The group of sleepers had moved into the room where both Effie and Sunny had been living for the weeks before their departure. The chamber was ordinary, though strangely luxurious for the pce they were in. The group explored the pce with interest, but with a noticeable air of sadness. Even after all these months, getting over the death of their companion had been a difficult task, especially for Cassie and Nephis, even if they didn't show it.

  "That echo... can we really trust it?" – Caster began.

  "Is She and i'd say, seems more trustworthy than many other scoundrels I've encountered," – Effie replied, settling into the rge bed.

  "We don't know what she is, what she wants, or how she thinks. For all we know, she could turn around and kill us all from behind."

  At this, Nephis gave a small smile, but it was quickly suppressed before answering. – “It’s the actions outside the norm that have given us the opportunity to be here. A few more bold moves and we’ll end this… I assure you.”

  The group strengthened their resolve for the future and left the cathedral, preparing for the coming battle. Only Nephis paused for a moment, whispering a few words into the air.

  “Rest, Sunny, your nightmare is over.”

  As the colossal shadow of the crimson spire loomed over them, the world was changing, even if one of its puppets had disappeared; destiny was shifting.

  The next morning, Nephis’s group arrived at the outer encampment of the shining castle. The group of sleeping hunters greeted them with shining eyes, excited that not only had they returned safely, but that they now had a real chance to combat Gundalf’s tyranny.

  The pns proceeded quickly, just as they had hoped. Effie was arrested for an alleged murder, and Changing Star challenged the king himself to a duel to settle the dispute. The only problem, however, was the absence of a certain Echo.

  They had spent the entire morning waiting without a response, but in Cassie's own words, she was already there… watching over them all. The group wasn't sure if this made them feel better or worse, but the fight had begun.

  Gundalf's strength was as great as one could imagine, but his battle prowess gged behind Nephis's. It was only a matter of time before he managed to find a weakness in the armor and introduce a fearsome parasite into its system. Thus, with the blossoming of a bleeding flower, the king of the shining castle was dead.

  What followed was chaos. Gundalf's warriors and Changing Star's forces cshed in an all-out battle. The commanders cshed with members of Nephis's court, while Changing Star himself had fallen to the ground, seemingly immobilized. But the strangest occurrence may have been overlooked, for for a moment, it seemed as if Caster had tripped over a blind girl's mischievous rapier, only for the scene to be swallowed up by the chaos of battle the next.

  Aspect abilities activated, blood flowed, and sparks flew in every direction. The king was dead, and his subjects sought to recim his crown, but among them, the most grieved were not his generals, but his executioner.

  Haru, the hunchbacked assassin, threw himself at the unsuspecting sleepers in a fit of rage. Instantly, dozens were blinded for a second, leaving them vulnerable, but before the cruel executioner could y his cws on their necks, the shadows moved, and from the darkness, the figure of a fearsome knight sshed at the unsuspecting sleeper with his steel shield. The impact was deafening. Haru was thrown meters back, through the wall and sinking into the shadows; Saint followed him with cold calm. She didn't seem affected by the sleeper's skill in the least, as her shadow perception and traces of true darkness gave her enough to attack, something her opponent couldn't match.

  As shadows flooded the destroyed room, Haru was blinded for the first time. Enraged, he tried to escape or find his enemy, but his efforts were useless. With a single ssh, Saint's sword severed the head of the terrible executioner.

  < You have killed a sleeping human; your shadow grows stronger >

  The room fell silent, but the battle outside still raged. Saint wiped the blood from his bde in a single motion and continued his hunt.

  …

  The pza had become a battlefield, where Gundalf's remaining forces faced the experienced hunters on the outskirts. The battle seemed only just beginning, and the first victims were already being cimed. Curiously, it seemed that several of the most dangerous elements had disappeared. Seishan along with her maids they had retreated, the fearsome executioner Heru had been thrown far away by an unknown person, while the group belonging to the artisan faction escaped instantly.

  If Changing Star managed to defeat the remaining generals, their control could be called absolute... unfortunately, that wasn't so easy. Gemma and the others were too powerful to be overcome easily. Soon, the advantage slowly shifted to their side, but not quickly enough. Worried about the number of casualties, a temporary retreat appeared in Gemma's mind. Unfortunately, the executioner named Haru was unable to hold off a demon from the underworld.

  Like a blur of shadows and darkness, a whirlwind of shadows moved among the most powerful of Gundalf's forces, sughtering the defenseless sleepers with a single ssh. Gemma, noticing the fearsome enemy, halted her battle against Raised by Wolves and ordered a retreat, but before she could take more than two steps, darkness flooded her. Her vision was snatched from her, and the air seemed to thicken.

  Instantly, her heart was pierced by a sword. Gemma grabbed the bde instantly, trapping it against her flesh, then swung her own weapon in the direction of her assaint. But to her chagrin, her bde, which had been able to cut even fallen abominations, was stopped dead against a metal surface. Following this, the edge of a shield shattered her skull.

  Darkness flooded Gemma's mind, and the world fell silent. Within moments, the mightiest of the generals had fallen.

  The blood-stained battlefield was completely silent. The sleepers, shocked, stood motionless, watching as the mass of darkness retreated, leaving behind the mangled body of the mightiest of the generals.

  A cold fear was born in the hearts of the sleepers, as if they could not believe how everything had ended so quickly. It was Changing Star who brought them out of their slumber. Taking firm, confident steps, she advanced with a grace and delicacy unbecoming of that corrupt world.

  "This is over," She decred. Never mind that there were still other generals who might challenge her, never mind that any of them might reject her. For it was clear, like a star amid the darkness of that battered city, she provided something the shaken sleepers needed more than ever: hope.

  In this way, Changing Star had obtained her army.