"I got an Echo."
Nephis' pupils widened slightly.
Valen, usually unreadable, looked shocked.
Cassie, however, was far more expressive.
"An Echo? You actually got an Echo?!"
"Yes."
With the larger swarm of monsters minutes away, Sunny didn't waste time. He summoned the Scavenger.
The hulking beast immediately appeared in front of him, seemingly sewn together from tiny sparks of light. Soon, its black chitin became fully corporeal. Following Sunny's command, it shifted a little and raised its mighty pincers.
Nephis regarded it with an unreadable expression before the corner of her lip curled ever so slightly.
"Good."
Sunny grinned. "I think we can have it carry Cassie. It'll help us most outside of battle."
The blind girl's mouth parted in surprise. "Carry me? Like… like a mount?"
He chuckled, slapping the creature's carapace.
"This bad boy can fit a petite girl like you with no problem at all. Trust me! I've been clambering these things a lot for the past few days. It's actually quite spacious on top of them. Especially if they're not trying to kill you."
Cassie hesitated before giving in.
"Well… okay. If you think it's for the best."
Valen helped her up, securing her in place. They fashioned makeshift reins using the golden rope, ensuring she had something to hold onto.
After quickly retrieving soul shards from the fallen monsters, the group wasted no time and left the passage.
***
With Cassie riding atop the scavenger, their pace increased dramatically. Sunny and Nephis jogged ahead, hoping to make up for lost time and reach the cliffs with some daylight to spare.
From time to time, Sunny adjusted their course to avoid lurking threats, informing only Nephis—Valen would have likely insisted on fighting them instead.
But with their own monster by their side, the group's mood improved, if only slightly. For the first time since their arrival, Sunny felt a fleeting sense of calm.
Of course, it didn't last.
The wind picked up.
Almost at the same time, Cassie tensed.
"Stop."
Nephis and Sunny exchanged glances, both sensing the wrongness in the air.
"What is it?"
Cassie's grip on the reins slackened. "Do you hear anything?"
They listened. Then shook their heads.
"No. Why?"
Cassie scowled.
"Help me down."
They did. The blind girl stood still, listening. Then, cautiously, she knelt and pressed an ear to the damp ground. (JoJo reference?)
Sunny's fingers twitched toward his sword.
"What do you hear?"
Cassie swallowed. "It's murmuring."
A drop of water landed on Sunny's face.
He glanced up.
Above them, dark clouds gathered unnaturally fast.
"It's raining…" Valen murmured, his gaze sharpening.
And when the sky darkened completely…
"We have to move. Now!"
Valen's voice was sharp, urgent.
Nephis turned toward him just as he moved, grabbing Cassie and lifting her onto the Scavenger's back. She let out a startled gasp.
"Neph? What's going on?"
Nephis' silver eyes glinted.
"A storm is coming."
Sunny clenched his fists. There was no turning back.
He sent his shadow climbing up a coral spire to gauge the distance. "Three, maybe four kilometers. Do you think we can make it?"
Nephis scowled. "If we take the most direct route. Maybe."
Sunny exhaled. "And the monsters?"
Valen's answer was quiet.
"I'll cut through them all."
Sunny stared at him.
'That's the plan?'
Nephis turned, eyes burning.
"What are you waiting for? Run!"
They bolted.
Rain fell in heavy sheets, turning the ground to slick mud. Wind howled through the coral spires, sending debris flying. Sunlight faded into a dim, cold twilight.
Sunny pushed forward with everything he had. His shadow guided him through the labyrinth, finding the straightest path to the cliffs. Nephis followed close behind, Cassie's scavenger stomping through the mud just behind them.
The creatures lurking in the ruins weren't their biggest threat anymore. The labyrinth's denizens—Scavengers, horrors—were just as panicked. Some buried themselves in the mud. Others scrambled into crevices, desperate to escape.
Sunny expected to be forced into battle, but—
A flash of movement. A shriek of chitin splitting.
Valen wasn't avoiding them.
He was killing nearly every single scavenger in his path.
Sunny noticed it out of the corner of his eye—Valen moved where the others slipped through gaps and took the fastest route, he broke from the group, veering toward any scavenger daring to even look at him.
A severed limb.
Another step.
A crushed head.
The others barely had time to look back.
"Valen, what are you doing?!"
He didn't answer.
There was no hesitation in him,. He moved like a man possessed,. One by one, the scavengers fell, their bodies left behind as Valen kept walking forward.
The storm howled around him, rain hammering against his bloodstained armor as the rain turned into a torrential downpour.
The wind grew violent, howling like a living beast. Visibility dropped to near nothing. Sunny couldn't see Valen anymore.
Then, a blinding bolt of lightning tore across the sky.
Thunder followed.
In the next moment, the ground under Sunny's feet trembled, causing him to lose balance and fall. He rolled in the mud and tried to stand up, but slipped and fell again. Someone's arm grabbed him by the shoulder and helped him rise.
Through the storm, he saw Changing Star's face. She opened her mouth and shouted:
"Don't stop! Run!"
He almost couldn't hear her behind the roaring wind and rain.
By the time Sunny began to move, the dark, salty water was already as high as his shins. He gritted his teeth.
The sea was coming back.
He couldn't determine where the water was coming from, but with each minute, it was rising higher. Soon, it was up to his knee, then up to his waist, making running almost impossible. The speed of the group slowed down considerably.
It was then, in a sudden flash of lightning, when they saw a dark mass of stone ahead.
They had made it to the cliffs.
Almost at the same time, a terrible rumbling sound came from the depths of the labyrinth. Turning back, Sunny saw a colossal, crushing torrent of black water rushing through the crimson forest. Some distance away, a tardy scavenger was caught by it and thrown against the coral walls. The unbreakable carapace of the mighty creature cracked and burst open like a rotten egg.
'Curses'
He turned to Nephis:
"Time is up! Start climbing!'
She caught him by the arm.
"Dismiss your Echo!"
Sunny didn't know whether the scavenger could scale the cliff. In any case, Cassie wouldn't have been able to hold on if it did. He helped the blind girl get down and then sent the monster back to the Sea of Soul..
Sunny hesitated.
Something was wrong.
Where was Valen?
"Where's Valen?!"
He twisted, searching—
No sign of him. Nothing but black water. No. No. No.
They needed Valen!
Nephis grabbed Cassie, securing her with the golden rope before scaling the cliffs
Sunny quickly made a decision and a memory flared to life. A bell rang, its sound echoing around them.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
No response.
Panic surged through him. He turned, scanning the black waters—nothing. He rang the bell again.
Once
Twice
Three times again the sound echoed through the storm.
"VALEN!"
But there was no response.
Nephis lowered herself to let Cassie climb on her back, then tied them together with the golden rope. Not wasting any time, she gritted her teeth and stepped forward to grab onto the wet rocks of the cliff wall.
"Start climbing!"
Sunny swore and obeyed, scrambling up the cliff. The rain and wind made the ascent near impossible. The floodwater climbed after them, black and hungry.
Then—
"Brace!"
In the next moment, a wall of dark water hit the rocks mere meters beneath their feet. As Sunny held for dear life, the whole cliff shuddered. A few boulders fell from somewhere high above, missing his head only by chance
Somehow, all three of them were still alive.
However, things were far from being over. The black water was still rising, now with frightening speed, threatening to swallow them at any second. They had to keep climbing, and they had to be faster than the surging sea.
Sunny cursed as he searched for the next hold to grab onto. To survive, he had to scale the face of the cliff with crazy speed. However, hastily climbing wet rocks was a recipe for disaster: one slip of a hand, and he would plunge down to be crushed against the cliffs, drown, or be eaten by some giant monster.
The torrential rain and hurricane wind made everything even worse.
And yet, there was no choice.
He frantically kept climbing, tearing his skin on sharp rocks. Every muscle in his body was in agony. If not for the shadow wrapped tightly around his body, Sunny would have been long dead. But even with its help, the surging dark water was getting closer and closer.
Just as he reached the cliff, the next massive wave slammed into him.
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
No matter how hard Sunny tried, he couldn't win back any distance. Soon, the water was at his feet. The sea slowly swallowed his legs, then his torso. He kept climbing, now fighting against the weight of the water and the force of the tide that was trying to tear him away from the cliff.
But it was useless in the end.
When the water covered his shoulders, he felt his finger slipping from the wet rocks. Sunny tried to hold on, but the current was too strong. He was pushed away like a weightless toy, losing any purchase…
"NO!"
...In the last second a rough hand grabbed him by his neck.
Sunny choked, body tensing in sheer panic. Instinct screamed at him to struggle—to fight—but before he could, he got slammed into the cliffside with brutal force. The impact knocked the air from his lungs, dazing him.
And then a split second later, he was flying.
Launched upward, his body twisted through the rain before he crashed onto solid ground. His vision swam. His lungs burned. But he was alive.
He had got thrown to safety.
But Valen himself—
Sunny scrambled up, ignoring the pain. He rushed to the cliff's edge, the storm raging around him, searching—scanning—where was he?!
And then he saw him.
The tide had pulled him away. Still, he was still above the surface, barely, but the current twisted around him, dragging him back, pulling him under.
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"Nephis!"
No.
No.
He wasn't waiting for someone else to act. He wouldn't depend on her for everything.
Ignoring the screaming protest of his body, he snatched the rope from Nephis and threw it down. It quickly made its way down, snapping taut.
Valen had caught it.
Sunny dug his heels in. His muscles burned, his body protested, but he pulled. Inch by inch, he dragged Valen back, fighting against the tide, against the weight, against everything.
And finally—
A hand caught the edge and Valens body lurched upward. Sunny breathed out as Valen collapsed onto the cliffside, battered and bleeding
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
The storm raged. The wind howled. The tide crashed against the cliffs below.
Then Sunny let out a breathless laugh, too drained to even sit up.
"Thanks."
Valen didn't answer. He didn't move. The rain washed over him, blood swirling down the rock. He was still alive.
They had survived.
But only barely.