Shadow Slave

The next conference room was much larger, and there were even some refreshments for the participants of the meeting. Sunny found the darkest corner of the room to settle in and tore open a packet of sweetened snacks - after making sure that there was no honey involved in their creation, of course.

Chewing on something that felt like a dried berry, he glanced around.

The most prominent figures of the First Army were arriving one after another. There were a few mundane commanders, but most of them were Ascended. Eventually, he counted no less than twenty-one Master - including the four Irregulars.

Naeve and Roan were also present, so he gave them a wave.

Master Jet, who was relaxing on a chair next to Sunny, gave him a curious look.

"What interesting friends you keep, Sunny."

He shrugged.

"What about them?"

Soul Reaper chuckled.

"No, nothing. It's just that here's a room full of government Ascended, and the two you're waving to are both connected to the great clans. If I didn't know you better, I'd think that you have a bit of a fondness for social climbing."

Sunny scoffed.

"The only climbing I'm fond of is... actually, never mind that. Weren't you the one who helped me broker a deal to get out of joining Valor, anyway? Surely you understand that a precious jewel like me doesn't need connections to earn the favor of a great clan..."

Hearing Jet laugh quietly, he added with a straight face:

that I could have been living like a prince somewhere in Bastion instead of spending quality time here in Antarctica

at him from behind

did not know that Valor tried to recruit you. And you refused, huh... was

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

What do

Winter shook her head.

bride they offered, of course, to marry you into the clan. Either she was really ugly, or you are really stupid... huh, I guess I have

to retort, but at that moment, the door opened, and two people entered

her. The second was a man with

and from afar, but he knew who

Night. He was in charge of the naval convoy that had delivered the field army to the Antarctic Center, and the Saint Sunny had witnessed diving into the black water as a monstrous

is also in

course, Bloodwave

fourth

they were not supposed to involve themselves with the

proceeded to take a seat at the head of the table. Bloodwave simply leaned on the wall after exchanging

...Sunny felt it, too.

'What an awesome man.'

he studied the mysterious Saint through his shadows, Sky Tide started

what

Saint Tyris briefly described the overall state of the First Army contingent, the scope of tasks in front of them, as well as the

honest, Sunny struggled to imagine Sky Tide losing composure in any circumstance. What would

I hope to

already knew to some extent, but hearing all of it listed in