Finally, the day to leave behind the bright castle had come…
700, or so sleepers marched out of the gates of the ancient citadel, for one final time.
The many skulls, which had been a reminder for the many atrocities committed in the past, had long been gotten down, and all, without fail, given a proper burial.
Now, the army of sleepers, were leaving the home, they had all hated from their very hearts, behind, and marched towards the their one and only salvation.
Behind them, clouds of dark smoke were rising from most of the windows of the bright castle. Not only Ray, but also many others had expressed their wish, to burn this damned place into the ground.
While, for Ray it had meant that there was no turning back anymore, for many it was an act of revenge against these dreadful walls, which had served as a prison, for them all, for far too long.
So, as everyone was slowly descending the hill, and eventually marching through the ruined streets of the dark city, the once so mighty bright castle was slowly but surely melting.
There was no one, who held any sentiment towards this damned pile of stones, so, no one was looking back, even once. All of their gazes were turned towards were all their destinies lay, west.
By this point, many of them were highly capable fighters, who had proven themselves not only in duels, but hunts all over the city too.
Thanks to these especially more frequent hunts, over the past few days, very few awakened nightmare creatures remained in the dark city, and even the fallen ones, kept their distance, from the enormous army of humanity's strongest sleepers of this generation, maybe even in history.
On their way westward, it did not matter what stood in their way. Be it ruins, stray nightmare creatures, or anything else. Nothing was able to stall the horde of humans, for any sizable time.
They all had suffered enough, and now, it was time to finally fight back.
Eventually, they reached the west-most part of the dark city, and did not hesitate to ascend the wall, only to lay their eyes on their final destination; the Crimson Spire.
It was still the most easily recognizable thing on the entire forgotten shore. Not only, because of its enormous size, but also because of the feeling of dread, which filled the hearts of most that even dared looking in its direction.
Out there, still surrounded by a part of the black sea, it stood steady, as if taunting the very people, who finally crawled out of their hole to bring it down, once and for all.
Most did not hesitate, and averted their gazes quickly, completely determined to continue. Only a few, continued gazing at it, for just a little longer. Some in melancholy, some in dread, and some… with an empty look.
Nevertheless, even they continued walking along their comrades soon enough, again. It was still a long way to reach the damned tower, but no one would stop, when they were finally ready.
So, they continued their marched, into the crimson labyrinth, heading towards where this region's last battle shall take place.
---
Now, in the cold light of dawn, the crimson spire stood there, undeterred by anything, and anyone.
It had been an entire week, since the army of sleepers had advanced steadily towards the crimson spire. They marched through the labyrinth of corals, taken refuge on any vantage point, Kai had previously taken note of, and continued.
In this week, they had lost a few sleepers, but not too many, in the grand scheme. At least, not too many that there battle strategies needed changing.
Still, in those days, Ray had begun to loath that damn tower, with every fiber of his being, and he couldn't even fully reason why. It was just… the entirety of its existence seemed like a cruel joke, laughing at all of them.
The way it was standing there, looking like the spear of some gigantic titan, who could've once walked these lands.
This view, was, of course, entirely wrong. While this damn tower was artificially made, it by no means was a spear. Though, some could definitely argue that it might count as a weapon, but all of this was unnecessary.
Right now, everyone was making their final preparations, for the battle, which would be fought, and decided today. Some definitely would've rather run away, but this was simply the weakness of every human.
And, humanity had always compensated their weakness with numbers, progress… and indomitable will.
Whenever the will to fight waned in some of them, multiple silhouettes seemed to appear in their minds, giving them the strength to continue, and calm down.
The sole presence of people like Changing Star, Lost Witness, as well as even the previous Bright Lord, significantly improved all of their chances, after all. There were more, of course, but these three were literally the brightest stars, who were always at the very front.
Just a small step behind them, was still Effie, Gemma, Kai, Seishan, Caster, as well as the one, no one really wanted to look at, Harus.
Many had been able to forget about Gunlaug's past deeds, at least partly, due to him always remaining close to the current Bright Lord, and through participating in all of the significant hunts, they had gone on, as well as, through being one of the very people, who were spearheading their way forwards.
With everyone busy doing their preparations, very few were able to still remain calm. One of those, who were able to, though, were the few people sitting before Ray, right now.
Gunlaug, Henry, Seishan, and… Skyla.
Seishan and Henry had made it official, in the week, between his return to the Bright Castle, and the day they left it, and often remained close to each other, nowadays. A behavior that seemed very different to the image Seishan previously carefully constructed.
As for Skyla… Gunlaug had given his approval, after the week of extensive training. She had also been given quite a load of shards, but there was one thing she was missing, which clearly made her different, compared to all the others present…
Experience.
Skyla wasn't a legacy, nor had been fortunate to have been in the Academy, for very long. Most of her training had come from Gunlaug, and this made her progress actually quite impressive.
Still, she wouldn't be one of the anchors, in the army, and presumably remain as one of the many in the real line.
To most, their small group must've looked like they were lazing around, yet, they were only readying their minds.
Looking at his friends, Ray eventually broke the rather comfortable silence, "Listen. No matter what will await us, I'll get you guys through this. Alright?"
Different to his expectations, they all just gave him weird looks, but Henry said, what they thought, "Are you stupid? You'll get us through this? We're in this together, dude! If you live, we live. If you fight, we fight. As if some lousy nightmare creatures would be able to take us all down! Hahaha!"
A small smile appeared on Ray's face, as he remembered his aunt's words, about finding real friends, "Yeah, you're one to talk… Our formation is literally being your shield… For once, your flaw may save the lives of people, instead of endangering it."
"You both are morons. Stop thinking about anything else, and just get yourselves ready. Either we survive, or we die… does it really matter, that much?"
This made Ray and Henry look at Gunlaug, with exhausted looks on their faces, "Really? Was it necessary to get the mood down again?"
The small group continued talking for a little while longer, it may have seemed senseless, but it was just as much for them, as for Skyla, a way to calm their nerves a bit.
And then finally, it was time.
---
A little while later, the trio stood among the hundreds of sleepers, with Seishan rather close, but busy with her own handmaidens, at the moment, and Skyla even further back, among the lines of the third line.
When they saw the three lines of sleepers, the trio nearly became envious. They could all get time to rest, later on, if their strategy worked at least partly, while the three of them, along with some others, needed to become the spearhead, and make the entirety of the nightmare creatures concentrate on them.
The entire landscape in front of the sleeper army was bare of any of the coral structures, and was merely painted in the same crimson material, meaning it was an open battlefield.
No advantages, and no disadvantages.
In the distance, the crimson spire was still standing atop its island, with even now, still having a small part of the dark sea around it.
The worst part about it, though, were the hundreds of nightmare creatures that simply continued to climb out of the hole, below the spire.
Dozens of different types Ray had seen on the expedition, and even more that he had never before seen, nor heard about.
And now?
The hordes of nightmare creatures did not fight against each other, they seemed to be fully controlled by the might of whatever lay behind these walls, serving at its relentless army, keeping any possible intruders away from its walls.
But, this time, the intruders were they themselves, and the creatures seemed know this, and started their charge, very soon.
All of the sleepers could only look at the horror that was approaching them. Many were pale, many were shivering in fright, and some even dropped their weapon, but there was no return, anyway.
"LISTEN UP! All of it will be decided, here and now! There is no second chances left. All the rage, everything you have felt, since you have come here, until this very moment! Let it all out! We will fight! AND WE WILL WIN!
So, fight like it's your last day, for there to be another time! Stand your ground! And, fight to die another day!"
Ray was shouting this, with every ounce of conviction and determination that he could muster, in his body. Even if it had not brought any visible results for anyone else, just for himself, it was already good enough.
But soon, a booming voice could be heard from the very front, "You've all heard the 'king'! Stand your ground wretches! This will end, here and now!"
There were still no cheers, or anything of that kind, but everyone still felt empowered, again. The two of them had managed to snap them all out of their tunnel-visions, reminding them that they weren't alone here, but among their kin, all rallied with the very same goal.
"Get ready, Bastards!"
Effie's voice could be heard clearly where the trio was still awaiting the beginning, or maybe dreading it, even they weren't so sure, anymore.
Moments later, her voice could be heard once more, "First Mark!"
It was echoed by Seishan, in the second line, before reaching Kai, who shouted it once more, completing the chain of orders.
Everyone in the first two lines was waiting with bated breaths, while Kai had already ordered the first volley of the siege engines, the artisans had managed to create, for this exact moment.
They couldn't be entirely sure, but they were supposed to break through any nightmare creature's skin, hide, or plates… as long as they weren't fallen, of course. That would be an entirely different problem.
Then, finally, the sound most, especially the first line, had been waiting for, arrived. A short, melodious sound echoed over everyone's heads, in the form of 8 heavy metal spears, all heading straight towards the foremost creatures in their rush.
Ray couldn't see anything, from where he was standing, but if the cracking sounds were anything to go by, then, the siege engines had done their jobs splendidly.
Sadly, a single volley would never make a real difference, so Effie's voice, as expected, could be heard, the very next second, "Second Mark!"
This call, after echoing through their ranks, resulted in an enormous downpour of arrows, as well as another volley of the siege engines, onto the still advancing nightmare creatures.
Then, eventually, came what they all dreaded, "Brace!"
It were the last words, before the fighting ensued, and the first line was engaged. But, it was also the sign for the trio, to finally begin their work.
After sighing just once more, Ray grabbed both of his friends, and with a single flap of his dark wings, ascended into the sky, heading towards the very front of the battlefield, reaching the first line, and heading even further.
It was only when they reached a deep ditch, the artisans had created earlier that day, decorated with a little something from Kido, that Ray first threw the golden warrior to the side, and letting Henry fall to the ground, before heading forward himself.
His trusted servant, Puppet, was also summoned, nearly the instant, the trio arrived, covering the left flank of Henry.
And then, the instant they reached the ground, their own fight began.