Because of the shadow fragments Sunny had absorbed in the last few days, the range of Shadow Control has increased a little. However, it was still far from being enough to explore deep into the labyrinth. He only got the general direction in which the two large monsters were moving.
They were going west.
After telling this to Nephis, there was pretty much nothing else for him to do. In the end, Sunny decided to simply rest â the next day was promising to be full of hardships and danger, so it was in his best interest to let his body recover as much as it could.
Some time later, Sunny was lying on his back, staring at the grey sky. Cassie was sitting beside him, lost in her thoughts. Nephis was meditating. At least, thatâs what it looked like: she might as well had been asleep, for all Sunny knew.
After a while, Cassie turned to him.
âSunny?â
He tilted his head to look at her.
âYeah?â
The blind girl hesitated.
âDo you⌠do you think weâll be able to return home?â
Sunny glanced at her and furrowed his brow. A few seconds later, he turned away and looked at the sky again.
âSure.â
Cassie smiled:
âYou really think so? Why?â
âWhatâs with all these questions?â
He sighed and tried to find the right words.
âBecause of her.â
He pointed at Nephis, knowing that Cassie wonât see it. There was no one else on the stone platform, though, so it was pretty obvious who he was referring to.
âIâm also not someone to die easily. In fact, Iâm willing to bet that you couldnât have found a better duo of Sleepers to escort you across the Dream Realm. If anyone can survive this, itâs us. So, yeah. I think that our chances of making it back are pretty high.â
Cassie suddenly giggled.
âArenât you a little too full of yourself? You were in the second to last place!â
Sunny shrugged.
âThatâs only because someone smart told me to keep a low profile. Otherwise, I would have ranked higher.â
Then, with a grin, he added:
âMuch higher! Third to last, at least!â
The blind girl couldnât help but laugh. The melodic sound of her laughter made Sunny feel much better â he had not heard anything like that ever since coming to the Dream Realm. It was nice to see that people were still able to preserve a bit of mirth even in this hellish place.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he heard Cassie laugh at all. Back in the Academy, she was always dull and bleak.
After this sudden outburst, Cassiaâs expression slowly turned wistful. A few seconds later, she asked:
âWhat do you miss the most about home?â
Sunny tried to think of something, but failed. He wasnât sure that he even had a home in the real world â the tiny room he had been renting previously was nothing but a temporary shelter from the rain. As for the real world as a whole, his life there wasnât that pleasant either.
Finally, he said:
âI donât particularly miss anything.â
Cassie was very surprised.
âReally? Donât you miss your family?â
Sunny smiled.
âI donât have a family. Well⌠I guess I have a sister somewhere. But we havenât seen each other in many years.â
âOh.â
The blind girl fell silent. Several seconds later, she said quietly:
âI miss my family the most.â
There was longing and sadness in her voice. Sunny didnât know what to say, so he stayed silent.
âMom and dad must be really worried about me right now. No⌠no, actually, they wouldnât be worried. They would be heartbroken. They must think that Iâm as well as dead already.â
Sunny glanced at her and sighed.
âYou seem to care about them a lot.â
Cassie turned to him in confusion.
âOf course. Isnât it normal?â
Sunny stared at the grey sky. The wind smelled of rain.
After a while, he said:
âI wouldnât know.â
***
In the evening, Nephis made Sunny perform the thousand strikes again. After that, they ate the last strips of dried scavenger meat and took turns sleeping, so that one of them could always keep an eye on Cassie.
Thankfully, nothing happened during the night.
When the morning came and the dark sea retreated, they prepared to leave the giant statue. Nephis was the first one to climb down. Before that, she had a few words to say:
âToday will be different from before. There will be much more scavengers roaming in the labyrinth. We might not be able to create an ambush or avoid fighting several of them at once.â
She looked at Sunny:
âIf anything happens, your job is to bring Cassie away. We can retreat by using passages that are too narrow for the scavengers. If we get separated, proceed to the high point by yourselves. Donât wait for me. Do you understand?â
With a somber expression, he gave her a nod. Nephis returned it.
âGood. Time is of the essence, so letâs go.â
With that, she began the descent. After Nephis reached a point twenty or so meters below them, she found purchase and waited. Using the golden rope, Sunny lowered Cassie down. Just like while climbing up, they took turns helping the blind girl. Luckily, climbing down the statue was much easier.
Soon, they reached the ground.
Entering the labyrinth, the trio moved forward with haste. The shadow was ahead of them, scouting for monsters and optimal paths. Despite that, their progress was slow and chaotic. They had to constantly change direction to avoid groups of scavengers, often ending up in dead ends or moving further away from their destination.
Sunny, who played the role of the scout and navigator, felt his brains slowly starting to boil.
At some point, however, they inevitably ended up in a situation where a fight was unavoidable.
There was a large group of scavengers at their heels, and a pair of them blocking the path ahead. Neither of the two groups had noticed the Sleepers yet; however, since there were no other passages to turn into, it was only a matter of time.
Nephis considered their options for a few seconds. There was a scowl on her face. Finally, she said:
âIf thereâs only two, we can take them.â
Sunny looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes.
âBut thereâs no time to set up an ambush.â
He wasnât quite sure how they could fight two scavengers at once. Despite how good of a teacher Nephis was, he only practiced with the sword for a day. Facing against a scavenger alone was risky.
Changing Star shrugged.
âItâs almost the same. Iâll attack first. You follow behind in the shadows and finish one off once they turn. Then, we kill the second one together.â
The whole plan was based on the assumption that Nephis could survive under the onslaught of two scavengers, both attacking her simultaneously. Sunny was very impressed by her prowess, but he wasnât sure that it was possible. There was a large probability that Nephis would die.
He still remembered that she wasnât present in Cassieâs first vision.