Shadow Slave

Left on the top of the tall mound of crimson coral, Cassie stood alone in the darkness.

Now that the Quiet Dancer had left her side, she was back to her previous self.

Lost.

Weak.

Frightened.

Utterly helpless.

The oppressive nothingness surrounded her from all sides.

But that nothingness was full of sound.

It swelled with the deafening cacophony of the nightmare horde's onslaught. Cassie heard howls, growling, inhuman screams, shrieks, and the scraping of chitin.

She heard the clangor of steel and the sound of flesh being ripped apart.

She also heard countless human voices calling out to any kind of deity that could save them. Full of fury, agony, bravery, fear, resolve, sorrow, strength, helplessness, hope, faith, despair, disbelief.

She heard them dying.

Standing above it all, Cassie shivered. She wanted to press her hands against her ears, but didn't.

…Her terrible vision was coming true.

And she was back to being lost in the darkness.

Just like before. Worse than before. Almost like on that first day in this cursed, forsaken, lightless land.

In this forgotten hell.

Back then, she had found herself stranded on a similar mound of coral. Only what surrounded her was the dark sea and not a horde of Nightmare Creatures.

But Cassie didn't know that. She didn't know where she was, and what was hiding in the boundless darkness. She only knew that she was alone, and helpless.

That she was going to die in that lonesome, cold nothingness.

given up. Sitting down on the hard coral, she hugged her knees and tried

death, a cold and indifferent voice

"...What are you doing?"

she met Nephis, who saved and protected her ever since. Without even asking anything in return, not before, and not after learning of what

she

darkness and destroyed the bitter, all-encompassing prison of her loneliness.

then, she met Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be callous

she had

had to live

Or die with it...

to the sounds of slaughter, a sudden gust of wind rustled her beautiful

turned

face paled,

'No!'

anyone who could have heard her, Cassie closed her eyes and

storm… there is

***

smaller, but still held on. In fact, it was slowly pushing the

no suitable Memories to replace them summoned their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling numbers. The Artisans had done the same, abandoning their siege engines and

had depleted its seemingly endless reserve of fresh bodies. With no more abominations crossing the

with Effie stalling the entire horde to give the rest of the humans time to

two opposing forces seemed to finally be

turn that balance

"Come on! Hold strong!"

"Lit yourself on fire!"

"Follow the Immortal Flame!"

several people yelled, feeling that the fate of this battle was about to be decided, a gust of wind suddenly blew over the battlefield, bringing with it the smell of

The light dimmed slightly.

suddenly stumbled and froze for a

wall of darkness was slowly devouring the world. It

A storm was coming.

surface of the black water that swirled

then, it began

swelled and moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral

cursed sea was coming to

Crimson Spire, however, did not react in the same way as the usual Nightmare

find shelter, they howled and shrieked in eerie triumph, and then crashed into