Shadow Slave

At that moment, Samara appeared from the hatch of the Rhino and called out to Sunny:

"Captain! We are being hailed on the comms."

He sighed, then opened his eyes and reluctantly stood up. As the Awakened soldier stared at the pale young man with wide eyes, he smiled pleasantly… and then disappeared without a trace, prompting the man to flinch and take a step back.

…Back inside the APC, Sunny emerged from the shadows, walked over to the communication suite and sat down behind a terminal. At the press of a button, Master Jet's face appeared on the screen.

Soul Reaper seemed to be standing in front of a pile of mangled corpses, illuminated by an angry orange glow. Dancing flames reflected in her icy blue eyes, making it seem as if they were glowing.

Set against that backdrop, her smile looked rather sinister.

"Hey, Sunny. I heard that your cohort won its first battle. I guess congratulations are in order?"

He nodded and studied the carcasses of Nightmare Creatures behind her.

"Yeah… you seem to have achieved a victory, as well. What's the situation like with the other divisions?"

The field army had separated into seven divisions after reaching the Antarctic Center… or was it brigades? Sunny was still a bit confused about the hierarchy of army units. In any case, one of them had stayed behind in Falcon Scott, while the other six had deployed south and were currently on the move. Each consisted of ten to fifteen thousand soldiers and was accompanied by seven hundred Awakened or so.

Master Jet shrugged.

"It's not too bad… yet. The Irregulars are doing their job as well. For now, everything seems to be going according to plan. What about you? How did your cohort perform?"

Sunny sighed.

"Not… bad. We mopped up the opposition easily enough. However, we wasted a lot of essence. If the intensity of the conflict picks up, I'm not sure if I can employ the same strategy again."

She nodded.

"It will definitely pick up, so… good thinking."

the dynamics, and the image on the screen became noisy for a few moments. Soul Reaper lowered her communicator

pursed her lips, then

Follow the flanking battalion for now and help them deal with the horde that's blocking your division from advancing south. Don't exert yourself and your soldiers, though. Take it easy and conserve

Sunny smiled.

"Will do."

at him briefly and

"Good luck, Sunny."

He sighed.

to

cut, turning the screen black. All that

shook his head and headed toward the exit hatch of

outside. The sky was still cold, dim, and illuminated by

active Gate and laying explosive charges around it. While humanity could not close every Gate, it had learned to diminish their threat in various ways over the years. Encasing them in cement or burying the rift under tons

was already cleaning up the road and harvesting the soul shards. Sunny could have made a point about securing his

and Kim were already back with their

the APC, Sunny looked

"Gather up!"

around him,

share the soul shard among yourself and absorb them. We have ten minutes to get ready to move out. Our next task is to support the assault on the flank of the bunch of abominations making a ruckus on the other side of the mountain. Only Dormant Abilities and passive enchantments this time, so don't get too rowdy. Once the threat is

and rolled forward, in the direction where the flashes of light and the sounds of explosions

passed the small valley, climbed high up the slope of the mountain, then crested a narrow pass and came

themselves. The barrage

chaotic battlefield from

the six Nightmare Gates that had disgorged the horde were already

going to get

down

the assault on the flank of the enemy force, Sunny studied it all and then pointed at an

take this Gate Guardian down. You guys help me clear the path

but Sunny was not going

bloodlust, making the members of the cohort