The Shroudkeeper... didn't make any effort to hide from the Nightmare Creatures. In fact, the madman was actively hunting them as if his life depended on it.
Maya had seen him wielding a Memory that seemed to point directly towards the Nightmare Creatures. She couldn't help but wish she had such a Memory for herself, so she could avoid as many Scavengers as possible.
But this insane Sleeper was using the Memory to locate larger and larger hordes of Nightmare Creatures, then unleashing his terrifying Aspect Ability to slaughter them in droves! Everywhere he moved through the labyrinth, seas of azure blood flowed in his wake.
At first, Maya had thought that it was simply his Flaw. She recalled Master Jet having a Flaw that compelled her to kill Nightmare Creatures or humans endlessly. But she quickly realized that the lunatic wasn't doing this out of necessity— he was doing it out of pure desire.
So, after observing him for an entire day, Maya decided that it would be best for her to stay as far away from him as possible. He was clearly someone not long for this world, and she wasn't about to join him and let his reckless behavior get her killed.
But the next day, she had witnessed something strange.
The crazy guy had descended upon a pack of about thirty Carapace Scavengers at the foot of the Knight's statue, surrounding them— and himself— in a shroud of True Darkness.
After what felt like only a brief moment, the Darkness had vanished— almost instantly. The Scavengers had not been completely wiped out, but the Shroudkeeper himself had seemed to be writhing in pain.
He had let out an ear-splitting scream and collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing in seemingly terrible spasms of harrowing agony. All of his Memories, including the armor he'd been wearing, had been dismissed, and he seemed to be enduring the worst pain of his life.
Maya had felt the urge to do the right thing, and try to help him, but she hadn't been brave enough to dive into a sea of Carapace Scavengers— especially for a stranger that she knew nothing about. So, she had stayed where she was, watching from a distance and continuing to observe.
Soon enough, the mad Sleeper had grown still. He'd stood up and... simply walked out of the circle that the Scavengers had formed around him.
He seemed... different, somehow. Maya had shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to him; something that made even the mindless Nightmare Creatures feel wary of him.
After that, she had almost completely abandoned the trio and shifted her focus mainly to the Shroudkeeper. He had been keeping a close watch on the trio, so she had, by extension, been observing them as well.
After his 'incident' at the base of the statue, the Shroudkeeper seemed to grow more... confident, and if possible, even more lethal than before. Maya had found herself wondering what had happened to him.
Sadly, she no longer had to wonder, because the same exact thing had happened to her last night. She, too, had experienced the blinding pain that felt as though it would make anyone's eyes roll inside their head. The pain of having your soul core be destroyed and something different be formed in its place.
She hadn't had a chance to investigate what exactly had happened to her yet. The moment she had reached one hundred percent on a string representing [Winter's Burden] in her runes, the pain had struck.
She had been staying at the coral mound ever since Arcadius had taken up residence atop the Knight's statue. Maya had been driven by curiosity about how he would carry out his plan to tail the cohort.
Arcadius's plan was well thought out, at least in theory— even though the guy himself had zero regard for careful planning. It was a good plan in the sense that it would not expose him to the cohort or force him to reveal himself. Because that's what the Shroudkeeper seemed intent on doing.
He kept a measured distance from the trio, though that distance often fluctuated due to the expanding range of Sunless's Shadow Control.
Arcadius was surprisingly very cautious about avoiding detection— something Maya would never have thought the guy capable of. He assisted the cohort with remarkable precision, making their journey smoother without ever being seen. It was almost as if a guardian angel were watching over them from above.
A guardian devil, more like... she thought sourly.
If it had been up to Maya, she would have preferred that he leave the trio completely alone lest they stray from their path and not get stranded on the Ashen Barrow, where she was planning on saving them and gaining their trust.
But she quickly realized that while Arcadius was trying to help the trio, he never caused any major shifts in their path. It seemed like he wanted to be a part of the story but also keep his advantage by bringing about the same future as the original novel.
At first, it had seemed impossible to Maya— but, surprisingly, the damned madman was making it work... somehow.
She had been debating whether to team up with him or not. After several days of observation, she had concluded that the lunatic was actually... a sane lunatic.
Arcadius never threw himself into completely hopeless situations. No, he chose his battles based on his own strength. But the problem was... he was so unnaturally strong that even his carefully calculated ordeals looked like sheer madness.
Maya hadn't planned on sneaking up on Arcadius today, much less pressing a blade to his throat. She was fully aware that he could kill her in a heartbeat if he so wished.
But after her own 'transformation', she had concluded that it was her best choice.
Prior to her 'transformation', she had been tailing Arcadius. Yesterday, the crazy Sleeper had decided to descend into a deep, dark crevice in the ground.
Maya had considered following him in there but had ultimately decided against it. He was strong, no doubt, but not invincible. And if something down there managed to kill him, she had no desire to find out what that 'something' was.
But just as she had expected, the bloodthirsty Sleeper had emerged from the crevice largely unscathed, though he did look like absolute hell.
Maya had also caught a glimpse of the trio and confirmed that they had taken up residence inside the Bone Ridge. If she'd understood Arcadius's intentions correctly, he would be heading to the Flat Hill today.
So, hoping to uncover his next move, Maya had decided to wait for him to show up, hiding on the far side of the Hill.
Before Arcadius could return, however, a group of Scavengers had wandered onto the Flat Hill— approaching from the eastern side, almost exactly where she had been waiting for him.
Maya had mostly tried to steer clear of Nightmare Creatures during her time in the Crimson Labyrinth, because she didn't enjoy bloodshed half as much as Arcadius did.
Her Innate Ability even made her completely imperceptible, so long as she remained completely still.
It wasn't that Maya was helpless. Far from it. She possessed a terrifying Aspect Ability that allowed her to summon a minor blizzard. The storm would envelop her and her surroundings, riming the bodies of Nightmare Creatures caught within its icy grip and slowing their movements to a crawl.
With that advantage and the careful utilization of her Innate Ability, she could easily dispatch her enemies, even if they outnumbered her.
Although Maya preferred not to use her Aspect Ability due to her Flaw— the searing fury and rage that would well up inside her whenever she did— she'd had no choice but to at that moment. She didn't know when Arcadius would return, or when something unpredictable might force her to flee.
So, she needed a clear escape route... just in case.
Therefore, she had summoned the blizzard and quickly dispatched the five Scavengers. She hadn't realized that her [Winter's Burden] had been at ninety-five percent when the battle began. But as soon as she had killed the last Scavenger, she'd collapsed to her knees, writhing in pain.
The agony had just been too much. She had barely managed to make her way up the eastern side of the Hill, and simply passed out.
In the morning, she had been awoken by the sound of sword slashes cutting through the wind. Looking up from where she had collapsed, she'd seen Arcadius wielding a strangely shaped serpentine blade that she hadn't seen before.
Maya guessed that the Sleeper must have obtained it during his adventure in the crevice the other day.
Still disoriented from the pain of the day before, she had instinctively called upon the blizzard without fully realizing what she was doing.
She had ordered the minor storm to swirl around herself, riming her own body, and almost completely freezing it. Immediately after, she had begun to feel a little better... and a lot stronger.
She guessed that whatever had happened to Arcadius at the base of the Knight's statue, the same thing had happened to her as well. Arcadius had handled it fairly well, so she decided that asking for his advice— and finally teaming up with the lunatic— was her best option.
But she hadn't wanted to come off as a weakling; as someone desperate for help. Hence, the aggressive introduction.
It had worked out pretty well. Arcadius seemed like a decent enough person, even if he was a bloodthirsty maniac who seemed to hold a personal grudge against Nightmare Creatures.
She hadn't even had a proper chance to look at her runes. So, she chose this moment to do just that.
She was also curious about what she had done with her powers earlier that had caused her to feel a lot stronger. And also why she hadn't felt the rage she always did whenever she called upon her Ability.
So, now that she was somewhat revitalized, she chose to dive into her Soul Sea to take a look at the changes that had happened to her. She reached inward, preparing to plunge into her inner world...
However, she didn't enter her Soul Sea like she had done several times before. No, what greeted her was something different, something cold. So very cold...