Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the silhouette of a departing battleship, deep in thought.

October was now behind them, and November was in full bloom. Well... not that many things ever bloomed in Antarctica. It was still summer here, the day never ended, and although the weather was chilly, it could not even be called cold.

The evacuation continued at a steady pace. Hundreds of millions of refugees had already been carried across the ocean, and millions more were leaving every week.

The situation on the continent... was dire, but also strangely manageable.

The Chain of Nightmare was escalating without end. There were more Nightmare Gates, more abominations, more threats and problems that had to be solved... but, at the same time, the forces of humanity were also growing stronger.

Despite the losses they suffered and the increasing strain on logistics and supplies, they were becoming more steadfast and efficient in dealing with the endless tide of Nightmare Creatures.

Well, it was not that surprising, really.

The greatest strength of humans was their adaptability. They were masters of absorbing and utilizing information. They learned.

At the start of the Antarctica Campaign, the Evacuation Army had been thrust into a new and seemingly impossible situation. Faced with an unprecedented cataclysm, they suffered bitter defeats... and yet, they endured. Then, slowly, they learned how to deal with the enemy better.

Their tactics and strategy improved. Their well of knowledge about the types of abominations coming through the Gates grew deeper. The inexperienced soldiers became grizzled veterans.

It helped that there were countless soul shards to be harvested, as well. Although Sunny was somewhat sad that the price of the shards on the global marker was going to plummet, cutting off one of the major revenue streams for the Brilliant Emporium, he was also glad.

By now, most Awakened soldiers of the Evacuation Army had ample chances to saturate their soul cores, thus vastly elevating their power. Something like that had probably never happened in history, at least not on that scale.

plenty of Memories and Echoes to go around,

who had survived their First Nightmares. There were so many, in fact, that the approaching winter solstice would most likely

weeks after that fateful day, the number of Awakened in

In the meantime, though...

defensive sections of East Antarctica, government forces were stubbornly holding against the endless

Nightsingers, as well as their commanders, were known as the hammer and anvil of the Evacuation Army by now. Their fame and reputation were growing with each passing day... even though each victory was made a little bitter by the casualties that the two companies

another. Strangely enough, it was Seishan's name that was mentioned most often - the three Saints might have had overwhelming battle power, but

in Song's territory, so while he did not know all the details, he at least knew that the

then there was the third defensive section, the one where the great clan Valor

manageable here,

had become like two goddesses for the refugees crammed into the siege capitals. Their fame had outshone even that of the Saints... two beautiful sisters, one wisely

strong enough to resist most attacks, it was Changing Star and her Fire Keepers that were always sent into the

because of casualties - instead, several cohorts of the Fire Keepers had

also a third pillar to the success of the Valor contingent... Cassie. While no one except for a select few knew of the importance of her role, the quiet oracle was indispensable in building the strategy of the defending forces. Her ability to gather and swiftly analyze information from a multitude of scattered sources, keen mind, and supernatural intuition were tools that allowed Morgan to

doing its part, as well. From rare messages sent by Naeve, Sunny knew that the naval convoys traversing the oceans had faced many difficulties. There had been several tragedies, but

dire, but things

course, Sunny knew that it was only a

feud between Valor and Song was growing more and more violent, threatening to spill into

scouts of both great clans were hunting each other in the Dream Realm. Out here in the waking world, there were more and more ambushes and attempts at sabotage. Powerful Awakened warriors were killed by other humans, instead of Nightmare Creatures. Most of it

Sunny had been pretty busy in

to do while remaining unnoticed, but he managed with

his hunting grounds were not limited to a single siege capital... in fact, Sunny had made an effort to limit his

assassinated the assassins. He killed members of both Valor and Song without distinction, leading both forces to believe that it