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 not to cry. Abandoned and

cold and indifferent voice came out of

"...What are you doing?"

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

she

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

then, she met Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be callous and cruel, but was actually caring and

had to

to live with

Or die with it...

stood, listening to the sounds of slaughter, a

slowly turned

face paled, and her lips moved

'No!'

anyone who could have heard her, Cassie

storm… there is a

***

still held on. In fact, it was slowly pushing the horde of the Nightmare

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 throwing themselves

abominations crossing the

entire horde to give the rest of the

seemed to finally

it would have 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!"

feeling that the fate of this battle was about to be decided, a gust of

The light dimmed slightly.

west, they suddenly stumbled and froze for a few

world. It was

A storm was coming.

and closer, the surface of the black water

it began to crawl

moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral meter after a

coming to devour

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

to find shelter, they howled and shrieked in