Shadow Slave

Sunny had been relying on Army Command to keep him alive for about half a year now, but weirdly enough, he had never been to the actual headquarters of the Evacuation Army.

To be fair, Army Command had no definite location. It was spread across many siege capitals, strongholds, and even continents, all of them connected into a seamless network both by technology and Aspect Abilities of the Awakened officers. Most of the staff was here in Antarctica - like the members of the department where Kim was currently working - but not all of them.

That said, the underground fortress below the building where the reception hall was located seemed like the closest thing to the heart of Army Command. It was a hive of activity, with countless people - both mundane and Awakened - hurrying feverishly to accomplish a myriad of tasks in a timely manner.

Their work might not have seemed as dire as what the soldiers on the frontlines were going through, but it was nevertheless just as vital. Without efficient and timely support and management, the evacuation campaign would be doomed to end in a bloody disaster. From updating the status of various areas in relation to the strength of the Call in them to compiling data about countless Nightmare Creatures and guiding troop movements, Army Command was the brain of the army. Without the brain, the body would be utterly useless.

...Somewhere in here, there was also an office where the allocation of contribution points was decided. In any other circumstances, Sunny would have felt his heart start to beat faster, but right now, he was fully concentrating on something else.

His eyes were glued to the bleak man, who was walking behind Beastmaster and Seishan while acting perfectly unassuming. Or at least as unassuming as a Master could be.

Army Command was, indeed, absolutely vital to the war effort. It was also a treasure trove of access and information.

It would certainly be a shame if a particular psychopath got loose in its very heart.

'But what can I do?'

Sunny might have known who Mordret was and what he was capable of, but as far as stopping the Prince of Nothing went... there was little to be done.

Which was both unnerving and incredibly frustrating.

Luckily, Sunny was not alone in his frustration. Morgan and Madoc also threw somber glances at the unassuming Master from time to time, their eyes cold and sharp. Sky Tide had a complicated expression on her usually stoic face, as well.

Only Nephis seemed unconcerned... and why would she be? Of the five of them, she was the only one who had never met the Prince of Nothing.

She would learn to be wary of him soon, though.

'...Probably.'

telling what Changing Star would do if she met Mordret

was not necessarily his enemy. It was just that Sunny

cunning he

could not remain calm at the prospect of someone

care how many innocent people burned

Most definitely not.

can I

would not end in him being killed at the spot by Wake or Ruin or Beastmaster. He could prematurely start a direct clash between Song and Valor right here in the

down. You don't even know if that is really Mordret. The guy might really be

Nightmare Creatures, but that ability was useless against the Prince of Nothing. When Mordret possessed a body, he also possessed the

to conclusions.

chamber that was filled with all kinds of equipment to display information, much of it being updated in real time. Sunny looked curiously at a large projected map of East Antarctica, with countless symbols denoting masses of Nightmare

marks showcasing the location of Nightmare Gates. He paled

marks littered the entire map like pustules, as if the continent was being slowly devoured from the inside by a lethal disease. There were a staggering amount of

first, but if one looked at the bigger picture, it was painfully clear that all of

doom and destruction that was tied around Antarctica's neck, its cold

the Evacuation

glanced at the people walking in

'...Unforgivable.'

would have turned into fists if he had not made

however, was dark and

'Unforgivable.'

was happening in Antarctica, these mighty people had come here to make it all worse. Sunny thought back to what Wake of Ruin had said about the comparative benevolence of the

hard he

world was like that. No one cared if you lived or died in the outskirts, and the people who had

held the true power were comfortable doing nothing to save the population of Antarctica. The Chain of Nightmares had happened in the Southern Quadrant, but the