Early the next morning, the seven sleepers decided to begin their journey after preparing the night before and discussing everything they needed.
The team division would be as follows: Uriel, Nephis, and Caster would act as the front line; Effie and Kai would serve as the second line; while Sunny would focus on scouting with his shadow moving ahead of them to detect any threats.
Finally, Cassie would act as their guide through the crimson labyrinth, leading them to the Hollow Mountains and the Underworld. For additional safety, Uriel had summoned his Dark Soldier, the Abandoned Knight, to act as a bodyguard against surprise attacks, along with the Echo of the Stone Saint—making a total of nine.
"We're being followed," Cassie said. "I can sense it."
Sunny frowned immediately and sent his shadow to scout. A few minutes later, he spoke with a hint of concern.
"It's a hunchbacked man, but he looks terrifying—gives me the creeps."
"That must be Horus," Caster said.
"You know him?" Nephis asked seriously.
"He's Gunlaug's executioner. During my stay at the castle, I saw him kill a man from the outskirts over an incident caused by Gunlaug's men that resulted in a young sleeper's death," Caster explained.
"What do we do?" Sunny asked.
"We just keep moving. I don't want to escalate the war by killing Horus now," Uriel said with a slight yawn.
"Hey, Darkness, I know you're strong, but... the reason he's Gunlaug's enforcer is that no one knows his Aspect. All we know is that if he comes for you, you're dead."
"I'm sure his Aspect is related to stealing senses or something like that. Anyway, we have plans, so let's move."
"Effie, we'll move through the catacombs. Since we destroyed the Lord of the Undead, it should be safe now."
Effie nodded.
"Alright."
Nephis, Sunny, and Cassie were confused but followed the cohort. Entering the ruins of a lighthouse, Effie summoned a radiant memory while Uriel brought out the torch he had taken from the cathedral basement where he found Weaver's Mask.
After jumping into the large hole connecting to the catacomb tunnels, the cohort advanced. Under the light of the luminous memories, they could see white, ancient bones that unsettled them slightly.
"Since when are there catacombs here?"
"They've been here for thousands of years," Effie said. "Hunters don't like mentioning them because no one is crazy enough to explore them—well, except Little Monster here. Those who tried... well, they died horribly," she said, pointing at Uriel, who picked up a bone hand curiously.
"That's offensive, Effie," Uriel said with a mock-offended face.
"But it's the truth."
"Can we get back to the fact that no one survives long here? Why?"
"Well, you'll see soon enough," Uriel said, making Sunny frown.
"Why are you holding a skull?" Kai asked.
"Curiosity. I want it as decoration for my room," Uriel said, puzzling Kai since he was telling the truth.
They traveled for at least three or four hours through long, misleading tunnels, but thanks to Effie, they never got lost.
The cohort descended deeper and deeper, seeing more bones scattered everywhere.
Finally, after descending further, they reached a damper area.
"Where are we now?"
"100 meters underground, beneath the city walls," Effie said.
"We need to pick up the pace before nightfall, or we'll drown."
"How much further to get out of this area?"
"Not much. Maybe another 200 or 300 meters ahead," Uriel said, tossing an apple to each of them.
"Where the hell do you keep getting apples?" Sunny asked.
"I'm also curious," Effie added.
"A magician never reveals his tricks," Uriel said, taking a bite as his eyes turned red in an instant.
Sunny blinked, remembering what Uriel had said about his Flaw a few days ago, and noticed the subtle changes—it was Shade now.
After resting for about 20 minutes, they continued their journey.
As Uriel had said, after ten minutes of walking, they reached an enormous chamber.
However, instead of a massive mountain of bones made from thousands of dead people, the entire chamber was filled with white bones scattered across the floor.
An enormous bone corpse lay shattered, its body cut in half by a devastating attack.
"Who could make an attack like that?" Sunny asked.
"Oh, I did that," Shade said, amused.
Effie, Caster, and Kai nodded.
Sunny looked at the corpse, then at Uriel, and blinked in disbelief. Even Nephis's eyes were wide with surprise.
"I said I killed a Fallen Tyrant, didn't I? Well, there's the proof. It was a tough opponent, but I was tougher in the end."
"These bones won't rise as zombies, right?" Sunny asked.
"Relax, they won't," Caster said.
"That thing was what controlled them. When it died, all its minions followed. Most were Awakened beasts, so we harvested thousands of fragments to saturate everyone's cores in the outer settlement," Uriel finished.
The cohort moved calmly until they exited the area, reaching the statue missing one of its hands.
The group advanced, emerging from the giant crater after a while, and entered the Crimson Coral.
Thanks to Uriel and his Echo, which cut through the webs with its sword, the group moved at a good pace until they encountered spiders.
Since the spiders were mere Dormant beasts, they were eliminated with methodical ease. After killing the last one, they continued their journey, with only a few minor skirmishes along the way.
When dusk arrived, they reached their destination: a huge marble arch rising over the Crimson Coral. This would be their resting place for the night.
"Are you sure this will be our stop for tonight?" Sunny asked, looking at Uriel.
"Yes. Only for the night," Uriel stated.
After Kai explored the top and reported no monsters, everyone began climbing, reaching the summit just as the Dark Sea began flooding the Crimson Coral. Soon, the world turned completely black, with water everywhere.
…
After everyone fell asleep, Uriel summoned the Aqua Pearl and placed it in his mouth. Moving away from the group, he dropped into the Dark Sea.
Once in the Dark Sea, he activated his innate ability, changing his body to give it merfolk-like characteristics, and began eliminating Awakened monsters and beasts.
'Do we really need to play diver? Are you looking for a bikini bottom?' Shade asked, amused.
Uriel summoned his sword, cutting through a two-meter-long dolphin.
'A little, actually,' Uriel replied.
'Besides, it's quite peaceful swimming here.'
'It is peaceful,' Shade agreed.
Uriel and Shade floated in the Dark Sea, watching marine beasts of all shapes and ranks. The Dark Mantle's Concealment enchantment made the beasts largely ignore them, though a few still attacked.
After some time, as the nameless sun began to emerge, Uriel left the Dark Sea and sat on the edge of the wall, starting to weave seaweed he had collected while his Dark Mantle repaired itself in his soul sea.
"Where were you?" Nephis asked.
"Were you awake the whole time?"
Nephis shook her head.
"No, I woke up a few minutes ago and didn't see you. So, where were you?"
"In the Cursed Sea, exploring for a bit. I have a memory that lets me breathe underwater."
Nephis seemed satisfied with that answer. Finally, Uriel finished weaving the seaweed into a crude but functional swimsuit.
Putting on the seaweed clothing, he dismissed the Dark Mantle, letting it repair itself in his soul sea as the first rays of light emerged over the Forgotten Shore.
Soon, everyone woke up.
"Hey, Uriel, what happened to your armor?" Sunny asked.
"And why are you wearing caveman clothes?" Kai asked, giving him a disapproving look for his fashion sense.
"One, it was too damaged, so I returned it to my soul sea to restore it. And two, it took me a lot of work to make this. I'm not very good at crafts," Uriel defended proudly.
Soon, everyone checked their own armor and noticed damage or dirt from the previous day's skirmishes, so they decided to do the same.
In the end, they were all half-naked. Uriel heard Shade joking about a beach episode in the latest anime chapters, which he agreed with.
Uriel took out monster meat he had stored, along with seasonings that greatly improved its flavor.
Uriel smiled, amused, as Sunny stared at Nephis and Effie before quickly looking away.
He observed Cassie, who, behind that blind, fragile-looking girl, was a warrior with great talent for swordsmanship. During one of their minor skirmishes, Uriel had seen Cassie move gracefully like a silent, deadly dancer on a battlefield.
Shifting his gaze from Cassie, he looked toward the Crimson Coral, ignoring the chatter and focusing on arguing with Shade about what kind of evil deity had created the platypus. Their argument grew so intense that it spilled into their mental space, creating a full courtroom with an audience, jury, and lawyers.
Uriel was snapped out of his argument with Shade when Sunny blinked several times.
"What is it, Sunny? I'm about to sue an idiot for millions," Uriel said.
Everyone blinked in unison before remembering the dark-haired boy's eccentric behavior.
"I asked what you'll do after becoming Awakened?" Sunny asked.
"Oh… Hmm, well. I guess I'll try to go home."
"To the outskirts?" Sunny asked.
"Not specifically, but if you mean the outskirts, then yes," Uriel replied without giving much detail. "Oh, and I guess go to a movie theater. I've never been to one and I'm curious."
"That's pretty simple," Effie said.
"What did you think I'd say?" Uriel asked.
"Something like charging off to kill a Titan solo or something," Effie said, amused, before frowning. "Never mind—you'd definitely do that."
"I'm not crazy enough to face a Titan. Well, maybe… possibly," he murmured, a smile forming on his face.
"Have you heard of Godgrave?"
"Isn't that a death zone?" Cassie asked, curious.
"Yes. I plan to go there in a few years, maybe after conquering my third nightmare, just for tourism."
"You really are insane. Really insane," Sunny said.
"I'm not insane; the world is insane," Uriel said, a mysterious air hitting everyone, making his words sound like those of a wise master.
…
A while later, Uriel blinked as he watched Kai, Caster, Cassie, and Sunny trying to move Effie in a tug-of-war. Effie won.
"Hey, Effie," Uriel said, switching with Shade.
"Let's have an arm-wrestling match," Shade said, taking out a large block from his Dark Vault to use as a table.
"Are you sure you want to challenge me, Little?" Effie asked with a mocking smile.
"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Shade asked.
Effie smiled, cracking her knuckles.
Cassie, Kai, Caster, Sunny, and Nephis watched curiously as Effie and Uriel took their positions, gripping hands tightly and placing their elbows on the block.
"Who do you think will win?" Kai asked.
"Lady Athenea will win," Caster said.
"Effie," Sunny said.
"I'm going with Effie," Cassie said.
"I bet on Uriel," Nephis said.
"Alright, begin!" Cassie said.
The five sleepers watched as the two opponents began exerting devastating force, their fingers sinking into the stone block, leaving deep marks.
At first, Effie had the advantage, but Uriel brought it back to a stalemate that lasted almost a minute until finally, the stone block couldn't withstand the pressure and shattered into several fragments, resulting in a technical draw. Since there was no winner or loser, no one won anything.
"You're really strong not to lose instantly," Effie said.
"Same to you, though my muscles hurt. I guess I can't participate in any other physical games," Shade commented.
Sunny smiled.
"Actually, I have an idea. Let's have another competition, but this time it'll be mental. And to make things interesting, there's a prize this time! The winner gets this!" He took out an Ascended soul fragment.
Everyone looked at it with interest except Nephis, who was meditating silently, apart from the group.
"What are the conditions?" Effie asked.
"It's simple. I'll give you a riddle, and the first one to solve it wins. What do you think?"
"Sounds boring. But fine, let's play."
Uriel listened as Sunny presented a version of the "liar and truth-teller" riddle.
Everyone failed until it was Cassie's turn, and she solved it easily.
"That was anticlimactic," Uriel said, taking a bite of an apple.
"Seriously, where do you get these apples?"
"Who knows?"
"Anyway, I have my own game—a simple one. It's a riddle. If you answer it, I'll give you this," Uriel summoned a sword. "It's an Ascended sword I got a while ago," he explained, piquing everyone's interest.
"What's your riddle?" Sunny asked eagerly.
"Alright, here's the riddle," Uriel said, smiling.
[A man lives on the 20th floor of a building. When it rains, he takes the elevator down to the 1st floor. When it doesn't rain, he only goes down to the 10th floor and walks the rest of the way. Why?]
Upon hearing the riddle, everyone fell silent, thinking it over, repeating it again and again, trying to find an answer.
"I've got it," Kai said.
"He only goes to the 10th floor because the other floors are under maintenance."
"No," Uriel replied. "You're out."
"He's afraid of full elevators and walks the rest of the way," Effie said.
"No, you're out."
Uriel saw that only Sunny, Caster, and Cassie remained.
"The building has two elevator zones: from 20 to 10 and from 10 to 1, and he prefers to walk the short distance when it doesn't rain," Sunny said.
"No. You're out," Uriel said, making the boy frown.
"The 10th floor is a technical floor, and the elevator stops for safety," Caster said.
"No, you're out."
Uriel looked at Cassie, who had been silent.
Cassie made a thoughtful noise before finally speaking.
"The man is short."
Her answer made everyone look at her.
"Congratulations, you got it right," Uriel said with a smile, transferring the memory.
Cassie summoned a straight sword with a blade about 100 centimeters long, single-edged, with a dark blue hilt.
Effie blinked with a bewildered look.
"What? That's it? The answer was a short man?" Effie said.
Uriel just laughed, amused.
"Cassie, how did you figure out the answer?" Uriel asked.
"Actually, the answer is simple. When it doesn't rain, he can't reach the button for the 1st floor because of his height, so he only goes halfway. When it rains, he uses an umbrella to press the button for the 1st floor. It's a really clever and deceptive riddle if you don't analyze it correctly," Cassie explained.
"I feel like an idiot," Sunny said, not having picked up on that piece of information.
Kai just shook his head, while Caster seemed thoughtful, and Effie didn't fully understand the answer.
"How did you come up with that riddle?" Cassie asked, returning the memory to her soul sea.
"Well, actually, a friend of mine invented it. He had a relative who was short and could never reach the button for the 1st floor without an umbrella," Uriel revealed.
After that, the day began to end, and some of the memories had repaired themselves, so almost everyone was wearing their clothes and armor again.
Uriel yawned and watched as Nephis and Caster moved away for a sparring match, followed by Sunny.
Uriel didn't mind and simply lay back, watching the sea of gray clouds above his head. In the background, he could hear the sound of metal clashing against metal at high speed.
When night fell on the Forgotten Shore, Uriel looked at the dark sky with an expressionless face before closing his eyes to sleep.