Approaching Twilight
Sunny and his companions had come to Twilight expecting a battle — and now, that battle was swiftly approaching. The identity of the enemy was far more fearsome than they had expected, as well. In fact… it was far too fearsome, while the scope of the battle was far too great.
The situation had changed too fast, leaving Sunny shaken.
'It's strange.'
He had spent… how long? Around eight months in this Nightmare. It was already longer than his stay in the Kingdom of Hope had been, and that was without even considering the long stretches of time that passed without being experienced by him. But still, Sunny had not expected the culmination of the Nightmare to happen so suddenly.
And that was what the battle in Twilight promised to be — the most dreadful and deadly confrontation they would experience in the Tomb of Ariel. The threat Verge posed paled in comparison to it. If they were to win here, in this lost and forsaken city, the rest of the Nightmare would be simply an epilogue.
Of course, that was only so because of Nephis and her [Longing]. Still…
Sunny was struggling to adjust to the shifting landscape of the Nightmare.
Nevertheless, he was ready.
Now, there were six challengers working together to pass the dreadful trial of the Spell. Well… five-and-a-half, considering that Mordret's physical body was frozen beyond the walls of Twilight. Three of them possessed Divine Aspects, two were among the most deadly Masters in the world. There was Cassie, as well, whom Sunny could not even place into any kind of power hierarchy.
Together, they tried to come up with a plan to kill the Dread Lord and liberate Twilight. Or rather, an approach — there was too little information and too many unknown factors to formulate a specific plan. The best they could do was learn everything there was to learn and come up with various strategies, then switch between them according to the situation.
Finally, there was nothing left to discuss. Standing in the mirror version of the floating fortress once again, the six of them looked beyond its walls, into the twilight haze of dawn.
Mordret was strangely withdrawn. Eventually, he smiled.
"There is no point in wasting time. Remember… stay close to me at all times. I will try to hide us from Soul Stealer's gaze as best I can."
He paused for a moment and then added nonchalantly:
"Of course, we can still stumble on that monster directly. If that happens… well. At least it will be painless."
With a chuckle, he jumped over the battlement and swiftly climbed down the crumbling wall of the fortress. The rest of them followed, careful not to make too much noise.
Luckily, there were no spikes protruding from the base of the fortress on the other side. Sunny and his companions were able to descend easily, stepping on the carapace of a dead behemoth that floated in the still water below the wall.
Mordret was already there, waiting for them.
"The chain barrier protecting the city was broken, but it was not the only defensive measure prepared by Twilight. The Dread Lord paid a heavy price to reach the city wall. Ah, but you can see for yourselves… a thrilling sight, isn't it?"
Sunny did not share his enthusiasm. The surface of the Great River in front of them was covered by a carpet of giant corpses. The abominations that had perished here had been terribly mangled, their grotesque bodies littered with ghastly wounds. Here and there, broken ships were floating in still water, with masts that rose into the haze like dead trees.
Taking a step forward, Mordret headed to the edge of the carapace.
"We can move freely here in the mirror realm. If we weren't in a reflection, however, the frozen time would have already started to envelop us. The most insidious part is that we would have been none the wiser. Eventually, our time would have halted entirely, without us ever knowing. Ah, what a terrible fate."
Reaching the point where the carapace of the dead abomination disappeared underwater, he easily jumped onto the next one and beckoned them to follow.
"Come. The sooner we reach the heart of the city, the better."
Together, the six of them traversed the dreadful field of floating corpses. With each step, Sunny felt his mood turning more and more grave. The horrid landscape surrounding them was somber, bleak, and silent… but it was proof that an act of unimaginable violence had taken place here once, a long time ago.
More than that, the reflection of Soul Stealer could be somewhere close, stalking the twilight haze. He could not allow himself to lose focus.
'Damnation.'
Guided by Mordret, the cohort moved from one carcass to another, sometimes walking across the shattered decks of empty ships. There was not a single living soul aboard them… however, the closer they got to Twilight, the more well-preserved the corpses of the dead crew members seemed.
"You noticed it, I guess."
Mordret lingered for a moment, glancing at one of the dead warriors. The man looked as if he had only died a few days ago.
The Prince of Nothing walked past.
"This close to the city wall, time is already very slow. It will stop completely beyond it."
Just as he said that, they finally saw the walls of Twilight.
Unlike Weave and Fallen Grace, which were built by connecting a scattering of island-ships, Twilight had been built on a single, vast landmass. Or rather… perhaps, landmass was not the right word to describe it. Instead, a carapace of an unfathomably immense Nightmare Creature served as its foundation.
Sunny felt petrified when he realized just how enormous that abomination must have been, once. It was far greater than anything he had even seen, incomparable to even the gargantuan Black Turtle. And yet, it was dead now, its colossal bones supporting a sprawling city.
'Makes… sense.'
Unlike Twilight, the other settlements on the Great River had not been ruled by a Sovereign. Daeron had been capable of slaying a colossal horror like this, but not the sybils. Therefore, their cities had to be composed of individual island-ships, while his did not.
There was one thing that became painfully obvious when Sunny witnessed Twilight…
The bestial Serpent King he had fought was a pale shadow of his former self. If they had clashed when Daeron was at his peak… Sunny would have been obliterated before even knowing what happened.
'And yet, he lost this battle.'
Sunny shivered.
Were they all mad, to think that they had a chance to prevail where a Supreme demigod had failed?
