Looking west, they suddenly stumbled and froze for a few moments. Their faces became as white as snow.
…Behind the Crimson Spire, an impenetrable wall of darkness was slowly devouring the world. It was approaching the battlefield with terrifying speed, numerous bolts of lightning illuminating its furious depths.
A storm was coming.
As it drew closer and closer, the surface of the black water that swirled around the island of the cyclopean tower suddenly trembled.
And then, it began to crawl upward.
First slowly, and then faster and faster, the black whirlpool swelled and moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral meter after a meter, its dark vastness rising and seething.
The cursed sea was coming to devour the Forgotten Shore.
The monsters that guarded the Crimson Spire, however, did not react in the same way as the usual Nightmare Creatures would have.
Instead of scurrying away to find shelter, they howled and shrieked in eerie triumph, and then crashed into the Dreamer Army with renewed fury.
Expressions of terror and despair appeared on people's faces. But there was nowhere to retreat, nowhere to run.
All they could do was stand and fight.
Even when the ground beneath their feet became slippery and slick, covered by a thin film of black water.
Even when the water continued rising.
***
[You have slain an awakened…]
[Your shadow…]
[You have received a…]
Spinning as soon as the remains of the Lord crumbled to the ground, Sunny dashed toward the remaining six golems to reinforce the heavily damaged Saint.
He didn't listen to the Spell, picking up only one piece of information from her words: the coral golems were of the Awakened rank.
…Made sense.
Just as a Fallen Tyrant was not supposed to be able to create minions of the same Rank, a Fallen Terror was most likely not capable of such feat either.
Previously, the coral constructs were fast and powerful enough to make Sunny think that they were Fallen creatures. But it was just the effect of the profane gem burning in the Lord's forehead.
Just like the Dawn Shard was able to elevate Awakened Memories to the boundary of the Ascended rank, so had the Lord enhanced his fellow abominations, bringing their power close to that of the Fallen.
But now that he was destroyed, the augmentation disappeared with him.
Sunny was confident in his ability to finish off six awakened Nightmare Creatures… for the most part.
As he ran, a strong gust of wind suddenly hit him in the back, almost making Sunny stumble.
'What the hell…'
Throwing a glance over his shoulders, he stared at the skies, his eyes widening.
An endless wall of darkness crashed into the Crimson Spire and swallowed it, painting the whole world black.
Stunned, Sunny gritted his teeth and turned away from it, a cold feeling of dread permeating his entire body.
'...Curse it all!'