333 ln the Belly of the Beast

Sitting on the cold stone floor, Sunny inhaled deeply and looked at the people that surrounded him.

All of them were exhausted, wounded, covered in blood, dirt, barely staying conscious. Their armor was broken and torn, and their faces were deathly pale. They sat on the ground, too tired to move or talk, breathing heavily, and stared down with empty eyes.

There were so few of them left…

But also much more than he had expected.

Around a hundred Sleepers had survived the battle of the Crimson Spire. They were the strongest, the bravest… but mostly, the luckiest warriors of the Dreamer Army. Four-fifths of it had been eviscerated in the slaughter.

Not to mention another five hundred or so that had died during the bloody struggle for the throne of the Bright Castle.

This hundred was all that remained of more than a thousand humans that had been surviving on the Forgotten Shore before Changing Star had arrived in the Dark City like a brilliant omen of disaster. Like a herald of ruinous change.

But Sunny was appalled and horrified as much as he was surprised and elated. He had honestly thought that the number of people who would make it this far was going to be in the single digits.

...Looking around, he searched for familiar faces.

Nephis and Cassie were there, of course. So was Kai. Effie was slumped against a wall, dressed only in her white chiton, which was now torn and painted completely red with blood. Her armor seemed to have been completely destroyed.

Caster was also there, bandaging a shallow wound on his shoulder. Compared to other survivors, he seemed strangely clean. However, his armor was seriously damaged, too. It seemed that even incredible speed had not been enough to avoid the fury of the nightmare horde.

Seishan stood slightly apart from the rest of them, surrounded by a dozen surviving Handmaidens. The beautiful woman was heavily injured, the luster of her skin and sparkling eyes growing bleak and dim. From what Sunny could see, she was barely alive.

He also noticed Aiko, who was sitting on the floor, wiping tears off her delicate face.

But there were also many people whom he did not see.

The scarred hunter who had welcomed them into the outer settlement after their long expedition was dead. So was Park, his nonchalant friend who had been responsible for turning Effie into a folk hero with his tales.

The talkative watchmen who had asked Sunny about his opinion on who could have killed Harus were now dead, too. So was the young man who had thought that talking to Sunny was a headache.

Stev, the ample giant that had been in charge of the Memory Market during Gunlaug's reign, did not make. Perhaps this was why Aiko, his friend, was now silently shedding tears.

Even Gemma, the dauntless leader of the Dark City Hunters, had perished. Sunny did not know what could have killed the seemingly immortal man, but suspected that his last hunt had been a truly terrifying sight to behold. Most of the people Gemma had brought to Changing Star's faction with him were now dead, too.

And so, so many more.

Their absence pressed down on survivors like an unseen weight.

But those who survived had no time for sorrow, at least not now. They weren't free of this nightmare yet.

In fact, there had just entered the very belly of the beast.

***

Turning away from the hundred Sleepers, Sunny looked into the depths of the Crimson Spire.

Once, the entire tower must have been hollow, but now there were growths of coral everywhere inside. They resembled frozen waterfalls of blood, as if rivers of it had once streamed from the top of the Spire and then suddenly turned solid. Because of that, it was hard to see what hid in the depths of the cyclopic construct. Further away, the interior of the tower was shrouded in the cold darkness.

Lingering for a few moments, Sunny decided not to send his shadow to explore. The Crimson Terror had already proven its ability to hurt the it, so he was unwilling to risk the well-being of his invaluable helper.

Instead, he glanced at Neph.

Changing Star was peering into the growing brightness that drowned the Forgotten Shore. By now, the light of day outside was almost blinding. On her face, there was a strangely thoughtful expression.

As Sunny watched, she turned around and raised her head, looking in the direction of the Spire's tip.

After a while, she frowned, and then faced the surviving humans. Her calm voice echoed in the darkness of the ancient tower:

"It's time to go. Gather your strength. We are almost there!"

The Sleepers looked at her with tired eyes, the light of hope igniting in them with renewed strength. Slowly, they rose to their feet. Those who were relatively fine supported those who were seriously wounded. Those who had lost consciousness were being carried by their friends or fellow warriors.

Soon, the procession of humans headed deeper into the Spire. Nephis was walking at the front, holding Cassie by the hand. Somehow, Sunny ended up side by side with them.

Looking at the two young women, he wanted to say something, but no words came to his mind. Instead, Neph was the one who spoke.

Glancing at Sunny, she hesitated for a while, and then said:

"Thank you. For ringing that bell. And… for everything."

He looked at her for a long time, and then shrugged.

"There's no need to thank me. We are allies. Are we not?"

She smiled slightly and remained silent after that.

Soon, they passed through the barrier of coral and approached the center of the Spire.

There, the dark sea was imprisoned under an indomitable seal.

In front of them was a vast pool of black water. Its surface was perfectly still and flat, like that of a harrowing mirror made from pure darkness. Although the water was opaque and no one could see how far down that gargantuan well went, Sunny felt as though it was unimaginably deep. He felt that it reached such depths that mere thought of light would be impossible there.

As they watched in solemn silence, a subtle ripple spread across the surface of the imprisoned sea. It was as though it was straining to spill over the edges of the pool and break free. However, the invisible powers that held it down were too mighty to overcome, even for this vast, boundless, inconceivable creature.

Turning away from the eerie black mirror, Sunny peered into the darkness and frowned.

Hidden in the shadows, far away from the light of human lanterns, countless figures were standing motionlessly, staring at them.