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.

coral, she hugged her knees and tried

cold and indifferent voice came

"...What are you doing?"

was how she met Nephis, who saved and protected her ever since. Without even asking anything

she wanted

destroyed the bitter, all-encompassing prison of her loneliness. How was Cassie supposed to ever repay that

met Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be callous and

had to make a

now, she had to live

Or die with it...

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

flinched, and slowly turned to face

later, her face paled, and

'No!'

have heard her, Cassie closed her eyes

storm… there is a

***

In fact, it was slowly pushing the horde of the

who had no suitable Memories to replace them summoned their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling numbers. The

of fresh bodies. With no more abominations crossing the bridges of crimson coral and lunging forward to

fighters around her, with Effie stalling the entire horde to give the rest of the humans

forces seemed to finally

would have taken for the humans to turn

"Come on! Hold strong!"

"Lit yourself on fire!"

"Follow the Immortal Flame!"

be decided, a gust of wind

The light dimmed slightly.

they suddenly stumbled and froze for a few moments. Their

world. It was approaching the battlefield

A storm was coming.

the surface of the black water that

then, it began to

black whirlpool swelled and moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral meter after a meter, its

cursed sea was coming to devour the

guarded the Crimson Spire, however, did not react in the

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