The days after the short hunt went by like a blur.
In the walls of the bright castle, for the probably first time in years, there was a semblance of peace again. Sleepers were cooperating with one another, training together, eating together, they were one community.
Still, this peace had taken time, as well as still a high number of lives.
Ray personally considered all that blood to be on his hands, since he was the one, who introduced the duel system, in the first place, and he would take responsibility for it, too, if the time came, someday.
Right now, though, he was still sure that this was the best option to follow. A civil war inside the castle would not only have significantly reduced their numbers, but also destroyed countless memories, in the process.
But, with the rules in place, even with the many deaths, even more memories could be saved and redistributed.
The distribution was done mainly through the 'council', who continued to give forth soul shards, and traded them for memories that some did not need, before giving them to those, who still needed some.
It was basically what the memory market had done before, just on a bigger scale, and with a lot more charity.
Stev, the previous manager of the memory market was given some shares for most of the early sells, until the burly man, himself, declined any further payment, since he had basically just been a stand-in to take care of the shop, before.
The 'takeover' had been a few weeks ago, and the eventual siege on the crimson spire was drawing nearer, by the day.
Nevertheless, there were still two more things to take care off.
They still needed to get rid off of the last guardian, and get themselves the last shard memory, and then, there was still their other uncertainty…
...were they the last humans to be sent here, or just the first wave, of the next cycle of inevitability?
The next winter solstice wasn't that far away, anymore, so they would know soon enough.
---
One morning, in the weekly conference of their little council, Nephis spoke the words, everyone had been waiting for.
"The preparations should be finished. We can finally take down, the Lord of Death."
Most people present reacted with rather subdued, but still confident reactions.
Effie, though, unseen from anyone, clenched her fists tightly under the table, 'Finally…'
Their hunting party, this time, would be composed of a lot more, than when they went for their last fallen tyrant.
That one, had been just something personal, after all.
This one, would be something between a declaration, and the last piece of a puzzle still needed to be put together.
Nearly every member of the council would be going, as well. The only exceptions to this, being Kido and Harus.
Kido wasn't very suited for direct combat, and was also entrusted with further preparations, already for the siege, which would come inevitably.
As for Harus… it was just that basically no one was comfortable with him around… that was all. So, under the pretense of someone needed to remain, as a deterrent for those with a bit too much ambitions, who could hope to take over, the second everyone left.
It wasn't that necessary, really. Especially, because there were still Changing Star's devotees, or whatever state they had reached by this point, but better be safe, than sorry.
Therefore, without those two, their hunting party consisted of Ray, Nephis, Effie, Kai, Sunny, Caster, Henry, Gunlaug, Seishan, Gemma, as well as Cassie.
Gemma had wanted to argue about Cassie's participation, since Kido had also not been included in the roster, even if they had similar combat capabilities, but was quickly shut-down, by, both, Nephis and Ray.
Her prophetic abilities were simply too good, to pass up on them, if they were doing something as important as this, even if there may not even be anything.
Henry had also been surprised, but the moment the meeting was over, Ray reassured him that his flaw would have no consequences, where the fight was going to take place. And that had been no lie, there was simply no way any nightmare creatures could be lured, where the Lord of Death was residing, and if any would come from the crater, outside, they would only fall to their death.
It was doubtful, if nightmare creatures would even still be affected, under these circumstances.
This explanation somewhat helped Henry, but he was also getting the weird feeling that Ray wanted to experiment with him, and his flaw.
Regardless, after the meeting, everyone went back to their rooms, making the preparation for the following day. It was already too late that day, to still get to that bastard, and make it back, in time.
This made everyone vote unanimously for it to happen the next day.
As everyone went back to their rooms, there was just a single exception.
Seishan.
Somehow, she and Henry had really become a thing… or something close to that… to the frustration of Ray.
Even in such a sturdy castle, it did not seem like the walls were thick enough, nor where the windows soundproof, everywhere. It wasn't even that she was the problem.
Henry was!
His, apparently, successful friend had robbed him of a good nights sleep, nearly everyday, since they came back from their last hunt.
Tonight, though, Ray had his own guest.
Due to his newest memory, he had gotten used to walking around without his helmet again, with just the thorny crown resting on his head. Thanks to that, he was actually showcasing his looks, again.
And, while his hair color was still rather uncommon, the rest of it, more than made up for it. Thanks to that, quite a few women had thrown their eyes on him, possibly also wanting to increase their own standing, but that was just Ray's guess.
They all were under constant pressure, most just wanted to relieve their stress, and forget about everything for a night.
Today's guest was none other, than one of Seishan's handmaidens, called Charlotte. She was rather tall, had fair skin, and long, brown hair. Just to be safe, rather than sorry, he had made it clear today that this invitation was not an order, or would bring any real benefits, which she had no problems with.
Nearly from the moment he stepped inside his room, she was already on him, and from there, a practically sleepless night started not just for him, but probably also for his neighbors, who seemed to practically compete with them.
The next morning, Ray was overall satisfied with how things went. Especially, because this was his first time in months, and he wasn't sure, how well he could actually control the spots on his body, which he over the last few months, especially the last one, finally managed to get greater control over.
Well, this was basically also the only reason he even tried it again, so soon.
Due to all four of them, needing to wake up early too, it got rather amusing, when, by chance, all of them left their rooms at the same time.
Henry and Ray had content expressions on their faces, Seishan looked as indifferent as always, but Charlotte turned bright red, bowed once to Seishan, before practically running away, somehow still in a composed manner of walking.
Ray turned to look at the retreating figure, but shrugged in the next moment, and then simply walked by the other two, who then also began moving again. They all had the same goal, the castle entrance, after all.
On the way, Ray couldn't contain his tiredness, and yawned, which caused Henry, just a step behind him, to follow his example.
"It was a good idea, to just go as an observer today…" The bright lord mumbled, while cracking his sore neck.
"Wait! You aren't planning on fighting today?" Henry asked him in surprise.
Ray just turned around with an expression between tired, and confused, "Of course not. Why else, would I have made an all-nighter?"
The also tired, pale young man, behind him, had his eyes go wide, in realization, 'Fuck.'
Throughout the entire way towards the entrance hall, Seishan did not say a single word, but simply went along with her usual grace.
When they finally reached the entrance hall, they saw that they were neither the first ones to arrive, nor the last ones.
Gunlaug, Nephis, Caster, and Cassie were already there, waiting for everyone else.
By this point, Gunlaug hadn't been entirely forgiven, for what he had done, all these years, but the one who had accused him of being a traitor, had more or less taken her words back, already, after seeing a new light, in the eyes of the golden serpent.
The trio greeted the others, and then simply stood waited alongside them, for the rest.
Just a few minutes later, most of the remaining members finally arrived. Effie, Kai, and Sunny had apparently met on the way, or went together from the get-go, regardless, they all arrived at the same time, with Effie being in a visibly grumpy mood.
'Well, waking up early isn't for everyone.' Ray joked in his mind, but as if sensing it, Effie turned to him, and gave him an extra grumpy look, to which he could just raise both of his hands in mock defeat.
The last person to arrive was Gemma, who looked visibly awkward, after noticing it. An extreme change, compared to how he had been, when he had just entered the room.
With everyone finally present, they could now head out. The few sleepers who were also already on their feet, wished them luck, and such, before getting back to their own tasks, as the group of sleepers slowly disappeared in the already deteriorating settlement.
Unfortunately, or maybe even luckily, the way they needed to take was different to the one, Nephis's cohort had taken, months ago, since they had destroyed the bridge, after all.
Therefore, this time, they needed to get to the wall, climbing on it, and getting down on the other side again, before finding the hole in the ground outside, to descend into it, to eventually challenge, and hopefully defeat the bastard waiting down there.
So, this was where they were headed now.
---
A few hours later, all of them stood around the hole in the mud, once created by the broken off part of the priestess' statue's arm.
Everyone was still apprehensive of what lay just below them.
Still, after a moment of silence, Nephis turned to Sunny, "Can you send your shadow down there, to take a look at the chamber?"
With a shrug, Sunny swiftly sent his shadow down below, and if his face spoke the truth, then Neph's preparations must've been thorough.
Eventually, he turned back to her, and spoke what she was probably hoping for, "The tyrant is heavily infected by Kido's vine. It seems considerably weakened."
These words also caused a slight reaction of surprise from Gemma, since he hadn't actually known about Kido's involvement.
Responding to Sunny, with a nod, Nephis turned to everyone, "Once we enter the chamber, the Lord of Death will attack us. Now that its power is reduced, and with the augmentation of the dawn shard, we should survive the onslaught. And, we should be able to wound, and eventually kill it."
She then turned to Ray, "Anything else?"
He just thought for a moment, before a small grin appeared on his face, and he looked at Effie, before responding to Nephis, "No, not really. Just… give that bastard hell."
It seemed atypical coming from him, but fit the occasion, and in the next moment, all of them descended into the dark hole, keen on killing the bastard hiding below.