Armed with the understanding of just how dangerous the beautiful mountains towering above them were, the cohort set out deeper into the foothills. Because they didn't know much about the area and what type of creatures populated it, they decided to stay together.
While it would have been much easier to send Kai to take a look around from above, no one wanted to take this risk. As the result, the six humans moved in a tight group, much like they had on the narrow streets of the Dark City and in the Labyrinth.
…However, the landscape around them was vastly different. There were no growths of crimson coral covering the ground, just grass and outcroppings of grey rock. It almost felt like they were back on Earth.
Strangely, that made Sunny feel uncomfortable. Looking around, he could see far in every direction, with no walls of coral or ancient, ruined buildings obscuring his view. That made it harder for the Nightmare Creatures to ambush the cohort, but also impossible for the cohort to hide from anything that could have been watching.
'That is true, but… where are all the monsters?'
Indeed, no matter how hard Sunny looked, he couldn't see any movement whatsoever. It was as if the entire area was completely dead. They were surrounded by complete silence, which was broken only when a member of the cohort made a sound.
The picturesque scenery could have been peaceful, but felt eerie instead. Even Sunny's shadow seemed uncharacteristically listless.
Full of unease, they continued to move forward.
The plan was very simple. Because of Cassie's vision, they knew that the First Lord and his companions had traveled to the mountains the same way that they did, or at least followed the same route. That meant that both cohorts entered the foothills at approximately the same spot.
The other thing Cassie had told them was that they were searching for a vast pit in the stone. It was hard to miss something like that, so all they had to do was to move deeper into the foothills and look around.
The ground beneath their feet gently sloped upward. As time passed, it grew more and more rocky, and the incline became rather steep. Soon, they were surrounded by tall boulders and had to walk on bare stone.
At some point, Sunny looked back and was surprised to realize how high above the labyrinth they had climbed. By now, it was far away and below them, looking like a vast crimson sea.
A strange sensation settled in his heart. With a bit of introspection, Sunny realized that it was something he had lost a long time ago.
The feeling of being connected to the rest of humanity.
Even though all of them understood that crossing the Hollow Mountains was an impossible task, simply knowing where they were in relation to the rest of the Awakened made all the difference.
They might have been just as stranded as they had been before… but at least they weren't lost anymore.
'What a nice, but useless thought.'
With a sigh, he turned around and hurried to catch up with the rest of the cohort.
The sun was still high in the sky when they found the pit Cassie had described. It was situated in a valley just at the point where the foothills turned into proper mountains, and turned out to be something different from what everyone had imagined.
Disturbingly, throughout the whole day, they had not met a single living thing. In any other circumstances, Sunny would have been glad because of this strange lack of Nightmare Creatures, but now it was just making him nervous.
Standing at the edge of it, he looked down with a feeling of awe.
Cut into the flesh of the mountains, a vast quarry lay below them. Despite its incredible scale, it was clearly made by humans. A road clinging to the slope of the circular pit led to the bottom of it, wide enough for ten carriages to ride side by side.
At the far end of the quarry, the grey slope of the mountain was cut and hollowed, creating something that resembled either colossal steps or seats of an amphitheater built for giants. Here and there, massive blocks of stone stood, as though ready to be transported back to the ancient city.
Sunny studied the monolithic blocks of grey stone, then the size of the deep quarry. Something connected in his mind.
'So… so this is where the materials for the mighty wall of the Dark City had come from.'
He was certain of it. To think that the ancient inhabitants of the Forgotten Shore had transported all that stone from this far away… the thought of it was nothing short of humbling.
Effie, meanwhile, was staring at something with a tense look on her face. Suddenly. she pointed to the center of the deep quarry and said:
"Over there, look."
Following her gaze, Sunny strained his eyes. For a couple of moments, he couldn't understand what the huntress was talking about, but then his heart skipped a bit.
At the bottom of the quarry, there was a giant Nightmare Creature.
The abomination was enormous, easily twice the size of the Carapace Demon… who had already been as tall as a house. It looked like a strange insect, somewhat resembling a weird mix of a rhinoceros beetle and a praying mantis, with a smooth carapace, massive horn, and deadly blades attached to the joints of its limbs.
The whole creature seemed to be made out of stone and was the same color as the floor of the quarry. In fact, if not for Effie's warning, Sunny might have not even noticed it.
…That flesh, however, was broken and shattered, lying in piles on the ground.
The giant stone demon was dead.
And from the looks of it, it died by a human hand.
Sunny turned to Nephis and hesitated for a moment.
"What do you think? Those are sword cuts, aren't they?"
Changing Star was silent for a bit, and then said in a dark tone:
"It's hard to tell. We'll need to get closer to take a proper look."