Returning to the Shipwreck Island felt strange. It was almost exactly the same, but also different.
They followed the remains of the ancient road and crested the hill to see the desolate valley below. The wreck of the once graceful ship was at its center, the dead tree wrapped around its mast. Thick vines were growing out of the breaches in its hull and spreading outward, some laying on the ground, some buried beneath it.
Here and there, piles of wooden debris could be seen — those were the Sailor Dolls, which had yet to assume their humanoid form after shapeshifting to withstand the Crushing.
What had changed, however, was that there was no chain on the other side of the valley anymore. The Twisted Rock had been destroyed and crumbled into the Sky Below, and now, the Shipwreck Island directly bordered the Tear.
Sunny felt as if the air itself was slightly different as the result.
He gestured at the wooden debris and said:
"Those are the Sailor Dolls. In a few minutes, they will assume their usual form, and after one notices us, the others will know of our presence, too. They'll swarm you pretty fast."
The Fire Keepers had already summoned their weapons and were prepared for a fight. The faces were calm, cold concentration burning in their eyes.
Cassie nodded.
"This is it, then. We will see you on the other side."
Sunny hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the members of the cohort. Out of habit, he had wanted to tell her to be careful, but then remembered who she was, and who he was, what they had been through together, and how it all ended.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"...Give them hell."
The Fire Keepers smiled. One of them laughed:
"I'm pretty sure that this place is already enough of a hell… you stay safe too, Sunny."
He sighed, then took a step back and disappeared into the shadows. Safely hidden in their dark embrace, Sunny observed as the Fire Keepers moved forward in a flexible battle formation. A few seconds later, he followed behind them unseen.
Soon, the piles of debris shuddered and started assembling into tall, menacing wooden humanoids, their arms ending with jagged blades.
The Fire Keepers did not wait for the first one to lunge at them, and launched an attack themselves.
Shakti, the former Artisan with an Aspect revolving around plants, drew a heavy bow, and sent an arrow flying. It hit the nearest abomination in the head and suddenly exploded into shards, creating a cloud of icy mist.
The creature swayed, then turned to face them, one side of its body in shambles. As it moved toward the humans, a thin crust of ice formed on its limbs, slowing the doll down.
Before it could strike with its blades, another Fire Keeper dashed forward and brought the blade of a heavy axe on its shoulder, severing one of the abomination's arms completely. Another appeared by his side, receiving a retaliatory strike on his shield. The young man grunted, but held his ground.
A moment later, the Sailor Doll was dead, hacked into pieces by the rest of the cohort.
'Not a bad start…'
But that was just the beginning.
Soon, the eight humans were surrounded by a dozen more Fallen Beasts, all towering above them with menacing, bloodthirsty determination. Things were about to turn bad for the Fire Keepers, but at that moment, Kaor — the Artisan specializing in carpentry — froze for a moment and narrowed his eyes. Immediately, a subtle change happened to the wooden creatures.
While not really rendered weak, they did, however, become a bit sluggish and slow. That made it possible for the members of the cohort to hold against the onslaught of the Nightmare Creatures a whole Rank above their own.
…It was not easy, though.
The Fire Keepers held their formation, but only just barely. The young man armed with the heavy axe was now using his Aspect Ability, which made the blade of his weapon shine with an angry red glow. It bit into the wooden flesh of the abomination he was fighting, penetrating much deeper than it should have been able to.
His partner was like a wall, refusing to take even a step back. He blocked strike after strike with his heavy shield, lashing out from behind it with a short spear from time to time to keep the enemies from simply overwhelming him with their size and mass. This was the healer of the cohort, so his fortitude and grit came from his physical prowess alone, not from any kind of Ability.
There was another Fire Keeper that used a shield, a young woman with dirty blond hair and an Aspect that allowed her to exert vicious strength with each strike of her sword. She fought in tandem with a young man who wielded two great swords… in his four hands. The second pair appeared when he activated his own Aspect Ability. These two were quite devastating together.
Shakti continued to fire her bow, switching between Memory arrows and mundane ones, which were crafted by Kaor. Her bow was powerful enough, and her aim precise enough, to deal heavy damage to the advancing Sailor Dolls. The carpenter himself was sustaining the strange hex he put on the abominations and covering her with a wooden staff in his hands, his face grim and full of resolve.
Another Fire Keeper possessed an Aspect that allowed him to gift his companions with an augmentation to stamina and endurance, as well as making one of them much more resilient. He wielded a curved sword and covered Cassie's back.
…And then, there was Cassie herself. Who had turned out to be perhaps the most deadly of them all.
She wielded the Quiet Dancer in one hand and a long dagger in the other, using it to deflect blows and launch an unexpected, quick attack from time to time. The delicate girl wasn't the strongest, nor was she the fastest of the Fire Keepers. However, she fought with confident grace and deadly insight resembling that of a true master.
If it was anybody else, Sunny would have assumed that they had long reached the pinnacle of skill and were now able to not only flawlessly follow, but also control the flow of battle… it reminded him of how Nephis fought, of how deeply attuned she was to the underlying laws that governed combat.
Of course, the difference was that while Changing Star was able to predict and manipulate the cadence of battle due to her knowledge, talent, and skill… Cassie could actually perceive a few moments into the future.
Which made her a frightening presence on the battlefield.
As Sunny watched, a towering Sailor Doll raised one of its blades and brought it down on the blind girl, aiming to cut her body in half. However, Cassie simply moved slightly to the side a split second before the blade would have sliced her apart, and lashed out with her dagger. At the same time, the Quiet Dancer suddenly flew out of her hand and shot through the air.
The dagger pierced the creature's chest, while the rapier threw its second blade a few centimeters off course, then continued forward and tore through another abomination's neck.
In the span of a second, two Fallen Beasts were heavily wounded, and soon fell dead to the ground.
…Still, Sunny recognized the truth of it behind the superficial appearance. Yes, Cassie had an incredible advantage due to her unique and powerful Aspect. But not just anyone would have been able to make use of it.
In fact, almost no one could have done what she did.
In the havoc of a battle — especially a battle between Awakened and Nightmare Creatures, where a fraction of a second could mean the difference between life and death — it was already immensely hard to perceive, comprehend, and react to the enemy's actions in time.
It must have been so much harder, then, to perceive both the present and the future, to comprehend not one but two states of the battle, and swiftly act in response to achieve the result… not to mention that Cassie was doing all that while being blind. The mental strain and burden of it all… Sunny couldn't even imagine it.
What he did know, however, was that it was impossible to perform such a feat without one crucial thing.
Clarity.
…It seemed that Cassie had not listened to the lessons Nephis had taught them for nothing. She was Changing Star's other pupil, after all.
Soon, the Fire Keepers had dealt with the first wave of the Sailor Dolls. But the second, larger one was already approaching.
Before it could reach them, though, Cassie grabbed the Quiet Dancer from the air, turned to her cohort, and yelled:
"Prepare!"
Then, she covered her mouth and nose with a hand, turned the rapier down… and thrust it deep into the earth.
A moment later, the ground shook.