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.

hugged her knees and tried not to

of death, a cold and indifferent voice came out of the

"...What are you doing?"

was how she met Nephis, who saved and protected her ever since. Without even asking anything in return, not before, and not after learning of what Cassie's Aspect was able

because she

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

Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be callous and

she had to make

had to live

Or die with it...

the sounds of slaughter, a sudden

and slowly turned to face

face paled, and her

'No!'

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

there is a

***

In fact, it was slowly pushing the horde of

suitable Memories to replace them summoned their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling

horde, meanwhile, had depleted its seemingly endless reserve of fresh bodies. With no more abominations crossing the bridges of crimson coral and lunging forward to join the massacre, its mass was

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

opposing forces seemed to

it would have taken for the humans to turn that balance in their favor was

"Come on! Hold strong!"

"Lit yourself on fire!"

"Follow the Immortal Flame!"

to be decided, a gust of wind suddenly blew over

The light dimmed slightly.

stumbled and froze for a

It was approaching the battlefield

A storm was coming.

water that swirled around the island of the

began to

and moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral meter

coming to devour

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

of scurrying away to find shelter, they howled and shrieked in