As Nightmare Creatures rushed forward, the six Awakened began to act.
The two with elemental Aspects attacked first. Something flashed in the air, and then one of them was suddenly surrounded by a swiftly spinning ring of fire. The fire disc then flew forward and collided against the mass of abominations, immolating one of the hounds and burning several more.
The other raised her hand, and a thin blade made of nothing but air whistled as it bit into the flesh of one of the hunters, severing one of his arms at the shoulder.
Sunny blinked.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster…]
The fastest of the Nightmare Creatures were already lunging at the defenders. The girl he had spoken to before took a step forward and attacked with a slender saber, striking at the neck of a spiked hound and opening its artery with a precise cut. Two more Awakened were covering her from the sides, both wielding a shield and a Memory weapon of their own — one a short sword, the other a steel pike.
The last one did something to repel the arrows that were already flying toward their bodies, but Sunny had no idea what.
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
The Awakened were performing well… they acted with sufficient coordination and foresight, doing everything in their power to slow down the tide of approaching monsters. Although not elites, each of them was a capable combatant. They were brave and determined.
…And yet, it was not going to be enough. Not nearly enough to survive, let alone prevent the invaders from escaping into the city.
[You have received a Memory.]
'What to do, what to do…'
Not fully realizing what he was doing, Sunny commanded the shadow to wrap itself around his body, and for the Soul Serpent to slither back onto his skin.
Immediately, he felt much more powerful, his head more clear. His muscles brimmed with raw strength, double what he had just a second ago. His breathing became deeper.
Sunny knew that he had to slow the abominations down, and then get back into the fight.
That was the only way...
Taking a step forward, he swayed a little, and then grabbed the roof of an abandoned PTV to help himself keep balance.
…Bending down, he then grabbed the bottom of the heavy alloy vehicle with his other hand.
Sending all of his essence rushing through his body, flooding it with as much strength as he could muster, he then growled and dug into the alloy with his fingers.
And then, sending cracks through the asphalt, Sunny strained every muscle in his body to perform one devastating, explosive push.
The window of the PTV exploded, and as its frame deformed, the whole vehicle suddenly flew into the air. It breached the distance between him and the rushing tide of Nightmare Creatures and crashed into it from the side like a bizarre cannonball, turning several dormant beasts into bloody pulp, breaking numerous bones, and sending most of the front row of abominations tumbling down.
The runes shimmered in front of Sunny, and with no time to waste, he threw just one look at them, searching for the description of his new Memory. He was only interested in one thing:
Memory Type: Weapon.
'Good enough…'
Not bothering with reading the rest, Sunny summoned the weapon and used Shadow Step to appear amid the reeling abominations.
Some had avoided his improvised ram and were already either attacking the six Awakened or escaping into the streets.
He couldn't do anything about it now.
What he could do, though…
As an ancient spear with a head crafted out of a long and sharp piece of black obsidian materialized in his hands, he thrust it into the throat of one of the wraiths, then used its back end to slam another one in the chest.
Then, Sunny spun the spear and brought it down on the head of a lunging hound, shattering its skull with one terrifying blow.
While he tried to overcome the ringing in his ears and continued to fight, more Nightmare Creatures got past him… and more still were already emerging from the Gate
'Die, die, die… die, you damn wretches, die faster!'
***
"They breached the line of defenders!"
The voice of the headmaster seemed calm, considering the situation, so the children gathered in the combat training hall of the school didn't panic, either. Nevertheless, they could feel that the adults were frightened, and that fear spread like an infection.
The children were frightened, too.
For many of the younger kids, this was the first time they experienced being near an opening Gate. Those who were older knew what to do, in theory… only none of those things could be done. There was just not enough time to evacuate or reach the nearest shelter, and so, the lessons they had learned were useless.
Everyone was gathered in the most protected place in the school — the gymnasium — and huddled together. The younger children were placed in the middle, the older ones near the edge, with the teachers standing the furthest from the center.
The combat instructors were armed with actual Memory weapons, which looked menacing and beautiful… at least to Rain, who had never seen her teacher wield one of his real weapons before.
With him, the other instructors, and a couple of bodyguards who happened to be inside the school because of those children whose parents were really important, there were five Awakened among them, each armed and ready to fight.
The other teachers and older students were armed, too, albeit with mundane weapons. Rain herself was holding her training sword, realizing for the first time how flimsy and pathetic it was. Before, the sword had always seemed to weigh a ton and be unnecessarily sharp.
Now, she wished that it was a real weapon, and not just a training one.
'What is going to happen?'
Because she happened to be standing near the headmaster, she saw her combat instructor glance at him and say something in a low voice. Rain wasn't supposed to hear it, most likely, but she did.
He said:
"It's a miracle that they held that long, really. Only seven of them… I don't know who these people are, but they should have been overwhelmed in the first minute."
'Overwhelmed? But… but… if seven Awakened were supposed to die in less than a minute, then what about the five protecting us?'
Rain suddenly felt cold and scared. The whole thing didn't seem real… how can something like this happen? This school was so prestigious and expensive, and so many important people sent their children here. Surely, the defenses…
As if answering her thoughts, muffled sounds of firing penetrated the walls and sent shivers running through everyone's bodies. The automatic turrets had gone online, which meant that there were Nightmare Creatures approaching.
Rain's father worked for the government, handling matters having to do with the logistical support of the Awakened, and although he didn't like to talk about work, she knew more about these matters than most kids of her age. Because of that, she understood how ineffective mundane weapons were against the creatures of the Spell, especially ones of higher Ranks.
So she just hoped that...
Something broke with a deafening crash, and the whole gymnasium suddenly trembled.
'...C—curses!'
Rain gripped the hilt of her sword tighter, and turned toward where the crash had come from with a pale face.
Her eyes widened.
***
Hundreds of meters away, in the mass of Nightmare Creatures, Sunny sent another abomination to hell, threw its body away, and growled.
There were so many of them! Too many!
Through the shadow hiding beside Rain, he saw that those monsters that had gotten past him and the other defenders had reached the school.
He also saw more and more creatures arriving through the gate… beasts, monsters, and demons, Awakened and Fallen… there was simply no end to them!
And he was dead tired and growing weaker, fast.
His body was at its limit, his reserves of shadow essence were running dry, and even the Mantle of the Underworld was showing signs of straining to resist the neverending rain of blows he was not able to evade anymore.
Feeling blood streaming down his face, Sunny briefly glanced toward the distant school, then back at the gate.
And then, he shivered.
Something had changed.
Something was... coming.
In the darkness of the Gate, a new silhouette appeared.
A moment later, all the beasts that surrounded him froze, and then howled triumphantly, as if to welcome the new creature to the waking world.
The Gate Guardian had arrived.