Shadow Slave

They defeated the swarm. However, the smell of the blood attracted a migrating horde, so the expedition force had to fight their way through the flood of Nightmare Creatures, as well.

Eventually, the column broke free and escaped into the vast plain, but the peace was short-lived. Very soon, they had to fight another skirmish, which grew into another battle, which grew into an unending onslaught of enemies that threw themselves on the speeding vehicles without reprieve.

The mundane soldiers fought admirably. Although not as experienced as the veterans of the First Army, these men and women had also tasted their fair share of bloodshed and strife. Everyone was calm and collected, performing their duties with deadly efficiency and poise. Their performance was immaculate, and their morale seemed unshakable.

Was it because the Second Army had not lived through the same hopelessness as the soldiers in the Antarctic Center, or was it because Effie and Kai were able to inspire them better than Sunny had been able to inspire his soldiers? He was not sure. Regardless, the Wolves and the Nightsingers were a spirited bunch.

The Awakened were as resolute as the mundanes. Although fewer in number, the impact they had on the battlefield was immeasurably higher. All kinds of Aspects worked in harmony to create an impenetrable death zone around the column. The abominations that managed to survive it were promptly dispatched by the melee fighters.

...And, of course, the influence of the four Masters was even greater still.

Effie was serving as the vanguard of the expedition force, cutting a bloody path for the vehicles to follow. Her lustrous figure weaved through the mass abominations, leaving devastation in its wake. The bodies of the creatures she killed were left crumbled and broken, as if an invisible colossus had crushed them under its feet as it walked across the vast plain.

The blows raining on her sculpted steel body, in turn, rang against metal without ever slowing her down.

to have a mind of their own, unfailingly slipping through the tiniest cracks in the armor of the abominations. Usually, one arrow was all

protect the expedition force from the aerial attacks,

as her melee attacks, striking directly at the soul cores of the abominations. Such a manner of fighting was bound to burn through essence with terrible speed,

such a furious battle, Jet was free to slaughter

of darkness appeared out of nowhere to protect the soldiers and press Nightmare Creatures down into the ground, making them easy to slaughter.

easy... in fact, the length of the column was well beyond the reach of his shadow sense, and therefore, out of the area where he could use Shadow Manifestation. But Sunny was using a little trick... he had stationed his five shadows throughout

ability to control

summon Saint to help out, too... but for now,

he wanted to keep her existence hidden. More or less everyone who had learned of their connection in the Antarctic Center were either dead now or could be trusted to keep the

Saint had changed a lot since then, both visually and in terms of Rank. Connecting her past and

place. More than that, after the events of Falcon Scott, many people believed that Mongrel had fallen heroically while protecting the last siege capital. From what Sunny had heard, there was already an epic propaganda film about the life and tragic sacrifice of the mysterious swordsman being cooked up back in the

shuddered at the

as his hidden ace for a while. That was why he had only summoned her within the sphere of

sure if I can keep this

capital drew nearer, the onslaught of the Nightmare Creatures only grew more intense. Sunny was already struggling, and his reserves of essence were

Something had to change.