18 - Ashen Demon

Shirou decided that he did enough testing with [Fleshforge]. Once Ingvild calmed down, she hugged Shirou before turning into a puddle. Shirou was slightly confused by her behavior, but didn't dwell on it.

Shirou stood up from behind the rock, and found Cassie explaining something to Sunny and Nephis. When she noticed him, she called him over to tell him something.

"It's about my vision."

Shirou took a seat next to Sunny, who was drenched in sweat and paler than usual. It seemed that he was really out through the ringer when training with Nephis. He looked towards Cassie and signaled her to continue.

"At first, I saw a… a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals. Something vast was churning in the darkness. I felt like if I directly saw it, I would lose my mind. As I watched, terrified, the seals broke one after another, until only one remained. And then that seal broke, too."

She trembled.

"After that… I don't know. It was as though my mind shattered into a thousand shards, each shard reflecting its own image. Most of them were dark and scary. Some I have already forgotten. The other…"

saw the human castle again. Only this time, it was at night. There was a lonely star burning in the black skies, and under its light, the castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls. I saw a corpse in a golden armor sitting on a throne; a woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monsters; an archer trying to pierce the falling sky with his arrows."

"In the end, I saw a colossal, terrifying crimson spire. At its base, seven severed heads were guarding seven locks. And at the top, a… a dying angel was being consumed by hungry shadows. When I saw the shadows prevail as the victor, I… I felt relieved."

She seemed ashamed for some reason, but continued anyways.

"Although I felt as if I lost something precious to me, I felt that I could have lost something even more precious."

The group fell silent as they attempted to decipher the vision.

…The hungry shadows might have to do with Sunny, but what could the angel be? I don't think I've heard anything referring to myself in this.

Shirou was most likely not within Cassie's visions. [Anomaly] made it so that he was not affected by fate the same way others were. Cassie's Aspect seemed to have no way of including him in it's abilities.

Shirou shrugged and decided that there was nothing they could do about it. He stood up before saying:

"Maybe your Aspect causes you to have normal nightmares. You've never seen a vision like this, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, it's definitely a possibility, right? If it is a vision, then there wouldn't be anything we can do about it. We should know what it's really about before we do anything rash."

Sunny stared at him in astonishment.

"…Sometimes, I forget that you have a brain."

Shirou looked at him in confusion before walking away back to the rock.

————————————————————

Two weeks later, Shirou can be seen wiping some azure blood off of his face. Recently, they started to actively fight Nightmare Creatures. After the incident with the Carapace Centurion, Shirou, Sunny, and Nephis decided that they needed to get stronger.

Shirou decided to check his sword fragments.

Sword Fragments: [186/1000].

Between the three of them, it was quite easy to kill a large amount of Nightmare Creatures. Shirou would attract them with the [War Medallion] with Nephis, while Sunny would hide in the shadows to attack.

Of course, there was no way for Shirou to get so many sword fragments in two weeks on his own. That is when he figured out an easy way to gain sword fragments.

During the day, Shirou would fight Nightmare Creatures alongside Sunny and Nephis. Once it was night however, Ingvild would dive into the black sea, and would kill countless Nightmare Creatures. When she does this, Shirou would gain sword fragments, while she would absorb the soul shards she gained from the creature itself.

Soul Shards: [74/1000].

Due to the [Storm Ruler], [Vorpal Blade], and [Galebreathe], Ingvild was able to traverse the ocean easily, while also dealing fatal blows to Nightmare Creatures. It had gotten to the point that she was able to take on abominations of the Fallen rank with some difficulty.

They had learned that [Storm Ruler] did not have the raw power of a Divine weapon, but simply the potential of one. Shirou guessed that as Ingvild grew stronger, she would be able to control more water, and damage stronger opponents.

Shirou's capacity as the tank of the group had skyrocketed since they fought the Crapace Centurion. With the [Rebellion], he was now able to take more blows. [Fleshforge] had given him the ability to plate his skin in steel scales. However, it seemed that they were not as durable as an awakened armor. Shirou did not know how he was supposed to progress his Aspect Legacy, especially because he didn't understand what the core of it was.

After wiping the blood off of his face, he heard Sunny ask Nephis:

"What do you think? We're right between the Flat Hill and the Bone Ridge. Should we return or try to reach the Ridge today?"

Shirou thought about their current situation. They had already scouted most of the path to the Bone Ridge, and the Centurion that was chasing them was killed by Sunny's echo.

Nephis and Sunny looked towards Shirou. He nodded.

"We should be able to get there, so let's do it."

Shirou and Sunny got Cassie to ride on top of the echo, and tied the meat and clay jars onto it. Cassie used the [Evertwine] to hold onto the Scavenger, and with a black puddle following them, they proceeded to the Bone Ridge.

————————————————————

At the top of the Bone Ridge, Sunny and Shirou can be seen washing off the blood from their bodies. Sunny shivered for a second, causing Shirou to look at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"…I felt something's shadow earlier. It was massive."

"Oh! That is the Crimson Spire."

Shirou and Sunny froze. They turned around and saw Cassie, just standing there. Shirou questioned her.

"…Cassie, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"…Sunny and I are naked right now."

Cassie twitched for a second, before her face turned crimson.

"W-well it's fine right? I wouldn't be able to see you two anyways…"

She seemed somewhat dejected about that fact.

Shirou and Sunny looked towards each other and shrugged. Sunny asked about what she had just said.

"When the sun sets, the shadow of the Crimson Spire stretches far to the east. You must have sensed it around an hour ago, right?"

Sunny nodded at her question.

This Crimson Spire just gets more menacing as time goes on.

————————————————————

By the time morning arrived, Shirou was already much stronger than he was last night.

Sword Fragments: [196/1000].

Ingvild had killed more Nightmare Creatures than usual today. It seemed that more of them appear near the Bone Ridge. Shirou woke her up and had her turn into a puddle. She still needed sleep, so she couldn't go around killing Nightmare Creatures all night.

He walked over to the others, and saw Sunny and Nephis staring at something in the distance.

…What the hell?!

There was a massive tree in the distance. It's bark was completely black. Just now, something beneath the tree glimmered with light.

The trio looked at each other, before agreeing that they had to go there. There was no other path to the west after all.

————————————————————

The 4 of them were currently hiding behind some coral. Sunny was using his shadow to search around the area. Shirou saw him freeze as he turned towards them.

"…There is a strong Nightmare Creature there. An awakened demon if I had to guess. It ordered around the Carapace Centurions."

Shirou's eyes widened.

…Shit.

In the past two weeks, they were not able to obtain a single memory. Although they have all grown stronger by some degree, they didn't have too many options.

…Wait, options?

Shirou looked towards a nearby puddle.

[Ingvild, do you think you could kill an awakened demon?]

[…Maybe at night. I would need the black sea to pull it off. Are you okay with revealing me?]

Wait a second.

[Actually, you can probably help without showing yourself. If necessary, you can just give the Storm Ruler to me.]

Indeed, Shirou was able to wield the [Storm Ruler] as well. The output and control over the water however, was much lower than Ingvild.

Probably due to [Child of Storms].

While he was talking to Ingvild, the others had already created a plan to deal with it. Sunny seemed quite depressed about fighting an awakened demon, but he hesitantly agreed that it was their only option.

————————————————————

When night fell, the black sea had come rushing in. A storm had started at the same time. The awakened demon had seen a Carapace Scavenger in the distance, and was rushing towards it in order to kill it.

In the background, four Sleepers can be seen rushing towards the tree. Shirou was carrying Cassie on his back, and was able to keep up with Nephis and Sunny despite the weight.

When it seemed that the demon was about to kill the echo, a woman had appeared out of the floor. She was able to block and parry the demons attacks, while using wind to keep herself mobile.

The group of Sleepers had already reached the tree, causing Sunny to dismiss his echo. Sunny didn't know why, but he felt a shadow moving near the demon. They all climbed up the tree and sat on top of the huge branches.

Shirou looked in the demons direction and sent a message to Ingvild.

She sunk into a puddle and moved towards the edge of the ash island. The demon was confused before it heard the loud voice of Sunny.

"HEY, ASSHOLE! COME GET ME IF YOU DARE!"

The demon turned around and became enraged. It saw 4 Sleepers sitting on a branch of it's great tree. It only had one desire.

Kill them.

As it ran towards their direction, Sunny and Shirou had lifted two different jars. Once it had gotten close, Sunny had thrown the jar at the demon, which it had sliced in half with a scythe. Unfortunately, the liquid still ended up coating it's armor. Shirou threw the other jar at the demon, causing it to light on fire.

The fire was not strong enough to kill it, but that had not been their goal. They heard something start to approach the ash island.

[Shirou! You all need to close your eyes!]

"Close your eyes!"

Ingvild and Cassie had spoken at the same time. The 4 sleepers had closed their eyes, even Cassie. They heard chaos surround them, but they couldn't open their eyes to see what was happening.

"Open your eyes."

It sounded like Cassie's voice, but something was off. Cassie couldn't whisper into his ear. She wasn't tall enough to do so.

"Open… your eyes… open…"

What the hell?! I'm not going to listen to… whatever the hell that is!

"OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Just shut up already!

Shirou had kept his eyes closed.

He heard the Carapace Demon roar. The island had started to shake. He heard the scythes of the demon strike each other, spreading a haunting sound across the area.

A raging battle was occurring between the Carapace Demon and the unknown horror that was attracted to the flames.

Shirou felt two hands surrounding him. He assumed that it was Sunny and Cassie. The four of them held onto each other as the mayhem that was occurring on the island raged on.

————————————————————

After an unknown amount of time, silence spread across the ashen barrow. Shirou decided to open his eyes first, and after looking around for a moment, he paled.

The barrow was completely ravaged, and did not seem even remotely similar to how it looked before. The worst part however, was currently limping towards the tree.

Damn it!

The morning sun shined upon a demonic figure. The Carapace Demon was limping towards them. It was covered in azure blood, and was heavily damaged. It only had a single scythe and pincer left. It's other two arms were completely unusable.

Shirou turned towards his companions.

"We can open our eyes now."

They hesitated, before doing what he asked. He heard Sunny ask:

"What… what do we do?"

[Ingvild. Get ready.]

[Yes.]

Forged in Hell and Changing Star stood up and summoned their weapons. Nephis turned towards Sunny before answering his question.

"Finish him off."

————————————————————

The Carapace Demon saw three figures standing in front of it.

A boy who seemed to be made of steel. A boy who was shrouded in the shadows of the tree. A girl who seemed to radiate light.

The Carapace Demon roared. It was going to put all of it's power into absolutely slaughtering these three.

Shirou summoned the [War Medallion]. The Carapace Demon immediately looked into his direction, and sprinted towards him. It did not notice Nephis and Sunny attacking from it's sides.

The three of them did not need to communicate to cooperate.

Shirou tried to stab the [Washing Pole] towards the demon's remaining eye. Unfortunately, it had missed, but that was only a distraction.

Sunny and Nephis tried to attack it's legs, and Nephis was able to cause it to lose it's balance. It did not provide enough of an opening, so Shirou did not use his trump card just yet.

The three of them kept moving around the demon, who was completely focused on Shirou. This did not mean that it wasn't able to defend itself from Sunny and Nephis however, as it moved it's body to avoid fatal blows.

During the confrontation, Sunny had ducked under the Carapace Demon. This was in an attempt at making it fall to the ground. Sunny escaped from under it right before it fell.

Once it did, it had lost it's ability to see.

Shirou was quite good at stabbing out eyes, and now that the demon had no mobility, he took that opportunity.

The three of them made some distance from the demon, as it started to randomly attack around it. It wasn't able to see Nephis and Sunny, but it still could sense Shirou due to the [War Medallion].

As it recklessly rushed towards him, something Nephis had coated her blade in white flames, and stabbed it's torso.

It kept moving however, the [War Medallion] and it's blindness stopping it from thinking rationally.

Right before it got to Shirou, a loud sound could be heard, and there was an opening in it's torso.

Ingvild was compressing water with the [Storm Ruler], and had released it in a straight line. The force was enhanced by [Galebreathe], causing it to breach the speed of sound.

[You have defeated an awakened demon, Carapace Demon.]

[You have received a memory: Midnight Shard.]

[Your sword grows sharper.]