Shadow Slave

A ravaged underground hall. Split concrete, old machines turned into piles of scrap, broken walls. Deep darkness chased away by the bright light of electric floodlights.

The stench of blood permeating the air.

And bodies, of course, scattered on the cracked floor. Dozens of them, all bearing terrible wounds. Bodies of the Awakened of Valor, the Awakened of Song... and one more, a ghastly hill of grey flesh that had been a Nightmare Creature before.

Morgan studied the scene of slaughter with a neutral expression as she walked among the corpses. She would linger for a few moments near one of the corpses, then indifferently move on to the next. Her vermilion eyes were cold.

Saint Gilead, the Summer Knight, was more expressive. He was kneeling in front of one of the bodies with a mournful expression on his gallant, handsome face. A heavy sigh escaped from his lips.

"Amiran..."

Morgan turned around and looked at the Transcendent.

"Oh. I am sorry, Sir Gilead. I have forgotten that the two of you were once members of the same cohort. Please accept my condolences."

Her voice did not seem too regretful, though.

Summer Knight looked down.

"Sometimes, I forget..."

She raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

The Saint lingered for a few moments, then offered her a calm gaze.

"How much I loathe you and your family."

Morgan smiled slightly and looked away.

"Well. What can I say? We are a loathsome bunch."

With that, she used her armored boot to turn one of the bodies over andasked:

"Does this make sense to you?"

Summer Knight stood up with a sigh and walked over.

"The result is outside expectations, but the sequence of events seems clear. We severely underestimated the opposition. By all accounts, Amiran should have been able to achieve a clean victory... but the presence of a Corrupted Tyrant changed things. Our estimation of Beastmaster's power needs to be adjusted. Still... he slayed the beast, even if the price was his life."

Morgan shook her head.

"Seems clear, huh?"

gaze was locked on the fatal sword wound

motionless for a few

"...What a beautiful cut."

the specialists that had been casing the scene. The man walked over and bowed, then delivered a preliminary report. His conclusions

at him

diviners discovered

investigator looked away

"...Nothing, my lady."

appeared on

telling me that six cohorts of Valor's best, armed and armored with forged Memories, lost to four cohorts of

lowered his

what the evidence tells, my lady."

while, then turned and addressed a delicate young woman who was standing

Cassia? Do

woman shifted slightly and answered in a

"...I see nothing."

Morgan tilted her head.

don't see anything, or that

princess was mocking

Morgan grinned.

"Ha!"

to the Saint and pierced him with an

Gilead. At least someone is not

Then, her expression darkened.

at her feet once again

few moments of silence,

the House

just

took a step back and bent over, breathing heavily. By his side, Cassie swayed, struggling to catch her balance after her rapier

princess had decided to face the two

that it almost seemed as if they shared one mind. But,

found it almost unnecessary to downplay his

- there was little need to pretend, really

was a good

which was nicked all

did well,

he slowly straightened and glanced at her with a complicated

you troubled by something? Your technique seemed

moments, her face turning cold.Eventually, she said