Shadow Slave

The Devouring Cloud posed an existential threat to Falcon Scott, but strangely, Sunny was not too worried, at least for himself. Perhaps it was the Marble Shell that gave him confidence, or perhaps it was the presence of the other Ascended Irregulars. The four of them were a fearsome force by themselves, and there were thousands of other Awakened defending the city, to boot.

Not to mention countless mundane soldiers, impregnable fortifications, and two entire Saints.

Sky Tide had been away, fighting the Winter Beast somewhere in the wilderness. It was unknown whether she would be able to return in time to participate in today's battle, but Bloodwave was here, protecting the anchored ships. If things went south, he would undoubtedly interfere.

Master Jet studied the approaching brood swarm, her icy blue eyes cold and calculating. Then, she sighed.

"Something is different."

Sunny glanced at her with a silent question, prompting Soul Reaper to shake her head.

"The Devouring Cloud is behaving differently from how the reports described it."

He frowned, then glanced at the distant haze.

...Indeed, the swarm was acting a bit differently from how it had been before. It seemed slightly less erratic, slightly more driven. The speed with which the Devouring World consumed distance was greater than Sunny had expected.

Summoning his helmet, Dale shrugged.

"They probably sense the two hundred million souls behind us. Who wouldn't hurry to get to a feast?"

Winter smiled.

show

her hands and cautiously removed her sunglasses. A

was the first time Sunny saw Winter's eyes. They were entirely black, with pupils that resembled two drops of coagulated blood. Looking

"Begin."

and one from Dale's - stepped forward.

was going to be the

so, it had

- a beautiful handheld mirror, a small skull with a precious jewel embedded into its forehead, a silver coin with the image of a beautiful woman on one side and that of a hideous monster on the other - and at the same time, the four

saturating it with essence as he went. Another concentrated on the Memories, somehow channeling more power into them... Luster

'That fool...'

walked a few steps away. He wrapped one shadow around his body and the other three around

wanted, but enough to summon the Strike of Thunder many times, as well as manifest countless [Soul Arrows] in between the shots. He would be able to activate the Dying Wish, as well, if the abominations

many of the brood beasts as possible. Hundreds of them, or maybe even a thousand. With almost all the vile creatures being Awakened, he would not be getting many fragments, but that was alright. What he wanted were Memories, anyway - the more, the better,

think, Sunny? Are we

Master Jet, who was calmly spinning a simple shuriken in her hand.

He shrugged.

not? It's just a

did not

wall vibrate. Even though Sunny knew that the bombardment had to have killed countless creatures, it seemed as though the distant haze simply swallowed them. There was not even the smallest ripple or rift in the

'...Crap.'