Shadow Slave

Sunny had never seen a few words crush a man's spirit so thoroughly.

...Except for maybe himself, when Nephis had spoken his True Name and commanded him to leave her for dead on the Forgotten Shore.

The soldier managed to remain standing, but he looked like a marionette with its strings cut. All light was extinguished from his eyes. He remained motionless for a while, and then turned slightly, throwing a forlorn glance at the small, battered fleet behind him.

Sunny could imagine how he felt. After surviving the cataclysmic destruction of the siege capital, these people weathered untold horrors to make it this far alive. What had kept them going was probably the hope that salvation was drawing closer and closer. And now, when they almost reached the destination, that hope was cruelly crushed.

He sighed.

"It just happened a few days ago. The news would not have reached you. My people and I are the only ones who survived."

The soldier looked down, silent.

Eventually, he asked:

"If I may ask. What are your plans now, sir?"

Sunny looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"My orders are to proceed to the Erebus Field siege capital to rendezvous with another cohort of the First Irregular Company."

Suddenly, a tentative spark appeared in the soldier's eyes.

"Master Sunless, sir. Will you consider..."

Sunny knew what he was going to say. It was not that hard to guess.

...He wanted to laugh.

took a lot of self-control to remain outwardly calm. A bitter, familiar, unhinged laugh got stuck somewhere

persevered for the last week without any Awakened to protect the handful of transports from the rampaging Nightmare Creatures. And even though their hope of sailing to safety aboard the Ariadne was gone, there was an actual Master standing in front of

but one of the most deadly ones in the First Army, accompanied by

they wouldn't leave defenseless

Surely...

Rhino could potentially make the thousand-kilometer journey to Mount Erebus. The flimsy and damaged civilian transports,

put its crew

of the convoy, Sunny would not only make his task several times harder, but also drastically increase the chance of his own

he wanted

Verne, the stalwart Master had told him that it was impossible to get hundreds of civilians through the mountains alive.

had to either leave these people

own words, and put his

good one. This one is great! I see you,

soldier's words died on his lips as he

he supposed to

responsibility for hundreds of refugees, at the expense of his soldiers and Professor Obel? Or follow cold logic and do what had to be done, abandoning them to fate? No, but there was no need

the right

strange smile appeared

would a man of conviction do? Ah, a man of

elusive thing called conviction and grow stronger through it, Sunny had not had any success in that regard yet. He still stood for nothing and was as unmoored as he had been at the start of it. Some people might have had an unwavering moral compass, but he was not one of them. Sunny mostly acted

a straightforward answer to what was the right thing to do

However...

a thing - but he knew what he despised very well. Just a few days ago, he had sat on the roof of the Rhino, full of contempt for the bastards who

that logic... wouldn't he be doing the same by leaving the refugees to die in order to serve his

perverted way of