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?"

locked on the fatal sword wound

remained motionless for

"...What a beautiful cut."

and called out to one of the specialists that had been casing the scene. The

stared at him

the diviners

looked

"...Nothing, my lady."

slight frown appeared

forged Memories, lost to four cohorts of Song infiltrators? And that

man lowered

what the evidence tells, my lady." Morgan

remained silent for a while, then turned and addressed a delicate young woman

you, Cassia?

woman shifted slightly and answered in a calm

"...I see nothing."

Morgan tilted her head.

you don't

was mocking theblind girl. The

Morgan grinned.

"Ha!"

and pierced him with an

At least someone

Then, her expression darkened.

the corpse laying at her feet once again

few moments of silence,

the House of Night?

cut... just who

By his side, Cassie swayed, struggling to catch her balance after her rapier was shattered by

princess had decided to face the two

so flawlessly that it almost seemed as if they shared one mind. But, in the end, the princess

found it almost unnecessary to downplay

little

a good fight,

which was nicked all over and utterly ruined, then

did

of seconds, he slowly straightened and glanced at her with a

something? Your technique seemed a bit

stared at him for a few moments, her face turning cold.Eventually, she said with a hint of discontent in