For a few minutes, the cohort simply sat on the large back of the tamed Carapace Scavenger, breathing heavily. From time to time, a violent bolt roared through the sky, illuminating their surroundings for a fraction of a second. Other than that, it was constantly dark.
Rain struggled to discern the beautiful forms of Nephis and Cassie, even though the two girls sat directly next to her.
After some time, Rain realised in what kind of situation she found herself in, instantly turning alert.
Cassie and Nephis flinched, as the pale girl next to them suddenly jolted up. Thinking that there was danger, the white-haired girl followed without delay, while the last one of them took a while longer, needing help to climb down.
"danger?" Nephis asked, her voice low, not wanting to attract any hidden abomination.
Rain grimaced while taking in her surroundings to no avail. It was simply too dark for her to perceive anything, except for the bright hair of Nephis.
"I don't know." Rain muttered, her voice strained, as white lights flicked around her hand, slowly manifesting into an azure blade. "I can't see much more than both of you can, but there's definitely something wrong with this place."
Just as she finished her sentence, another thunder flashed, briefly illuminating the large cliff. Rain's breath hitched.
Tall irregular shaped boulders surrounded them like a cage. They were black in color and motionless… that's why Rain had not recognized them for what they were at first glance.
Sprawled out in front of them, eight Scavengers lay silently on the ground.
Rain froze in terror, her heart throbbing painfully in her chest. The two girls next to her had the same reaction, their eyes glued onto the sight in front of them.
However, after a moment of realization, she calmed down. The month she had spent alone in the crimson labyrinth had taught her a lot, so she knew that something wasn't quite right.
'Scavengers don't walk around in such large packs, and it makes no sense for them to lay motionlessly on the ground while a storm is raging.'
Then why were there eight unmoving Scavengers simply laying on the ground? Rain knew the answer for that, and she definitely did not entertain the idea.
Noticing the Scavengers and Rain's expression, Nephis tensed:
"Rain?"
The black-haired girl slowly turned her head.
"The Scavengers are dead, I'm sure of it."
A silent question appeared on Nephis' and Cassie's face—and Rain wondered about the same thing. Who had killed the Awakened Beasts?
Rain closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to come up with something that could help them in their dire situation. They were surrounded by corpses, they had no vision, and there was a high chance that something else was on this small island.
However, she did have a wildcard that could help her in this situation.
After a moment, Rain turned towards the only Scavengers that was alive on this death trap—her own one. Through their mental connection, she ordered it to search for whatever abomination had killed its brethren and return once it had found the threat.
As the Awakened Beast stood up, its large pincer-like arms screeching against the wet stone, Cassie flinched while Nephis held onto her sword tighter. Although the two girls knew that the Carapace Scavenger was on their side, they couldn't shake off the growing feeling of unease.
"What is it doing?" Cassie asked, her tone quiet and soft.
Rain's eyes stayed locked on the Scavenger, noticing its large forms blend into the darkness, while the creaking sounds of its joints disappeared into the night.
"Scouting." Rain whispered, her voice barely audible. "It'll come back once it finds something."
The storm around them continued raging, wind clashing against wet rock and thunder roaring through the sky. The ground under them shuddered and the darkness around the cohort consumed them in place, encompassing them from every side.
But all they could do was to simply wait—wait for the Scavenger to return.
A minute passed, and then a few more. However, the crab didn't return, at least for now.
Rain simply stared into the vast darkness, waiting for anything to happen. Although the pale girl didn't see or hear anything unusual, she still felt a weird feeling creep up her back. And yet, she couldn't do anything against it.
A few more minutes passed. And then, something changed.
The cohort flinched, as they noticed a sound that wasn't there before. It wasn't the howling of the wind, nor was it the splashing of the rain or the roars of the thunder. It was a quiet sound that resembled clicking.
Rain released a sigh of relief, as the large silhouette approached from the distance. But just as quickly as the relief came, it also disappeared. She hadn't noticed it before, since her mind had been occupied with the feeling of anxiety, but now, after having felt herself calm down, she noticed how her connection with the Scavenger had disappeared.
The moment Rain had realized that fact, the hidden form revealed itself.
It wasn't her Carapace Scavenger, but something way more terrifying—something vastly superior. It was larger than the Awakened Beast, with vicious spikes growing out of its steel-hard armor. Its chitin was black and crimson, like an ancient armor splattered with fresh blood. Instead of pincers, two terrifying bone scythes were protruding from the joints of its arms.
Suddenly, the creature released a deafening screech, freezing Cassie and Rain in place. Nephis, however, didn't seem affected by the overwhelmingly large abomination's cry.
With white flames dancing around her blade, Nephis struck forward, her movements fluid, honed by her countless hours of training. The shining girl put her whole weight into the brutal strike, aiming to bring the abomination down.
The tip of Nephis' plunged into a crack in the Centurion's armor, delivering a devastating wound to the chitin of the beast.
Despite that, the creature didn't even seem to notice the pain. Without giving Changing Star any time to react, its scythe-like arms surged through the night sky, aiming for Nephis' head.
Rain's breath hitched, as she witnessed the bone weapon move dangerously close to the silver-haired girl's head. Time seemed to slow, as Rain took in the sight. In the next moment, Nephis' head would've been cut off forever. However, Rain's naturally fast reflexes were quicker.
***
The Carapace Centurion froze for a fraction, feeling something foreign force itself into its mind. Naturally, it was Rain. She used her Aspect Ability to send a small part of her consciousness into the monster's mind, and attack it from the inside.
Rain wasn't the physically strongest, nor was her Aspect Ability one that allowed her to strike something directly, however, that didn't mean that she was useless. Although attacking the mind of a being that was vastly superior to her was hard, it wasn't an impossible task—especially when that being was focused on someone else.
The slight delay of the abominations movements gave Nephis enough time to dodge her impending doom, before retaliating with another strike of her own.
"NEPHIS, I'LL ACT AS A SUPPORT—YOU FIGHT IT."
There was no need for any more words.
Still a little bit dazed, the Centurion had no time to block or evade Nephis' next strike, which breached its defenses once more. The burning blade cut into the abominations flesh, and before the Centurion could react, Nephis twisted the hilt sideways and brutally jerked it deeper, burning off an even bigger chunk of flesh.
The creature released a screech of pure agony, one that boomed through the darkness around them.
However, as perfectly executed that strike was, it failed to bring the monster down, while also leaving Nephis without her sword.
Unarmed, Nephis had no way to fight the monster. As the large being loomed over her, the sole desire to kill burning in its eyes, Nephis was left fully defenseless. However, she wasn't alone.
Rain didn't have a lot of experience when it came to the sword, but by no means was she unable to use one correctly. Knowing that the weak points of Carapace Creatures were their joints, Rain put all of her strength in a downward slash, aiming for one of the Centurions legs.
As the azure blade connected with the crabs joint, it simply bounced off. Rain had been gifted with natural agility and reflexes, however, strength was always something she lacked in. Even after awakening, she remained weaker than most other dormant humans.
Nephis had no way to attack, and Rani wasn't strong enough to deal any damage. The Centurion felt the weak impact and turned around faster than the eye could follow, catching Rain completely off guard.
In the next moment, the poor girl felt the heavy scythe arm of the monster crash into her abdomen. If not for her armor and garment, Rain would've died in this instance.
Rain felt an agonizing amount of pain invade her body and mind, as she was sent flying like a ragdoll. The impact sent her crashing into something soft, before being brutally crushed against something hard.
It took Rain a moment to realise, but she had hit the tender body of the blind girl and crashed into a stone wall with her right after.
Both girls were slumped against each other, a mix of their blood pooling on the ground. The blind girl lay unconscious, while Rain was barely staying awake. Her eyes felt heavy and her breath was strained. The blonde girl next seemed to have been in an even worse state than Rain, since she had also received an injury to the head.
The situation had turned from bad to very bad in just a second. Two out of the three girls were unable to move, while the last one would need a few seconds to resummon her sword.
And yet, fate seemed to have been on their side.
Just as the creature turned to Nephis, a bolt of lighting landed right in the middle of the island. With how tall the creature was, the blade in its flesh instantly attracted the ferocious electricity. Acting as a lighting rod, Nephis' blade accepted the thunder greedily and poured it into the body of the abomination.
In the next moment, hundreds of millions volts coursed through the body of the humongous crab.
In a sudden flash of light, the creature fell onto the ground, wisps of steam rising into the sky.
It was being electrocuted and burned by divine flames at the same time.
The electricity danced through the chitin of the Centurion, slowly turning the crimson patterns white.
The fire tore its way through the tough flesh, setting the creature ablaze.
Rain looked at the spectacle with wide eyes.
'Is this what a firework is supposed to look like?'
The sight in front of her was beautiful and harrowing simultaneously. For a second she thought that the Nightmare Creature was dead, but a simple thunderbolt wasn't enough to bury an Awakened Monster in its grave.
However, the creature had been greatly damaged by the turn of events. Due to the fact that Rain couldn't feel her body, her mind was clearer than ever.
And as a result of the Centurion being weakened to such a degree, Rain now had a way easier time to invade the abominations mind.
As the creature stood up, Rain did something unimaginable and dangerous—she pushed all of her consciousness into the mind of the large crab.
Her body went limp, as the full expanse of her mind surged inside of Nightmare Creature. This was Rain's only opportunity to infiltrate the enemy's mind and make it hers to control.
In a state like this, a battle of mind took no longer than a few seconds, but it still felt like a lifetime to Rain. The resistance the Creatures mind showed was harrowing, but not something she couldn't handle.
Compared to Rain however, the creature was still conscious and able to move its body. Completely ignoring Nephis, the Centurion rushed forward with its many legs, aiming to pierce the chest of Rain with one of its scythe-like arms.
Nephis thought thought that she would helplessly see her new comrade die, as the lethal strike surged dangerously close to Rain. But just in that instance, the pale girl succeeded with her task of brainwashing the Nightmare Creature.
Rain's consciousness returned, just as the spell spoke a familiar set of runes into her ear.
[Your Dream expands.]
The Centurion froze in place, unable to move even an inch.
Rain opened her eyes and turned her head towards the silver-haired girl, before whispering:
"Kill it."
Without wasting any time, Nephis rushed toward the immobilized enemy. her hand gripped the handle of her sword, which was still protruding from the monster's burning flesh. Simply ignoring the heat, Nephis set the monster ablaze.
In the next second, the familiar voice of the spell resounded in her ears.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Carapace Centurion.]
[You have received a Memory: Starlight Legion Armor.]
[Your soul shines brighter.]