Shadow Slave: Night Haunter

Five months after winter solstice, a battered humans appeared from the sea of crimson coral on headless statue and approached a magnificent white arch.

Against all odds, Konrad had escaped the underworld and survived the journey to the Dark City.

…If only barely.

Looking north from the top of the marble arch, Konrad saw the distant grey wall. His gaze lingered on it, full of exhaustion, triumph, and dark exhilaration.

Finally, He had finally reached it, the Dark City.

The past five months had been an endless bloody nightmare, with countless horrors and battles leaving their marks on him. And yet, they had also been an anvil against which he was tested, tempered, and made stronger as the result.

Konrad didn't have a mirror, but was sure that his appearance changed a lot. He could just feel it. He was more mature and stronger than ever.

From a distance, Konrad looked like warrior clad midnight blue armor with gold. A grinning white skull [Grinning Trophy] embedded by gold on the chest plate, wielding a zweihander. Long black hair covering his face, unhealthy pale skined which haven't had a bit of sunlight, a childish, now more mature and a pair of dark eyes like abyss, old, sinister and malevolent.

Konrad rested for sometime. Then he moved. He scouted the area and killed a carapace scavenger and took it's meat. He spent the night on the marble arch and next day he started traveling towards the Dark City.

A day later, Konrad was standing beneath the impregnable stone walls of the mysterious city. Behind them, the great chasm of the vast crater stretched to the horizon. He went to the other edge and looked around the city.

Somewhere ahead, the lone human bastion in this loathsome region of the Dream Realm awaited. It promised to give him a place to stay at and protect him from the true horrors of the dark sea.

The city wall was built from massive slabs of grey granite. Still wet from the cold touch of the cursed sea, the ancient weathered stones looked almost black. Despite the thousands of years that passed since the mysterious builders of the wall had disappeared into the fog of time, it still looked monumental and unassailable.

The joints between the granite slabs were barely wide enough to insert a narrow blade.

He reached the walls of the city in the evening, but there was still daylight left. He decided to climb the wall.

Climbing the wet granite was not an easy task, but they somehow managed. When there was nothing to use as a hold, Konrad resorted to using his swords by inserting them into the joints between the slabs. A few unpleasant cuts later, he found the right rhythm and made quick progress.

Enhanced by the consumed soul shards and, as well as the ruthless training regimen of the neverending battle for survival, his body was full of strength and endurance. He was at the peak of human physical ability. Pretty soon, he had reached be top of the massive wall and climbed over its edge.

Few minutes later, the sun also set behind the crimson spire.

Soon, the sound of waves crashing against stone informed them of the coming of night. Konrad stand against the battlements to see the scenery.

As the last rays of the falling sun colored the world in the shades of red, the cursed sea was surging out of the great crater. He watched as the distant statue of the beautiful faceless woman was slowly drowned by the darkness, until only her open hand remained above the waves. Then, he shifted his gaze and looked down.

The undulating black surface of the cursed sea stopped mere meters beneath the edge of the granite wall. It seemed as though he could almost touch it with his hand. On the other side of the stone barrier, the ruined city lay submerged in shadows, dozens of meters below the water level.

Trapped between the endless expanse of the dark sea and the vast emptiness of the ruins, the mighty wall seemed to be as thin as a sheet of paper. And yet, it silently withstood the crushing pressure of the black waves, serving as a dam that protected the city below from being erased by the terrible flood… just like it did for thousands of years.

This thought brought a sense of surreality to Konrad.

Konrad spent the night on this ancient, old, stubborn wall. The sun is just raising on the horizon. He was in good mood.

Looking down, Konrad tried to guess the height of the wall. It had to be sixty meters tall, at least — twice as high as the Awakened Academy defense barrier, which was constructed with the help of both modern technology and various Aspect Abilities. It's taller than the walls of that anime called attack on titians and shorter than the walls of Falcon Scott.

For a few moments, he wondered about the people who had erected this wall, the city behind it, and the giant statues that still stood lonesomely on the desolate shores of this cursed land. Their creations had withstood the onslaught of darkness and time, but the creators were gone.

He went back to looking at the dark city.

Beneath him, an expansive city lay in ruins. The beautiful stone buildings were broken and shattered, many of them turned into mere piles of rubble. There were no people walking along the wide streets, no clamor of voices to drive away the silence. Under the cold grey sky, the ruined city looked dead and mournful.

It was impossible to say what terrible disaster had happened here, but it was clear that it was not natural. Many of the collapsed houses were blackened by fire, with claw marks cut into the still-standing fragments of walls. Here and there, monstrous bones of ancient horrors protruded from the ground, telling tales of desperate battles that must have had taken place on these streets once, a long time ago.

Looking closer, Konrad felt cold sweat running down his back. There were strange shapes moving through the rubble, and even more hiding in the shadows. Seeing them filled him with an icy sense of dread.

The ruined city was teeming with Nightmare Creatures.

"There is… a vast, ruined city built of weathered stone. And there are numerous monsters wandering its streets. Just like my remember."

The tall city wall he was standing on was as wide as a road. It stretched endlessly in both directions, enclosing the vast ruins into a strangely perfect circle. Every so often, there were towers built into its impenetrable granite body, serving as bastions against potential enemies.

Who would have thought that one day this great barrier would serve not to repel the horrible monsters, but to keep the true horrors imprisoned inside?

But Konrad wasn't that interested in the wall. He wasn't even too interested in the monsters. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the tall hill towering above the ruins. On that hill…

"There is a magnificent castle standing on a hill in the middle of the ruins. It looks like… like something out of a legend. Its walls are built from radiant white stone, with tall towers and majestic spires piercing the sky. It stands above the city like a... a symbol of hope, the only thing in this hell that seems to be untouched by the darkness and… and."

He could see was the dark silhouette of a cyclopean tower that loomed above the world like an unholy spear made out of solidified blood. As soon as Konrad saw it, his heart was gripped by an unexplainable fear.

This was the Crimson Spire.

The feeling of horror it emanated was enough to make him never wish to gaze at it again. And yet, he wasn't able to look away. It was as majestic as it was dreadful.

Konrad smiled as removed gaze from the spire, back to the Bright Castle.

"Bright Castle, here I come."

Konrad scouted a route to the bright castle and started walking towards a tower to get to the ground. He made his journey through the dark city. Mostly relying on his clairvoyance. Using it he picked the safest route and avoided danger.

Hours later he reached the base of the Bright Castle...

Konrad is searching for a kind person who knows the general situation around here. He is new here after all. If they refused to answer...

Well, Konrad has his fist which are itching....