas still flickering across its armor. It no longer cared about extinguishing them.
Instead, it stared silently at the sea.
Its posture changed.
The furious rage radiating from it slowly transford into sothing colder.
Grim resolve.
Then bloodlust.
The fog crept forward unnaturally, crawling across the black water against the direction of the wind itself.
Sunny felt cold sweat run down his back.
Inside the fog—
Sothing moved.
At first, it looked almost human.
Then not.
The shape twisted strangely within the mist, impossible to fully perceive.
Sunny instinctively tried to focus on it.
Suddenly—
Cassie's small hand covered his eyes.
"Don't look," she whispered, her voice trembling violently. "No matter what happens… don't open your eyes."
Before anyone else could react, Senrix had already shut his eyes tightly.
For the first ti in a long while, genuine fear crossed his face.
Then—
He heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, brat. Open your damn eyes. What, scared of your old man now?"
Senrix froze.
That voice—
It belonged to his father from his previous life.
The old man who always joked around.
The old man who died first.
A second voice followed imdiately after.
"Senrix. Co train with your sister. Your sword stance is getting sloppy again."
This one belonged to Broken Sword.
Nero.
His father in this life.
The man who once stood at the peak of humanity.
Senrix's breathing beca uneven.
The voices sounded real.
Too real.
Nearby, Sunny clenched his teeth as whispers began echoing around him too. He could hear familiar voices coming from within the mist, soft and inviting.
Elysia imdiately moved closer to Senrix.
Without hesitation, she wrapped both arms around him tightly.
"Don't look," she whispered softly. "That ugly fog wants you to look at it."
Senrix nodded stiffly, keeping his eyes shut.
Then more voices ca.
"You couldn't save them."
"You failed again."
"You're alone."
The fog whispered with the voices of the dead.
Cassie trembled violently beside Sunny, both hands covering her own ears now.
Nephis remained perfectly still, eyes closed, white-knuckled fingers gripping her sword tightly.
The mist slowly crawled onto the island.
The temperature dropped further.
And then—
Sothing massive moved within the fog.
The Carapace Demon suddenly roared with absolute fury.
Its steel legs slamd into the ground as it charged directly toward the approaching mist without hesitation.
The entire Ashen Barrow shook.
Senrix's eyes remained tightly shut as Elysia held onto him.
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