[A/N: Play Skyfall while reading the chapter for the best experience.]
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"Argh! Damn it!"
Effie stumbled back and swiped the Zenith Shard in a wide arc, cutting through the bodies of several Nightmare Creatures. With her other hand, she took hold of the oversized translucent tick that bit deep into her thigh and tore it away, losing a chunk of flesh in the process. Before the repulsive creature had time to sever her fingers with its sharp mandibles, she crushed it in her fist.
Feeling hot blood streaming down her leg, she grimaced and unceremoniously wiped the pulverized remains of the tick on the fabric of the Sunlight Shard, then spun to follow the trajectory of her spear.
Effie was tired. So, so tired. She was utterly exhausted.
…But there was no end to the nightmarish horde.
'Can't you all just die, bastards…'
Catching the shaft of the Zenith Shard with both hands once again, she thrust it back and skewered another abomination with its saturator, then tore the sharp spike away and dashed to the side. A moment later, a terrifying scythe of a carapace centurion sunk into the spot where she had just been. Before she could counter, a flash of steel split the night. A heavy Qing Dao carved clean through the centurion's carapace, the hulking monster collapsing with a shuddering scream.
Effie turned, lips curling into a sardonic grin despite the blood staining her teeth."Took you long enough, poster boy…" she rasped, voice trembling between exhaustion and relief.
Asher's hand clenched, and the Dao snapped back to his palm with a ringing clang. His eyes glinted with cold resolve.
"At least I'm here, right?"
But when he turned his head, something human flickered in his gaze—Gemma was still alive. Relief washed through him in a sharp, fleeting wave.
"…Thank God," he muttered, before facing forward again.
The horde stretched endlessly before them. And yet—for the first time—they could see its tail.
Boomlet floated into view, his voice booming like thunder:
[First line! Duck!]
The army obeyed without hesitation. Hundreds of fighters dropped to the ground as one, blind faith driving them lower than instinct ever could.
A storm of arrows and fang-tipped bolts screamed overhead, slamming into the monsters. Eyes burst, knees shattered, wings were clipped. The nightmare legion staggered, their monstrous momentum breaking—if only for a moment.
A moment was all they needed.
[CHAAAARGE!]
Boomlet's guttural howl tore across the battlefield.
The Dreamer Army surged as one, a tidal wave of steel and fury. For that breathless instant, there was no difference between man and beast—only the shared, primal drive to kill.
And so they did. They eviscerated everything in front of them.
[Audio Playing: "Skyfall" — Adele]
The battlefield howled with voices. The shouts grew ragged, guttural, until they fused into a single roar.
"Long live the Saint!" one Sleeper bellowed.
♫ This is the end… ♫
Another took it up. Then another. Until the chant spread like fire through the lines.
"Long live the Saint!"
"Long live the Saint!"
It was no longer just a rally—it was a hymn. A battle-song born of blood and desperation.
♫ I've drowned and dreamt this moment…
So overdue, I owe them…
Swept away, I'm stolen… ♫
Asher did not stand idle. His power surged, augmenting the warriors around him—gravity made them heavier, stronger, their steps driving deeper into the earth as they crashed forward like a living avalanche.
His own body turned weightless in a flash. His blade bent reality, and Asher shot skyward, soaring above the battlefield.
♫ Let the sky fall… ♫
He bounded from corpse to corpse, a phantom wreathed in steel. Each slash of his weapon cut deep, dismembering beasts, cleaving through bone and sinew. He plunged into the horde's belly, carving a bloody path within.
The chant did not falter. It grew.
Louder.
Wilder.
♫ When it crumbles…
We will stand tall…
Face it all together… ♫
Then—light.
A blazing sun erupted at the front. Radiant white flames seared through the darkness, sizzling flesh, drowning screams in a holy roar. The battlefield shook as Nephis descended like judgment itself.
But even her brilliance did not drown out the voices.
The chant had changed—rising and falling in an unshakable rhythm, alternating now between two names.
"Long live the Saint!"
"Praise the Lady!"
"Long live the Saint!"
"Praise the Lady!"
♫Where you go, I go
What you see, I see♫
A miniature sun tore through the battlefield, its blinding brilliance carving a path of fire and ash. It closed the distance, and through its radiance an expressionless face emerged—Changing Star.
Asher stared, momentarily caught off guard. A gaping maw lunged for his thigh, teeth sinking deep—only for its head to roll lifelessly across the blood-soaked ground an instant later.
Changing Star looked at Echo of the Abyss with a stoic face, swinging her blade once to cast the blood away.
♫I know I'd never be me
Without the security♫
The battlefield hushed around them. No beast dared come close—not with the Qing Dao orbiting them in a deadly spiral.
"I expected you to be rolling on the ground crying in pain right about now," Nephis said, her tone flat.
Asher smirked, blood trailing down his leg. "And I expected you to worry about me like a mom right about now."
Before Nephis could respond, Asher stepped to the right while Nephis stepped to the left.
Both blades lashed out at once, stabbing into the nightmarish shapes looming behind each of them. The carapace scavengers shrieked, impaled clean through, azure liquid spilling like oil.
♫Of your loving arms
Keeping me from harm♫
Their blades tore free, spraying the air with glistening arcs of blood. And as the monsters collapsed, Asher and Nephis shifted—backs pressed firmly together.
♫Put your hand in my hand
And we'll stand♫
"Cover me," Nephis said, monotone, her gaze fixed forward.
"I was just about to ask the same," Asher replied, his voice even.
♫ Let the sky fall… ♫
And then they moved.
Two blurs, carving separate paths into the swarm. Asher's blade whistled, tearing through the limbs of a chittering spider. He twisted, ready to slash a wolfish abomination on his flank—only to watch it collapse in flames, incinerated by Nephis' strike.
♫We will stand tall
Face it all together♫
Nephis cut a centurion clean in half, white fire searing the wound. She ducked, prepared for the mantis-like horror descending from behind—yet the blow never landed. She turned. The beast was already dead, its body a shredded husk riddled with arrows, fangs, and claws.
Asher surged forward, cleaving another monster apart as Nephis advanced in parallel, her flames illuminating the path ahead.
Their movements weren't just coordinated. They were flawless. Instinctual. Perfect.
An Echo and a Star.
♫ At Skyfall… ♫
Together, they butchered the tide of nightmares.
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[A/N: I had so much fun writing this chapter. Btw, extra chapter when we reach 1.5k collections. So if you didn't add the book to collections yet, Do it now!!]