This close to the Tear, the Nightmare Creatures were much more dangerous and vile. Sunny and the Abyss Watchers were currently on the island he had visited before — the one with dozens of stone towers laying in ruins, overgrown by moss, and monstrous worms hiding underground.
They had just fought off a swarm of them, and were now approaching the edge of the isle. Soon, the sight of the gargantuan chain stretching into the distance opened to them, and they heard the sound of rusty metal scraping against ancient iron on the wind.
The Abyss Watchers froze and stared at the distant Shipwreck Island... and the corpse of the metal giant that was entangled in the remnants of a broken chain, swaying slowly above the dark abyss of the Sky Below. They were as stunned by this forlorn visage as Sunny had been when he first saw the mangled remains of the steel colossus.
After a while, one of them said:
"That wound in his chest… what kind of force could have shattered such a creature? And his arm… we saw it already, didn't we?"
Sunny didn't respond, since the question wasn't directed at him, and thus his Flaw remained silent.
Another Fire Keeper lingered, then asked in a curious tone:
"Maybe we should climb down and investigate, after taking control of the island?"
Sunny glanced at her, then shook her head.
"I wouldn't recommend that. You think the monster in the wreck is bad? The being that dwells on the dark side of the island is much, much worse. Believe me. And that giant is within it's reach. In fact, I think that it uses him as bait to feed on the Chain Worms… those are Fallen Demons, by the way, and of a very nasty variety. They're just candy to that thing, though."
The Abyss Watchers turned their attention to the underside of the Shipwreck Island, which was shrouded in darkness. Their faces turned solemn, and after a while, one of them asked:
"But what is it?"
Sunny shrugged.
"I have no idea. I only saw the tip of it's root. That is why I am still alive, most likely… if I saw the whole thing, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
After that, everyone remained silent. Sunny used that time to take another look at the two tall pillars that rose into the sky from the ancient stone structure on the other end of the chain.
Now that he knew that the ancient ship had been a flying one, the purpose of these pillars became clear, too.
They were wharves… or rather, mooring masts. The flying ship had to dock to something, after all, when it was not braving the vast expanse of the sky.
That made him think… there were several such pillars on the island, which suggested that Noctis had not been the only one in possession of a sky vessel in the ancient past. Maybe flying ships were how all the inhabitants of the Chained Isles traveled across the chasms of the Sky Below.
That made sense, really. The chains themselves were not exactly convenient roads, it's just that the Awakened used them for that purpose.
But how had the captains of the flying ships dealt with the Crushing? Or had there been no such curse on the Chained Isles before Hope escaped from its bonds?
His thoughts were interrupted by the loud rattling of the heavenly chain.
The Shipwreck Island was descending.
The Abyss Watchers looked at each other, expressions of grim acceptance on their faces. Sparkle, on the other hand, casually pulled out a deck of cards, the flower tattoo near her collarbone disappearing. The edges were sharp.
"Whoever has the most kills gets a raise~"
Suddenly, the Abyss Watchers began to brim with energy.
'We're paying them? Since when?'
Sunny shook his head in disbelief, stretched his neck, then summoned the Cruel Sight.
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 it's 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 Abyss Watchers had already summoned their weapons and were prepared for a fight. The faces were calm, cold concentration burning in their eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Sunny saw a couple of them grin in avarice.
'Greedy bastards.'
…Maybe he shouldn't be saying that, considering what happened the last time he was here.
Sparkle started to push him away.
"Yeah, yeah, this place is super scary. Bye! Love you too~"
Sunny's face flushed in embarrassment. The calls and hollers in the background certainly weren't helping!
"They grow up so fast…"
"Some men die of thirst, while others drown."
"…That's enough poetry out of you."
"Effortless, really. He didn't even do anything!"
"Some men die of thirst, while others—"
"You already said that!"
Sunny scowled, but resisted the urge to tell everyone to shut up. He looked towards Sparkle, who wore a sly grin.
"Whatever. Just don't die."
Sunny hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the members of the cohort as they were engaged in lively banter. The corners of his lips twitched.
"…Give them hell."
One of them laughed.
"I feel like this place is already enough of a hell."
Sunny shrugged, turning around. Before he stepped into the shadows, he left them with a few words.
"You know what they say. Two negatives make a positive… or something. I've never went to school, so you guys figure that out."
How did that even work?
Sighing at the questionable nature of mathematics, Sunny dived into the shadows. Safely hidden in their dark embrace, Sunny observed as the Abyss Watchers 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 Abyss Watchers did not wait for the first one to lunge at them, and launched an attack themselves.
Shakti, an Awakened 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 it's 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 Abyss Watcher 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 Abyss Watchers, but at that moment, Kaor — one that specialized 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 Abyss Watchers held their formation, but only just barely. The young men 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 Abyss Watcher 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 Abyss Watcher 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 Sparkle's back.
…And then, there was Sparkle herself. Who had turned out to be the most deadly of them all.
She wielded a deck of bladed cards, sharpened into paper weapons. As she fought, the cards stretched into different shapes — swords, axes, spears, and even a bat. At the same time, she used them as ranged weapons, throwing knives that were exceptionally sharp and somehow always returned to her.
Each card — all twenty-two of them — brought different effects. One of them ignited a puppet into a burning pyre, while another caused one to grow feral and attack it's own. One seemed to deal damage that was invisible, soul damage, and another simply held catastrophic strength.
Then, there was the flying rapier that dashed through the Sailor Dolls — Quiet Dancer. It zipped from different ends of the battlefield, controlling the fight as Sparkle saw fit.
Soon, the Abyss Watchers had dealt with the first wave of the Sailor Dolls. But the second, larger one was already approaching.
Before it could reach them, though, Sparkle grabbed Quiet Dancer, looking down at the ground.
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.