8 Coral Labyrinth

"The hell?"

Looking down, Sunny blinked to make sure that what he saw wasn't an illusion.

The sea seemed to be receding.

Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the water level was dropping. The circular stone formation he had been taking shelter on used to barely protrude out of the waves, but now there were meters and meters of wet rock between him and the restless surface of the sea.

As the sun climbed up, the monstrous ebb tide continued. Soon, Sunny found himself standing on the edge of a tall cliff, with a hundred-meter drop separating him from the churning waters. Beneath him, the rock formation broadened and changed shape. However, from his vantage point, it was hard to determine what that shape was, exactly.

At that time, the dark surface of the water began to be punctured here and there by sharp crimson blades. As it dropped even further, it was as though a crimson forest was slowly rising from the black depths. The "trees" were made of something resembling coral, growing chaotically into each other and stretching toward the sky.

They were colossal in size, with irregular protrusions entwining and merging together, looking monumental and eerie in the black and red reality of the sunlit void. The labyrinth formed by this strange reef stretched as far as Sunny could see, broken here and there by protruding cliffs, sudden chasms, and distant natural features.

Half an hour later, utterly shocked, Sunny stared down and realized that the sea was completely gone. If not for the black seaweed left hanging on wet rocks and scarlet pillars of coral, he would even doubt if it was ever there.

His small circular island had turned into the peak of a strange, towering, irregularly shaped cliff. Looking down, he felt his head spinning.

By then, the night had already fully retreated, letting morning finally take its place.

A strange smile graced Sunny's lips as a single thought passed through his mind, 'Interesting…'

***

The labyrinth was vast and multi-layered, making Sunny's head hurt after multiple fruitless attempts to memorize the layout of the nearest pathways. In the end, he sent the shadow up, forcing it to climb on top of the crimson forest and start jumping from one sharp coral blade to another — knowing full well that he himself would not be able to do the same.

Soon, he circled the strange cliff and froze, startled by the sight of what was happening in its shadow.

There, the corpse of the giant shark-like creature that had briefly pursued him the previous night was lying on the ground, the pillars of coral around it shattered and broken.

More precisely, half of it was there, with grotesque innards spilling out of the terrible wound and stretching far away into the distance. The other half was gone, as though it had never existed.

Around the corpse, hundreds of smaller monsters were scurrying, tearing away and devouring its flesh bit by bit. Each of them was about two and a half meters tall, looking like a weird mix of a demonic crab, a centaur, and a nightmare.

They had four pairs of long, segmented legs that ended in scythe-like protrusions. At the front, a human-like torso was protruding from the carapace, also clad in thick chitinous armor. The head, if it was even the appropriate word, was situated directly on top of the torso, with no neck in between. It had two narrow eye slits and a viscous-looking mouth with several slimy mandibles. Instead of hands, the monsters had two enormous pincers.

Currently, they were all using those pincers to tear off chunks of meat off the desiccated corpse and stuff them into their mouths. From time to time, a fight for an especially juicy piece of meat would break out, ending up in a few monsters being torn apart and quickly devoured by the victors.

'Awakened Beasts…'

Sunny's eyes gleamed with excitement as he examined the prey.

Most sleepers wouldn't stand a chance against these beasts, but for Sunny who had fought and killed numerous awakened they were little better than punching bags. 

Changing his perspective back to his body, he glanced down at the ground far below him and licked his lips.

'It seems I finally get to do something fun…'

***

Sunny had to thank Wilderness Survival classes once again since he had been taught the basics of rock climbing as well. Teacher Julius was adamant about giving his student a crash course in all possible forms of traversal. Additionally, Sunny had already scouted the optimal way down and memorized the best holds and indentions to grab onto with the help of his shadow.

Soon, his feet finally touched the ground.

Despite the fact that leaving the safety of the headless statue was going to put him in considerable danger, Sunny instantly felt his mood improving. Remaining passive for the last couple of days did not suit his character well. Now, even if his plan were to end in failure, at least he was going to go down doing something that he had decided to do.

Trying and failing was better than not trying at all.

The black mud was deep enough to slow him down, but not to the extent he had been afraid of. With some practice, Sunny was soon able to walk at an acceptable speed. What's more, as long as he stuck to the shadows, his steps were light and silent, producing no squelching noises from the mud.

He headed for one of the paths that were supposed to lead him to the distant hill and entered the cool shade of the crimson labyrinth.

Immediately, a strange feeling enveloped his mind. It was as though the world beyond the labyrinth did not exist anymore, and all that was left were its twisting, dark paths.

'This thing almost seems endless.'

Shrugging off the uncomfortable feeling Sunny sent his shadow to find some monsters and ventured further into the labyrinth aimlessly. Making sure to memorize his path so he could return to the platform if the dark sea ever came back. 

'It probably will.'

But despite looking everywhere except for the transcendent carcass itself, Sunny's stroll went unhindered as he encountered a grand total of zero abominations, and boredom started to seem into his eyes.

'Should I head back?'

Although he didn't have a clock, he could tell that it had already been a few hours since he entered the labyrinth and if he didn't start making his way back soon, he might have to try and traverse the labyrinth during the night, Something he wanted to avoid.

'Just a bit longer.'

The shadow moved ahead of him, not meeting any hurdles. Sometimes it would climb high to scout the direction of different paths, allowing Sunny to choose the optimal route most of the time. However, he still had to backtrack a considerable distance once or twice, ending up either in a dead-end or on a path leading in the wrong direction.

Despite that, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

And, because of the complete absence of nightmare creatures thus far, Sunny started growing lax and lowered his guard. Subconsciously he turned mind away from his surroundings and started to think about his companions from the Academy.

Particularly a certain blond.

'I wonder if she's still aliv-'

He froze and his instincts screamed at him.

Before he could even react, the mud directly in front of him was suddenly overturned.

'Shit!'

In the next moment, a massive pincer shot out of the ground and tore through the air, threatening to cut his body in half with one crushing strike.

— — — — — — —

End of Chapter.

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