Shadow Slave

Saint Tyris waited for a few moments, then spoke again:"Some of you have already faced one of these monsters.Master Sunless over there has even survived encountering four out of five..."

Without prompting, everyone in the room turned to stare at him, their expressions varying from pity to astonishment. He even heard a few whispers:"Four? And he's still alive?""That kid must be cursed or something.""Devil's own luck, ha..."

Sunny cleared his throat."Ah, yes. Using this moment, I might as well sincerely thank Army Command for giving me the opportunity to complete my collection and get to know the Winter Beast, as well."

A wave of laughter spread through the room.

Sky Tide gave him a stern look."I'll mark you as a volunteer, then."

Before Sunny could protest, she continued:"The first target is a swarm entity known as the Devouring Cloud. Our diviners were able to determine that it is not a powerful Nightmare Creature, per se, but instead the remains of one. The Devouring Cloud was most likely a Fallen Terror, one that had its main consciousness destroyed at some point in the past. The swarm of its brood remains, however, and that is what we need to counter."

She glanced at the Irregulars."Master Winter, considering your proficiency in ranged and area-of-effect attacks, you will be in charge of bolstering the city defenses when it comes to deflecting aerial threats."

Winter nodded. After explaining a few more details, Saint Tyris continued:"The second target is a creature that was designated as the Heart of Darkness. Not a lot is known about it, except for the fact that it is composed of numerous insect-like drones, wielding powers connected to elemental darkness and possibly spatial distortion. The knowledge of this being was brought to us by the First Irregular Company."

That would be Sunny and the members of his cohort, who had been diligently reporting everything about the enemies the convoy encountered during their visits to the Dream Realm.

Sky Tide looked in the direction of the four Irregulars."The Heart of Darkness has been present in the Antarctic Center since before the Chain of Nightmares. Its Rank and Class are unknown, but the current theory is that the Irregulars disturbed the creature's evolution to titan... if so, we might have avoided an even bigger disaster. In any case, the people most suited to deal with that threat are..."

She named three unfamiliar First Army Ascended. Apparently, their Aspects would work well against a myriad of murderous, darkness-infused beetles. Sunny was happy to hear that he would not have to face the damned insects himself again.

went according to

to be a Corrupted Terror. It is responsible for destroying the battleship Ariadne, as well as massacring the garrison of the

moments, then shrugged."There's not much to tell. The bastard hides underwater and kills people by luring them into the ocean with immensely powerful mind manipulation. It also places a mind hex on everyone else to make them ignore the victims. That is the pattern of behavior that I witnessed, which is not to say

an entourage of weaker Nightmare Creatures to defend it, either, which might be a vulnerability. Oh... also, there has to be some kind of limitation to its ability to wipe out large groups of people. Otherwise, it would not have waited weeks to

Tide nodded."Saint Bloodwave, Master Naeve. Since the creature appears to be aquatic in nature, it is going to be your responsibility to hunt it down. The

of the House of Night simply

face."The Winter Beast... was recently confirmed

people in the room paled at the mention of the creature's

Field. Do note that, as of now, we have only experienced its physical might.

frightening image of a stone colossus

there was suddenly a calm

around, staring at Sunny with confused expressions. He smiled."What? The bastard owes me a new armor. Plus, I've never killed a titan before... should be an

of them shook their heads."This is not a good time

shrugged."As good a time

studied him for a few moments, then turned

communicators in the room notified their owners

Scott was still in the area of effect of the Winter Beast, so there was no

communication array, though, connected via a chain of special relays

was very limited and mostly monopolized by Army Command - Sunny had to spend a considerable sum of contribution points to receive a small quota, which allowed him to get in contact with