There were lookouts hiding in the shadows of the five towers. Of course, Sunny had no trouble noticing them — all of them were Masters, and in a very rough shape. Just like Sunny, they had gone from partic.i.p.ating in a b.l.o.o.d.y battle to entering the Nightmare Desert and being forced to fight for their lives without a real opportunity to rest.
Masters of the great clan Valor, great clan Song, and the government were working together without a second thought. Even though some of the wounds they bore had been delivered by the other humans in the group, no one thought about continuing the feud. All conflict had been forgotten in the face of the ruthless desert.
'How sweet.'
Indeed, the Spell had a way of bringing people together.
...It also had a way of bringing Nightmare Creatures and people together.
As soon as their party of five entered one of the steel fingers through a narrow crack, Sunny's expression darkened.
There were about twenty humans sheltered in the cool darkness of the hollow tower. Some looked like they had just returned from exploring the dunes, while others were busy with various tasks — preparing food, refining the carca.s.ses of dead abominations into valuable materials, drawing maps of the surrounding area…
Even though Wake of Ruin had abandoned the group, the Ascended did not seem willing to give up on their survival.
Perhaps it was because of a certain person who had taken charge and driven them forward.
'So she survived, too…'
Morgan had lost her intricate plate armor, and wore a black tunic. The scarlet cloak was wrapped around her shoulders, falling to the ground like a waterfall of blood.
The Princess of War seemed tired and reserved. There were no wounds on her body, but the usual sharpness of her vermilion eyes was strangely dulled. She was standing in the center of the hollow tower, listening to the reports of the scouts.
As the five of them entered, Morgan looked up from a crude leather map and glanced in their direction with a distant expression. Then, her eyes s.h.i.+mmered.
"...My sister is alive."
Her voice was hoa.r.s.e and emotionless.
The scouts were confused for a moment, then turned around. Their faces grew excited.
"Lady Changing Star!"
"It's…"
However, the words were drowned out by a happy shout:
"Doofus! Princess!"
A tall and robust figure that seemed to have been cast of l.u.s.trous steel walked over to them with ginger steps and subjected Sunny to an earth-shaking shoulder pat.
"You guys made it!"
With that, Effie grinned, and suddenly grabbed startled Nephis into a tight hug.
"Wha… uh… Effie, I can't breathe…"
The huntress let go of Neph and looked at the two of them with sparks dancing in her eyes.
"Thank the G.o.ds. You are Masters, after all! I was afraid that the two of you pale apparitions would be all red and burned by the time you got here..."
Usually, Sunny would have reacted in a more friendly manner, but right now, he did not pay Effie a lot of attention.
Instead, he was carefully studying the other Ascended gathered in the finger of the t.i.tanic gauntlet.
His expression was neutral.
His mind, however...
'd.a.m.nation.'
Under Sunny's relaxed gaze, the souls of the Ascended shone with bright radiance.
However, not all of them.
Some were hiding a boundless expanse of vile, virulent darkness… they were infected by the cancerous growth of Corruption.
Out of the twenty Masters here, seven were no Masters at all.
They were all vessels of the same creature that had worn the skin of Ascended Xu as a disguise.
'...We are all going to die, aren't we?'
Sunny lingered for a few moments, then looked at Effie.
"We are alright, but what about you? To be honest, I'm a little surprised… that you haven't eaten all these people yet. I mean, I know your appet.i.tes. And is it just me, or have you gained weight?"
Time. He had to stall for time.
Effie blinked a couple of times and smiled softly… which would have made Sunny s.h.i.+ver in any other situation.
"Keep talking. I'll eat you first."
Accompanied by her, they walked toward Morgan. As they did, the atmosphere in the hollow tower suddenly grew a little colder.
"Song Seishan."
Morgan's voice was even.
Seishan met her piercing gaze with the grace of a person who had survived a decade of h.e.l.l on the Forgotten Sh.o.r.e. Her reply was similarly composed:
"Morgan."
The two stared at each other with frightening intensity.
Kai coughed and s.h.i.+fted from one leg to another. Sunny hesitated, then sent him a mental message:
[Why didn't you tell us that Morgan was here?]
The archer looked at him and shrugged helplessly.
groaned.
[She must have arrived after I left to search for more survivors. She wasn't here in the morning… there won't be trouble, right? The two of them will see reason… surely…]
A gust of wind crashed into the hollow tower, and the ancient metal groaned.
Morgan shook her head.
"We'll put our quarrel aside, for the time being. Let's return to the waking world before doing anything rash."
Seishan slowly nodded.
"Agreed."
She didn't seem to be fl.u.s.tered at the prospect of facing the Princess of War in combat. Sunny wasn't entirely sure how powerful Seishan was, currently — after all, she had Ascended later than most of them. On the other hand, she was older and had acc.u.mulated much more experience in the Dark City.
It didn't matter, though.
Last night, the c.u.mulative power of Seishan, Sunny, Jet, and Saint had been barely enough to slow down just one vessel of the Gate Guardian for a few moments.
And now, they were surrounded by seven of them.
Morgan seemed to have no idea of how doomed they all were… which was not surprising. In fact, it was Sunny and Jet who were freaks capable of peering through the disguise of a Great abomination. Both of their Aspects were one-of-a-kind and exceedingly rare — it would be quite improbable to a.s.sume that anyone else in the Nightmare Desert possessed similar capabilities.
Maybe Ca.s.sie did… but she was not here.
Sunny felt his chest grow tight as he thought about the blind girl.
Where was she now? Had she managed to escape the slaughter?
Morgan, meanwhile, looked at Nephis.
"I must congratulate you, sister. Oh, and Master Sunless, of course. Killing Dire Fang… it was a pleasant surprise. I should think about how to reward you."
She turned to Sunny, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly smiled.
"...I do hope you won't ask to fight me again, though, Master Sunless. The environment here is not quite as dreamlike as the last time I had to reward you."
As Nephis, Seishan, Effie, and Jet gave Sunny strange looks, he cleared his throat and forced out a smile.
"No, no. I wouldn't dare to request something untoward… again…"
At the same time, he used the Blessing of Dusk to speak with Morgan silently:
Smiling pleasantly, he said:
[Do as I say if you don't want to die.]