Chapter 67

A week had finally passed, without Effie around we did not go hunts as much as before, so the rate I consumed soul shards had decreased. I had only consumed two awakened shards. 

We were currently walking through the ruins to get the cathedral Sunny had mentioned. Nephis, Cassie, Caster, Shashi, Me and.. Kai. Nephis had invited him to join the expedition with us, although I did not know for what reason.

Effie and Sunny was standing in the distance. They greeted us when we arrived and Kai and Sunny had a friendly banter. Sunny turned to Nephis afterwards, mentioning that he had a condition.

Behind us, you can see a magnificent ancient cathedral. Inside that cathedral lives a creature which

is called the Black Knight. He's a Fallen Devil. In return for my help during the expedition, I want your help after it is concluded. Once we return..."

He paused for a moment, and then added:

"...I want you to help me kill it."

A dead silence fell on the small square. I stared at Sunny blankly, even while being immortal I would not even think about trying to kill a Fallen devil while being a sleeper. Caster spoke up in a shocked tone:

"Sunny ... did you perhaps misspoke? We are only Sleepers, after all. How are we supposed to kill that Black Knight of yours? A Nightmare Creature of his rank and class..."

Sunny's grin widened. Then, with an immense feeling of vindication, he looked at Caster and said:

"...It's just a fallen devil."

***

Nephis had agreed to the deal, we were going to kill the fallen devil after coming back from our expedition.

While everyone was looking at him with confusion ... well, except Cassie, of course ... he took the rucksack off his shoulders and placed it on the ground. Then, he opened it, revealing the soft shine of numerous soul shards.

"Welcome to Sunny's Brilliant Emporium! This here is around fifty soul shards, each of them of the Awakened rank. Since we will be venturing into the Labyrinth, I've decided to give you guys an opportunity to empower yourself a bit before facing the terrible dangers of that ghastly place. Of course, I'll give you a family discount..."

Sunny mentioned that we needed to give a memory to him in exchange of a soul shard. He also mentioned that we could give him a memory if we did not have any. So I just took the shards without giving anything since I had no memories that I could dispose of, I had already traded them around. I could give my cloak, but it was my first memory, so I kept it.

Everyone was given 6 shards, except for me of course, Nephis gave me one of hers due to our deal. I took a look at my runes.

Name: Levi.

True Name: No Return.

Rank: Dreamer.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Class: Monster.

Soul Fragments: [1920/2000]

'Four left.. I wonder how many cores I will have when I get back..'

I set a goal in mind, I wanted to be a devil by the time we came back.

When everyone was done absorbing their shards and getting accustomed to the changes caused by the sudden influx of soul essence, the cohort was ready to move out.

The eight of them headed south, cautiously traversing the cursed city.

Nephis was walking in the front of the party, her stark black and white plate armor contrasted sharply against the grey stones of the ancient ruins. A step behind her and to the right was Caster, clad in a polished scale mail that glistened in the morning light like the skin of a silver dragon. To her left was tall and powerful Effie, clad in the archaic bronze armor with a white chiton beneath.

A few steps away, wearing his elegant lamellar armor made out of burnished brown leather, walked Kai. On his back, there was a quiver full of heavy arrows. Cassie was walking beside him, her light tunic and bright cloak just the same as before. However, now there was a sheath with a graceful rapier attached to her belt.

Behind them, Shashi, me and Sunny were walking. Shashi wore her brown leather light-armor, the armor was perfectly suited for her as it did not hinder her mobility at all. The armor covered her shoulders and gave her elbow and knee protection, however it didn't cover her stomach area, exposing her toned midriff. The memory also included a pair of leather shorts and heavy boots.

I was walking beside her, I was covered in elegant black robes. Even if the memory did not pose much protection, it helped me keep my mind calm during the augmentation.

At the very back, with an unhappy expression on his face, was a pale young man with messy black hair and a ragged light armor made out of dark-grey fabric and black, lusterless leather. He was periodically lowering his gaze and grimacing, asthough unaccustomed to being in the sun.

Their journey to the edges of the Forgotten Shore had begun.

***

As we were walking, Sunny caught up to Kai to talk with him. Shashi and I listened on their conversation as it sounded interesting. My mood went a bit down after listening in, Shashi nudged me with her elbow at that moment.

"Don't look so down.. we are going on a vacation around a death zone!" She said sarcastically.

"That did not help."

Shashi shrugged nonchalantly. "I was not trying to help your gloomy ass anyway."

I grumbled grumpily as Shashi laughed at me.

As we walked in silence, suddenly Shashi and Cassie spoke at the same time.

"Something is following us." they looked at each other with a smile when that happened, well.. of course Cassie couldn't look, she just glanced in her direction. However all attention was turned to them.

Sunny sent his shadow back, as Effie stood vigilant.

"It's that ... that damn hunchback. He's following us."

A sudden tension permeated the air. Without having to look, Sunny knew that everyone's faces grew dark.

Harus was a mystery. No one knew what his Aspect Ability was, let alone his Flaw. All that was known about this terrifying man was that he was very powerful, and that not a single victim of his had survived.

I did not have much opinion about him, I had heard Sunny say he defeat a man with his bare hands. Well I could do that too, what was so special about that?

Neph frowned.

"Is he alone?"

Sunny nodded.

"Yeah."

Turning to her left, she glanced at Effie. There was a grim expression on her face.

"What do you think?"

The huntress hesitated for a few moments. Then, looking down from her considerable height, she simply said:

"I think we need to run."

At that moment, Sunny finally spoke up:

"But, Effie ... can we even run away from him?"

The smile disappeared from her face. Suddenly grim, she hesitated for a while, and then said:

"I know of a way. But ... it's going to be dangerous. Very dangerous. However, I don't know how else to shake him off our trail. So you decide, princess."

Neph was silent for a bit, and then simply nodded.

"We will face Harus some other day. Right now, reaching the resting place of the first cohort is the priority."

The unruly huntress exhales, almost as if relieved. Then, she said:

"Then follow me. And prepare yourself..."

***

After that disturbing discussion, Effie changed their course slightly. Instead of moving straight south, they were now traversing the ancient city heading for its eastern border.

Soon, they were nearing the tall expanse of the city wall. Not too far away, the remnant of a giant tower lay broken on its side, stretching far away into the distance. The buildings that the tower had fallen on thousands of years ago were shattered and turned into dust.

The ancient lighthouse might have been proud and magnificent once. Perhaps it had even served as a symbol of the defiant will of the people of the ancient city, burning as a shining beacon in the eternal darkness of the cursed night. But it had fallen a long time ago ... just like the people that built it.

At least its ruin remained. The ancient inhabitants of the Dark City had just vanished, not even leaving bones behind.

Me and Shashi were at the rear, however we were following the group closely. 

Staying low to the ground, the eight of them dashed from their hiding spot to the broken lighthouse. Without wasting any time, they found a breach in its wall and climbed inside.

Effie summoned her radiant Memory, bathing the interior of the ruined tower in light. Due to the fact that it was currently lying on its side, they found themselves in a massive, echoing tunnel.

Looking around, Effie found her bearings and led them deeper into the tunnel, extreme tension apparent in her every move. While walking, she began to speak:

"Listen to me very carefully and do as I say. Once we're inside, don't separate from the group. Stay together and keep your weapons at hand. The place we're going to is full of Nightmare Creatures. They're not too strong, but they're ... special."

She bit her lip.

"Don't even try to kill them. Just defend yourself and keep moving. If you stop, you'll most probably die. Same thing if you slow down and get yourself surrounded. But if we can preserve our formation ... we might survive. I hope."

"She hopes huh..? Talk about real confidence." Shashi whispered next to me.

"You have gotten too confident after getting that relic and besting Effie in a fight you know.."

"Well at least its not empty confidence." She shot me a smug smirk.

Before I could reply, we reached our destination.

Right in front of them, the floor of the tunnel was broken, forming a narrow crevice. It was filled with darkness, leading deep down into the ground ... and then deeper still.

Without wasting any time, Nephis silently jumped into the crevice. Just before she did, white flames ignited in her eyes. The darkness swallowed her lithe figure whole, like the maw of some unknown creature. A moment later, the proud Legacy was gone, too.

Kai was already gently holding Cassie in his arms. The charming archer softly rose into the air, hovered there for a second, and then glided into the darkness. 

I looked at Shashi. "Want me to carry you too?"

Without a word, Shashi stomped hard on my foot with her heavy boots, making me wince, then she jumped into the hole. Sunny patted me on the shoulder and followed, and I followed suit. Effie went in at last.

I fell for a few seconds, then landed on hard stone. The impact was nothing I couldn't handle.

I found myself in a narrow tunnel, walls were made out of weathered stone, clearly put there by human hands. The rest of the cohort was already there, preparing for battle.

Nephis had summoned her silver longsword. Because the tunnel was not wide enough to freely use it, she was holding it with both hands - one armored gauntlet rested on the hilt, while the other was on the blade itself, halfway to its tip.

Caster was wielding a sword, too. However, his was a graceful jian with beautiful patterns etched on its blade, with a triangular guard carved out of green jade. Currently, the jian was emanating a ghostly green light.

Effie had summoned her large round shield, but chose to leave the ancient bronze spear in the Soul Sea. While she was skilled enough to make use of it even in this narrow space, the shield would be much more formidable, especially considering her herculean strength.

Kai looked rather gloomy. Casting a mournful look over his shoulder, on the fletching of his heavy arrows, he sighed and outstretched his hand. Instead of a bow, an elegant falcata appeared in it. The beautiful curve of its blade glinted, reflecting the light.

Shashi formed a khanjar in both hands out of her blood. "They look sick, no?" She asked as she pointed them at me.

"They look more detailed and sharp when you first started using your aspect." I said as I summoned my two weapon memories, I imbued Pale thorn to my left and the hammer to my right arm. Shashi gave me a small smile as she turned to the cohort.

The last one to draw her weapon was Cassie. Unexpectedly, she unsheathed a slender rapier from the scabbard that was attached to her belt ... and let go of it. But the rapier did not fall to the ground, but rather stayed floating in the air, as if attached to the blind girl by an invisible string.

Then it rotated slightly and hovered in front of her ... with its tip pointing straight at Sunny.

"Uh ... what?"

Cassie smiled and turned her head to him.

"Ah, please forgive Quiet Dancer. She is shy around strangers."

Sunny scratched the back of his head. Sensing his confusion, Cassie explained:

"Dancer is an Echo and a partner of mine. We work well together."

I stared as the rapier pointed its tip at Sunny in an unfriendly way. 

Interrupting their conversation, Effie called out to him:

"Hey, Sunny. Now would be the perfect time to invite your girlfriend to join us."

'Eh..?' I stared at Sunny with a confused expression.

The rest of the cohort stared at them with confused expressions.

Sunny gritted his teeth.

"How many times do I have to tell you, she's not my girlfriend!"

Noticing the weird stares that people were giving him, he sighed.

"Effie! Tell them!"

The huntress did not even continue to tease him. Just this fact alone told Sunny how dire their situation really was ...

"Sunny also has an Echo, and a powerful one at that. Go on, summon her."

He did, and a moment later, the Stone Saint stepped into the tunnel out of his shadow. Her ruby eyes were burning with crimson flames from behind the visor of the helmet. The taciturn monster briefly glanced at the people gathered around it, and then indifferently turned away to peer into the darkness.

"She looks powerful." I said with a hint of praise.

***

Just like that, their group of eight had turned into a group of ten ... well, if a moody flying rapier could be counted to be a member. I wondered if I also should summon that dormant beast I had, but gave up on the idea. It would be pretty useless in this sitauation.

...Suddenly, a distant noise made everyone freeze for a moment. With a dark expression, Effie looked in the direction it came from and sighed.

"Right. We've wasted enough time already. Follow me ... and be ready."

With that, she took a step forward and headed deeper into the tunnel. Saint took her place next to Kai and Cassie, me and Shashi were following them.

There were human skeletons as we walked, according to Effie this place was called the catacombs. And that Harus could not survive this place alone. We would lose him rather easily.

Right there in front of them, a corpse was standing on the edge between light and darkness, staring at the eight humans with the black chasms of its empty eyes sockets.

... No, not really a corpse. A skeleton.

Defying all laws of logic and physics, a creature made of nothing but human bones suddenly lunged forward, baring its teeth in a hungry grin.