Crimson Spire(1)

The army of the Sleepers climbed onto the island facing the Crimson Spire. As they climbed, the horde of Nightmare Creatures began moving toward the army of the Sleepers, leaving hundreds of torn bodies behind them and advancing toward the Sleepers. But they were met by a tall knightess clad in black armor, striking her shield in challenge to them, and the aura emanating from her was extremely oppressive. The monsters even hesitated to fight her, but under the influence of the Crimson Terror, they attacked.

The Sleepers grew tense at the sight of the approaching horde of beasts and the indifferent knightess awaiting their arrival. A young man's voice cut through the frozen Sleepers:

"What are you doing? Ready the ballistae and arrows—the monsters pose no threat. Also, don't worry about the Saint; she knows what she's doing."

"The Saint?"

The Sleepers looked again at the knightess standing before the very close horde of monsters. The Saint did not move until the horde came within several meters, then she acted. The air exploded behind her, leaving only an afterimage for the Sleepers who couldn't see her with their eyes.

The knightess appeared in the middle of the horde and smashed her shield into the head of a massive, hideous creature, shattering it into pieces. Then she swung her sword with elegance and cut down another monster. The beasts couldn't comprehend the catastrophe befalling them, as many of them died within moments.

The Sleepers' mouths hung open at the sight, and hope and determination ignited in their eyes. But Sunny interrupted them once more:

"Hurry if you want to return to the waking world! Come on, come on!"

Four hundred Sleepers moved forward and stood at the edge of the Crimson Bridge, waiting for the order to attack, while six hundred remained in the rear, preparing the ballistae and projectiles.

Sunny moved toward Nephis, who was with the cohort and Gunlaug's former lieutenants. The cohort looked at him joyfully, while the lieutenants maintained friendly expressions—well, except for Tesai. Sunny looked at Cassie, who was gripping a sword hanging from her belt, and at Kai, who held his bow tightly, staring at the massacre wrought by the Saint.

As for Effie, her gaze was also grim toward the Coral Bridge. Caster stood there with a gloomy expression on his bearded face. Nephis, however, remained indifferent, the slim Dawn Crown gleaming above her head. Sieshan, Kido, Gemma, and Tesai were there as well. Sunny spoke to Nephis:

"Do you have the Oath Keys? Give them to me. I'm going to seal the Dark Sea."

Nephis reached out to Sunny and handed him the remaining Oath Keys. Sunny looked at his runes:

Oath Keys [7/7]

Sunny looked at the people around him, waiting for someone to speak, but when no one did, he spoke:

"Ah, so this is the final chapter of our story in this hell… Let's kill the Crimson Terror and return to the waking world. I'm honestly no good at speeches, but that's all I have to say."

"You're a big idiot, Doffus, but you're a good kid. Maybe if you weren't in love with a certain princess, I'd have taken you for myself."

Neph blushed while Sieshan furrowed her brows suspiciously. Caster's frown deepened. Cassie scolded:

"That's enough, Effie. Go kill some monsters to calm yourself. And the rest of you, go lead the Sleepers."

Sieshan snorted and moved off, followed by the others, until only Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie remained. They looked at each other, then Sunny spoke:

"We've come a long way, haven't we?"

"We have. I can't believe we're on the verge of storming the Crimson Spire. It all seemed so fast, like a dream, when Neph and I first met you in the labyrinth… Promise me you'll take us out for dinner once this is all over."

"I promise, Cass. And what about you, Neph? Will you join us when we're out of here?"

"Why not?"

"Then, when we get out of here—"

Sunny left Cassie and Nephis behind and went back to look at what the Saint had done. The Saint, reinforced by six of his shadows, was an Ascended Demon, and for her, these awakened creatures were nothing. But she had to be cautious against the sheer numbers.

Sunny stood beside the line of Sleepers standing at the edge of the Crimson Bridge, staring at the Saint in awe. Even Effie seemed frozen as she watched her.

The Saint was sending bodies and limbs flying everywhere. The sounds of breaking bones and the monsters' pained roars filled the air. All Sunny could see was a black silhouette moving from place to place, spreading death and destruction.

Sunny spoke, ordering the army of the Sleepers:

"Come on, move! Kill those bastards. Your freedom is right in front of you—go and take it!"

The Sleepers shouted and four hundred of them surged toward the monster horde. Hundreds of arrows and dozens of giant bolts flew and struck the monsters, killing large numbers and injuring even more. As the army, brimming with vitality, advanced, a massive serpent tens of meters long wove itself from the shadows and let out a roar that froze the soul.

The serpent moved, leading the Sleepers toward the monster horde. The Saint slipped out from among the monsters and retreated toward the serpent and the army of Sleepers. The Saint was wounded, though not severely. Three shadows slid away from her into the serpent, and suddenly the horde of Nightmare Creatures hesitated, wanting to retreat before the rising terror.

But neither the serpent nor the Saint nor the army of Sleepers gave the horde any chance. The serpent moved with terrifying speed, crushing dozens of monsters beneath its massive body in an instant and lashing out with its tail, shattering the bones of any creature it touched and sending it flying.

More than a thousand monsters fell back before the Black Terror and the Ruby Demoness. The army of Sleepers had their share of killing as well, chasing down any beast trying to flee and slaughtering it in a frenzy of blood and the thirst for freedom. When the Crimson Terror realized it could not preserve all its creatures, it drove the beasts into a frenzy. The monsters returned to fight, breaking the momentum the army of Sleepers had built—but they could not stop the Black Terror from smashing through dozens of them and tearing them apart with its sharp fangs.

Sunny moved toward one of the fallen monsters that was causing problems in a part of the battle. Sunny felt power surging through his muscles, and though none of his shadows were augmenting him, he was receiving Shadow Essence from every creature slain by the serpent. Shadow Essence flowed into Sunny's legs, allowing him to leap with force. He collided with a fallen monster resembling a praying mantis.

The creature swung its scythes, scratching the surface of the Mantle of the underworld. Sunny rebounded from the impact but quickly returned and severed one of the mantis's scythes from its body.

The monster went berserk and tried to kill Sunny, but a creature the size of a house appeared, grabbed its head in a pincer, and simply crushed it. The mantis's body collapsed under the Crab's crushing force and died. The Crab moved toward another monster with ferocity and fury. These bastards were the ones who had injured him and stolen his food; he had to make them his food to atone for their offense.

Sunny slipped through the shadows, moving among the creatures toward the Crimson Spire. He navigated through the surging hordes of monsters and commanded the Saint to return to his Soul sea to assist him if needed. The rest of his shadows flowed into the Crab to help it endure the horde.

Sunny moved so swiftly that he soon reached the end of the Coral Bridge, where a massive dark vortex separated the bridge from the Spire. Sunny summoned the Saint, and the silent knightess appeared beside him. Without a word, she grabbed him and hurled him forcefully to the opposite side.

Sunny heard the wind whistling in his ears before he crashed into the far edge of the bridge and began moving toward the locks. Beyond a tall mound of crimson coral reefs lay a vast, level expanse leading to the corrupted walls of the Spire, upon which sat seven giant heads staring away from Sunny and arranged in a wide semicircle.

The heads were gazing toward the gates of the Crimson Spire. And upon the gates of the Spire were engraved seven images of seven shining stars. At the center of each star was a dark hole for a key.