327 Sieae of the Crimson Spire (13)

At the last moment, the coral golem moved, disappearing from Sunny's view. A fraction of a second later, it materialized a few steps away, just outside of the Midnight Shard's reach.

'...Bastard!'

It was too late to change the direction of his attack. Pulled forward and down by the inertia, Sunny was forced to finish his downward slash and stumbled, falling to one knee. He found himself in a dangerous position, wide open for an attack and with little ability to maneuver.

The perverse simulacrum of the Lord towered above him, his powerful frame radiating a sense of harrowing strength. On the forehead of the artificial creature, a polished piece of coral shined with intense crimson light.

That light seemed to sap the life from everything it fell upon.

Feeling a sudden weakness permeate his body, Sunny gritted his teeth and dashed to the side. A split second later, the fist of the Lord pierced the air with a cracking sound and shattered the ground, sending a rain of debris flying in every direction.

Twisting his body, Sunny spun and delivered a backhanded blow before his feet even touched the ground. The blade of the tachi scraped against the vambrace of the golem's armor, leaving a dip gash in it.

However, it didn't do a lot of damage.

Landing and sliding back on the coral, Sunny thrust his hand forward and send the Moonlight Shard flying at the golem's face. The creature easily swatted it away with its hand.

By the time it did, however, Sunny was already near, delivering a high thrust with the Midnight Shard. As soon as the Lord moved to deflect the austere blade, he changed the direction of his attack and turned it into a vicious horizontal cut.

Using every last bit of his finesse and prowess, Sunny brought down a rain of strikes on the golem. He was moving with astonishing speed and agility, his attacks and steps seamlessly flowing from one into another. It was as though the whole onslaught was just one fluid, continuous motion.

But no matter how swift and skilled he was, it all turned out to be useless.

The Lord was much faster, stronger, and more powerful. Even though he was temporarily forced to concentrate on nothing but defense, every second that passed spelled doom for Sunny.

Because somewhere behind him, Saint was being slowly destroyed by the six other golems. And as soon as she fell, he was going to die.

"Curse you!"

Pausing for a mere moment, Sunny gave the coral abomination a chance to attack. Its fist shot toward his chest with terrifying speed.

Turning his torso, Sunny avoided the blow and caught the hand of the golem between his body and his arm. This position didn't give him any advantage, because the creature was much stronger than him.

On the contrary, it immobilized one of his hands and forced him to let go of the hilt of the Midnight Sword with the other.

…But it gave Sunny purchase.

The Lord raised his second fist, ready to crush the human's skull with one deadly strike.

***

High in the skies above the battlefield, Kai was just moments away from death. He had wounded one of the Messengers, killed another, and avoided two more.

But the last one was now upon him, and there was no escape.

Time seemed to slow down. With his eyes opened wide in terror, he stared at the swiftly approaching beak of the harrowing creature. No matter how fast Kai was, he knew that this time, he wouldn't be able to evade his end.

If only he had one more second! A fraction of a second, even…

Fully aware that it was hopeless, Kai changed the direction of his flight. Despite it all, he had to at least try.

But it was hopeless.

Until…

At the last moment, something flashed through the air and collided with the black beak of the Messenger, throwing it slightly off course. That gave Kai the fraction of a second he was praying for.

Twisting his body, he allowed the beak to pass mere centimeters away from it, crashed into the side of the Messenger and bounced off of it, then stumbled away through the clouds.

A slender, graceful rapier suddenly appeared by his side and then circled around him, cutting a stray black locust in half. With its pommel facing Kai and its tip aimed at anyone who would dare to attack him, the Quiet Dancer glided through the air, forming a defensive sphere of sharp steel around the young man.

Despite its inanimate nature, the flying rapier somehow managed to convey the feeling of mean, arrogant, and bad-tempered protectiveness.

Staring at the elegant Echo, Kai couldn't help but smile.

'Thank you, Cassie…'

***

On the bloodsoaked battlefield, a small hill of monsters was moving and shifting, every horrifying creature in it lusting to taste the flesh of the person buried beneath.

It seemed as though there was no hope.

But what was hope? Hope was something that Effie had abandoned long ago.

She didn't need it.

All she needed was a roof over her head, delicious food on her plate, and the thrill of the hunt. The indescribable pleasure of being healthy, strong, and living.

With a tiny bit of misguided pride mixed in to spice things up.

He wasn't willing to die yet, not like this, not without giving it one last fight...

Suddenly, a muffled sound resounded from under the hill of monsters. It was a furious growl, full of rage, defiance, and a desperate will to survive. A moment later, the hill shuddered.

And then exploded, bodies of Nightmare Creatures flying away and rolling on the ground.

Straining her muscles to the point where it felt like they were about to explode, and then past that, Effie pushed the incredible weight away with her mighty shoulders and emerged from the seething mass of abominations.

She was still holding the jaws of the first creature to jump on her with her bleeding hands. With a ruthless motion, she tore them apart and threw the broken body aside. Her fist flashed through the air, crushing someone's skull.

Effie had lost the Zenith Shard somewhere, but it didn't matter anymore. With a bestial growl, she spun and fought, killing one monster after another with her bare hands.

She was not going to surrender. She was not going to back down. She was not going to...

After a while, no one was there to attack her anymore. Effie didn't know why.

To be honest, by then, she couldn't see much. Her vision was blurry, and slowly growing dark.

Met with the lack of resistance, she staggered and fell to her knees. She tried to draw in a breath, but something was blocking her throat, and something was wrong with her lungs. She couldn't.

'This... is... the end, I guess...'

Through the blurry dark fog, Effie suddenly saw a radiant figure approach.

She smiled.

'Is that you, Princess? Ah, I hate to admit it… but I… don't… think... I can...'

It was getting hard to form thoughts. Effie sighed, then closed her eyes, ready to give in to the comfort of oblivion.

But then, two cool hands softly touched her face, and purifying white flames rolled through her body, bringing the pain and the agony away.

***

Sunny was entangled with the Lord, the abomination's hand trapped between his arm and his body. The golem didn't seem to care about it that much, however. Instead, it raised his other fist and prepared to deliver the final blow.

Before he had the chance to do so, however, Sunny's empty hand shot forward.

Grabbing the shining piece of crimson coral with his fingers, he strained for a fraction of a second.

And then tore it from the creature's forehead.

The polished gem came out of the coral flesh of the terrible creature, dragging countless red threads with it. Sunny pulled as hard as he could and then twisted his hand, forcing the red strings to snap.

Something cracked inside the menacing Lord's body, and he suddenly staggered.

Without wasting this opportunity, Sunny released the golem's hand, raised the Midnight Shard high above his head, and then delivered a devastating downward slash.

The blade of the tachi collided with the crimson coral and shattered it, turning the towering figure of the Lord into a rain of crumbling shards.