Shadow Slave

In the end, none of the forty colossal ships had been lost. Some received moderate damage to their hulls, but the high compartmentalization and the rugged engineering of the war vessels prevented them from going down.

As the fleet escaped the vast blot of black water, it continued moving south without ever slowing down. In fact, the reactors were sent into a controlled overload to enhance the speed of the convoy even further and quickly increase the distance between it and the latent danger.

As the battered ships cut the waves, thousands of crewmates were assigned to repair brigades that started patching up the torn sections of the hulls. None of them paid any attention to the fact that the fleet was still in transit, hinting that this precarious type of work was not new to them.

The rows of cannons were checked and reloaded. New missiles and torpedoes were slotted into the empty nests. The wounded were moved to infirmaries, and the dead were given burials at sea. Despite the frightening scope of the battle, not too many humans had lost their lives.

Things could have been different if the the Awakened of the House of Night had not acted so swiftly.

A few days later, Sunny was resting in the officer's lounge of the scarred battleship as he chatted with Master Naeve. Since there were no other Ascended stationed on the vessel, the two sometimes kept each other company.

"...So, anyway, the giant just whacked the creepy skull with his hammer. Boom! Let me tell you, at that moment, I was glad that my pants were already wet. I don't know if that thing died or not, but it did not bother us after that."

The scion of the great clan looked at him with an amused expression.

"The dark sea of the Forgotten Shore has to be a Great Titan then, at least."

Sunny shrugged.

"That is what I think, as well. But who can say for sure? That whole place is weird."

He hesitated for a moment, and then asked:

"Do you think that it is connected to the black water? What is that thing, anyway?"

expression dimmed a

and in the Dream Realm. It is one of the more prominent hazards in the Stormsea. Some think that it is a type of Nightmare Creature, some

his

avoid it. The Black Water is not really sentient, so hiding from it is not too hard. It's just that this convoy is too damn large. There are too many souls, too many Awakened. Their scent attracted it, as well as all the abominations that

Master thought for

don't think that the Black Water is the same as the dark sea of the Forgotten Shore, though. They seem similar on the surface, but that sea of yours is much more vast and powerful. It is a miracle that you and your friends managed

glanced at Naeve

Countless thousands of young men and women had died on the Forgotten Shore across two decades to uncover the secrets that eventually allowed us to seal the Dark

cohort, the members of the Dream Army… even Gunlaug and his lieutenants. If not for their contributions, Nephis

scion of the House of

you throw enough bodies at them. Hopefully, the Antarctica

no amount of bodies would have been enough to bury a problem

Sunny grimaced.

we reach

slightly

are good. If all goes

he leaned

mobilization in the

gave him a

best and the brightest that the government has to offer

The Nightwalker shrugged.

sure that the Legacy clans won't

Sunny frowned.

are interested in participating in the campaign. And while you guys are helping out, the House of Night is not going