Shadow Slave

During the Dark Times, humanity had come to the brink of destruction. A series of cataclysmic natural disasters had brought it to its knees, causing several waves of mass migrations, each of them accompanied by plagues and famine. Previously arable lands had turned into wastelands, and many resources that had previously been the lifeblood of civilization were suddenly running dry.

There had not been enough food for everyone, not enough livable space for everyone, and not enough power source for everyone. So, humans had done what they knew best.

They had turned to war.

...The marks left by those devastating wars still haunted the planet. From the polluted air to the derelicts of broken military machines, they littered the Earth like scars caused by a deadly infection. The old bunker Sunny was facing right now was one of those scars.

He knew neither what army had built it and for what purpose, nor what had happened to those people and why the bunker now stood abandoned. He also did not care.

There were always stories about terrifying doomsday weapons hidden in such places, waiting to be unleashed by a carefree explorer, but most of them were just that - stories. In reality, places like that one were usually empty for one simple reason: everyone had died or left, and those who survived had no need and no capacity to return.

Plus, the bunker had already been unsealed a long time ago. Its massive blast doors stood open, covered with snow.

Sunny was much more worried about the present than the past. Anything could have made its way inside during the Chain of Nightmares. If a tribe of Nightmare Creatures had made a nest in the narrow underground passages, laying siege to the bunker would not be easy. In fact, it was as tough of a task as a military unit could get.

But he could not turn back.

The civilian transports were crowding the mountain road behind him, with nowhere else to go. The vehicles needed maintenance and repair, and the people inside needed rest. It was his obligation to provide for them.

Looking at the dark entrance gloomily, Sunny turned and addressed his cohort:

will enter the

stood nearby, hesitated for a few

if there are

only be entrusted to a much larger and better prepared force. Sunny stared at the soldier silently, and then

"There are. So what?"

were already creeping through the dark bunker, scouting its many chambers and passages. There were indeed abominations hiding underground... a lot of them. They had turned the abandoned complex into their lair some time ago, and its

a regular military

to clear out the bunker without suffering any losses. They had

his confidence, though, came

on the snow and started to slowly fill it out as the Irregulars watched attentively. Passage after passage, room after room... soon, a detailed map

Sunny marked every Nightmare Creature and its position on the map. Lastly, he sketched a rough figure of a snake-like monstrosity and drew several red dots on its body. Those were the weak spots he had observed with

Gere stared at the projection,

paying him any attention,

have Awakened abominations, and the heart of the nest seems to be situated on the fourth, with several Fallen protecting it. There's not a lot of room to move, so mind the walls. Sam, leave the rifle behind. It

going over the important points and explaining what kind

any fanfare, the cohort brandished their weapons and entered the bunker, disappearing into the

Saint and Nightmare remained outside to

lack of light, the unpredictable nature of the terrain, the twists and turns of narrow passages that could lead to an ambush at any second, the limited space that made it hard to move

lay of the land was, and had already developed an optimal plan of attack. Even if something unexpected happened, Sunny's shadows were keeping an eye on everything, so the cohort

corridor, they methodically slaughtered the Nightmare Creatures. Despite being inside a beast lair, it appeared as though the abominations had found themselves inside an enemy stronghold