Shadow Slave

1173 Red Herring

Sunny was watching the battleship move across the tumultuous surface of the ocean.

But, of course, he was watching other things at the same time as well.

His shadows were spread throughout the port fortress, absorbing all kinds of information.

One was hidden in the barrel of an overheated rail gun, watching Nightmare Creatures laying siege to the walls of the stronghold. A deathly downpour of projectiles, both mundane and magical, was falling on the surging mass of attacking abominations. Figures of Knights could be seen within the horde, moving to eliminate the most dangerous targets. Saint Gilead was also there, clad in a suit of lustrous armor, facing the Nightmare Creatures like a bastion of immovable courage and steel. It was a familiar scene.

Another shadow was with the refugees who were nervously waiting for their turn to board the ships. The sounds of the battle were too oppressive to talk freely, but they couldn't help but whisper, sharing their fears and hopes. Sunny listened carefully, assessing the changes in the mood of the civilians, as well as how they perceived the conflict.

From time to time, he managed to learn something interesting from the rumors spreading among the refugees.

A third shadow was with Nephis, who had entered the field hospital beneath the fortress wall some time ago. She was kneeling in front of a bloodied stretcher, holding her hands above the terrible wounds covering the body of a mundane soldier. A soft radiance emanated from beneath her skin, and the wounds of the young man were swiftly closing. Her face was motionless and pale.

There were many people behind her who had been in the throes of suffering not too long ago, but were now healthy and whole. They were looking at her with eyes in which indescribable relief mixed with awe and reverence in equal measure.

The fourth shadow was with Sunny himself.

a dozen or so minutes ago. Usually, Sunny would not risk getting that close to the Princess of

was a special

to give battle to a large

was because today, Saint Madoc had returned from

or simply a diversion meant to sow confusion among his enemies. At times, Sunny had felt certain that the bleak man was none other than the

to dispel his

so would have alerted Morgan about its presence — but it did manage to slither into a service duct running

frowned as he watched the ocean, noticing a

his voice even: "...waiting for me. It was a trap from the very beginning. Which would not have been too inconvenient if Ascended Bast was,

and sighed. "Still. It couldn't be helped. We had to

a few moments, then asked: "How

at the young woman, he chuckled. "You don't have to worry about this old man, Morgan. Silent Stalker and Dire Fang were there…

his head

arrogance if Madoc was powerful enough to back up his words,

question remained. If Ascended Bast had nothing to do with Mordret, then where the hell was

Queen Ki was generous enough to bestow that person with a

frowned. "We weren't able to confirm his Ascended Ability. Maybe it has something to do with that… you can't forget what Rank his Aspect is,

"He might be closer than we think, too. These