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.

up. Sitting down on the hard coral, she hugged her

instead of death, a cold and indifferent voice came

"...What are you doing?"

protected her ever since. Without even asking anything in return, not before, and not after learning of

because she

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

Sunny, who pretended to be callous and cruel,

had to make a

to live with

Or die with it...

of slaughter, a sudden gust of wind rustled her beautiful blond

and slowly turned to

her face paled, and her lips

'No!'

anyone who could have heard her, Cassie closed her

storm… there is

***

Dreamer Army became much smaller, but still held on. In fact, it was slowly pushing the horde of the Nightmare Creatures

and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling numbers. The Artisans had done the

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

serving as the unassailable core of the human formation and rallying fighters around her, with Effie stalling the entire horde to give the rest of the humans time to mend the breaches in their defense lines, for a few minutes, the flow of the battle froze

forces seemed to finally

taken for the humans to turn that balance in their favor was one

"Come on! Hold strong!"

"Lit yourself on fire!"

"Follow the Immortal Flame!"

was about to be decided, a gust of wind suddenly

The light dimmed slightly.

a few

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

A storm was coming.

closer, the surface of the black water that swirled around the island

then, it began to

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

was coming to devour the

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

of scurrying away to find shelter, they howled and shrieked in eerie triumph, and then crashed into the