The dark sea was gone.
And all the horrors that dwelt in its cursed depths were gone with it, too.
The world was bathed in pure sunlight. The surface of the Labyrinth suddenly became vibrant and bright, with stark shadows hiding under the jagged pillars of the crimson coral. The furious white sun burned above the Crimson Spire, as if frozen in the middle of the sky.
Sunny even had to cover his eyes for a few seconds.
Laying on the ground, he allowed himself a few moments of rest. A short laugh escaped from his lips.
'I actually did it?'
Speak about the unlikely events...
Unfortunately, he couldn't really rest yet.
The battle wasn't over. The horde of Nightmare Creatures was not defeated yet.
…And somewhere in the Spire, the Crimson Terror itself was not defeated, either.
With a deep sigh, Sunny collected himself and rose to his feet. They were almost there. They almost escaped. Now, all that was left was to make one final push. Even if it was going to be the hardest one yet...
Looking at the tall mound of coral towering above him, he squinted against the light and began climbing it.
Was it always so bright?
Full of unease, he continued his climb and soon reached the very top of the coral pillar. Standing on it, Sunny looked in the direction of the Dreamer Army.
Something wet suddenly fell on his hand. Looking down, he saw a drop of blood rolling off his skin. A moment later, another fell on the vambrace of the Puppeteer's Shroud.
Surprised, Sunny raised his hand and swiped it across his upper lip. It came away wet with blood.
'...A nose bleed? What the hell?'
Come to think of it, why did he feel so weak?
As Sunny stared at his hand in confusion, a violent ripple suddenly ran through his shadow.
***
Across the deep moat that surrounded the island, the remnants of the Dreamer Army were at the precipice of turning the tide of battle in their favor.
Just a few minutes ago, they had been drowning in the rising flood of black water and the relentless onslaught of the horde, lost in the fury of a cataclysmic storm. But now, things were different.
The storm was no more, and the dark sea had retreated. The sun shined brightly in the sky, drowning the battlefield in its light. Bathed in it, the Nightmare Creatures seemed to become hesitant… almost sluggish.
They were not giving up, however. The monsters continued to attack the humans in a frenzied rage, their claws and fangs reaping one life after another. But the survivors of the Dreamer Army were repaying every loss tenfold.
Reinvigorated by the exhilarating gift of sudden salvation, they steeled their hearts and fought with zeal, fervor, and murderous will. More and more Nightmare Creatures fell to their blades, and the horde did not seem to be endless anymore.
The Sleepers did not know why the storm had dissipated and why the cursed sea had retreated, but their faith in Changing Star now burned even brighter. She had promised to guide them out of this hell, and somehow, even the black water had capitulated to her radiant light…
The victory was not impossible anymore. They could practically taste it…
But Nephis herself suddenly stumbled and slowed her sword dance. A confused, alarmed frown appeared on her face. Dodging the claws of an attacking abomination, she thrust her sword into its maw, then jumped back.
Free of the swarming monsters for a few short moments, she lowered her sword.
And looked at the sky.
***
High above her, Kai was still alive… somehow.
'What is happening?'
He had spent so long flying at a terrible speed, struggling against the crushing wind, dodging bolts of lightning and the cursed Spire Messengers, pushing the limits of both his body and mind… the exhaustion was catching up with him now, making it hard to think.
Let alone react…
He really, really didn't feel well. His whole body ached, and his vision was slowly turning blurry. A sickening feeling of weakness permeated his body.
The storm had come out of nowhere, and then disappeared without a trace. The skies were blindingly bright.
…That was a relief.
But the damn abominations were still there.
At least they didn't look tireless anymore.
In fact, the Messengers seemed to be in as much of a sorry state as Kai himself. He wanted to flatter himself and assume that it was because of his arrows. He had wounded the damned monsters many times, after all…
But no, it didn't make any sense.
They seemed able to resist the effect of the Blood Arrow before, at least to a large extent, so why would it change now?
'Something is wrong…'
Using the sun to blind his enemies, Kai dove into the light and dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the claws of one of the Messengers. Or so he thought — in reality, it wasn't narrow at all. He dodged it with a lot of room to spare. The Quiet Dancer didn't even need to get involved.
'Are they… growing slower?'
With a sudden feeling of unease, Kai hesitated for a split second, and then reduced his speed to take a good look at the terrifying creature.
What he saw made him scowl.
The Messenger looked… wrong.
Its glassy black eyes were erratic and senseless. They were seeping with blood, which flowed down the black feathers like a crimson stream. There were two other similar streams, coming from the monster's ears. The muscles of his pale body were spasming, rolling under the white skin like panicking worms.
As Kai watched, the Messenger suddenly opened its beak in a silent scream. A moment later, a flood of blood erupted out of it and dispersed in the wind like red mist.
Then, the creature convulsed one last time and lost control of its wings. Not even trying to correct itself, the terrible abomination plunged down.
Kai flinched and opened his eyes wide in terror.
…The Spire Messenger was dead.
Sunny swayed a little, and then looked down at his shadow.
The shadow seemed to be in pain. It was slumped, clutching at its chest with one hand and waving at him with the other. When it noticed that Sunny was staring at it, it desperately pointed to itself.
'What… what is this guy trying to say?'
Was he having a heart attack? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. Shadows didn't have hearts…
What was it pointing at, then?
Sunny scowled.
The shadow was his reflection. So maybe it was not pointing at its own heart, but at his.
But his heart felt fine. What else was there to point at?
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
He stared at the Shadow Core with wide eyes, dumbfounded.
'...Soul damage. I am receiving soul damage.'
He was under the effect of a continuous soul attack.
Escaping the unquiet sea in panic, Sunny wiped the blood off his face and looked around with a grim expression. He was even paler than usual.
'What the hell is attacking me?'
After a few moments, he suddenly shivered, stunned by a chilling revelation. And then looked up, at the blinding disсus of the sun.
…He had not been wrong. Its light was indeed much brighter than it had been before.
The skies of the Forgotten Shore, which had always been grey, were now almost white, full of merciless heat and radiance. It looked as though someone had erased reality itself, leaving behind nothing but an endless white void. With each second, it was growing more and more incandescent.
'The sun…'
The source of the soul attack was not a Nightmare Creature.
It was sunlight itself.
Anywhere it reached, the souls of living creatures were being slowly eroded and destroyed. And since the sun was now directly above them, at high noon, there was almost nowhere where it couldn't reach.
There was no escape from it.
Except for…
Turning around, Sunny stared at the opened gates of the Crimson Spire. Behind them, welcoming darkness promised shade and safety. This was the only place where he could hide from the annihilating sun.
At this moment, Sevatar entered the crimson spire's shade. He was carrying the unconscious body of Konrad on his shoulder. He turned back at Sunny and said,
"Third Faze!"
Spinning around, Sunny peered across the moat.
Out there on the battlefield, the Nightmare Creatures had stopped their endless onslaught. Now, they were stumbling and swaying, as though drunk. Many had already fallen to the ground, blood streaming from their orifices.
Their souls had been destroyed, and they were dead.
The surviving warriors of the Dreamer Army were staring at them in bewilderment, their distant figures full of both relief and confusion. Sunny wanted to scream, warning them of the terrible danger they were in, but knew that he was too far away for anyone to hear him.
From the tall mound of coral he was standing on, he could see the graceful shining figure in their midst. He knew that Nephis must have figured out what was going on by now.
But she didn't know that the gates of the Spire were open.
Sunny lingered for a few seconds, and then raised his hand.
A moment later, a clear ringing of a silver bell spread across the Labyrinth, rolling over the remains of the Dreamer Army.
Far away on the battlefield, Nephis spun and looked in his direction.
'Come on! Come on, Neph!'
Sunny rang the Silver Bell again and waved his hand in the air.
However, there was no need. Changing Star had already moved, thrusting her sword toward the Spire. In the next moment, the Dreamer Army lunged forward. Sleepers were running with all the speed they could muster, following the command of their commander.
"Yes! Wait… what is she doing?!"
Nephis herself did not follow her soldiers. Instead, she turned around and ran in the opposite direction.
…To the distant pillar of coral that they had left at the start of this mess.
Sunny's heart skipped a bit when he realized that she was going back for Cassie.
But there was nothing he could do to help, not anymore.
'Good luck…'
Jumping down from the mound, he rolled on the ground and ran toward the darkness of the Spire's doorway without looking back.
…However, before Sunny could reach it, he saw something falling down from the skies.
'What the…'
A ragged human figure slammed into the crimson coral and rolled several times before coming to a stop, then remained still. Sunny dashed toward it, quickly recognizing the bright colors of Kai's armor.
To his relief, the charming young man was still alive, if barely conscious. A graceful rapier was worriedly zipping in the air around him, the steel of its blade bleak and devoid of the usual luster.
The two of them must have been high up in the sky when the soul erasure had begun, much closer to its source, and so suffered more than those of them on the ground.
Not wasting any time, Sunny grabbed Kai by the collar and dragged him toward the opened gates of the Spire. The Quiet Dancer followed.
Soon, the three of them reached the border between light and darkness. Without hesitating even for a second, Sunny dove into the cool shade, made a few steps to get deeper into its shelter, and fell to the ground.
"Ah…"
Only now, protected from the annihilating sunlight by the solid mass of the ancient tower, he realized how terrible his condition had been. But no more. His soul was finally at peace once again, whatever wounds dealt to it already healing.
Kai was still alive, too.
"Lucky bastard."
'Thank gods… uh, I mean — that fool owes me big time now!'
Breathing heavily, he checked on the unconscious archer, then sat down and stared at the blindingly bright landscape outside.
Were the... were the others going to make it?
A few seconds later, something suddenly flashed through the air. It was Caster: falling on his knees near them, he glanced at Sunny with tired eyes and then gently placed an unconscious Sleeper he had carried with him on the ground.
Without saying anything, both of them then turned to the gates of the Spire and looked into the light.
Seconds passed in torturous silence.
...And then, a human silhouette appeared out of the brightness. And then another, and another.
The survivors of the Dreamer Army had reached the island and dashed toward the life-saving darkness of the gargantuan tower. Soon, they crossed the distance separating them from the gates and dove into their shade.
Sunny watched, something sharp moving in his chest.
A torturous eternity later, he finally saw the familiar figure in white armor appear at the doorstep of the colossal structure.
Carrying Cassie, Nephis entered the shadows.
She was the last one to come.
Looking at them and at the small crowd of Sleepers gathered at the border between darkness and light, Sunny was finally able to exhale. They made it.
The battle for the Crimson Spire was over.
Now all they had to do was find the Gateway hidden somewhere inside the ancient tower.
…And survive the wrath of its master.