Shadow Slave

After battling the harrowing Corrupted Titan for three long months, Saint Tyris of the White Feather clan had finally been defeated. Even though she had miraculously managed to survive, with Sky Tide incapacitated, there was no one left to stop the Winter Beast from advancing on the city.

The titan was already moving closer to the largest — and only — siege capital left standing in the region. The temperature was falling, and the winds were picking up, heralding the descent of a terrible blizzard.

Inevitably, a series of disastrous events was bound to happen.

The first of these events, and the catalyst that sparked the chain reaction… was the withdrawal of the White Feather clan from the Antarctic Center. They had been sent here to support the First Evacuation Army on behalf of the great clan Valor, but were not part of it. Naturally, their first priority was to preserve their Saint's life.

Even if the Awakened of White Feather had decided to stay, for whatever reason, Army Command would have insisted that they retreat in haste. The life of an allied Transcendent was too precious of a resource for the government, too.

…As the clan's compound turned into a hub of frenetic activity, with everyone hastily preparing for departure, Sunny and Jet were left to their own devices. After their conversation with Roan ended, they found themselves all but ignored by the hurrying members of the clan — no one even remembered to shoo the two Ascended away.

They were not in a hurry to leave, either, mostly because neither of them really knew what to do. The situation had changed too fast, and too dreadfully… Sunny felt lost and resigned, and although Jet was trying to hide it, he could see that she was shaken, as well.

The two of them found a place out of the way and just stood there for a while, silent.

Eventually, Sunny said:

"...Roan is wrong. It's not all over. Even without Tyris, we still have a Transcendent. You, me, Bloodwave… we should be able to give the Winter Beast a fight. We already killed one titan, so why can't we kill another?"

Jet somberly shook her head.

"There's an abyssal gap between a Fallen Titan and a Corrupted one, in terms of power. Tyris was not able to fight the Winter Beast because she was a Transcendent — she was able to fight it because she was a Transcendent whose Aspect countered the creature's powers, and an astonishingly steadfast one, at that. Even then… you don't really understand it, do you?"

Sunny frowned.

"I guess not. What is it exactly that I don't understand?"

out a grave

or so Awakened veterans. However, all of them combined wouldn't be able to do anything against a Corrupted Titan. Even if there were ten times more, the

.

her silently for a while, then turned away with a dark expression on

one Saint is worth more than thirty

of Jet's mouth twisted

"Smart."

Sunny shook his head:

are you getting

Reaper's

no you, me, and Bloodwave. Bloodwave is going to leave with the White Feather clan… do you think they are going to let Tyris travel across the strait unprotected? She is unconscious and vulnerable. What happens if something attacks the ship? Neither Army Command nor Valor would allow that

teeth, trying to suppress the blinding fury

"...This is such crap!"

but she

simply

for a few moments, then suddenly

What about the rest of the poor

a while.

speed of evacuation… If the Winter Beast comes tomorrow, twenty million will die. If it comes the day after tomorrow, ten million will die. Theoretically. Of course, in reality, things are not going to go

gave her a dark

"...How so?"

Jet sighed.

a secret for long. As soon as the rumors spread, this whole city will go crazy. Evacuation queue? Forget about it. People will be storming the port and jumping off the

startled by her callousness. However, it only lasted a moment. He was just as jaded, after all… if he had used his brain for a moment instead of allowing himself to be rattled, he would have come to the

He cursed.

that there's no way to slow down the Winter