Chapter 1373 Counting Echoes

Chapter 1373 Counting Echoes

The word hung in the air, both ominous and strangely familiar. Sunny frowned and studied the remains of the crude weapon. Finally, he asked:

"The Drowned? We have never met abominations like that."

Which, of course, meant that they had. Nephis nodded. "Yes. A group of them attacked the Chain Breaker once... Drowned Outcasts, that was what the Spell called them. They weren't too powerful, apart from the depth dweller that arrived with them."

Cassie shook her head somberly. "The Outcasts are the dregs of their kind. Most Drowned are much more dangerous. They are... a special tribe of Nightmare Creatures here in Ariel's Tomb. No one really knows where they come from, but many believe that the Drowned were humans, once. They hunt in groups and herd true horrors of the depths to use as war beasts. Most troublesome of all, all of them possess at least a rudimentary level of sentience... they follow strange rituals, too."

Nephis frowned. "I'm sure we will manage. Unless there are titans or Great Ones among them, the three of us should be enough to deal with these Drowned."

The blind girl remained silent for a few moments. "That is true. Although the trace of the Drowned is bad news, they're nothing we can't handle. I am concerned about what their presence here represents, though." She turned to face the ruined temple and gritted her teeth. "These abominations are very territorial. They constantly battle with other Nightmare Creatures, and leave signs to avoid the waters where truly powerful foes dwell. The fact that the Drowned are here, on the island... means that they have accepted the sybil as their ruler."

Cassie paused, then added with a dark expression:

"Which means that she has become a Tyrant, at least. Only those have enough authority to make the Drowned submit to them."

Sunny let out a sigh. 'So... a Corrupted Tyrant, then.'

"Don't even think about it!"

Hearing Sunny's hiss, Fiend flinched and turned away from the clockwork swordsman with an innocent look, as if the thought of gobbling up Cassie's Echo out of spite never crossed his gluttonous mind. 'I can't believe it. This fool is really getting out of hand!'

Shaking his head, Sunny turned to Nephis. She was the only one of them who did have anything to summon... of course, that was only because Changing Star had always given the Echoes she earned away to someone else. Even now, two of Cassie's three had come from Neph. It was a bit sad, though, for her to look like an impoverished noble when compared to Sunny and Cassie.

Feeling his gaze, Nephis shifted slightly and stared back. "What?"

Sunny shook his head. "No, nothing."

At that moment, the sword wraith laughed. "Doesn't have anything to summon? Fool... why would she need to? She already has a mighty Shadow following her around, ready to satisfy her every whim. That's you. You're her Echo. So, in a way... Nephis has four, while Cassie has three. You, on the other hand, don't even qualify to be compared to them."

The Sin of Solace paused, then added with a smile:

"Ah, don't forget that it was the blind traitor who turned you into an Echo, to begin with..."

Sunny's face twitched. Cassie, meanwhile, scowled and started walking toward the temple. "Come on. We should finish her off before night comes."

He gritted his teeth and followed, furious at the fact that the apparition's words had gotten to him.

Approaching the breach in the wall of the crooked temple, the small, but extremely powerful cohort of Masters, Shadows, and Echoes dove into the sinister darkness.