'Good luck…'
Jumping down from the mound, he rolled on the ground and ran toward the darkness of the Spire's doorway without looking back.
…However, before Sunny could reach it, he saw something falling down from the skies.
'What the…'
A ragged human figure slammed into the crimson coral and rolled several times before coming to a stop, then remained still. Sunny dashed toward it, quickly recognizing the bright colors of Kai's armor.
To his relief, the charming young man was still alive, if barely conscious. A graceful rapier was worriedly zipping in the air around him, the steel of its blade bleak and devoid of the usual luster.
The two of them must have been high up in the sky when the soul erasure had begun, much closer to its source, and so suffered more than those of them on the ground.
Not wasting any time, Sunny grabbed Kai by the collar and dragged him toward the opened gates of the Spire. The Quiet Dancer followed.
Soon, the three of them reached the border between light and darkness. Without hesitating even for a second, Sunny dove into the cool shade, made a few steps to get deeper into its shelter, and fell to the ground.
"Ah…"
Only now, protected from the annihilating sunlight by the solid mass of the ancient tower, he realized how terrible his condition had been. But no more. His soul was finally at peace once again, whatever wounds dealt to it already healing.
Kai was still alive, too.
"Lucky bastard."
'Thank gods… uh, I mean — that fool owes me big time now!'
Breathing heavily, he checked on the unconscious archer, then sat down and stared at the blindingly bright landscape outside.
Were the... were the others going to make it?
A few seconds later, something suddenly flashed through the air. It was Caster: falling on his knees near them, he glanced at Sunny with tired eyes and then gently placed an unconscious Sleeper he had carried with him on the ground.
Without saying anything, both of them then turned to the gates of the Spire and looked into the light.
Seconds passed in torturous silence.
...And then, a human silhouette appeared out of the brightness. And then another, and another.
The survivors of the Dreamer Army had reached the island and dashed toward the life-saving darkness of the gargantuan tower. Soon, they crossed the distance separating them from the gates and dove into their shade.
Sunny watched, something sharp moving in his chest.
A torturous eternity later, he finally saw the familiar figure in white armor appear at the doorstep of the colossal structure.
Carrying Cassie, Nephis entered the shadows.
She was the last one to come.
Looking at them and at the small crowd of Sleepers gathered at the border between darkness and light, Sunny was finally able to exhale. They made it.
The battle for the Crimson Spire was over.
Now all they had to do was find the Gateway hidden somewhere inside the ancient tower.
…And survive the wrath of its master.