23 Chapter 22

After my little skirmish against the few dozens of scavengers. Our team of four sleepers continued its trip along the many thorny and rough paths of the labyrinth. Though it wasn't easy, it wasn't that hard to get through them when they have a tank like me.

However, I wasn't the only OP one in our team. There was Nephis with her smooth and skilled swordsmanship skills that was way better than mine. 

There was also Sunny with his stealth. He was practically going in and out of shadows like a ghost, surprising our enemies multiple times with his precise, timed strikes. It was truly impressive considering he hasn't had any training with swords. Meaning he was absolutely inexperienced. 

While Cassie was.....

Well to be honest… She was useless.

I mean what did we even expect from a blind girl?

For her to fight nightmare creatures one rank above hers?

Certainly not.

That's why she's lucky she met us. Otherwise the other sleepers would've just left her to die in a ditch somewhere or just used her as bait for luring or getting away from nightmare creatures.

If I had a guess. I bet it's the latter.

As for how Cassie herself felt about her circumstances was a mystery. The moment I killed all of those scavengers. Cassie has been quiet ever since. Only answering when she was talked to. Although sometimes her body would flinch or freeze when we encountered nightmare creatures. Other than that, there was no sign of a flicker of emotion on her pale face.

As for how we transported a blind person through the atrocities of the dream realm?

Easy. Get a memory that is in the form of a golden rope and could extend it's length for quite an amount of distance.

And it came from non-other than Nephis who thought it could be of help.

It was.

No really, it helped us out immensely.

Cassie tied one end around her hand. While the other end was tied around mine or sometimes Nephis when I had to take care of a number of nightmare creatures that they couldn't handle just by themselves.

Basically my role in this team was the tank, the trump card, and the main fighter. As for the other roles. It was filled in by Sunny and Nephis.

And Cassie was just Cassie…..

Damn, her worthlessness just gets worse and worse to the point that I feel bad for her.

I looked up to the sun lost in my thoughts when Nephis's smooth voice reached my ears….

"-What do you think Ariel?"

"Huh?"

I tilted my head at her rather direct question "Think about what? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about whether we just find a place for today to hide and rest until morning or just risk it for the statue."

Nephis pointed her finger towards a tall, humongous statue in the distance, it was adorned in shining white armour. With Seven brilliant shining stars carved into its chest plate. Its hand was clasping a pristine, sharp gargantuan silver sword that was pointing into the ground.

It looked royal and graceful. Something that should not be looked at with mortal eyes.

Except its head was sliced of cleanly. Leaving in its place a flat surface of rock that seemed harmless and habitable to live on.

'Ah right, the statues of the heroes. There were seven of them in total. And all of their heads were severed off. They were seemingly forgotten in the history of this place, even when they were depicted in murals and ancient texts, there was no mention of neither their face nor their name. As if they just disappeared from existence.'

'And this one is the statue of the Knight. There is also the Priestess, the Hunter, the Builder, the Lord, the slayer, and last but not least. The Stranger.'

'In the dark history of this place. It was rumoured that the seven heroes were born or came from the all-consuming darkness. They eventually formed an army or organisation called Starlight legion. With every hero having their own personal factions. They all swore to rid the world of the all-consuming darkness with their legion.'

And they spectacularly failed.

What a bunch of idiots. No, more precisely. What a bunch of Memorable idiots.

The statue was our goal for the day. To reach its neck and rest there for the night, to see where we will be going to in the future.

I nodded at Nephis without moving my eyes from the statue "We won't stop. We have to reach there before the sun sets, otherwise we will be set back by a few hours…. And who knows if we'll find a good hiding spot to rest in. So yes we're not stopping, so get your asses in full gear and let's run."

Everyone nodded firmly, likely thinking the same thing as me. While I walked towards Cassie and surprised her by lifting her up into a princess carry.

She yelped before tightly gripping my neck. And burying her face into my chest.

I received the strange looks from both Nephis and Sunny with a grin on my face….

"Shall we?"

......…..

It took us nearly an hour and a half to bulldoze through the labyrinth to our destination. I was like a multi-tasked monster that never stopped running. With one hand holding Cassie's body while the other one gripped the sharp sword tightly.

I was slicing down any nightmare creature that appeared in our way while Nephis and Sunny flanked both my sides, holding back incoming enemies from reaching us. Although they had a bit of a difficulty doing it. They managed to hold on well despite being one rank weaker, which again, was commendable.

When we reached the foot of the statue, the sky was already dark with only a shimmer of sunlight remaining. Which made me act that much quicker with more tension. However I wasn't worried about myself, I was worried about the person hanging onto my body. Her eyes was closed out of fear and trepidation.

I whispered in her ear lightly "Hold on tightly."

Which only prompted her to wrap her hands around my neck with a death grip.

I craned my neck up to stare at the tall, monumental figure of the statue with a firm resolve on my face as I began climbing with a speed comparable to a monkey climbing a tree.

Smoothly putting my hands In indented cracks of the statue and jumping up a few meters each time…..

But there was also a golden rope wrapped around my neck, slightly tilting it due to the body weight of the two people beneath us.

Yes you've guessed right, I was also dragging up a limping sunny and Nephis who were hanging in the air like dead corpses with just my head. They were heavy but it wasn't something I couldn't handle.

After a while of climbing the mountain of a statue. I finally arrived at the flat surface before putting down Casssie and focusing on the two dead-beats by pulling them up with the rope.

It took a few minute to get them up to the neck of the statue. And the price for that was an uncomfortable, strained neck throbbing that stopped a second later, probably due to my aspect or attribute.

And then a rumble rang out throughout the whole region as Black Sea water started rising up from god knows where, eventually reaching the base of the neck of the statue. Its surface calm and soundless.

I heard some shuffling while I was staring into the blank dark sky. It was Cassie crawling towards me before reaching me and immediately cuddling up to me. Purposely pressing her warm body against mine, sending me into a relaxing high that I welcomed with open hands.

She also began to run her hands through my hair softly and gently as I smiled a genuine smile…..

"You don't hold back when comforting people do you?"

Cassie returned her own beautifull smile as she stated in a warm tone "This is just my way of thanking you for taking care of me Ariel. For being such a wonderful person and friend."

I felt my cheeks heating up a bit at her compliment "You sure do know how to give compliments."

Cassie giggled as she continued her caresses….

"It's the least I can do."

A/N: Sorry guys for not uploading yesterday. I had to go through like ten lectures for the midterm exam, so here's a ch. and thanks for the support.