Shadow Slave

1059 The Fall of Falcon Scott (77)

It was all a gamble. A dire, dangerous, deadly gamble… the soldiers of the First Army were betting their lives against the Winter Beast without even knowing if they would be able to reach it, let alone hurt it.

They might have made that gamble out of desperation, but they had also made it out of necessity. All of them had received a chance to leave, and all of them turned it down. Some had done it due to their sense of duty, or camaraderie, or misguided bravery. Some had simply grown numb to the horrors of the war.

As for Sunny himself, he was not really sure what had led him here. He had come to this broken land in search of power, but that desirous quest seemed so childish now. Antarctica had put a lot of things in perspective… however, this shift of perspective only made things less clear instead of revealing the truth.

All he knew was that he felt fiercely reluctant to leave the job unfinished, and that he did not want to fail the soldiers who had entrusted him with their lives. Sunny had never wanted to be in charge of anyone, but now that he was, their hopes and desires weighed on him like chains. Strangely, though, he did not want to refuse that burden.

He felt quite protective of it. Maybe that was what Master Jet had meant when she said that no one was free in this world.

Regardless of the reason, Sunny felt a frantic hope burning in his chest as he marched into the blizzard.

'Come on, come on… we can do it…'

Behind him, the column of shivering soldiers stubbornly moved forward inside a cage of flames. The infantrymen were all encased in suits of powered armor, which were all hermetic and insulated, capable of withstanding the most hazardous environments. The Awakened were all much tougher, and many of them possessed protective Memories on top of that.

And yet, they were all suffering from the terrifying cold. It was just too insidious, finding a way to pass through all forms of defense. Even Sunny felt miserable because of the snowstorm. Much worse, the cold was getting worse and worse the deeper into the blizzard they walked.

They had to find the true body of the Winter Beast soon.

'That cold… there's something wrong about it. It doesn't feel like a… a natural… natural force…'

Even his thoughts felt slow and frigid.

But there was no way back for them now. All that Sunny could do was march forward and endure, hoping that he and his soldiers would be able to reach the heart of the blizzard.

The fire produced by the MWPs helped alleviate the cold to a certain extent. But then, slowly, the heat of the furious flames started to feel less and less substantial. The flamethrowers were still spouting long streams of burning fuel, but it was as though the fire itself had been robbed of its warmth.

How could fire be cold? Sunny did not know, but he felt as though the flames now contained no heat whatsoever. They were like predators that had lost all their teeth.

'Curse it…'

He glanced back, seeing a few of the mundane soldiers staggering as they walked, then gritted his teeth and continued to move forward.

The snowstorm could not be too vast. They had to be getting closer to its center… all they had to do was endure a little longer.

Suppressing a hint of fear, Sunny sent his shadows to scout ahead. As soon as his body lost their support, the cold assaulted it with renewed strength. He cursed quietly and concentrated on resisting the furious blows of the hurricane winds.

Behind him, the Awakened and the mundane soldiers were shielding their faces and leaning forward to withstand the force of the storm. Even the towering war platforms were struggling to keep their balance — they had great mass, but also a much larger surface for the wind to attack. The pilots controlled their lumbering machines with intricate skill, keeping them upright and moving forward.

The shadows flew into the storm. Even though it was almost impossible to see through the raging snow, they had other ways to perceive the world. Sunny hoped that at least one of them would be able to discover the true body of the Winter Beast — after all, searching for it was not hard.

All he had to do was follow to where the cold was most dreadful.

of the blizzard, the more terrible the unnatural cold would become… and indeed, his shadows were able

of the storm, though. Sunny felt a little shaken when he realized that, further into

it was nevertheless true. Once they flew sufficiently deep into the snowstorm, the power of the Winter Beast seemed to transcend logic and reason. It was capable of freezing even those things that should have been incapable of

'How… how can it…'

Sunny realized that the frigid slowness of his thoughts was also not just in his imagination. If the Corrupted Titan was capable of affecting shadows with its powers, why wouldn't it be

domain could avoid being pervaded by its

to walk in the direction they had discovered.

the ground. Others tried to help the soldier stand up, but it was of no use — the man was not moving. His comrades had no choice but to abandon their futile attempts. The column flowed

long after that, someone

felt dread settle

going. I refuse… I refuse to give

ugly expression on his face, leaning low to

the snow. Sunny could feel their shadows turn lifeless in the

— a moment later, a powerful squall crashed into it, making the towering machine sway and collapse. Eventually, even the weakest

the

forward. The other brigades were advancing into

closer they got to the heart of the snowstorm, the more murderous the cold became, the stronger the winds grew, and the harder it was to make even a single step forward. It felt as though an irresistible force was pushing Sunny back and

'Damn it… damn it…'

a soldier or two would fall every minute. Then, a new body would fall

a vast, maddening

for himself,

then, he became scared

could no longer feel his Dream Realm anchor. It still existed there, somewhere, but it was as though the mystical

just like the rest of

going to

thought filled him with indescribable anger and

could tell that they were getting closer to the heart

snowstorm had become just

how many soldiers he had lost. In fact, his senses — even the shadow sense — were slowly failing him. He could not see too far, and he could not perceive too far. The world had narrowed

only a few Awakened. As far as he knew, everyone else

like this… it can't

able to accept if they had reached the true body of the Winter Beast, but failed to defeat it. But the idea of being wiped out without even making it to the eye of the storm was enough

it, damn it, damn

each second, still, the cold was

15:50

that was

make even a single step forward. He had lost sight of the brigade and did not know if any of his soldiers were still alive. There were only three Awakened beside him…

still, the cold

He closed his eyes.

'...Admit it.'

hesitated, staring