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.

and Echoes to go around,

were also more and more Sleepers who had survived their First Nightmares. There were so many, in fact, that the approaching winter solstice would most likely become a breaking point in

after that fateful day, the number of Awakened in the Evacuation Army

In the meantime, though...

holding against the endless assaults of Nightmare Creatures

of the Evacuation Army by now. Their fame and reputation were growing with each passing day... even though each victory was

enough, it was Seishan's name that was mentioned most often - the three Saints might have had overwhelming battle power, but Seishan seemed to be the

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

then there was the third defensive section, the one where the great clan Valor - and Sunny himself - were

manageable here,

the refugees crammed into the siege capitals. Their fame had outshone even that of the Saints... two beautiful sisters, one wisely leading the soldiers from the

were always sent into the most dire and important battles. For now, they had not

to the Southern Quadrant, but not because of casualties - instead, several cohorts of the Fire Keepers had already ventured

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

knew that the naval convoys traversing the oceans had faced many difficulties. There had been several tragedies, but overall, more and more refugees

dire, but things seemed to be going

Sunny knew that

and Song was growing

each other in the Dream Realm. Out here in the waking world, there were more and more ambushes and

had been pretty busy in the

while remaining unnoticed,

were not limited to a single siege capital... in fact, Sunny had made an effort to limit his activity to a minimum there, as well as in any area where he showed

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