Shadow Slave

In the end, the cohort eradicated the swarm of the eyeless Nightmare Creatures. It was not easy, and there were moments when each of them brushed with death. But eventually, the seven humans observed the vast killing field with tired expressions — exhausted, but alive.

Hundreds of cut, crushed, and torn bodies littered the broken asphalt of the mountain road. Blood flowed down the hill, pooling into crimson puddles at its base. The carcasses of the Fallen abominations towered above the corpses of their lesser ilk like mounds of rotten meat.

Looking at the ghastly sight, Sunny felt very happy that the army supplied them with actual food. Right now, he was very reluctant to go back to the familiar diet of only eating monster meat.

With a sigh, he turned away and glanced at his ragged band of soldiers. Despite the fact that their battle was over, time was still of the essence.

"Luster, go inform the Army Command that the road is secured, then bring the Rhino to the crest and park it on the slope. The rest of you, rest while you can. Oh… and also, good work."

The members of the cohort looked at each other, lively smiles appearing on their tired faces.

"We did do alright, didn't we?"

With that, they walked away from the mass of mangled bodies and sprawled on the ground, steam rising from their blood-covered armors into the cold air. Soon, the Rhino arrived, its headlights painting a much more morbid picture of the recent battleground. The soldiers rested and recovered their essence. Since no one was seriously injured, Quentin was in no hurry to tend to the wounded.

No one stood guard, as well, since Sunny's shadows could fulfill that role better than any human.

Everything seemed to be peaceful and safe… however, he was not fooled.

Down in the valley, the ugly rift in the fabric of reality was still pulsing with eerie darkness, silently calling to Sunny. The Gate was still open. Although they had defeated the initial wave of Nightmare Creatures that had emerged from it, more could arrive at any moment.

The first wave was usually the most dangerous, but not always. It ordinarily consisted of the abominations that had been close to the Seed of Nightmare when it bloomed, but as long as the Gate remained open, more monsters could wander through it into the real world.

In fact, Sunny suspected that Nightmare Creatures experienced a Call that was very similar to the one that Awakened felt. It drew them from the reaches of the Dream Realm toward the blooming Seed. Those that had been near it arrived first, but many more could eventually come.

forces… at least near or within the population centers. With time, the number of such containment zones grew,

cohort was not

his

tired, as

was time to sort out the

runes, he thoughtfully studied

Name: Sunless.

Name: Lost

Rank: Ascended.

Class: Devil.

Shadow Cores: [4/7].

Shadow Fragments: [1246/4000].

'Curses…'

thirty or so shadow fragments from it — four for killing the Gate Guardian, the rest for slaying the Fallen abominations. Since Sunny was Ascended now, he gained nothing from slaying Nightmare Creatures

Tyrant… was not going to be

'Whatever.'

continued to read the runes

[Prowling Thorn], [Endless Spring], [Dark Wing], [Moonlight Shard], [Mantle of the Underworld], [Weaver's Mask], [Broken Oath], [Autumn Leaf], [Cruel Sight], [Covetous Coffer],

Noctis… sadly, no other item Sunny had tried to bring back to the real world survived. Everything had simply ceased to exist once he returned, to

for Nightmare. The [Evil Eye] was the new Memory he had just received for killing the Devil named Defiled Witness. There were also a few Awakened Memories he had gained, but they seemed only good enough to be fed to his

with them

turned his attention back to

Echoes: —

Saint], [Nightmare], [Soul