32: hunting plan

Currently, it was two days after they had met with Sunny's group. Jonathan had told them everything they knew about the demon from Isac, who also added details that their leader had missed.

They had been discussing a hunting plan all day, without finding a reliable way to kill the Shell Demon.

That same night, Cassie spoke of her vision: "I saw Ashen Barrow deep in the night, wrapped in a furious storm. The winds bent the branches of the great tree, as if desperate to break them. The island was illuminated by the constant barrage of thundering lightning, with rain falling from the skies like a flood."

She paused, caught her breath, and continued:

"The Shell Demon was there, standing in the midst of the storm like an unbreakable fortress made of polished steel. Arcs of electricity danced between the spikes of its armor, but the demon paid them no mind. It was exactly as Isac described... proud, sinister, and terrifying."

Cassie closed her eyes.

"When I looked into its eyes, I felt... a sense of emptiness and corruption. It watched the storm until it began to dissipate. The winds weakened, the rain stopped. The great tree remained intact, as magnificent as before. But then, the last lightning bolt fell from the sky and struck the ground beside it."

'Finally, her vision came. Now we just need Sunny to mention the plan to lure a creature from the black ocean to hurt the demon so we can all kill it together,' Jonathan thought.

Meanwhile, Cassie was ready to continue:

"That lightning bolt could never harm the Shell Demon, much less the miraculous tree. However, when it struck the ground, it ignited the fallen leaves covering the surface of Ashen Barrow. Soon, a large part of the island was engulfed in flames. In the absolute darkness of the night, it shone like a beacon."

"Before the flames went out, the dark sea surged, and a... a thing emerged from it, covering almost the entire slope of Ashen Barrow with its body. It looked like a... a mass of bones and rotten flesh connected by black seaweed, with thousands of horrible eyes staring hungrily at me from below, with tentacles writhing as it pushed towards the great tree."

Her face turned slightly green. Just remembering the abomination made Cassie feel nauseous, but she gritted her teeth and continued speaking.

"That was the most repulsive creature I have ever seen in my life. However, it seemed slow and clumsy, as if being on land, out of the black water, was weakening it. The Shell Demon did not hesitate to pounce on the creature, ignoring the fact that it was at least ten times its size. It was like... like it had completely lost its mind, enraged by the intrusion on the island."

Nephis suddenly spoke:

"How did the demon survive?"

The blind girl hesitated.

"I... I don't know. I didn't see the battle itself, only its beginning and its end. At dawn, the Shell Demon crawled back to the shadow of the great tree. It was gravely injured, missing several legs, and its scythes were covered in a web of cracks. The fire had been extinguished, and there was no sign of the sea creature in sight."

She paused for a moment and then said quietly:

"The most terrible wound was on its chest. The demon's steel armor was fractured and split, revealing the heart beating inside. Rivers of blue blood flowed from the wound, mixing with the ashen sand. The demon crawled to the base of the tree and placed its shattered body among its roots."

Cassie sighed.

"The last thing I saw was the passage of time. I don't know how long it took, but eventually, the Shell Demon managed to recover from its wounds. Its scythes were restored, its legs grew back. The fracture in its chest was the last to heal; however, it did not heal completely, there is still a weakness in its armor."

***

After the blind girl's vision, Sunny, Nephis, and Jonathan devised a plan, which they were executing right now.

The seven of them were running across an ashen clearing towards the top of an immense hill, towards the tree that adorned its great ashen body.

At the other end of where the sleepers were running at full speed, a centurion demon was suspiciously watching a shell scavenger, who was bringing it seven awakened cores.

The demon was confused as to why a mere scavenger was prostrated before it with seven insignificant cores.

Sensing something was wrong, it attacked the scavenger. Its sharp scythe crashed into the ground as the scavenger dodged the demon's attack at the last second.

Enraged by the audacity of the inferior creature, the demon struck again, this time faster and stronger than before. The scavenger had no chance against the demon's strength and speed. It was simply cut in half, the cores fell to the ground and were picked up by the demon.

...

On the other side of the hill, the seven sleepers were running at full speed, about to reach the surface of the tree when Jonathan spoke to everyone.

"He just destroyed my echo, hurry up, he's starting to climb." He shouted, with some regret in his voice.

The scavenger was his puppet, which had accompanied him since almost the beginning of their journey in the labyrinth. Despite being just a puppet, it walked, looked, and fought as if it were his own body, and losing it so suddenly felt like losing another limb, something unpleasant and painless.

Still, he continued running after the other six nodded and sped up as much as they could towards the top of a tree branch, one large enough for all of them to fit.

Their first phase of the plan was the easy one, climbing the tree while Jony's echo distracted the demon. Now the second phase would begin, perhaps the most tense. Wait for the night to call a creature from the black sea to fight the demon.

"Everyone, it's better to keep quiet if you don't want that giant thing to kill us all." Said Sunny, his voice had a hint of fear, tension, and nervousness.

In the hours that would pass from climbing the tree, they would have to avoid attracting the demon's attention or they would all die.

"Yes yes, no need to remind us, dwarf."

The one who spoke was Ludwin, who mocked Sunny and Isac for being so small. The two were very annoyed but Sunny seemed especially upset when his height was mentioned.

"Damn it, I told you not to call me dwarf if you don't want a knife to your throat." Cursed Sunny at Ludwin, who smiled mockingly at Sunny.

"Ludwin, don't rile up Sunny or he'll attract the demon with his curses." Jony said, somewhat amused by Sunny's reaction.

Nephis watched this from the side without expression, though she was also worried about the demon, not as much as the rest. She believed that if they all fought, they could kill that thing. Of course, not without one or two deaths, but in the end, they would kill it.

Thus, the hours passed until night came, when it was Sunny's turn for the next part of the plan.

...

Sunny walked to a secluded spot and picked up a backpack. Inside the backpack were two large clay vessels surrounded by several layers of soft seaweed fibers. These jars were made by Sunny himself, and as such, they were not particularly sturdy. After all, he was not a craftsman: all his knowledge about pottery was acquired in a single day by listening to Master Julius's words about the importance of clay in the development of human civilization.

Still, he remembered the basics at least.

Inside the jars, all the oil they had collected from centipede monsters sloshed, making Sunny's heartbeats unstable. A centipede monster had two sacs in its body, each containing a different oily substance.

When mixed, these substances produced an incredibly corrosive and deadly oil that could devour a scavenger's shell in seconds.

It was also highly flammable.

And the latter was what they were looking for. Centipede oil was the centerpiece of their plan.

Sunny placed the clay jars on the branch and took one last thing out of the backpack. It was an improvised torch made of bone and... yes, more seaweed. Traditionally, torches were supposed to be made of wood, but on the Forbidden Coast, it was much easier to find bones than sticks.

In the darkness, he found Neph's cold hand, took it, and then placed the torch in her open palm.

"I'm ready."

Nephis nodded and then stood up. Standing, she grabbed the torch and closed her eyes, as if she were praying. Dressed in white armor, with her silver hair dancing in the wind, she looked like a beautiful and solemn angel.

Then, a white glow ignited beneath her eyelids. The next moment, a bright fire erupted from her hands, lighting the top of the torch. Changing Star opened her eyes, extinguished the light shining in them, and raised the torch above her head.

In the world without light, this small flame looked like a lonely star drowning in a sea of darkness.

Simultaneously, Sunny approached the edge of the branch, took a deep breath... and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, idiot! COME AND THROW ME IF YOU DARE!"

Then all hell broke loose.