Chapter 61 Sea Of Ash
In the morning, Sunny woke up feeling grim and uneasy. The memory of the frightening dark mirror was still fresh in his mind, making every shadow seem sinister and foreboding. He scowled sullenly.
'What the hell. I'm the Child of Shadows. Why do I have to be afraid of my own domain?'
But then again, darkness and shadow were not the same, even if a lot of people tended to mistake one for another. Shadows were born from the absence of light. In a sense, they were manifestations of emptiness. True darkness, on the other hand… true darkness was its own entity.
In a sense, shadows shared more in common with light than they did with darkness.
'I mean… I guess they do. Do they?'
Philosophical debates with his internal monologue were not the best way to start the day, at least as far as Sunny was concerned. His already sour mood only got worse. With a short sigh, he sat up and stretched his arms, yawning.
"Good morning."
The sound of his voice was almost drowned by the echoing noise of rushing water. With the sun rising, the dark sea was in a hurry to retreat. Sunny was finally able to relax a little.
"Morning."
Nephis had been guarding the camp during the latter part of the night, so she was already awake. As usual, she was meditating with her eyes closed — in the absolute darkness of the night, "watching over" something actually meant listening for suspicious sounds, so keeping one's eyes open was not that useful.
For everyone except Sunny, that is, who had perfect night vision thanks to his Attributes.
Hearing him stand up, Changing Star slowly opened her eyes. A soft afterglow left behind by the dancing white flame could still be seen in their depth, quickly disappearing as her sight adjusted to the twilight of dawn. She looked at Sunny and offered him a polite smile.
In the past two weeks, Nephis had also been training, perhaps even more diligently than him. However, she wasn't trying to improve her swordsmanship.
She was actually trying to learn how to behave like a normal human. As the result, their interactions had become slightly less awkward… for the most part.
Sunny was able to recognize Changing Star's efforts because they were very similar to a phase he himself had gone through many years ago. On several occasions, he had caught her intently observing how Cassie talked and behaved around them. Sometime later, Neph would randomly try to mimic small details of her friend's behavior. The results were… a mixed bag, to say the least.
The first time she tried to greet him with a smile in the morning, Sunny panicked and almost summoned the Azure Blade. However, Nephis was very smart and persistent. Today, her polite smile looked almost natural.
He had no idea why Changing Start decided to work on her social skills, of all things, during their perilous journey through the monster-infested hellscape that was the Forgotten Shore. But he didn't mind.
It was actually rather entertaining to watch!
…Watching her torture herself every day, enduring terrible pain in hopes of learning to better control her Aspect Ability, on the contrary, was not fun at all. They never talked about it, but Sunny knew that every time Nephis pretended to meditate, she was actually subjecting herself to the excruciating agony of her Flaw.
When he thought about it, his heart ached. Sunny wasn't used to feeling such things, but he suspected that this was what other people called "compassion". At least it was similar to how it was described in books and dramas.
Not that he knew a lot about that stuff.
After they had breakfast, Nephis stood up and looked at the beam of light falling through the nearest gap between giant vertebrae. Turning to Sunny, she said:
"Let's study the surroundings."
They needed to get the lay of the land and decide on their next step. Usually, that implied looking for the nearest natural features that were high enough to stay above the surface of the sea and deciding on which one they would try to reach next.
Then came a day or two of scouting and hunting, followed by moving the camp to that feature.
Sunny gave her a nod.
"Alright."
He summoned the Echo to guard Cassie while they were away and left the shadow behind to keep an eye out, just in case something happens. Then Sunny followed Nephis to the gap.
Boosting her, he watched as Changing Star flew through the air and then seemingly ran up the wall, kicking herself off at the last moment and propelling her body even higher before grabbing onto a bone protrusion. Relying only on her upper body strength, she then climbed up and disappeared into the cascading light. Soon, the golden rope fell down, allowing him to follow.
Nephis helped him climb atop the gargantuan spine and then straightened, turning to take a look west. Sunny shook his hands and did the same, expecting to see the usual picture — an endless expanse of the crimson labyrinth, dotted here and there with rare high points.
However, what they saw left them both speechless.
Some distance away, the labyrinth seemed to lose color. The crimson blades of coral stood grey and misshapen, as though struck by some unknown disease and drained of all life. The stone-like material looked brittle and fragile, ready to crumble to dust at any moment.
The patch of dead coral spread for as far as the eye could see. Further away, the walls of the labyrinth seemed to have collapsed into a sea of ash-grey sand. This ashen wasteland looked so alien and strange after weeks of seeing only the endless crimson pathways that Sunny felt a shiver run down his spine.
The fact that they didn't notice even a single monster moving through the mud beneath made him feel even more disturbed.
There was only one visible high point to the west of them. Far away into the distance, the ground rose, forming a tall hill. The hill was probably the largest they had seen, easily capable of becoming a real island once the water rose in the night. Its shape reminded Sunny of a colossal barrow.
Covered in the grey sand left behind by dead coral, the hill resembled a mountain of ash. That mountain was crowned by a giant tree.
The tree rose into the sky like a tower, its branches wide enough to cover the whole island in their shade. The bark of the giant tree was as black as the water of the dark sea, while its leaves were red as blood.
Contrasted against the grey sky, the crimson crown of the majestic tree looked incredibly vibrant and magnificent.
Sunny gulped.
"What… the hell… is that?"
Nephis was either thinking or had nothing to say. She just stared into the distance, a slight frown on her face.
At that moment, something glistened brightly from beneath the tree. The glimmer was clear and easily visible even from their position, like a beam of sunlight reflected by a large mirror. A moment later, it was gone, only to appear again after a few seconds.
'A mirror…'
Sunny shivered, remembering the previous night. For some reason, the bright glimmer suddenly seemed to become menacing.
After some time had passed, he addressed Neph again:
"What do you think?"
She lingered a bit before turning to him. While Changing Star was deliberating on what to say, he glanced at the ashen wasteland again. Finally, she spoke:
"This is the only way west."
Sunny grimaced and looked away.
He didn't like this turn of events one bit.
"So, we are going?"
Nephis turned to face the giant tree and, as though affected by its grandeur, hesitantly shrugged.
"Do we have a choice?"
***
Some time later, they abandoned the remains of the giant sea monster and moved west, planning to check the situation inside the wasteland that lay between them and the Ashen Barrow.
Initially, they weren't planning to approach the strange island. However, things turned out to be rather unusual once they entered the wasteland.
With grey sand under their feet and dead coral walls surrounding them, the group was fully prepared to face unknown danger. Despite the fact that they had not seen any monster moving through this area from the top of the leviathan's spine, neither Sunny nor Nephis truly believed that no one was going to attack them in this strange region of the labyrinth.
There were too many ways for the Nightmare Creatures to hide themselves, and if there was one thing the Sleepers had learned during their time on the Forgotten Shore, it was that everything here was either deadly or concealing something capable of killing them. In that regard, their first encounter with the carnivorous worms was especially traumatic.
However, their common sense turned out to be wrong this time around. The wasteland was quiet and empty, completely void of any signs of life. The absence of monsters was, in theory, supposed to make Sunny feel better, but he felt even more nervous than usual instead.
This whole situation reeked of danger. It was strange and unnatural.
If even the monsters were afraid to approach this place, what were they doing walking deeper and deeper into the wasteland of their own free will?
Were they fools not to turn around and run away immediately?
Soon, they reached the point where the walls of the labyrinth had crumbled into dust. Now, there was nothing but a vast expanse of grey sand between them and the hill crowned by the giant tree.
Nothing could hide on that ashen flat.
However, they would also be unable to conceal themselves from anyone's gaze.
Sunny glanced at Nephis.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Changing Star scowled and lowered her chin. Then, looking forward, she scowled and said:
"Let's go."
Chapter 62 Hide And Seek
As soon as they left the familiar confines of the labyrinth and stepped into the vast expanse of the ashen wasteland, Sunny felt strangely uncomfortable. It was as though he had unknowingly turned slightly agoraphobic while traveling through the complicated madness of the crimson maze.
He had grown accustomed to being surrounded by tall walls of coral, with endless tangled paths stretching in all directions for as far as he could see. Despite the fact that the labyrinth was hiding numerous dangers, it also offered a strange sort of safety.
At least in the case of Sunny, who had the advantage of being able to see beyond its twists and turns thanks to his stealthy Shadow Scout.
Now, with grey sand beneath and nothing to break the line of sight, he had lost that advantage. The idea of not being able to hide from the enemy made him feel naked.
'Keep cool. There's no one here.'
That thought, which was supposed to calm him down, had the opposite effect instead. Indeed, there were no Nightmare Creatures anywhere in the desolate wasteland… but why was that?
What made them so eager to avoid this place?
Nephis was walking in the front of the group, with Sunny right behind her. The Echo was in the rear, moving at a slow pace. He looked around and, after a bit of hesitation, said in a low voice:
"I don't like this."
Nephis glanced at him with her usual indifferent expression. Turning away, she simply said:
"Stay alert."
They continued forward in silence, sand squeaking under their feet. A dozen or so minutes later, Changing Star raised her hand, gesturing them to stop. Turning to Sunny, she asked:
"Has your shadow noticed anything?"
He shook his head.
"No. There are some irregularities here and there, like small knolls or shallow pits, but nothing is moving. Mostly, it just seems flat and lifeless."
He turned to Cassie and asked hesitantly:
"Do you hear anything?"
In some cases, her keen hearing was more effective than his shadow sense. When they were caught by the strom, Cassie had been able to sense that something was wrong long before her seeing companions noticed anything.
However, this time it was of no use. She simply shook her head, indicating that there were no unusual sounds around them.
Nephis sighed and lowered her head, thinking. Then she cast a gaze at the distant Ashen Barrow.
"Let's continue."
However, she did change the direction of the group slightly, aiming to approach one of the knolls that Sunny had noticed.
By the time they approached it, it was already noon. The sun was right above their heads, making their shadows small and shapeless. Sunny's own shadow had returned and was now hiding beneath his feet, looking like a formless blob of darkness.
This time of day was its least favorite.
Nephis summoned her sword and slowly approached the knoll, trying to determine its nature. There was nothing remarkable about it except for the fact that everything around was flat, and it was not. The knoll was about as tall as Sunny, somewhat oblong and covered in the same grey sand as the rest of the wasteland.
It didn't seem dangerous, but there was no harm in checking… well, most likely. Maybe it could provide them with some useful information.
Just as Changing Star was about to stretch her hand and touch the surface of the knoll, Sunny's shadow suddenly noticed something moving in the distance, back at the edges of the labyrinth where they had come from.
Acting on instinct, Sunny jumped toward the Echo and hissed to Neph:
"Hide!"
At the same time, he dismissed the hulking scavenger. Suddenly losing her mount, Cassie flung her hands up and fell. Catching her in the princess carry, Sunny darted toward the knoll and lowered himself to the ground, placing the blind girl between himself and crouching Nephis.
Changing Star put one hand on Cassie's shoulder and looked at him with a silent question in her eyes.
"Danger?"
Sunny raised one hand with his palm open, telling her to wait. His shadow was already peeking from behind the knoll, carefully observing the source of the movement.
Already some distance away, the dead walls of the labyrinth rose from the grey sand. Suddenly, one of them collapsed, knocked over by a massive figure. Surrounded by the cloud of ashen sand, the figure moved forward, stepping onto the flat surface of the wasteland.
Eight legs, two terrifying bone scythes, black and crimson carapace that looked like ancient armor that had been splattered with blood… another centurion.
Sunny silently cursed.
They fought these monsters twice before, and won both times. However, that was because each battlefield had been carefully prepared to stack advantages in their favor, with plenty of planning and devious scheming on their part.
He wasn't sure that they would be able to kill one in a direct confrontation, at least not without suffering serious damage.
Turning to Nephis, Sunny whispered:
"A carapace centurion had just walked out of the labyrinth."
She scowled. Cassie, meanwhile, lightly touched his hand and asked:
"Where is it heading?"
Sunny blinked, then concentrated on the shadow's vision. Soon, he exhaled with some relief.
"Looks like it's heading for the Ashen Barrow. If we stay hidden behind this knoll and it doesn't change course, there's a high chance that it won't notice us."
Changing Star thought for a second and then nodded.
"Keep an eye on it and tell me as soon as something changes."
Trying to become as small and silent as possible, the three of them pressed their bodies to the knoll. There wasn't a lot of space to hide, so they had to endure being cramped against each other.
Well… maybe "endure" was not the right word. Sunny might have even enjoyed the situation in other circumstances…
'What are you thinking about, fool?! Concentrate on the dealy monster!' he thought angrily, berating himself. 𝑓𝓇𝑒𝑒𝘸𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝘮
But it was so hard to concentrate with Cassie's soft body pressed against his…
'DEADLY! MONSTER!'
Finally able to get his mind out of the gutter, Sunny sighed and focused on observing the centurion.
The hulking creature was moving through the wasteland, slowly drawing closer. Soon, he was able to see every crimson line and every spike on its weathered carapace. However, his eyes were glued to something else.
Cautiously held between the centurion's scythes, a beautiful crystal was gleaming with hypnotic inner light. It was bright and strangely alluring.
A transcendent soul shard.
They had already seen a similar scene, back when a pair of centurions were retrieving two of such crystals from the remains of the giant shark-like creature.
'So that was their destination.'
Sunny glanced at the magnificent tree standing atop the Ashen Barrow. With its onyx branches and vibrant scarlet leaves, it looked striking and majestic.
Like something holy hidden in the depths of hell.
He shared his findings with the group, careful to keep his whisper as quiet as possible.
The centurion was about to walk past their hiding spot. Despite the fact that there was some distance between its path and the knoll, Sunny was still nervous. This was the most dangerous moment.
The monster came level with the knoll, then proceeded forward without blinking an eye.
He exhaled.
"It's walking toward the Barrow."
Nephis did not relax, still ready for things to go south at any moment.
"Follow it."
Sunny nodded. A moment later, his shadow slid from behind the knoll, sneakily pursuing the Nightmare Creature. With how much the range of Shadow Control had improved, he was pretty sure of his ability to tail it to the footsteps of the ashen hill.
The centurion crossed the wasteland with the transcended shard clasped tightly between its scythes. Its bearing was somewhat strange, seeming almost… pious. It looked like a pilgrim walking toward a mysterious, sacred site.
Soon, it approached the Ashen Barrow and suddenly stopped, as though afraid to cross some invisible line. Then the centurion carefully placed the shard on the sand and backed away from it, its eyes turned to the ground.
After distancing itself from the gleaming crystal, the massive creature… kneeled.
Sunny had to rub his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things.
He wasn't. The carapace centurion bent its eight legs and lowered itself to the ground, submissively placing its terrifying scythes in front of its bowing torso.
Noticing Sunny's strange behavior, Nephis raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
He hesitated.
"Wait."
At this moment, his shadow, which was safely hidden some distance away from the kneeling monster, noticed a slight change on the surface of the Ashen Barrow.
The bright glimmer they had seen from the top of the leviathan's spine was back. Only this time, it was even more blinding.
The glimmer rose into the air from the shadows cast by the branches of the towering tree and moved, slowly approaching the footsteps of the hill.
When Sunny was finally able to discern the source of the shining, his eyes widened.
Feeling a cold shiver running down his spine, he forgot to breathe.