335 Ascent

Sunny had never expected to become a leader of anyone, let alone of a hundred desperate people. But now, that was exactly the situation he found himself in.

To add insult to injury, he was really the best person for the job.

Not because of any kind of leadership qualities, but simply for the fact that he could see in the dark. Now that the rays of soul-destroying light were led away by Nephis, he could also let his shadow free and send it forward to explore and search for the Gateway.

So if anyone could guide the remains of the Dreamer Army to it, it was him.

'How the hell…'

Hiding his unease deep inside, Sunny projected nothing but absolute confidence and shouted for everyone to follow him. Surprisingly, the Sleepers did just that without voicing any objections.

'Confidence is easily confused for competence, I guess.'

Of course, the fact that he was affiliated with Changing Star in some capacity helped a lot, even if most people were not completely sure how and to what extent.

Taking Cassie's hand, Sunny dove out of his cover and dashed toward a wide, spiraling coral root that reached high into the darkness above. He could hear the sound of footsteps following him from behind.

The Dreamer Army was on the move once again.

Jumping on the root, Sunny send the shadow forward and glanced at the approaching sea of coral golems. There was still time.

He ran forward, using the coral growth as stairs. A second later, he yelled:

"Those at the back! Ready your weapons!"

They did so while the first rows of Sleepers followed Sunny up. Almost everyone had time to climb onto the root by the time the first of the golems showed up.

The coral figure stumbled from the darkness, only to be met by a flash of a sword. It crumbled instantly, offering almost no resistance.

But a moment later, several more appeared, and then more, and more.

The Sleepers destroyed the first wave to buy themselves a few moments and then jumped onto the root, then dashed away, soon catching up with the rest of the survivors.

At the head of them, Sunny hesitated for a moment. Thanks to the shadow, he knew that the wide coral growth they were ascending was soon going to twist upward at an almost vertical angle and grow much more narrow.

Luckily, there was another one crossing it just a few meters ahead, separated by a very small gap.

Picking Cassie up, he took a step forward and jumped, landing on the other root, then turned around and moved in the opposite direction to the one they had been going... but still upward.

Behind him, the Sleepers repeated his jump. And down below, the wave of golems was already climbing on the twisting roots to pursue them.

'Damn it. I guess they can climb!'

He ran forward, struggling against the steep incline, then suddenly froze and looked up. There, a few dozen meters away, a wide gallery circled around the empty expanse of the Crimson Spire.

And on it, another mass of golems was surging in the direction of the Dreamer Army. Countless twisted figures were appearing from the chaotic mess of crimson coral and rushing forward, searching for a path to reach them. Many fell off the edge of the gallery and plunged down, to explode into shards once they hit the floor.

But some fell right on the root he was standing on.

Gritting his teeth, Sunny looked back and noticed a familiar tall figure close by. Effie stared at him tiredly and forced out a smile:

"What is it now?"

He put Cassie on the ground and gently pushed her toward the huntress.

"Take care of her for me, alright?"

Effie waved a hand, letting him know that she got it.

Sunny watched the two of them for a moment, then turned around and summoned the Midnight Shard.

A few seconds later, he reached the first golem and slashed it with his sword. The golem's body offered some resistance, but no more than a mundane creature would. It almost disintegrated under his assault, crumbling easily into a pile of broken coral.

'Not too bad…'

Curiously, the Spell did not congratulate him on the kill. Just as Sunny had suspected, these things were not really living creatures.

That was going to make things a tiny bit easier.

Running past the destroyed construct, Sunny soon approached another one and pushed it off the root with one strike of the Midnight Shard's pommel. The golems were not that dangerous…

At least not in small numbers.

He led the Dreamer Army forward, climbing higher and higher. Every couple of minutes, they would have to leave one root and make use of another, sometimes moving across stone galleries that were situated here and there on the walls of the Crimson Spire.

At some point, both the vanguard of the human procession and its rear became embroiled in a rolling melee with the sea of coral golems. Those in the middle only had to keep their eyes on the layers of coral and stone structures overhead to make sure that nothing fell on them.

This battle was not too terrible, however. The constructs were slower and weaker than even the mundane humans whose visage they were meant to recreate, not to mention almost completely mindless. Not a single human had fell to their attacks yet.

…That was not to say that surviving the onslaught of countless golems was easy.

Somewhere high above, meanwhile, the flashes of white light slowly turned into one continuous, radiant halo. Nephis was probably already approaching the very pinnacle of the ancient tower. The fact that none of the annihilating rays had returned to attack the Sleepers served as proof that she was still alive, drawing the attention of the Terror away from them.

'Where are you… where are you…'

At the head of the Dreamer Army, Sunny cut through another golem and suppressed a curse.

Where was the damn Gateway?!

…And just he thought that, the shadow finally found what it had been looking for all that time.

Their way back to the real world.