Monsters did possess some rudimentary intelligence, however, they could not compare to humans. At their core, they were still predators who acted mostly on instinct. Their cunning was beastly in nature and was not that hard to overcome. That gave the three Sleepers a chance to leverage their advantage.
After finalizing the plan, they made some preparations.
While Valen and Nephis were getting ready, Sunny had retrieved the soul shards from the eight dead scavengers. After delivering them to the alpha sigma wolf and Nephis, he watched as she brought them to her chest and crushed them in her fist one after another, absorbing the essence of each shard into her soul core. After a few minutes, when the changes caused by the absorption were over, Nephis opened her eyes and slowly inhaled.
To a Sleeper, consuming the shards of four Awakened beasts was equivalent to slaying eight Dormant creatures. While not an earth-shattering boost, it was still significant. Her body became stronger, faster—enhanced in every way.
Valen followed suit, crushing the shards one by one. He could feel the raw power coursing through him, inching ever closer to the moment he had been waiting for. He was close—so close—to reaching the threshold. Soon, he would finally see what lay beyond.
But even with their newfound strength, they would need every bit of it to survive.
"Are you ready?" Nephis asked.
Sunny sighed and glanced at his shadow, hoping for some moral support.
The shadow pretended not to notice and ignored him entirely.
'Disloyal bastard.'
"As ready as I'll ever be," he muttered.
Nephis nodded and turned to Cassie.
There was nothing more to say. They had already discussed every possible scenario, and empty words wouldn't ease the blind girl's worries. In truth, Sunny wouldn't have wanted to trade places with her. Out of the three of them, she was the only one who wouldn't be risking her life in battle, yet watching and waiting—powerless—was a torment of its own.
Facing the enemy, no matter how terrifying, was better than being left behind with nothing to do but hope.
Cassie tried to put on a brave face. She turned to Nephis, forcing a smile.
"Go kill that thing. Maybe then you'll finally get something decent to wear and stop making me feel so guilty."
A corner of Changing Star's lip curled up. "Okay."
She even smiled at Valen and said,
"Try not to get yourself killed, alright?"
"..Ok"
Sunny frowned, he had noticed something about Valen....he was slowly...warming up to them? particularly to Cassie.
Could it be..... (Could it BE??)
After that, Cassie turned to Sunny, her expression growing serious. "Let's go."
A few minutes later, Sunny stood atop a rocky ridge, gazing down at the monster below. The shadow wrapped tightly around his body, enhancing his physical abilities. Their plan was solid. It had a high chance of success.
And yet, an ominous feeling gnawed at him. Something felt off.
'I don't like this.'
With a sigh, he raised his hand and summoned the silver bell.
Then, he lightly shook it.
The clear, melodic ringing cut through the storm.
Immediately, the monster below stirred, turning its massive torso to locate the source of the sudden noise. A mad crimson flame ignited in its eyes.
Sunny did not see this, because he was already moving. The instant the bell rang, he turned and leapt from the ridge without hesitation.
The drop wasn't tremendous, but it was still significant. He hit the rocks hard, rolling to disperse the force of the impact. The moment he was back on his feet, he sprinted, putting as much distance between himself and the ridge as possible.
A second later, the ridge exploded behind him. The monster crashed into it with its hulking body, shattering layers of rock as though they were paper. A flash of lightning followed by a deafening thunderclap masked the sound of falling debris.
The creature locked onto Sunny and lunged, its scythe-like arm slicing through the rain. Shards of stone scattered like a torrent from its spiked carapace.
Sunny barely avoided the strike. Without slowing, he lowered his body, ran several meters farther, then spun around.
The sight of the three-meter-tall abomination charging at him like a speeding train was enough to make anyone falter. But Sunny held his ground, raising the Azure Blade above his head.
After all, he was the bait.
Half a dozen meters away, the monster hit their trap.
Almost invisible in the darkness and pouring rain, a golden rope was strung between two massive boulders at the height of the creature's leg joints. Earlier, Sunny had ducked beneath it.
Overwhelmed by bloodlust, the monster never saw it coming. It barreled into the rope at full speed. If it had been a normal rope, it would have snapped immediately. But the golden rope was a Memory—its durability far beyond mundane materials.
The rocks it was tied to, however, were quite ordinary. They shattered on impact.
But the damage had already been done.
With its front legs yanked backward, the Scythe Slayer lost its balance and crashed forward, skidding across the wet stone. Its massive body carved a shallow trench into the ground. Sunny leapt aside just in time.
The monster was unfazed. Almost immediately, two bone scythes stabbed into the ground, jerking its body to a stop. In the next instant, it began to rise, disturbingly swift and nimble for its size.
If it stood up, they were finished.
Fortunately, Sunny's Echo was faster.
The moment the monster fell, the Echo sprang into action. No longer playing dead, it lunged forward. Just as the enemy was about to regain its footing, the Echo leapt onto its carapace from behind, pinning it down with its weight. Its pincers locked onto the creature's arms just beneath the scythe joints.
Despite being wounded by the jagged spikes on the monster's back, the Echo succeeded in immobilizing it.
For a moment.
A moment was all they needed.
Nephis erupted from her hiding place like a specter, darting between the Carapace Centurion's scythes. With lethal precision, she drove her longsword into the narrow gap between its torso armor and carapace—a calculated gamble, since even awakened monsters needed flexibility in their joints. The blade sank deep, its hilt kissing the chitin (muah).
At the same time, another blade flashed.
Valen's sword plunged into the opposite side of the gap, skewering the monster from both ends.
'Hell yes!' Sunny thought, triumphant.
Then, his expression darkened.
Because the creature didn't even flinch.
With a sudden twist, it threw the Echo off its back and wrenched itself free. The bone scythes scraped against the rock as it prepared to strike.
Nephis was still in front of it—defenseless.
Sunny was too far away. The Echo was down. Nephis was alone.
Then, blood gushed from the monster's side.
Valen twisted his already-buried sword, carving through its soft inner organs. The blade burst from the other side in a spray of azure blood, Valen's strike had pierced the same vulnerable spot from the opposite side, skewering the creature like a gruesome kabob.
The momentary distraction gave Nephis the opening she needed.
She tore her sword free and lunged again, plunging it even deeper into the monster's flesh.
However, in the next second, his expression dimmed.
Defenseless, Nephis was right in front of it, her sword still stuck in the monster's flesh.
'Oh no!'
Sunny was too far away to do anything, circling around the massive creature to attack it from behind. The Echo was on the ground, still reeling from being thrown off the enemy's back. It didn't seem like it could help either.
For the moment, Changing Star was on her own.
Sunny lunged from behind, his Azure Blade biting into the monster's rear leg joint. Azure blood welled, but the limb held, it was thicker and tougher than the scavengers they'd fought before. The Centurion whirled, dragging Valen, still clinging to his embedded sword, through the air like a ragdoll. Valen caught its arm and released the hilt. Scrambling onto its carapace and summoned his blade again. When slashing failed, he hammered the pommel against its armor, denting the plates with brute force.
As the monster spun around, trying to get Valen off, it slipped, crushing Valen's leg beneath its weight as it slammed down. The Echo lunged again, pincers battering chitin until the Centurion hurled it at Valen. Both crashed into the rocks as Nephis tried to flank the beast.
At that moment, a bolt of lightning landed right in the middle of the small island.
With how tall the monster was, the lightning was immediately attracted to the handle of the sword that was still sticking from its body, aimed at the sky at a slight angle. At that moment, Changing Star's longsword suddenly became a lightning rod.
Instantly, hundreds of millions of volts of electricity coursed through the slayer's body.
In a blinding flash of light, it was thrown to the ground. Whisps of smoke rose from the cracks in its carapace.
In a strange turn of events, arcs of residual electricity danced on the monster's chitin, slowly accumulating on the crimson patterns on it. Under that influence, the crimson pattern changed its color, becoming white and incandescent.
Sunny stared at all this in bewilderment.
For a second, he hoped that the monster was dead. But no, a single strike of lightning was not enough to kill a creature like that. Just a few moments after being electrocuted, the slayer moved, slightly shaking its body.
Although it was in a rather bad shape, it was still alive and full of murderous intent.
Looking somewhat dazed, the monster gathered its limbs and tried to stand up. Slowly but surely, it was coming back to its senses. The bone scythes scraped against the rocks, helping it rise.
But Nephis was already there grabbing the hilt of the longsword, she grimaced as the heat burned her hands. Then, she twisted the blade, making the slayer's body twitch, and pulled it out, breaking apart a large portion of its lower torso armor.
The monster tried to slash at her with a scythe, but Changing Star was quicker. Dashing to the side, she simultaneously lashed out with her sword. The glowing, white-hot blade caught the creature's arm right below the joint and cleaved through it, sending the terrifying bone scythe flying through the air in a rain of azure blood.
The slayer screeched and swatted her away with one of its legs. Nephis was thrown back and rolled on the rocks, losing her grip on the sword. Her eyes momentarily lost focus.
The monster, on the contrary, was back to its sense. It seemed as though the sudden pain of losing a limb had shaken it wide awake. Raising to its full height, it opened its ugly mouth and let out a deafening, enraged shriek.
Then, it lunged toward Neph with all-consuming hatred burning in its eyes.
But it didn't get far.
Right as the livid monster was beginning its attack, the battered Echo appeared in its path.
The battered Echo intercepted, pincers plunging into the gashes Valen and Nephis had torn and wreaking havoc on its innards. With a guttural roar, it heaved, lifting the monstrosity momentarily before a scythe impaled its chest. The Echo collapsed… but not before ripping the Centurion's torso clean from its carapace.
[You have slain an awakened monster, Carapace Centurion.]
[Memory acquired: Starlight Legion Armor.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Sunny dismissed the dying Echo, guilt and exhaustion crashing over him. Valen groaned nearby, clutching his mangled leg. Nephis staggered to her feet, her burned hands trembling.
We won.
_______
btw guys Valen is kinda weak here cause he just like woke up from allat.