Shadow Slave

Sunny was a bit thoughtful for the rest of the long strategy meeting.

Indeed... it wasn't going to be easy to survive the mad maelstrom that was brewing in Antarctica. He was strong and cunning, but in front of monsters like Whispering Blade and Beastmaster, all that strength could end up meaning nothing.

In fact, even the two tyrannical Saints were not guaranteed safety. When people like that had to be careful not to lose their lives, someone like Sunny or Nephis could only pray to the cold skies.

Sadly, the gods were dead, so their prayers were doomed to remain unanswered. So, they had to ensure their own survival.

Luckily, if there was one thing Sunny excelled at, it was staying alive.'And biding my time.'

A legion of Nightmare Creatures on one side, two murderous armies of the Great Clans on the other... with Mordret hiding somewhere in the reflections, waiting to strike.

It was really time for Sunny to show what he was made of, and hope that it was enough. No... he had to make it so that what he could do was enough. And if it wasn't, he had to change himself in a way that would.'But my task is not as ambitious as what these Legacies have to accomplish.'

That was perhaps the only saving grace in this grim situation.

Valor and Song wanted to crush the enemy and conquer the Black Pyramid. Nephis simply wanted to survive and earn the trust of her enemies by being a good soldier... and maybe a little more than that.

As for Sunny, he simply wanted to make sure that their war did not spill out into the streets of the siege capitals, and that as few soldiers and civilians as possible were hurt by the clash of the great clans. And if he managed to hurt the bastards in the process, that would be even better.

an easy thing to

to the discussion of strategy,

of the great clans knew very well that they were going to be killing each other soon. However, they maintained an illusion of camaraderie, pretending to take

That was

the near future

the evacuation proceeded smoothly, with every human in the Southern Quadrant leaving the

the two Legacy Saints that had been participating in the campaign from the start continuing to assist Wake of Ruin in resisting the tide of

The main job of these two - at least

great clans would be in charge. They were supposed to keep the siege capitals safe and hunt down especially powerful Nightmare Creatures. If one of the titans moved toward a human city, all Saints were supposed

Beastmaster from trying to take down

to kill each other as

true goal of Valor and Song was out there somewhere, in the wild reaches of Antarctica, after all. What they wanted was to find a Nightmare Gate that would allow them to safely ferry their forces into the Dream Realm, and eventually establish a stronghold that would serve as

wasn't that simple. They also needed to make sure that the enemy wouldn't get to the

more

and Song announced a startling intention to permanently close as many Gates that had appeared within the limits of the siege capitals as they could. The hundreds

their true purpose was to send as many soldiers into the hellish desert as possible, to scout it out and find a good entry point for the main force... but nevertheless, even if the scouts having to enter their Second Nightmares was just a side effect, that

the Chain of Nightmares. The Awakened Song and Valor had sent were all absolute elites. If dozens, or maybe even a hundred or two of them Ascended, it would

point behind one of the Nightmare Gates located inside the siege capitals, and not in the wilderness. If that happened...