Chapter 243 Fangs Of A Dragon
By the middle of their second day of traveling through the Labyrinth atop the ancient colossus, an ominous dark line appeared on the horizon. With every minute, it slowly grew closer. Pretty soon, Sunny was able to tell that they were headed toward a vast mountain chain.
The mountains seemed to serve as a border between the Forgotten Shore and the rest of the Dream Realm. They were tall and jagged, piercing the skies like the fangs of a giant dragon. Their distant peaks were covered in pristine white snow and wrapped in a veil of mist that streamed into the ravines and onto the ridges below.
This was the place where the first lord of the Castle had disappeared all those years ago, as well as the goal of their own perilous journey.
As the stone giant came closer to the mountains, Sunny finally understood just how tall, magnificent, and imposing they were. Even the colossus himself looked like a tiny ant in front of these towering peaks. It was hard not to feel small and insignificant in their oppressive shadow.
Slowly, the terrain of the Labyrinth began to rise. The mounds of coral grew smaller, the distance between them increased, until finally there were as much black soil and stone outcroppings visible beneath as there were islands of vivid crimson. Finally, the blades of coral became scarce.
It was as though the Labyrinth was reluctant to approach the foothills of the misty mountains... or simply unable to.
As the gargantuan statue approached the border of the crimson forest, its steps slowed. The colossus seemed to be struggling to move any further. His body was slightly bent, as if he was fighting against strong wind or some invisible force that was relentlessly pulling him back into the Labyrinth.
Even his prodigious might was not enough to defeat the pull of the ancient curse.
Finally, the stone giant staggered and stopped.
This was the moment they were waiting for.
Caster, Effie and Nephis were already climbing down, while Sunny, Cassie and Kai stood at the edge of the circular platform.
Looking down, Sunny sighed and glanced at the charming archer.
"If this doesn't work, you're going to catch me, right?"
Kai raised his elegant eyebrows, then smile at him dazzlingly.
"Why, of course. It would be my pleasure!"
Sunny's eye twitched. Shaking his head, he summoned the Dark Wing and turned away. Immediately, a cloak in the shape of two transparent wings appeared on his back.
If there was one thing calming Sunny down, it was that his shadow was already on the ground. He had sent it down in advance to scout out the landing zone and make sure that nothing was waiting for the members of the cohort below.
The Stone Saint was now standing there, looking like a tiny black dot from the height of the ancient statue's neck.
'No sense in prolonging this.'
Gritting his teeth, Sunny commanded the Dark Wing to raise him above ground… and stepped into emptiness.
For a moment, he was consumed by primal fear. But then Sunny felt that instead of plummeting down to shatter on the rocks, his body was smoothly gliding through the air.
He was still losing altitude, but at a safe and pleasant pace. Two transparent wings had turned into a blur behind his back.
Actually, this feeling was… exhilarating. pan da-nov el ,c`o`m
Trying to keep a wide smile from appearing on his face, Sunny reminded himself how brittle his wings were and tried to control the direction of his descent.
All it took was a slight shift of his posture and a mental command to the Dark Wing. Soon, Sunny was gliding down in a wide spiral, enjoying the feeling of wind whistling in his ears.
'It's a shame that others can't experience this.'
Initially, he was planning to take Effie on the ride of her life. With Kai and Cassie carrying the other two members of the cohort, reaching the ground would have been really easy. However, after a little bit of experimentation, they had found out that Memories left behind by the terrible locusts couldn't carry too much weight.
Even supporting Sunny himself was already close to the Dark Wing's limit.
So he got to enjoy this pleasant feeling of weightlessness all by himself.
After a few minutes of smooth gliding, Sunny softly landed near the Stone Saint and looked up. Kai and Cassie were right behind him, and slightly above, already reaching the knees of the colossus, were the other three members of the cohort.
'...This Memory might be better than I gave it credit for. Still not usable in a battle, but very handy nevertheless.' freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Soon, they were all reunited in the shadow of the ancient statue.
A few moments later, the colossus trembled. Slowly, it turned around and took a giant step. The ground trembled as his feet landed on it.
The six humans stood silently, watching the ancient statue walk away. It was heading east, moving parallel to the impregnable wall of the draconian mountains. Sunny suspected that the stone giant had walked all around the Forgotten Shore thousands of times, and now was at the start — or the end — of another loop.
The Stone Saint was watching the headless giant walk away, too. Sunny glanced at her, wondering once again if his Shadow felt something toward this enormous creature.
He got a strange sensation that she did.
? n?? - ? o? ?? , ?`?`m However, it wasn't awe as Sunny had suspected. If anything, the hint of emotion hiding deep in the ruby eyes of the Stone Saint was that of… disdain.
'...Curious.'
Back at the ruined cathedral, Sunny had noticed that the Black Knight's armor bore a visible resemblance to that of his taciturn Shadow. However, it didn't seem as though both came from the same source. It was more like the armor of the Fallen Devil was derived from that of the living statues.
Almost as if someone had tried to replicate their armaments, but only managed to create a lesser facsimile.
Was the stone giant the same? A failed attempt at repeating the same miraculous act of creation that had put a spark of true life into the Stone Saint and her brethren?
There was no way to know. But still, Suny couldn't help but wonder… freёweɓnovel.com
Soon, the ground stopped trembling and the figure of the mechanically marching colossus disappeared into the grey fog. A few moments later, Nephis sighed at turned around to face the mountains.
It was time to find a place to spend the night.
Tomorrow morning, they were going to start their search for the lost expedition.
Chapter 244 Death Zone
This high into the foothills of the mountains, they didn't have to look long for a suitable shelter. In fact, they could have simply camped in the open.
The dark sea couldn't get to them anymore.
As the night descended and enveloped the world in the familiar veil of absolute darkness, Sunny volunteered to be the first one to stand watch. Gazing down the sloping surface of the rocky ground, he watched as the black water slowly rose from the distant crimson forest of the Labyrinth.
It crawled up the steep slope of the foothills, straining to devour as much of them as it could, but then stopped hundreds of meters away from the place where the cohort had made their camp and swayed gently, unable to move any further.
Just like the headless colossus had not been able to.
Looking at the powerless waves, Sunny finally allowed himself to believe that they were now outside of the Forgotten Shore.
Or, more precisely, at the very edge of it. In any case, the cursed sea was no longer a threat to them.
'How strange.'
Sunny had grown accustomed to living in the constant fear of this transient abyss. Even in the Dark City, he was constantly aware of its oppressive presence. No one was free of the frightening thoughts about what would happen if the seemingly unassailable wall of the city finally gave in and fell, opening the way to the flood of darkness.
But now, they were safe from it. freёwebnoѵel.com
…For now.
With a sigh, Sunny summoned the Blood Blossom. An intricate pendant in the shape of a beautiful red flower soon appeared, hanging on a black thread around his neck. He admired it for a few short moments, and then hid the charm under his armor.
It was better to be safe than sorry. Relaxing now was not the brightest of ideas.
Yes, the dangers of the dark sea were now behind them. But he was ready to bet that actually escaping the clutches of the Forgotten Shore was not going to be that easy.
And who said that the place beyond this desolate hell was any better? With his luck, it was only going to be worse.
Consumed in thought, Sunny stared at the dark sea and waited.
***
In the morning, the members of the cohort prepared to start the search. But before they could get to it, Nephis suddenly stopped them and peered at the towering peaks that loomed above in a veil of mist.
There was a dark expression on her face.
After a while, Changing Star suddenly kneeled and picked up a large rock. Straining her muscles, she crushed it in her fist and then looked at the shards with an inquisitive look.
Finally, she threw the shattered pieces away and sighed.
A few seconds later, Nephis spoke in a heavy tone:
"...I know where we are."
What was that supposed to mean?
Echoing his thought, Effie scoffed.
"We all know where we are, princess. The southern edge of the Forgotten Shore, about two thousand kilometers away from the Dark City. No?"
Nephis shook her head and stood up.
"I mean I know where we are in the Dream Realm."
Everyone froze.
"What… what did you just say?"
The members of the cohort stared at her with their eyes opened wide. The words Changing Star had said hit them like a bolt of lightning.
She pointed at the draconian peaks and said, her voice even:pan da-nov el ,c`o`m
"We are north of the Hollow Mountains. I am sure of it."
'Hollow… mountains?'
The name rang a bell, but Sunny couldn't quite put his finger on where exactly he had heard it. Glancing at the other members of the cohort, he noticed that everyone shared the same expression — except for Caster, who seemed to know something. His face grew pale.
Nephis lingered for a few moments, and then explained:
"Human sphere of influence in the Dream Realms is not very large, but it has been slowly expanding for the last thirty years. There are three great Citadels, the most prosperous of which, Bastion, is ruled by the noble scions of the Valor clan. And numerous lesser ones."
Then, she grimaced. freёweɓnovel.com
"For a time, the allies and vassals of Clan Valor used to conquer one lesser Citadel after another, expanding human territory far into the north. But then their expansion in that direction stalled. Because they encountered Hollow Mountains."
'Oh… right. I think I heard that from teacher Julius. The northern border of the human territory is a wild place.'
Sunny frowned.
"Are these… Hollow Mountains very dangerous?"
Changing Star gritted her teeth.
"As dangerous as it gets. Actually, beyond that. The mountain chain stretches for thousands of kilometers, forming a whole region of its own. It is marked as a death zone. Even Saints don't come back from there alive."
Sunny shivered. Death zones were regions of the Dream Realm populated by Nightmare Creatures of the three highest ranks — Great, Cursed, and Unholy.
Since no human had survived the Fourth Nightmare yet, facing even the weakest of them was a death sentence to anyone below the Saint rank, and even Saints had only a slight chance of prevailing against a Great creature… let alone a Cursed one.
Somehow, Sunny managed to become one of the few people alive to slay a Great Devil. But he had only survived that encounter by pure luck — if not for his weird trait of possessing a Shadow Core instead of a Soul Core, the unborn spawn of the Vile Thieving Bird would have stolen his life force and killed him on the spot.
…And if Nephis was right, the Hollow Mountains were populated by many creatures of that caliber and higher.
Sunny sighed.
"So what you're telling us is that this place is even worse than the Forgotten Shore?"
Without having to say anything, Nephis simply nodded.
He smiled.
"Figures."
He had been right after all. Escaping the Forgotten Shore was simply impossible.
The only way out lay in the cursed Crimson Spire, and that…
That was where they were headed, whether he wanted to or not.
With a dark expression on his face, Sunny stared at the jagged peaks of the Hollow Mountains and said:
? n?? - ? o? ?? , ?`?`m "So… we are going there?"
Nephis lingered for a few moments, and then answered calmly:
"Let's hope not. We only need to get as far as the First Lord had gotten. That… that should be close to where we are right now."
Sunny looked at her and nodded.
"In that case, let's not waste any time. The sooner we return into the Labyrinth, the better."
'Gee. I never thought I would be impatient to return to that damned hellhole. You just never know what the future holds, huh?'