The Bright Castle had been left behind, its once-bustling halls now empty. Everyone had joined the march toward the Crimson Spire. The siege had begun.
I stood at the front lines, my blade resting on my shoulder as I surveyed the battlefield. Twisted creatures lurked in front of us, waiting for the moment to strike. The spire loomed in the distance, a monolith of crimson coral that pulsed with an eerie, malevolent glow.
From the moment the battle started, it was chaos.
Hundreds of Sleepers charged forward, their weapons gleaming as they met the first wave of Nightmare creatures. The clashes of steel were accompanied by the screams of both men and monsters. Blood splattered onto the dark ground as bodies fell, but the Sleeper army pressed forward.
I was in the thick of it, my blade slicing through the Nightmare creatures with practiced precision. Each strike was a calculated movement—severing limbs, piercing chitin, cutting deep.
Yet even as I fought, something gnawed at me.
Something was wrong.
There were too many of them.
I had studied the battle plans with Nephis. We had anticipated thousands of Nightmare creatures, but what I felt before me exceeded that number by an alarming margin. This entire place seemed to be stirring—an unending tide of monsters pouring out from everywhere. The Nightmare creatures kept coming, and worse, the larger ones had begun to appear in greater numbers than expected.
I hacked through another grotesque monster, crushing its head beneath my boot, and quickly scanned the battlefield.
The Sleepers were holding for now, but the cost was high. Too high. Bodies littered the ground, and for every monster that fell, two more seemed to take its place. Even with the memories I had brought back, too many were dying. The tide was shifting against us. And I was starting to feel strange, like they were taking something precious from me.
I felt Nephis's gaze through the chaos. She was at the center of the battle line, her sword glowing with white flame as she cut through the creatures before her. Cassie was close by, her hands trembling as she clutched her staff, her sightless eyes focused on something beyond my understanding.
I signaled to Nephis with a quick motion. Push forward.
She hesitated for only a moment before nodding. She understood. If we continued to fight like this, we would be overwhelmed. The only path to victory was to reach the Spire as quickly as possible.
"Push toward the Spire!" Nephis's voice rang out over the battlefield, cutting through the noise of battle. "Stay together! Advance!"
The Sleepers responded, shifting their formation. Those in the front lines braced themselves as the rear forces pressed forward, inching toward the Spire. It was slow, brutal progress. Every step forward was met with resistance, the Nightmare creatures refusing to let us through.
And then, the Dark Sea began to rise.
A wave of darkness, deep and consuming, surged forward from the depths of the Spire. It moved unnaturally, swallowing the battlefield in shadows, cutting off those caught within its grasp.
For a moment, fear flickered in my mind. If it reached us, we were finished.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
Sunny, you bastard, you succeeded even in this situation. I felt relieved.
For a brief moment, hope surged through the ranks. The way was clear. If we moved quickly, we could reach the Spire before—
The Nightmare creatures surged again.
I forced myself to move, to think.
I looked up toward the Spire.
We were almost there.
In the original plan, Cassie said that once we got close enough to the Spire, it would react with a strong attack against everything. But instead, the monsters kept attacking, relentless as ever, and the Spire showed no reaction at all.
I stooded in horror as more Sleepers fell, torn apart by the onslaught.
Cassie's voice barely reached me through the chaos. "Something's wrong!"
"No shit!" I snapped, swinging my sword in a wide arc and decapitating a scavenger. "Any ideas?"
She hesitated. "I… I don't know."
Fuck, I must have messed up something.
Nephis had reached the front lines again, her sword wreathed in white fire as she carved a path forward. Blood splattered across the ground as she advanced, her expression unwavering.
I fell in beside her, cutting through the creatures that tried to stop us. "You need to reach the Spire. Now," I said and turned around.
"What are you—"
"Don't stop. There's something in there you guys need to defeat. I will buy time."