Chapter 48

In the absolute darkness, a small vessel was gliding on the black surface of a restless sea. Its mast, made of a demon's spine, was straining under the assault of the winds. In the eerie silence of this vast and lightless void, the swift boat cut through the waves like a blade.

No sounds could be heard except for the creaking of bones and the crashing of water against its polished metal hull.

Sunny sat at the oar, steering the carapace vessel. He was guiding them west. With no moon or stars to show them the path, it was hard to keep the boat on course. But there was a mark left in his mind by the cold and menacing shadow of the Crimson Spire - using it as a compass, he was able to navigate the treacherous waters without losing his way.

Black skies above, dark sea beneath. With nothing but a thin layer of steel separating them from the tenebrous abyss, they sailed through the night.

Below them, countless horrors were hiding in the cursed depths. Levi felt a lot of killing intent deep inside the waters.. however he was powerless to do anything about it. 

So far, luck was on their side. Perhaps they were too small and feeble to satiate the hunger of these ancient leviathans ...

Soon.. his friends were finally free from the influence of the Soul Devourer.. Levi sighed in relief.. however it was a short lived one. After all they were sailing on an even more dangerous place..

The carapace boat flew over the dark water, drawing closer and closer to the western horizon.

Soon, he felt that the night was already drawing its last breaths. The light of hope ignited in Levi's heart.

However, this was when their luck had finally run out.

***

The disaster came unexpected, violently throwing them into a void of confusion. This time, Levi had not felt anything approaching the boat. The danger simply appeared out of nowhere, leaving him no time to react.

One second, the black waters were calm and clear. The next, they were boiling with movement, grotesque tentacles rising from them and wrapping themselves around the hull of the boat.

Levi and Shashi tried to jump to their feet, but at that moment, the whole vessel was violently jerked to the side. Falling, he heard the moans of metal being bent and torn apart. Then, salty water filled his mouth.

'F#ck!'

His eyes were wide.. he was trying to see something.. But no , everything was dark. He had activated [Corrosion] augmentation to a full extent. Now that he was a monster , his sensory of killing intent was better , however his mind immediately went hazy when he tried to sense his surroundings.. The killing intent of this monster was too much for a sleeper to handle.

Desperately trying to sense his friend , he felt a faint sense of killing intent coming near him. And he immediately plunged his arm towards them. It was a human.. he didn't know who he was holding , but it must have been one of the girls.. Holding her arm he immediately swam to the surface..

In the next moment, the water around them suddenly turned pure white.

An incandescent radiance filled a vast expanse of the cursed sea, obliterating any sign of darkness. The explosion of light was so intense that it pierced through Levi's eyelids and hurt his eyes.

It was as though a miniature sun had ignited somewhere far below them, turning the endless black abyss into a pristine white void. Tidal currents of radiant water surged tumultuously, throwing the world into disarray.

The gargantuan tentacles convulsed and writhed madly, as though in the throes of unbearable pain. The unbreakable barrier of flesh fell apart.

'Nephis!'

One of his teammates were deep inside the sea.. He wanted to swim down and help her out.. however he was currently swimming upwards , the woman he was holding turned out to be Shashi. She was barely conscious.. Swinging his legs Levi swam upwards with high speeds. He had also sensed Sunny's presence deep within.. he was trying to swim upwards too..

... And then, finally, Levi's head broke the surface. He drew in a gasping breath and coughed uncontrollably.

Held tightly in his arms, Shashi was doing the same. Her chest was ruggedly moving up and down, sucking in the sweet ambrosia of air.

They had made it.. however now they had no choice but to wait... 

Suddenly Levi heard someone stick their head out of the water with a splash and breath deeply , there were two of them.. Levi tried to swim towards the sound while holding Shashi in his arms..

"Sunny!" Levi shouted.. He wasn't seeing anyone.. however he was hoping that it was Sunny who had swam upwards..

Without a word , He felt him grab his arm. Far away in the east, the first light of dawn was about to shine from beyond the horizon. Sunny was leading them to safety..

***

At least the tentacles were gone, perhaps scared away by the pain of being exposed to the searing light.

By some miracle, Sunny eventually managed to lead them to the stone hand.

Hoisting Cassie up, he helped her climb on the dark rocks and followed closely behind. Levi also followed after Sunny , they helped each other to get Shashi up to the stone and then Levi himself got up to the stone platform.

For a long time, none of them was able to talk.

'Nephis...'

Levi thought about her.. where is she..? They had survived a whole month together , surely this wasn't how they were supposed to lose her.. right?

'Right..?'

Levi looked at the Dark Sea.. however no light was shining anymore..

The sound of the black water crashing against the base of the giant hand reminded him that the night was still not over. He had to get the others to safety first..

Their shelter was slightly raised above the waves, the base of the giant thumb almost touching the surface of the dark sea. The palm was not very spacious, roughly half the size of the circular platform that Sunny had brought them to. It was angled upward, creating a slight slope.

The fingers were higher above waves and wide enough to accommodate a person, but they were bent upward toward the sky, making them less suitable to serve as a refuge.

"Sunny.. get up.."

Levi got to his feet as he helped Shashi upwards.. It seems she was struck by something on the head.. there was blood streaming down her face..

Sunny tiredly stood up and bent down to touch Cassie's shoulder.

"Cassie. Stand up. We have to move higher."

His voice sounded hollow and brittle.

The blind girl flinched and raised her head, her skin deathly pale.

"...Sunny?"

Sunny nodded.

"Yeah. It's me."

She was still in shock. Sunny could see that Cassie's mind was not all there yet, so he gently pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, let's go. It's just a few meters."

She lingered.

"What happened? I heard a ... a sound ... and then something was pulling me down ... "

He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his tone even.

"We were attacked by a sea monster. The boat was destroyed. I dove down and managed to find you, then swam to this pile of stones. It's not very high above the water, so ... "

Cassie wavered.

"Where's ... where's ... "

Sunny hurried to interrupt her, unwilling to answer the next question.

"Come, follow me. We can rest when we're higher."

Gently guiding the blind girl, Sunny climbed to the base of the giant hand's index finger, which was the highest point they could reach without climbing the fingers themselves. Levi followed behind them as he guided Shashi..

Sitting down on the cold stone, he rested his back against the giant phalanx and stared at the restless surface of the dark sea. Shashi was sitting next to him , she had lost consciousness once again..

Finally, gathering her courage, the blind girl whispered, her trembling voice barely audible:

"Guys. Where is Neph?"

He stayed silent, not willing to speak the words out loud.

Levi was getting up from his seat.. he was going to delve back into the dark sea to find Nephis.. It was a foolish decision and he knew it. Even if he didn't trust her , it did not change the fact that the woman had been with them for a whole month.. 

When Levi look his step forward , his heart skipped a beat..

Out there at the base of the giant thumb, where the cursed sea was almost touching its stone surface, a pale white hand appeared from the black water and grabbed onto the rocks.

Then, a tall figure slowly pulled itself onto the opened palm of the stone giantess.

His eyes widened.

Feeling that something was wrong, Cassie turned her head and asked:

"Sunny? What is it?"

He trembled and whispered, gripped with sorrow.

"It's Nephis."

An uncertain smile appeared on the blind girl's face.

"Neph?! She is alright ?!"

Sunny found himself unable to answer.

No, Nephis was not alright.

In fact, they didn't know how she was even alive.

The Starlight Legion Armor was shattered and torn, revealing the mutilated flesh beneath. There was a horrifying gaping wound on Changing Star's torso, looking as though almost half of her right side was missing. Levi could see the sharp shards of broken ribs, the rivers of blood streaming down her legs, and the mangled mess of viscera spilling over the edges of the wound.

He wanted to close his eyes.

Another large chunk of flesh was missing from her thigh, exposing the shredded remnants of muscle and the white surface of the femur, cracked and barely holding together. Her right arm was severely damaged, too. In fact, it was almost torn off, hanging only by a narrow strip of skin and a few tendons, like that of a mistreated, broken marionette

Even her face was not spared. One of Neph's eyes was gone, its socket crushed and shattered, the skin of her cheek was shaved off as though by sandpaper, leaving behind a mangled mess of bleeding flesh and broken teeth.

The sight of her was harrowing and heartbreaking.

It was apparent that Changing Star was about to die.

"Sunny? Why are you not answering?"

Levi heard Cassie ask Sunny questions.. his eyes were focused on Nephis.. 

Meanwhile, Nephis staggered and blindly stepped forward. Her legs buckled, and she heavily fell to her knees, splattering blood all other the cold surface of the stone. A terrible moan escaped from her lips as her cracked femur finally shattered, bone piercing through muscle and skin.

He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to see this. 

And yet, he couldn't look away.

... That's why he noticed instantly when two white flames ignited in Neph's eyes. The radiance grew brighter and brighter, spilling from her eyes, her mouth, the gaping wounds in her body. It was as though there was a flaming star burning in the place where her heart should have been, as though she was nothing but white flame hidden behind a thin layer of human skin.

The incandescent radiance filled Changing Star's blood, turning it into streams of liquid white fire.

As Levi watched, frozen in place with his eyes opened wide, that fire began to melt and reshape her flesh. Slowly, her muscles repaired herself, her organs returned to their places, her bones reassembled themselves from the shards.

Where there was nothing to replace a missing part, the fire took its shape and solidified.

With a terrible scream, Nephis grasped her almost severed arm and tore it away, then pressed it to the stump that was bleeding with white flame. Soon, the mangled halves melted together, becoming whole again.

Shocked, he saw every terrible wound on her body heal, washed in the purifying fire.

Soon, there was nothing but pristine white skin showing through the wide gaps in the shattered armor.

Nephis raised her head, looking at them but not seeing anything. There was no recognition in her gaze, all understanding destroyed by the cruel crucible of the sacred fire.

Then the last daughter of the Immortal Flame clan closed her eyes and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

...Finally, the first rays of sunshine appeared from beyond the eastern horizon.

The dawn was coming.

***

In the end, Nephis had remained unconscious for an entire two days and Shashi for a day.

On the third day, she finally opened her eyes and slowly rose, looking around with subtle confusion.

Her face, as usual, was calm and indifferent.

However, she did flinch a little when her gaze fell on Sunny, who was sitting at the top of the giant hand's index finger and grinning from ear to ear at her.

Frowning, Changing Star looked herself over, noticing the embarrassing gaps in her armor, and said:

"Why are you smiling?"

Sunny gave her a mischievous wink and shrugged.

"Look behind you."

Lingering for a few seconds, Neph sighed and turned around, wondering what is it that he wanted her to see.

Behind her, a dark expanse of land was rising above the slope of the colossal crater.

And on it, a tall city wall built of grey polished stone was towering over the giant chasm of the abyss. It looked ancient but still impenetrable, able to withstand the crushing pressure of the dark sea for a thousand more years,

They've made it.

That had found the human castle.

[End of volume one: Demon of Corrosion.]