Shadow Slave

As the naval convoy moved closer and closer to Antarctica, Sunny had to accelerate his attempts to weave new and better enchantments into the Memories of his soldiers.

Although his rudimentary knowledge of sorcery was not nearly enough to create something truly powerful, he did manage to comprehensively upgrade the cohort's arsenal. Even if the modifications he had made were mostly modest, they were all targeted and suited the tasks facing the First Irregular Company.

While Sunny failed to make the Memories considerably stronger, he succeeded in tailoring them to the situation and, more importantly, to their users.

This was already enough.

Now, many of the Memories that his subordinates wielded looked rather peculiar to his eyes. If he were to touch them and peer deep inside, he would see strange weaves that combined the usual strings of ethereal light with the lightless threads made of shadow essence. The sight reminded Sunny of himself and Nephis.

And speaking of Changing Star…

A few days before the fleet reached Antarctica, the world was shaken by an emergency announcement transmitted by the government. Of course, the propaganda machine managed to present the approaching cataclysm in an easily digestible and inspiring light.

It was almost as if the Chain of Nightmares was going to be a glorious stage for heroism, valiance, and human triumph… instead of a bloody, unmitigated disaster.

However, no matter how hard the government tried, people weren't that easy to fool. Although nothing much changed for the soldiers of the First Evacuation Army, Sunny was sure that a wave of panic was spreading through the rest of the world.

The population centers of the Southern Quadrant were, of course, hit the worst. He could not even imagine what the people living there were going through… but other continents had to be consumed by fear, as well.

If something like that could happen in Antarctica, then it could happen anywhere else. The infrastructure was bound to come under terrible strain when hundreds of millions of refugees from the besieged continent arrived… if they could even be saved. What if the evacuation failed?

How did people living in South America feel, knowing that they would soon be cut off from the rest of humanity?

…No one was left unaffected by the shocking news.

and the rest of the cohort had

few weeks were going to be extremely turbulent, Sunny retreated into his cabin,

concentration to grasp the elusive sensation of the Dream Realm anchor. Then, he circulated his essence in a swift,

All that remained was a slight, eerie feeling of coldness that permeated the

***

many months since Sunny last visited

remained the same for thousands of years, so why would it suddenly change now. The Fire Keepers might have made

however, looked a

noticed a large garden surrounded by a neat and tidy wooden fence. Inside, various vegetables were growing in the soil. There were also several other structures here and there, all built of wood. Some seemed like they were meant for training, some reembled simple barns. They

Kaor's

cohort had used to be Artisans in the Bright Castle. One was an Awakened carpenter, the other

looked much more… inhabited

that, a familiar ship rested on the surface of the lake. Despite thousands of years that had passed since

Sunny sighed.

lines of the ancient ship's

plumbing, anyway. That's

vindicated, Sunny allowed himself to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the beautiful

he did, a thundering voice

"Sunny!"

and then cautiously turned

meadow with long strides.

'Oh-oh.'

the huntress reached him, a swift shadow flew across the grass, and Kai suddenly

"Sunny…"