Two eyes, like mirrors of polished metal, captured—unshaken—the blazing image of the steel-clad colossus below.
Reflected in them, tinted gold, was the titanic figure burning and gleaming, its radiant light scattering in all directions.
In the unholy darkness of night, the knight appeared like a beacon of resplendent flames, unveiling the vision of the Dreamers in all its corrupted glory. From its massive, strangely elegant body, drops of burning oil fell to the ground, bursting into fire upon touching the ashen sand.
Sunless stared wide-eyed at the incandescent blaze. Nephis stood frozen beside him, her hand still outstretched after the throw. Ariandel watched solemnly, his hand still joined with Cassia's. She clung to his arm, her beautiful, clouded eyes turned in apprehension toward the sound of the flames.
Everyone was spellbound...
Even time itself seemed awed by the moment.
Everyone... except the audacious demon.
The furious mass of spikes roared—sounding like a deafening cacophony of rusted metal torn apart by giant claws. Its eyes, like impure rubies, burned through the fire, piercing the youths with a concentrated beam of deranged hatred.
It was as if the creature wanted to make the ears of the four insolent Sleepers bleed before shattering their spines and delivering them alive to the great tree—as food, while they suffered a slow and revolting death.
...
As Ariandel held Cassia, who recoiled in his arms from the pain the monstrous giant's furious roar inflicted on her ears, his expression changed—his handsome features marked by a mix of emotions: uneasy fear, determination, and a... strange, dark delight.
'What a wicked, magnificent thing...'
His expression grew somewhat distant.
'... what a thing; wretched.'
Looking into the hateful eyes of the colossus, Ariandel also felt sorrow for the proud knight the creature had once been—before being taken by the Corruption.
As the Demon, eager to reach the four human morsels, turned its gaze toward the obsidian trunk of the great tree, in the end, cold reason triumphed over the seething fury in its mind.
The light could attract the horrific dwellers of the deep. So instead of wasting more time, the creature rolled on the ground, intending to use the sand to smother the dancing flames on its carapace.
The entire island shook. Sunless nearly fell from the branch, but Nephis saved him.
'As much as I hate the idea of facing that thing—and whatever follows it—without any other options... well, there really is nothing more we can do.'
No matter how hard Ariandel tried to think of countermeasures or alternate routes to lead the group through the Starless Void, following the 'unfortunate' path fated for the Court—trusting blindly in his uncertain knowledge of the original future—was the only real hope of salvation for the Dreamers.
'Otherwise, how could four teenagers, each haunted by their own demons, face "a stormy sea in a tiny boat" and still survive to return to Earth, if not for the intervention of some greater force?'
Ariandel could still pursue other lines of thought to answer himself, but he and his companions weren't in the best moment for that.
Because...
suddenly.
It was...
suddenly...
It was... hard... to describe in words...
The rustling of the crimson leaves seemed quieter, the sound of waves crashing against the gray island shores seemed louder... It was as if some invisible, weightless pressure had descended upon the world, making everything feel slightly... off.
Nephis turned to face the dark surface of the sea. Her face paled slightly. Sunless took a second longer to react, but he too felt the strange shift in the world around them.
Then the air grew colder, and a wall of thick fog rose over the dark waters. Cassia's eyes widened in fear—her trembling face turned stiffly from Ariandel's embrace toward the fog.
The Carapace Demon also noticed the change. It stopped trying to douse the flames and rose from the sand, oil still burning across its shell. No longer paying attention to it, it turned to face the sea, a grim sense of resignation radiating from its posture.
Which was then replaced by dark resolve and a frenzied thirst for blood.
The fog moved slowly, creeping over the island, flowing against the wind. The sound of the waves was now muffled and distorted, nearly imperceptible.
And there, in the mist, something m—
"Sunny, Neph."
They heard Ariandel's voice, in a tone that felt like a pale, cold, languid hand gently wrapping around the heart.
"Come closer to me and listen: there is Nothing—and No One—around us. Don't open your eyes, don't say a single word, and don't listen to anything else that is said to you."
...
A crawling chill of fear slithered beneath her skin. Star of Change shivered, stepped closer, and obediently shut her eyes.
She had never seen such urgency in the usually calm boy's expression before—never even imagined his pleasant voice could sound so terrifying.
She embraced her small companions.
Blind, Nephis could only rely on her hearing—or so she believed, until the cold fog touched her skin. Then, in the muffled silence, she heard Ariandel's voice again.
Only this time, it was strange and came from the wrong direction.
"Come closer to me... and listen... to me..."
...
Sunless swallowed hard, feeling his hair stand on end. The warped sound of his friend's strange voice echoed through the mist, surrounding him from every direction. Instead of growing fainter, it was getting louder, overlapping with itself.
"There is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing!"
...
Then it grew even louder, transforming into a cacophony of screams, crashing into Cassia like a wave—sounding like something no human vocal cords could ever produce:
"DON'T OPEN YOUR EYES DON'T SAY A SINGLE WORD NO!!!"
...
'W-what…'
Ariandel was paralyzed, terrified, disoriented by the... absence of sound, the lack of any sensation. He couldn't hear a single voice, couldn't even feel the presence of his companions—whom he was surely embracing before the mist enveloped them...
or so he believed... was he?
— THUMP...THUMP...THUMP...
Why couldn't he feel anything... why was there no one...
— THUMP...THUMP...THUMP...
His flesh ached... his body tingled with burning pain... his blood ran cold... despair crawled like a thousand worms under his skin, toward his anguished heart.
'I'm dreaming... still... I'm in my Nightmare... wasn't it real?
No...
it can't be...'
Ariandel's trembling lips parted, longing to call for his friends.
His eyelids quivered, his eyes beneath them searching for the comforting sight of his companions...
There was no air in his lungs to make a sound.
His eyes... they... they...
'Hold on... hold on, Ariandel... don't open... your eyes...'
His flesh ached.
— THUMP...THUMP...THUMP...
It was as if fear—in the form of a glass dagger—was being driven into his chest by a sadistic, grotesque... perverse creature.
It was as if he were dying...