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.

down on the hard coral, she hugged her knees and tried

and indifferent voice came out of

"...What are you doing?"

who saved and protected her ever since. Without even asking anything in

because she wanted

darkness and destroyed the bitter, all-encompassing prison of her loneliness. How was Cassie supposed to

she met Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be

then, she had to make

now, she had to live

Or die with it...

a sudden gust of wind rustled her beautiful blond

turned to

later, her face paled, and her

'No!'

away from the battle and anyone who could have heard

storm… there is a

***

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

their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling numbers. The Artisans had done the same, abandoning their siege engines and throwing themselves

had depleted its seemingly endless reserve of fresh bodies. With no more abominations crossing the bridges of crimson coral and lunging forward to

give the rest of the humans time to mend the breaches in their defense lines, for a few minutes, the flow of

opposing forces seemed to finally be evenly

humans to 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,

The light dimmed slightly.

stumbled and froze for a few moments. Their faces became as

Spire, an impenetrable wall of darkness was slowly devouring the world. It was approaching the battlefield with terrifying speed, numerous bolts of lightning illuminating

A storm was coming.

the surface of the black water that swirled around the island of the cyclopean tower

then, it began to

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

sea was coming to devour the

monsters that guarded the Crimson Spire, however, did not react in the same way as the usual Nightmare Creatures would

they howled and shrieked in eerie