Shadow Slave

As expected, the refugees were devastated by the news that their salvation had slipped away from their grasp at the last moment. Many of them looked like they were about to give up, but strangely, the terrible change did not end up being as crushing to their already crumbling morale as Sunny had thought it would be.

The reason... he was the reason. Or rather, his status and reputation.

Although being found by a Master was not really comparable to boarding a rescue ship, Ascended were a kind of symbol among humans. Saints were too mysterious and distant, so it were the Masters that dwelled in the human subconscious as the epitome of valor, achievement, and might.

Sunny did not know about valor and achievement, but Ascended were indeed immensely powerful. And he was more powerful than most.

So, when the refugees learned that Master Sunless of the First Irregular Company had taken command of the convoy, many of them were elated despite their extreme exhaustion. He had a fearsome reputation, after all... in fact, Sunny felt that the mundane soldiers had gone out of their way to embellish his achievements as much as they could when they delivered the news. Their purpose was transparent - the soldiers, too, wanted to keep the morale of the civilians from reaching the very bottom of despair.

As a result, the refugees regarded him as some sort of intrepid hero, who was both the scourge of Nightmare Creatures and a dauntless savior of men. When they looked at him, their eyes were full of hope and reverence.

Sunny was weirded out by these gazes.

'Fools. How easy are you to deceive?'

Did they not hear the part of the story where a whole settlement that he had been stationed at was completely destroyed? But no, they didn't. People just wanted to believe in something that would give them solace, no matter how far removed from the truth their belief might be. It was strangely easy for them to ignore anything that conflicted with such a belief.

In the end, making people lie to themselves was the best and most effective kind of deception.

him. Not only did it make the

was born of a tiny Seed, as well, he couldn't help but feel that it could only be planted into fertile soil. Wouldn't a soul

descended during the height of the Dark Times. Back then, the whole

able to reduce the number of mundane humans succumbing

at me,

an Awakened Demon that rested under the snow less than a hundred meters away, he wanted to leave the terminus of the coastal highway as soon as possible...

can I speak to

old man had lived through the havoc of the First Generation, so he would have

good ideas. However, something like the Chain of Nightmares had never happened in the history of the world before, so there was

his cohort, as well as Professor Obel, Beth,

didn't waste any time

to make sure that they will be able to make it across the mountains. However, we can't do it here in the open. There is an abandoned military bunker not too far from our position... if all

of someone turning into a Nightmare Creature inside one would be devastating. So, ideally, they needed to find

was hidden in the mountains at a sufficient

looked at his subordinates with

march formation. Our immediate task is to reach the bunker without suffering any losses. There are two types of threats we need to be wary of: those from beyond, and those from within. I won't say anything about the former, since they just mean that we must enter battle with the enemy. The latter, however... I desire

for a moment,

passengers to the other four. That will be our mobile infirmary. If someone does fall asleep, wake them up. If they don't wake,