'Crap, crap, crap...'
Sunny did not know what the creature pursuing them was, exactly. He had hoped that the possessed corpses were not the vessels of a single being, but instead separate abominations, akin to minions of a tyrant... but even if they were, there was obviously a way for them to share information.
He knew it because his hopes were being crushed right in front of his eyes.
If there was no way for the puppets of the Gate Guardian to share knowledge, then he could have pretended to be oblivious to their presence and bought some time. But the seven taken Masters were all seemingly aware that Sunny could tell what they were.
They slowly started to move. At first, their movements seemed inconspicuous, but it quickly became apparent that they were encircling those Ascended who remained human.
There were eerily human smiles brightening their faces.
On one side, there were seven possessed corpses with the power of a Great abomination.
On the other side, there were Sunny, Nephis, Kai, Effie, Jet, Seishan, Morgan, and eleven more unaffected Masters.
Morgan had three Transcendent Echoes left. Seishan had one.
Sunny had Saint and Nightmare.
...And Imp.
In fact, the scrawny goblin was the linchpin of their survival.
[Get everyone to come closer.]
Sunny had already explained the situation to Morgan and coordinated with the rest of his allies. Their only chance to survive was to run... but escaping from the ring of possessed corpses seemed impossible.
Nevertheless, they had to try.
Knowing what to do, Morgan calmly looked at the eleven Ascended who had not been taken by the Gate Guardian yet and called:
"You there! Come here. I have questions about our rations and water reserve... you, too. How many tents can we make from that hide?"
The Masters left what they had been doing and walked over. By that time, even they started to notice that something strange was going on.
One group of people was standing in the center of the hollow tower. The other group had spread out, surrounding them.
The ancient steel was groaning as it was assaulted by the wind.
'That is all. There are also three Ascended outside... but only two of them are human.'
"Lady Morgan? What, uh... what is going on?"
The human Masters seemed confused.
Meanwhile, the other humans were slowly shifting, assembling into a loose battle formation. Their weapons were already in their hands.
Sunny was the only one who remained motionless.
What was the point of trying to fight seven Great abominations?
'It's almost time... I just need a few seconds!'
Morgan looked heavily at her subordinates, then said evenly:
"Come closer."
They glanced at each other, then hesitantly took a few steps forward.
At the same time...
The smiling corpses took a step forward, too.
"Kai, now!"
Sunny's shout was drowned out by the groan of twisting metal.
And then, that groan was drowned out by Kai's voice.
The handsome archer only spoke one word, but it enveloped the space within the hollow tower entirely, echoing in its dark expanse:
"Stop."
'Argh... hell...'
Sunny had never been on the receiving end of Kai's Ascended Ability - or rather, he had never been the subject of its negative influence. His friend usually used the power of his voice to inspire soldiers and ignite their desire to fight, win, and survive.
But that was not the only thing he could do.
Nightingale's true power was to compel living things and bend them to his will.
When Kai had commanded everyone to stop, it was as though the world itself froze.
Sunny was still able to move thanks to his impressively high mental defense, but it was as though a mountain had fallen on him... it was not physical weight, though. Rather, it was incredibly hard to remember why he wanted to move, in the first place.
With some effort, he managed.
The others were similarly affected, resisting the command with varying degrees of success.
Even the seven corpses stumbled. However, they shook off the effects of the command almost instantly... still, it bought Sunny the couple seconds he needed.
Because at that moment, the whole tower suddenly shuddered...
And collapsed.
There was a deep groan of tearing metal, a shrill screeching noise, and then wind and light flooded the interior of the steel finger.
That was because Imp had gnawed through the outer layers of the tower, of course, going most of the way around it.
Sunny had summoned the gluttonous goblin immediately after noticing the lookouts of the survivor group. While he was greeting Effie, talking to Morgan, informing her of danger, and observing the seven vessels of the Gate Guardian slowly surrounding them, the Ravenous Fiend was busy stealthily eating through the exterior of the steel finger.
And just then, the tower finally couldn't support its weight and toppled.
The cool shade filling its interior was instantly torn apart by blinding sunlight.
...But plenty of shadows remained.
Calling upon them, Sunny instantly manifested dozens of dark tentacles. Some of them wrapped themselves around the bodies of those corpses that had not been buried under countless tons of steel, only to be instantly destroyed.
This was just a distraction, though.
The rest of the shadow tentacles grabbed the humans, and unceremoniously tossed them out of the way of falling metal, into the merciless heat of the desert.
At the same time, a whirlwind of sparks manifested into Transcendent Echoes, who threw themselves at the abominations. Everyone used their own means to slow the enemy down.
There were screams, there was noise. There was an explosion of white flame, and the sharp sound of the air being cut by countless blades. Blood spilled.
Falling onto the white sand, Sunny rolled and jumped to his feet.
"Run!"
Most of them had made it out of the tower, but five out of the eleven Ascended that Morgan had called were nowhere to be seen.
The white dunes around them trembled, and then exploded, and a vast cloud of sand covered everything in sight.
Kai held Effie's hand as he soared into the air.
Nightmare appeared out of the darkness, rushing toward Jet.
Morgan had her own mount, which looked like a horned destrier made of steel.
...Sunny found himself near Nephis.
Without thinking about what he was doing, he grabbed her tightly... And stepped through the shadows.
An instant later, the two of them appeared a few kilometers away, in the shadow of a tall dune.
He had pulled her with him into Shadow Step.
Sunny stared at Nephis with a startled expression, and she looked at him with wide eyes.
"What... what was that?"
He opened his mouth, then froze for a moment.
"That, uh... I just thought that it might work. What would you know? It did."
Sunny couldn't bring other living things with him when he stepped through the shadows, but his Aspect had already shown that it treated Nephis as an extension of him in certain instances. Or rather... it was more like it treated Sunny as an extension of Nephis.
They were connected by Shadow Bond, which meant that their souls were bound together. Sunny didn't have to like it...
But it would be foolish not to use it.
Nephis looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
She looked at him some more and added:
"You can let go of me now."
Sunny smiled crookedly.
"Oh, but I really can't."
Just then, a black steed jumped over the dune and rushed down its slope. Jet shouted from Nightmare's back as they flashed past them:
"Move! They're following!"
Burning through his essence, Sunny sighed, and then pulled Nephis back into the shadows.
