Chapter 66 First Part Of The Plan
Close to the evening, with the sun tiredly descending toward the horizon, a strange creature walked out of the colorless remains of the labyrinth. If "walking" was even the right word.
Dragging its legs in the sand, the creature somehow floated forward without moving them. It looked like a carapace centurion, or at least a close approximation of one.
All the necessary parts were in place. The creature had a black carapace with a menacing crimson pattern on it, a humanoid torso, eight segmented legs and two arms ending with formidable bone scythes. However, all these parts looked mismatched and strange, as though put together by some clumsy sculptor.
Additionally, the centurion moved as if it was seriously drunk.
The carapace was careening to one side, sometimes scraping against the sand. The torso was swinging back and forth for no apparent reason. The scythes were awkwardly lodged behind the creature's back, crossed against each other at a strange angle.
At some point, one of them simply dropped to the ground. The centurion stopped and hesitated for a few seconds, as though unsure what to do. Then it left its scythe arm behind and continued on its way as if nothing had happened.
A perceptive observer would have noticed that the creature seemed to possess two shadows. The first shadow was as one would expect, its shape identical to the creature itself. The second one resembled a human. It briefly showed itself from beneath the larger shadow when the centurion abandoned the runaway limb.
The human shadow then proceeded to facepalm and shake its head in utter contempt.
The whole situation was nothing short of being completely bizarre. But, for better or worse, there was nobody around to notice the weird creature.
Unobstructed, it traversed the wasteland, moving in the direction of the Ashen Barrow. Soon, it was almost at the footstep of the tall hill.
The sunset was approaching.
***
The strange centurion plopped on the ground at the base of the Ashen Barrow and stopped moving completely. Awkward and lopsided, it looked like a parody of the other monster of its kind who had kneeled gracefully at the same spot a few days prior.
Additionally, it arrived without a tribute. There was no transcendent soul shard in sight. Added to the disrespectful pose, this transgression was more than enough to get the centurion killed.
Perhaps… it was suicidal.
On top of the barrow, the Carapace Demon moved and rose from the ashen sand. His shining armor glistened, reflecting the light of the setting sun. Encased in bright metal, with a crown of horns adorning his head, the demon looked fearsome and sinister. Gazing down, he lingered for a few moments.
Two dark scarlet embers ignited in the depths of the demon's eyes. Shifting his terrifying scythes, the giant monster walked forward, slowly descending from the hill to face the strange visitor.
The ground shook as he approached. However, the bizarre centurion did not even flinch. In fact, it remained completely motionless.
The Carapace Demon stopped some distance away from the suspicious creature. He observed it, clearly understanding that its pathetic appearance might be a trap. The labyrinth was full of unimaginable dangers. Rashly approaching an unknown foe was not something an awakened demon, who possessed his own form of intelligence, would do.
At least that was what the three Sleepers had assumed.
However, they were wrong.
Just a second later, the Carapace Demon lunged forward. Its scythe flashed through the air, severing the centurion's torso in half. The adamantine chitin was cut apart as though it was made of butter. The upper half of the monster's torso flew off, revealing… only emptiness inside.
…On the other side of the Ashen Barrow, Sunny, who was running up the slope with all his might, cursed under his breath.
That was too soon!
He thought that they would have more time. Who knew that the Carapace Demon would turn out to be such a daredevil? He didn't even hesitate before going all out!
With Cassie riding piggyback on his back, Sunny gritted his teeth and tried to run even faster.
It was time to switch to plan B…
A moment later, the weird centurion's carapace came apart, setting the Echo that had been hiding underneath it free. Pushing the pieces of chitin away with its powerful pincers, the scavenger rushed toward the towering demon. It was aiming to duck underneath it and, hopefully, mess up the giant's legs.
The first part of Sunny's plan was rather simple. They were going to use the remains of a dead carapace centurion to disguise the Echo, which was much smaller in comparison, as one of the officers of the carapace legion.
Then, they would send it to the base of the Ashen Barrow to lure the demon away. The three of them were going to circle the hill and hide themselves under the grey sand in advance, then run up the slope and to the center of the island as soon as the demon had left.
The Echo was supposed to buy them enough time to climb the great tree and conceal themselves in its branches. Then, Sunny would dismiss the Echo, thus finishing the first stage of the plan. He never intended for the scavenger to actually fight the fearsome demon!
However, the Carapace Demon's unusually swift act of aggression had messed up the timing of the whole thing. The decoy was already destroyed, yet they weren't even halfway to the tree.
In this situation, there was no choice but to order the Echo to attack, hoping that it could stall the giant monster. That way, of course, Sunny was putting his scavenger at risk…
But there was no other choice.
Just as he was about to reach the crest of the hill, the Echo tried to hide itself beneath the Carapace Demon's massive body. It was doing the same thing that Nephis had done when fighting the first carapace centurion, intending to use the size of the enemy against it.
The difference was that this time, the smaller participant of the fight was clad in a sturdy carapace, as opposed to a squishy human girl who had no protection. Even if the demon tried to crush the scavenger with its weight, it wouldn't be able to kill it.
However, the demon understood it too.
Moving with incredible speed, he shifted his torso and struck out with a pincer. The scavenger was swatted away like an irritating insect, flying through the air and heavily crashing onto the ground. Its carapace had almost cracked.
Running toward the great tree, Sunny grimaced. He wanted to dismiss the Echo, but knew that it was too soon. They needed more time…
Ahead of him, Nephis was already approaching the enormous black trunk. Not wasting any time, she removed the seaweed rucksack from her back, gently laid it on the ground, and began climbing, grabbing onto the cracks of the onyx bark.
Meanwhile, the Echo was shakily rising to its legs. A stubborn light was burning in its eyes. Producing a loud screech, it clacked its pincers in the air and once again rushed toward the demon.
'Go get him, buddy!' Sunny screamed inwardly, wishing his scavenger luck with all his heart.
The smaller creature bravely ran toward the steel behemoth, raising its pincers to attack. It was followed by two shadows — one bestial, the other one human.
Sunny was quickly shortening the distance to the great tree…
Below the hill, the Carapace Demon calmly stepped toward the rushing enemy. Its four arms moved in unison.
Suddenly, the scavenger's arms were sliced off. Its body was gripped in two giant pincers and raised into the air.
Sunny didn't even have time to react.
A fraction of a second later, the demon slightly strained its arms and tore the Echo in two, separating its torso from the carapace and crushing both halves into a bloody pulp.
On top of the hill, Sunny stumbled.
The familiar voice resounded like a tolling bell in his ears.
[Your Echo has been destroyed…]
Chapter 67 Racing Against Time
[Your Echo has been destroyed.]
Sunny stumbled and almost fell. Cassie gripped his shoulders tightly and leaned back a little, trying to help him keep balance. With fallen leaves flying from under his feet, Sunny somehow managed to catch himself in time.
'No!'
Anger and regret clouded his mind, but it was too late to do anything. His trusty scavenger was dead, sliced and torn apart by the giant creature. The ease and brutality with which the Carapace Demon had decimated the poor, brave beast would have been insulting... if it wasn't so terrifying.
It only took him a split second.
The Echo was gone. Not only had Sunny seen its tragic end through the eyes of his shadow, he also felt the subtle connection between them disappear. In his Soul Sea, one of the spheres of light shimmered and vanished, leaving the silent surface of the water a little bit darker. He had lost his most valuable possession.
But the bitterness Sunny felt was not only because of how useful the Echo had been, or how much money it could have brought him in the real world. He had actually grown to like the mindless scavenger quite a bit. It was big, loyal and reliable.
It even seemed to possess a strange sort of stubborn, offputting personality.
And now it was dead.
Gritting his teeth, Sunny ran like a madman. There would be time to mourn the loss of the loyal Echo later.
Right now, they had bigger problems.
"Sunny? What happened?"
Cassie's whisper sounded worried and tense. She must have felt the change in his mood through his posture and body language.
To be completely honest, Sunny was in no shape to talk. Running up the hill at top speed, with the blind girl on his back — no matter how delicate and light she was — had been a tall task for him without the support of the shadow. He was struggling to breathe, and there was still a considerable distance to the great tree. However, Sunny had to answer, his voice hoarse and rugged:
"He killed the Echo."
Then, there was no time for words anymore.
Because things were turning from bad to worse.
Down at the bottom of the hill, the Carapace Demon was standing above the mutilated remains of the scavenger, looking at them with contempt. Heavy drops of azure blood were falling from each of his four upper limbs.
Suddenly, the corpse of the Echo began to shine with soft light. Then, it shimmered and dissolved into a river of tiny sparks, which then fell to the ground and disappeared, leaving no trace of the hulking scavenger behind. Even its blood on the demon's scythes and pincers was gone.
After all, the Echo was just a manifestation of a slain Nightmare Creature and not the real thing. It came from nothing and was now returned to the state of nothingness.
However, the Carapace Demon was not looking at the unexpected light show. Instead, he was staring at one particular spot on the ground.
There, a lonely human shadow was frozen in confusion, uncertain what to do. With the body of the Echo — and consequently, its spacious shadow — gone, it was instantly revealed and had nowhere else to hide.
'Crap!'
The demon tilted his head, then moved with the speed of lightning and pierced the shadow with a scythe.
Sunny flinched, ready to experience blinding pain…
But nothing happened. The shadow, which had raised its hands in fright, looked down at the massive blade protruding from its chest and scratched its head.
It was completely fine.
Well, of course… it was just a shadow, after all. One had to have a body to be susceptible to such attacks.
'Right. What else did I think would happen?'
Meanwhile, the demon was staring at the nonchalant shadow. The menacing scarlet light in his eyes blazed brighter.
Sunny was getting closer to the trunk of the tree, temporarily fueled by adrenalin. Otherwise, he might have fainted from the strain already.
'Just… a little… more!'
They had every chance of making it. The shadow just had to distract the giant monster for a bit…
But it seemed as though luck was not on his side today. Down below, the Carapace Demon retrieved his scythe. However, instead of attacking the human shadow again, it suddenly turned around and cast a dark look at the top of the Ashen Barrow, where the giant tree stood in all its magnificent beauty.
The bastard was smart after all.
'Curse it all!'
Forgetting about the shadow, the behemoth lunged forward, rushing back up the tall hill's slope. It moved with frightening speed, covering a dozen meters with each second.
'Get back here!' Sunny screamed to his shadow as he approached the trunk of the tree.
Helping Cassie climb down from his back, Sunny picked up the rucksack that Nephis had left behind and handed it to the blind girl.
"Be gentle with that."
Cassie nodded, well aware of the contents of the rucksack, and carefully hung it on her shoulder.
At that time, Changing Star had already reached the lowest branches of the great tree. Not wasting any time, she moved to a spot above her companions, summoned the golden rope and threw one of its ends down.
Catching the rope, Sunny quickly tied a loop and handed it to Cassie.
"You go up first."
The blind girl hesitated for a moment, then accepted it. Just as she was about to put her foot inside the loop, Sunny suddenly stopped her.
"Wait! Summon your staff."
The wooden staff that Cassie used to walk was actually a magical item capable of summoning strong winds. In their travels, they rarely had a cause to use it. But now it could come in handy.
Surprised and unsure of the reason, she nevertheless did as he had asked, summoning the Memory from her Sea of Soul. The wooden staff appeared in her hand.
Sunny lightly hugged the blind girl from behind and turned her body, guiding the hand holding the staff in the necessary direction. Then, he said:
"Now summon the wind."
In the next moment, a strong gale rose around them, blasting fallen leaves and ashen sand into the air. Instantly, a large portion of the island's surface was stripped bare.
More sand was revealed beneath.
Meanwhile, the shadow was racing against the Carapace Demon. The massive creature was already halfway up the hill, moving with the speed of a rushing train. The nimble shadow, however, was even faster. It had already overtaken the behemoth and was now flying forward, hurrying to return to its master.
"Good, now go!"
Sunny helped Cassie put her foot into the loop and stepped back, watching as Nephis pulled the rope up. She was going as fast as she could — which was really fast by human standards.
But was it fast enough?
Sweating, he counted seconds and waited. His life now depended on whether or not the rope would return before the demon arrives.
Every moment felt like an eternity.
He could already hear the distant, but quickly approaching sound of the Carapace Demon's eight towering legs stomping furiously through the sand.
Finally, Cassie was at the level of the giant tree's lower branches. Nephis helped her step out of the loop and settle on the wide surface of the branch, then threw the rope down again.
The demon was approaching the tree, still hidden from sight by its massive trunk.
The shadow slipped beneath Sunny's feet and wrapped itself around his body.
Catching the rope, Sunny practically flew up, climbing with incredible, adrenaline-fuelled speed. Landing on the branch beside the girls, he quickly turned around and tried to pull the rope up. The monster could not notice the golden shine of it… otherwise, it all would have been for nothing.
But there was less than a second left…
'Oh no!' Sunny thought, his heart skipping a beat.
But then Nephis simply dismissed the Memory, making the golden rope disappear into thin air.
The three of them crouched, hiding from sight, and held their breaths.
… A moment later, the furious mass of spikes and polished metal appeared beneath them. The Carapace Demon abruptly stopped, gazing around with his burning scarlet eyes. His pincers clicked, as if thirsty to tear flesh apart. The terrifying scythes were raised into the air, ready to slash and sever.
But there was nothing to kill underneath the great tree.
The demon lingered, looking right and left. Then he raised his head and looked up. Thankfully, the branch the three Sleepers were hiding on was very wide, more than enough to hide them from his sight. They remained motionless and silent, afraid to produce even the smallest of sounds.
After a while, the behemoth finally lowered his gaze and carefully observed the ground, looking for the traces of possible intruders.
However, the ground was clean and bare, all signs of their passage erased by Sunny with the help of Cassie's staff in advance. Not finding anything, the Carapace Demon had no choice but to walk away, moving on to explore other parts of the island. 𝚏𝔯𝚎𝚎𝔴𝚎𝚋n𝚘v𝚎𝔩.𝚌𝔬𝔪
Sunny was finally able to exhale.
Some distance away, the demon reached the edges of the area affected by the magical gale. There, he finally found two sets of footprints — one left behind by Nephis, the other one by Sunny.
With an angry roar that sounded like the clamor of tearing metal, the giant creature rushed down the slope of the Ashen Barrow, following the footprints to the wasteland beneath.
However, the grey desert was desolate and empty, with no living creature in sight. It was colored crimson by the setting sun.
At that moment, the ground shook slightly, and a thunderous rumble resounded throughout the labyrinth, bringing with it chilling wind and the smell of salt.
The dark sea was returning.
Throwing one last hateful gaze toward the wasteland, the Carapace Demon turned around a slowly headed back to the top of his barrow.
Chapter 68 Beacon Of Death
Sunny, Nephis and Cassie sat on a branch of the great tree, waiting for the sun to set. The branch was wide enough to accommodate twice as many people, so they weren't worried about being spotted from the ground. Still, they remained silent and motionless, warry of the giant monster that sometimes appeared beneath their hiding place.
The sound of his footsteps sent shivers through the tense bodies of the three Sleepers.
Not once since coming to the Forgotten Shore had Sunny hoped for the night to come faster. But there was a first time for everything.
They could only proceed with the next step of the plan after darkness had fallen, so there was nothing to do now but wait. Sitting with his back against Neph and Cassie, Sunny stared into the distance and tried not to think about anything.
Obsessing over past mistakes and future risks was only going to dampen his resolve. And it was already in short supply.
Meeting a setback so early into the plan really through Sunny off his game. He still couldn't recover from the sudden loss of the precious Echo. Of course, he knew beforehand that many things could go wrong… in fact, he had even warned the girls that there were too many unpredictable elements, and thus it was impossible to reliably predict their chances of success.
Nevertheless, he had not expected to lose the strongest member of their group at the very beginning. The first stage of the plan was supposed to be the safest. Things to come were going to be much more dangerous.
Sunny looked at the darkening skies, barely visible through the thick canopy of the great tree's crown, and listened to the noise of the rising sea. In the dim twilight, Cassie shifted a little and then gently squeezed his hand.
Her warm touch made Sunny tense up, but then, realizing that the blind girl was just trying to console him, he allowed himself to relax.
'Stupid. What am I, a kid? Holding hands will not solve anything.'
But, despite these grumbling thoughts, Sunny reluctantly realized that he did feel a bit reassured, with no logical reason at all.
Maybe they were going to pull this off after all.
If this was their will… who dared to stop them?
Soon, the night descended, drowning the world in absolute darkness.
***
The Ashen Barrow had become an island in the black, undulating void of the dark sea. The braches of the great tree swayed gently in the darkness, their vibrant scarlet leaves now indistinguishable from the obsidian surface of the wood. The leaves whispered and rustled, creating a calming melody in the threatening murmur of the surging waves.
Sunny sighed, knowing that the moment of truth was approaching. He was sure of his plan… as far as it was possible to be sure of anything in this cursed place. But he also knew all the risks and all the things that could go wrong.
At the end of it all, they were still tossing a coin, hoping that its fall was not going to spell their doom.
He felt Neph's position shift. She turned her head and glanced in his direction, a calm expression on her face. Today, her inexplicable ability to remain composed in any situation, no matter how dire, was especially frustrating.
Even though Changing Star could not see anything in the pitch-black darkness of the Starless Void, she knew that he would notice her questioning look.
Sunny closed his eyes, then opened them again and slowly exhaled.
"Let's begin."
The three of them moved, performing a rehearsed set of motions. Cassie carefully shifted to the side, giving Sunny and Nephis space to do what needed to be done. Sunny gently placed the seaweed rucksack between himself and Neph, then opened it.
His motions were slow and cautious.
Inside the rucksack, two large clay containers lay surrounded by several layers of soft seaweed fiber. These jars were made by Sunny himself, and as such were not particularly sturdy. After all, he wasn't a craftsman — all his knowledge about pottery was received in a single day of listening to Teacher Julius's rants about the importance of clay in the development of human civilization.
Still, he at least remembered the basics.
Inside the jars, all the oil they had gathered from the centipede monsters splashed around, making Sunny's heartbeat unsteady. A centipede monster had two sacks in its body, each containing a different oily substance. When mixed, these substances produced an incredibly corrosive, deadly oil that could eat through a scavenger's carapace in seconds.
It was also highly flammable.
The jars contained the two components of the centipede oil. If they were to break during their run to the great tree, allowing the components to mix… well, there was a reason why the rucksack was entrusted to Nephis while Sunny carried Cassie despite his inferior physical endurance.
The centipede oil was the centerpiece of his plan.
Placing the clay jars on the branch, Sunny took out one last thing from the rucksack. It was a makeshift torch made out of bone and… yeah, more seaweed. Traditionally, torches were supposed to be made out of wood, but on the Forbidden Shore, bones were much more easily found than sticks.
In the darkness, he found Neph's cool hand, took it into his own and then placed the torch on her open palm.
At that moment, Sunny couldn't help but remember the other times Changing Star's hands had touched his body. The first time was when he was dying, his chest crushed by the carapace centurion's bone scythe. The other time was on the day he handed her the Starlight Legion Armor and learned about her cruel Flaw.
Both days were very memorable, although for different reasons.
He had a feeling that this day was also going to be forever etched in his memory… provided they live to see the morning.
Sunny deeply inhaled.
"I'm ready."
Nephis nodded and then rose to her feet. Standing tall, she grasped the torch and closed her eyes, as though praying. Clad in white armor, with her silver hair dancing in the wind, she looked like a beautiful, solemn angel.
Then, white radiance ignited beneath her eyelids. In the next moment, bright fire burst from beneath her hands, igniting the top of the torch. Changing Star opened her eyes, extinguishing the light shining in them, and raised the torch high above her head.
In the lightless world, this single small flame looked like a lonely star drowning in the sea of darkness.
Simultaneously, Sunny stepped to the edge of the branch, inhaled deeply… and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"HEY, ASSHOLE! COME GET ME IF YOU DARE!"
Then, all hell broke loose.
***
Attracted by the sudden burst of light and Sunny's belligerent cries, the Carapace Demon appeared out of nowhere in a storm of fury. Its towering legs tore through the ashen sand, throwing clouds of it into the air. Two scarlet eyes immediately focused on the shouting human, sending a nervous shiver through Sunny's legs.
"Yeah, right here, you pile of scrap! Come and get it, fat lobster! This is my island now!" he shouted, pretending to not be scared out of his wits.
The demon dashed toward him. This behemoth was as tall as a house, but still not tall enough to reach the branches of the great tree with his scythes. So, for the moment, Sunny was still safe.
He was pretty sure that this won't be the case for long, but it was enough time to bring the plan to fruition.
If he doesn't miss…
Just as the Carapace Demon was about to appear right beneath the branch Sunny was standing on, he took a deep breath, aimed, and tossed both of the jars down.
The creature reacted with lightning speed, slicing both jars into pieces with his horrible scythes. However, it was of no use: the oily liquids contained inside still rained on its carapace in a torrent, followed by a scattering of clay shards.
If anything, it only made the surface of the impact larger, covering most of the demon's metal carapace in a layer of liquid.
The two components mixed, producing the deadly corrosive oil, which then burned into the lustrous armor. Sunny held his breath.
… However, the centipede monster's oil, which was capable of destroying the unbreakable chitin of both scavengers and centurions, turned out to be completely ineffective against the strange alloy covering the Carapace Demon's body. It didn't even leave a scratch on it.
Sunny's face darkened.
'That's…'
Nephis silently appeared by his side, raising an arm.
'... just as I expected.'
Luckily, Sunny did not put a lot of value on the oil's corrosive qualities, to begin with.
He needed the oil for its other quality.
Its flammability.
Guided by the loud sounds produced by the massive monster, Nephis moved and threw the torch down with a powerful swing of her arm. Spinning, the torch streaked through the air like a meteor and landed right in the middle of the demon's carapace.
… In the next second, the giant creature was engulfed in flames.
Sunny did not really expect the fire to be able to damage the demon. He was sure that the behemoth could withstand much more than just simple heat.
But now, covered in the burning oil, the Carapace Demon shined brightly in the pitch-black night of the Forgotten Shore.
He had turned into a fiery beacon, calling all the monsters of the cursed dark sea to come crawling from its black depths.