"Professor, you're improving too fast. At this rate, you'll beat me in a game or two," I said.
"Hahaha, it's fascinating! I really like it," he replied, smiling, even though he had been losing for the past two hours.
"This game is weird. Why is the King the weakest piece? Shouldn't it be the strongest?" Sunny eyed the board suspiciously.
"Oh, Sunny, that's the best part of it!" Obel said excitedly. "Look at it this way—although the King is the weakest, he is the one who commands everything. It shows how each piece has an important role, and he must know how and when to use them."
Sunny didn't seem convinced, but before he could argue further, our communicators rang.
"Looks like our time here is over. Come on, Sunny, we're being called. Ah, and Professor, I'll leave this here—use it to pass the time," I said, pulling down my blindfold.
"How could I accept this? You should keep it," he insisted.
"It's a gift, and I doubt I'll have time to play in the coming weeks. Things are about to get hectic," I said before walking out of the room.
We stood on the wall, watching as a massive horde of Nightmare creatures swarmed below.
"Stay put. We'll only intervene if something appears that our weapons or Awakened can't handle," Jet commanded firmly.
"Understood."
It was a relatively mild battle—only requiring Dale's cohort to be sent out once to eliminate a Corrupted Demon.
But things were getting worse at an alarming rate. Over the past three days, we had been attacked two or three times as often as before. Most waves consisted of Fallen and Awakened, with a few Corrupted thrown in each time.
"The diviners say the Devouring Cloud will arrive today. Winter, get ready," Jet informed us.
Not even an hour had passed before the sky darkened, filled with thousands of flying abominations approaching.
Winter summoned her Memories, and Jet's cohort members began augmenting her however they could.
She soon loosed an arrow radiating such intense heat that I could feel it from several meters away. As it struck its mark, dozens of creatures were instantly incinerated, and the spreading fire continued to claim more. But the horde quickly dispersed, avoiding the flames.
They reached us sooner than expected, forcing us into combat on the wall.
"This is bad," I muttered.
"What is it this time?" Jet asked, slicing through the abominations.
"They're too coordinated—there must be a Tyrant commanding them," I said, removing my blindfold. "I see it, but it's too far from us."
"Get Queen to shoot it down," she ordered without hesitation.
I rushed toward Winter, who was being protected by Dale.
"Winter, there's a Tyrant in the middle of the cloud. Can you see it?"
"No, it's too far," she said after squinting for a few seconds.
"Then excuse me for a moment."
I stepped behind her, aligning my body with hers. Taking hold of her hands, I placed my face beside hers and transferred [Comet].
"What are you doing?" she asked, startled.
"I can see where it is, and you can shoot it. Let me guide you. Use the arrow I gave you," I said firmly.
Without another word, she summoned the arrow, nocked it, and drew her bow. I adjusted her hands slightly, aiming at the largest star-like glow within the cloud.
"There," I whispered.
She loosed the arrow instantly.
The sight was mesmerizing. The arrow left a glowing trail in the air, its head beginning to shine brighter as it soared forward. A few seconds later—boom!
"Did you get it?" I asked.
"Yes. It was a Fallen Tyrant," she confirmed, staring at me.
For a moment, our eyes met.
"Oh, your eyes are beautiful," I said teasingly, quickly releasing her.
"Huh?"
"Shit... there must be another one, but I can't see it," I muttered as the Devouring Cloud remained coordinated.
Before anyone could react, a thunderous crash erupted from below.
A gate had broken—directly beneath the wall—causing part of it to collapse.
"A gate just broke! Get down before the wall collapses!" Jet shouted, already falling with the debris.
Wasting no time, I started descending as fast as possible, preparing to hold the line against the incoming Nightmare creatures.