Shadow Slave

Eventually, Sunny climbed out of the sleeping niche and went about the business of managing the caravan. They had made it far into the mountains and were already moving north, toward their true goal.

The blizzard was still raging, reducing visibility to almost zero. The landscape was as grim and foreboding as ever.

Surrounding areas needed to be scouted, maps needed to be updated, reports needed to be received, and a hundred other things demanded his attention.

Before getting down to it, Sunny spared a few moments to stare at the grey fabric and lusterless black leather of the Puppeteer's Shroud.

Who could have thought that he would be reduced to seriously using it again, after all that time?

'It sure is much more comfortable than walking around in a full plate of steel armor. Ah, the old me had it good...'

Actually, not really.

Sunny was ready to climb to the roof of the Rhino when he noticed Beth staring at him with a strange expression. He lingered for a moment.

"What?"

She blinked a couple of times, then pulled her gaze away.

"No, no... nothing..."

Sunny frowned.

"Just say it, will you?"

Beth remained silent for a second, then asked hesitantly:

"Are you... uh... are you wearing makeup?"

was his

No! Why would

woman gave him a dubious look and

just look a little different, that's

Sunny grinned.

have the complexion of a

with a sigh and mumbled under her

Awakened... how

top of the Rhino, sighing as

he was not that cold. His passive

himself heavier for better stability, summoned the Memory of Ice, and wrapped the shadow he kept with himself around his body, simultaneously circulating essence to double the enhancement granted

was in no way bothersome. Additionally, the winds were powerless against him. It was as if Sunny had turned into a

Huh.

on the roof and closed his

get used

the Antarctic Center was still hard and dangerous, but with Naeve

each other, communicating mostly over the chain of relays in the military vehicles. Sunny was stationed at the head of the column, while Naeve stayed in the rear to

demanded both of them to fight side

'Ah. Finally, a professional...'

using a long bone harpoon and a net woven out

powers seemed to be under severe restriction, though, so the scion of the

was more than

so, but enough for Sunny to notice the difference between the two of them. It was understandable... after all, the Nightwalker had a family to come back to. He carried more than one life on

and made him think

as expected. The caravan continued to grow, several more groups of Erebus Field survivors joining it. By then, Sunny was secretly starting to thank the gods that Naeve's ship had suffered catastrophic damage.

to feed everyone and arm those who could and knew how to fight,

but in the end, the only other person other than Beth who showed any reaction was Kim. At some point, she gave him a very weird look