Pyre
Inside the giant nest of spiderwebs, a desiccated corpse of the colossal Matriarch lay shriveled on the floor, its iron carapace shattered by some devastating blow. The creature was long dead, but the sight of it was still terrifying.
The vast abdomen of the brood mother, however, appeared to have been severed much later than her fatal battle against the Lord of the Bright Castle. It almost looked as if it was… torn apart from within. Inside the terrifying wound, Sunny noticed the shattered remnants of five giant, metallic eggs.
The size of them was about the same as that of the five monstrous Fallen Beasts that had destroyed the original Stone Saint and her brethren back in the Dark City.
'So… that was where they came from.'
Looking away with a shiver, Sunny noticed numerous cocoons of spiderwebs attached to the walls of the nest all around the dead Matriarch. Inside them, withered carcasses of Nightmare Creatures of all shapes and sizes were preserved in a strangely good condition.
This was a true museum of terror.
The Nightmare Creatures appeared as though they were kept alive inside the cocoons for a long, long time before finally succumbing to death and turning into mummified corpses. Perhaps the abominable spiders stored them there for later consumption.
Or… not.
Noticing a few cocoons that had been broken open and what was inside of them, Sunny had to try hard to stop himself from vomiting.
The iron spiders did not use the monsters caught in the cocoons for food.
...They used them as incubators.
The creatures in the broken cocoons had been devoured from within. A few of them still had hundreds of small, moist eggs embedded into their flesh, with embryonic spiderlings moving weakly behind the slightly transparent shells.
'Curse… it all…'
Damn these spiders, damn the Labyrinth, damn the Forgotten Shore… and especially damn the damned Nightmare Spell that had brought him here. Sunny suddenly felt tired of this long, feverish, neverending nightmare he had found himself in.
But the worse was still to come.
He was the first to notice it. With a dark grimace suddenly appearing on his face, Sunny called out to his companions. Then, he led them deeper into the nest, where, attached to the wall, hung a cocoon that was different from all the others.
Because this one hid a rough silhouette of a human body.
The six of them stood somberly around the cocoon, each consumed by their own dark thoughts. Finally, Nephis turned her head to Caster and said:
"Can you sword cut it open?"
With a short nod, the proud Legacy summoned the enchanted jian and took a step forward. Approaching the cocoon, he stopped and hesitated for a few moments.
"Be careful."
Glancing back at Changing Star, Caster lingered for a second, and then faced the cocoon with grim determination written on his face. As ghostly green light emanated from the blade of his sword, he swung it with the graceful precision of an expert swordsman.
The tip of the jian cut through the metal wires of the cocoon, splitting it open. A shriveled human body fell to the floor, making the Legacy jump back.
Nephis, Caster, and Sunny stared at it, their faces pale and full of ghastly resentment. Then, Sunny bent over and emptied the contents of his stomach.
…This was just too much.
The young man whose corpse they found in this harrowing place did not die an easy death. In fact, being eaten alive from the inside by a hundred of tiny Nightmare Creatures was probably the worst fate imaginable. At least Sunny couldn't think of anything worse.
But even worse still, he recognized the dead Sleeper.
His face was strangely intact, with an expression of horrifying agony frozen on it forever. Despite the overall condition of the corpse, Sunny knew who it was just from one look.
It was the young man who had attended the Academy with them, the one who had called him a shorty when Sunny first approached Caster to create the impression that he was a boastful lunatic.
Looking at their condition, Effie frowned:
"Did you guys know him?"
After a few moments of silence, Caster slowly nodded.
"Yes. His name is… his name was Stephen. He was the youngest heir of the Pandavar clan.
'Stephen…'
Sunny had not even bothered to learn the name of this arrogant young man back when they were preparing to venture into the Dream Realm at the Academy. In fact, he had really disliked him, and for a good reason.
But looking at the hideous, terrifying corpse in front of him, he had forgotten all about it. Sunny would never wish this fate on anyone, let alone one of his fellow students.
Slowly, a solemn mood took overtook the cohort. They had already known that the other three Sleepers sent to the Forgotten Shore this year never made it to the Dark City, which meant that they had perished somewhere in the Labyrinth. However, finding one of them served as a stark reminder of how fragile their own lives were.
Who knew what would happen to them in the future? If not today, death could be waiting for them tomorrow. Perhaps years from now, it would be their corpses that someone would stumble upon by accident.
Some time later, Nephis gritted her teeth and turned away. Then, she said, her voice suppressed and hollow:
"We need to leave. The sun is setting."
Her words broke the silence and brought everyone back from their grim reveries. Caster lingered for a few minutes, then spoke in a hesitant tone:
"Aren't we… aren't we going to bury him?"
Changing Star shook her head.
"There's not enough time. I also don't want anyone touching the bodies infected with these eggs. It's too dangerous."
The members of the cohort looked at each other. No one had a reasonable objection, but it felt wrong to just leave their fellow human here.
Finally, Nephis sighed. A complicated expression appeared on her face, and then she said:
"...Alright. Go. I'll catch up with you guys later."
Sunny stared at her for a few moments, and then slowly turned away. One after another, the five of them glanced at Changing Star and left, leaving her alone with the dead young man and numerous cocoons, each hiding a slain Nightmare Creatures.
As soon as the last member of the cohort climbed out of the nest, a beam of pure radiance suddenly shot from the dark hole of its entrance, followed by a wave of scorching heat. The purifying fire unleashed by Changing Star engulfed the remains of their fellow student and then spread to the numerous cocoons, the Nightmare Creatures inside of them, and even the corpse of the Spider Matriarch herself.
The insides of the nest turned into an incandescent, incinerating furnace. Everything inside of it was doomed to be annihilated and turn to ashes.
A few minutes later, the whole structure was consumed by furious white flames.
Nephis had escaped the burning nest shortly after the rest of her cohort, her face pale and tired.
Leaving the grandiose funeral pyre behind, they began ascending the statue of the ancient warrior.
The night was approaching.
