Sparks flew as the edge of her sword met her enemy's torso. She had already defeated most of the creatures, and only two remained standing, the lord and the stranger.

  Her enemies possessed strength to be reckoned with and a cooperation that reminded her of her own, but none of it was of much use against her. When she attacked, true darkness struck like a storm, while when she defended, shadows hid her from harm.

  Moving like a ghost among her enemies, her sword followed their lives in the blink of an eye, leaving her completely unharmed.

  Paying little attention to the murmurs of Weaver's creation, she plunged into the darkness once more, waiting for the next great battle.

  The shadows moved furiously, and the sun itself seemed to change color from a dull yellow to a somber orange. The nightmarish creatures ran rampant and soon feel powerless before this strange phenomenon, and only the sleepers, who had miraculously reached the shadow of the eerie tower, remained safe... if only for a second.

  The tower began to shake, and soon, brilliant, annihiting beams of light filtered from the ceiling. Everything was colpsing.

  Changing Star, without hesitation, ordered them to continue advancing with the guidance of the nightingale and the song of the fallen. Meanwhile, she would take care of any possible fallen terrors that dwelled in the chasm.

  Without giving her army a chance to reply, the entire event continued with intriguing fluidity, as if it were a story already told.

  In the end, only a shadow remained behind, carefully observing its surroundings. The happy, slightly impatient shadow separated from its mistress for a moment, looking longingly at the group of sleepers before returning its head to its mistress. She didn't flinch, standing firm for a moment, then advancing, not behind the sleeping army... but behind Shifting Star.

  …

  The tower crumbled by the moment, while the sun literally killed the world. But amidst all that chaos, Shifting Star continued to fight ferociously at the top of the tower. Perhaps he would win and return to his people, or perhaps he would die before his enemy. But that uncertainty couldn't be ignored by a certain man.

  Forging ahead resolutely, Caster tried to reach where the final battle was taking pce, just to ensure that the st heir of the immortal fme would remain buried in that dark wastend.

  He was a proud warrior. Raised from birth to be the best of his cn. Of course, every warrior in his cn had the same goal, but only he had stood out above the others. His reward: a deadly test to sy the st daughter of the immortal fme.

  Despite the danger, despite the weight of expectations, Caster wasn't upset. It was only natural for him to comply with his cn's demands. Of course, he wasn't happy about having to shoulder all that work without any fuss. But now he was different; he wasn't that inexperienced little sleeper from the academy. Aside from Shifting Star, he was the most powerful. And soon he would be the undisputed strongest.

  With Changing Star gone, his cn would receive the royal family's favor, and becoming a transcendent wouldn't be just an illusion. A small smile appeared on his lips, but it soon subsided. He knew that no matter how weakened Changing Star was, she wouldn't be easy prey, and being compcent now was no different than committing suicide. He would kill her and end it all.

  The young warrior advanced with grim determination, but before reaching his destination, he was abruptly stopped when the bde of a steel sword nearly severed his head.

  Wasting no time, the experienced warrior activated his skill, evading the fearsome bde with difficulty and counterattacking in the next instant. His sword sliced ??through the air, missing his enemy, and the pce seemed to grow quieter.

  “Show yourself at once, cursed abomination,” – Caster gritted his teeth, carefully observing any trace of his enemy, but it was the pain of his sshed flesh that gave any hint of a presence hidden in the shadows. The pce was silent, but soon, the shadows responded to his provocation.

  Activating his ability in succession, Caster blocked and countered a dozen attacks in a second. Only for the next moment to see the attack repeated endlessly. Counterattacking was a luxury, and escape was impossible.

  The battle was one-sided. His enemy never fully revealed himself, hidden among all the remains of the abandoned structure, attacking with a strength and power devoid of compassion. It was only thanks to his skill that he was able to avoid being killed instantly, but soon, the wounds inflicted accumuted, and one mistake was not forgiven.

  With a simple movement, the sleeper's heart was pierced, and his life ended. Without words exchanged or a spectator witnessing the end of the terrible combat.

  < You have killed a sleeping human >

  Saint emerged from the embrace of the shadows. A strange feeling of oppression weighed upon her, but it was dissipated in an instant, as if a gust of wind had crashed against a wall. But curiously, the former shadow of her master shifted uncomfortably.

  By this point, all the sleepers should have already crossed the strange portal located within the structure, but that didn't matter to her; she could safely say she wouldn't be able to cross to the other side like the others. So, she waited, peacefully watching in the direction where a white-haired young woman was slowly approaching. She looked battered, but her gaze burned with determination.

  The woman, Changing Star, stopped a few feet away, looking at her with a raised eyebrow at her strange new appearance, but her eyes finally fell on the sleeping corpse.

  “What a pity…”

  With those words, the prominent warrior leaned against the wall, looking tired for once.

  “You don’t want to have a final battle, do you?”

  Saint’s eyes sparkled with interest.

  “Just kidding” she cried, almost panicking. Changing Star sighed wearily. “It’s no use, unless you really want to kill me… or if your soul were susceptible to that damned restriction, I might as well have tried to leave you here, but… that’s impossible.”

  Neither of them spokes for a few moments, until a cheerful shadow detached itself from the silhouette of the fearsome statue and slowly approached the weary woman. The woman looked at her for a few moments, then pretended to push her shadow in a friendly gesture, before running away.

  Changing Star smiled.

  "Yes, it's best to leave."

  So, both the st princess of the immortal fme and the st daughter of the underworld abandoned the crimson spire, moving forward in a world where the sun had died.

  End of Volume 1: Broken Threads