Cassie stood motionless within the ancient nest while freezing winds swept endlessly through the colossal crimson branches surrounding her, the distant roar of the Dark Sea echoing far below like the breathing of so enormous slumbering creature hidden beneath the abyss.
Her trembling fingers tightened unconsciously around the hilt of the Azure Blade.
A Great Devil.
Even now, the words refused to settle properly inside her mind.
A Great Devil.
Not an Awakened Beast.
Not a Fallen Monster.
Not even sothing like the Carapace Demon, which had nearly annihilated all five of them despite their desperate struggle.
No.
A Great Devil.
A creature so powerful that humanity itself would likely record its death as a historic event.
And sohow…
She had killed it alone.
The realization made her chest tighten painfully.
Cassie slowly lowered her head, strands of soft blonde hair falling across her face while her pale, unfocused blue eyes stared blankly into darkness.
Even after all this ti, she still occasionally forgot that she was blind.
Sotis, without thinking, she would instinctively turn toward movent she could no longer see.
Sotis she reached toward light that only existed in mory.
And sotis…
Sotis she still dread about colors.
Before the Nightmare Spell chose her, Cassie's life had been peaceful despite everything.
She had loving parents.
A warm apartnt filled with music and sunlight.
Quiet evenings spent curled near the window while reading fantasy novels for hours beneath the orange glow of sunset.
Back then, her eyes had still worked.
Bright blue.
Clear enough to see clouds drifting through sumr skies and sunlight reflecting off glass buildings after rain.
Cassie had loved stories more than anything else.
Adventure novels.
Ancient myths.
Tales about heroes overcoming impossible odds.
Even after her sight faded away because of her Flaw, she stubbornly continued reading through audiobooks and assistive devices because stories helped her forget the darkness surrounding her life.
Back then, stories had comforted her.
Heroes always survived eventually.
Reality, however, was cruel.
When she first entered the Nightmare, Cassie had realized almost imdiately that this world did not care whether she lived or died.
She rembered sitting alone in darkness during the beginning of the Forgotten Shore, clutching her knees while trying desperately not to cry because she genuinely believed she would die there helpless and alone.
She rembered how terrified she had been every single mont.
Unable to see the labyrinth around her.
Unable to see monsters.
Unable to see the people speaking beside her.
Only endless darkness.
Then Nephis appeared.
That cold, distant girl had reached into the darkness without hesitation and pulled her forward.
Since then, Cassie had desperately tried not to beco a burden.
And yet…
Despite being blind.
Despite being physically weak.
Despite constantly relying on others just to survive…
She had sohow slain one of the most terrifying Nightmare Creatures imaginable.
The thought frightened her almost as much as the creature itself.
Then suddenly, Cassie rembered sothing else.
The Spell had ntioned a mory.
Her expression slowly shifted from shock into confusion as she summoned the glowing runes before her consciousness.
Naturally, her blind eyes could not physically see them.
The pale blue pupils remained empty and unfocused as always.
But the Nightmare Spell did not require sight.
The runes appeared directly inside her mind like truths carved into her soul.
mories: [Endless Spring], [Tempest Staff], [Azure Blade], [Drop of Ichor].
Cassie imdiately focused on the unfamiliar mory.
mory: [Drop of Ichor]
mory Rank: Unknown
mory Type: Unknown
mory Description: [The loathso Thieving Bird was hated both by the gods and -unknown-. However, it only cared about shiny things. Enamored by Weaver's beautiful eyes, it stole one of them on a dark, starless night. Impatient, the vile creature looked at its bounty while still in flight. However, when it saw the reflection of -unknown- forever frozen in the depths of Weaver's pupil, it went mad and scread, dropping the eye on the mortal realm below. All that remained in its greedy beak was one drop of pure golden ichor.]
Cassie frowned deeply.
A cold chill slowly crawled down her spine.
"…Unknown?"
Her soft voice disappeared into the freezing wind.
That should not have been possible.
The Nightmare Spell categorized everything with terrifying precision.
Every mory possessed a type.
Every Echo possessed a rank.
Every Nightmare Creature followed strict hierarchies.
The Spell always knew.
At least… humanity believed it did.
So how could a mory simply be labeled unknown?
Did the Spell genuinely not understand what this thing was?
Or was it refusing to explain?
The second possibility disturbed her far more.
Then there was the description itself.
Several words remained untranslated.
Cassie hesitated briefly before trying to perceive the original runes directly instead of relying on the Spell's automatic translation.
The instant her consciousness touched the symbols—
Pain exploded through her mind.
Cassie staggered backward violently, nearly losing her balance inside the ancient nest.
A sharp wave of dizziness and nausea crashed into her senses while the unfamiliar runes twisted unnaturally inside her thoughts like living things crawling beneath her skin.
Ancient.
Alien.
Wrong.
The symbols felt older than anything she had ever encountered before.
Not rely old.
Primordial.
As though they belonged to an era long before humanity itself existed.
Cassie imdiately withdrew her awareness.
Her breathing beca uneven.
Even now, rely rembering the shape of those runes made her feel nauseous.
'That's… not normal.'
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around her sleeves.
Very not normal.
Slowly calming herself, Cassie tried organizing her thoughts logically.
Ichor.
According to mythology and fantasy stories, ichor was supposedly the blood of divine beings.
Golden blood.
Sacred blood.
A substance beyond mortal existence.
Before becoming a Sleeper, Cassie had encountered the term countless tis while reading novels late into the night.
So stories treated ichor as a blessing.
Others described it as a curse.
But almost all of them agreed on one thing.
Anything related to gods or divine beings inevitably brought disaster alongside power.
Cassie slowly lowered her head.
A Great Devil had guarded this mory.
That alone was terrifying enough.
Then there was the strange story hidden inside the description.
The Thieving Bird.
A stolen eye.
A reflection so horrifying that even an ancient creature lost its mind after seeing it.
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she beca.
And yet…
Despite all her fear…
Cassie could not stop herself from wanting to know more.
Because for the first ti since arriving on the Forgotten Shore, it genuinely felt as though fate itself had guided her sowhere.
The visions.
The climb.
The nest.
Everything felt deliberate.
As though sothing ancient had been waiting for her specifically.
After several long monts of hesitation, Cassie finally summoned the strange mory.
Golden sparks instantly appeared within the darkness surrounding her.
Although blind, Cassie could still sense the overwhelming radiance flooding the nest. Warmth brushed gently against her skin while ancient essence saturated the air itself.
The sparks slowly gathered together.
Then ford a single floating drop of radiant golden liquid.
It hovered silently before her.
Beautiful.
Pure.
Hypnotic.
The golden ichor radiated a strange warmth that felt comforting and terrifying at the sa ti.
Cassie unconsciously held her breath.
'What am I supposed to do with this…?'
Then suddenly, the Spell whispered once more.
[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consu it?]
Cassie froze completely.
Consu?
Consu a mory?
Her brows slowly furrowed.
Consumable mories were mostly theoretical among humanity. Scholars suspected they existed, but confird examples were unbelievably rare.
And now one floated directly before her.
The Forgotten Shore truly was a cursed land beyond logic.
Cassie hesitated.
What would happen if she consud it?
Normally, mories granted by the Nightmare Spell were beneficial.
Sotis dangerous.
Sotis difficult to use.
But almost never outright harmful.
At least according to common understanding.
However, this mory was anything but normal.
And the Nightmare Spell itself was infamous for its cruelty and unpredictability.
Especially when ancient things beca involved.
The safest choice would be simple.
Seal the mory away.
Forget it existed.
Never touch it again.
But then…
Cassie slowly clenched her trembling hands.
All her life, others had protected her.
Her parents.
Doctors.
Teachers.
Then Nephis.
Sunny.
Elysia.
Even now, the others constantly adjusted themselves to help her survive in a world she could no longer see.
And Senrix…
Cassie's expression softened faintly.
Lately, sothing about him had beco increasingly frightening.
Not because he was violent.
But because he felt like soone slowly disappearing.
His voice kept changing every day.
Sotis calm.
Sotis distant.
Sotis hollow.
And then there were the strange words he kept repeating.
Waking.
Rembrance.
Voracity.
Dreaming.
Each word felt heavy with aning.
Almost desperate.
Cassie did not fully understand what was happening to him.
But she understood one thing clearly.
Senrix was fighting sothing alone.
And she hated feeling powerless.
After finally receiving a chance to beco stronger…
How could she throw it away simply because she was afraid?
No.
She would not run away anymore.
Cassie slowly steadied her breathing before lightly pinching her own arm to calm her racing heart.
Then she whispered softly:
"Yes."
Her voice trembled faintly.
"I want to consu it."
The Spell answered imdiately.
[As you wish.]
The floating drop of golden ichor suddenly split apart into two streams of radiant liquid.
Cassie stiffened.
The golden streams slowly floated toward her face, illuminating the ancient nest with divine radiance.
Then—
A gentle warmth brushed against her cheeks.
Soft.
Comforting.
Almost affectionate.
And suddenly, the golden liquid flowed directly into her blind eyes.
Cassie gasped sharply.
The ichor entered through her pale blue pupils and sank directly into her soul.
Then everything beca silent.
The golden radiance disappeared completely.
Cassie remained frozen.
One second passed.
Then another.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, she raised trembling fingers toward her face.
Then—
Pain erupted.
Cassie scread.
A horrifying scream tore violently from her throat as unbearable agony exploded throughout her entire existence.
It felt as though her soul itself was being ripped apart and reconstructed over and over again without end.
Every pain she had ever experienced returned simultaneously.
The despair of losing her sight.
The endless darkness afterward.
The terror of the Nightmare Spell.
The helplessness of constantly relying on others just to survive.
Every wound.
Every fear.
Every mont of weakness.
All of it shattered through her mind at once.
Cassie collapsed violently onto the ancient nest while uncontrollable screams echoed into the endless darkness surrounding the colossal tree.
Golden light bled from her blind eyes.
The Azure Blade slipped from her trembling fingers and clattered loudly against the ancient branches.
And sowhere deep within her soul…
Sothing ancient slowly opened its eyes.
Far below the crimson canopy—
Senrix suddenly raised his head sharply.
For the first ti in days, terrifying clarity violently returned to his crimson eyes.
____
A/N: don't ask why Cassie is so dramatic at the start, I just accidentally wrote her like that
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