Shadow Slave

The location of the Nightmare Gate that led to the vicinity of the Black Skull was of paramount importance. Currently, no one except for Mordret was anchored to the Gateway of the Citadel, so that Nightmare Gate was still the only feasible way to reach it.

If it was located in the wilderness of East Antarctica, the battle between the two great clans was going to happen far away from the siege capitals and the civilian population.

If it was inside a city, though...

'Think rationally.'

Sunny walked through the corridors of the fortress as he analyzed the situation.

If the Nightmare Gate was located inside a siege capital, then there wasn't much he could do. The lives of countless civilians would be put in mortal danger, or maybe even snuffed out directly. The best Sunny could manage was to try mitigating the damage, somehow.

If it was somewhere in the wilderness, however... then he did not have to do anything.

His problems would just solve themselves. Valor and Song were welcome to slaughter each other as much as they wanted.

'Wrong.'

Thinking that way was shortsighted. Sure, the great clans were a bunch of hateful jerks, but they were also responsible for defending a vast portion of East Antarctica, albeit simply to keep up appearances. Their power was especially important when dealing with high-value targets like titans, since six out of the seven Saints present on the continent belonged to the Domains.

What would happen if all of them just went and killed each other?

'Nothing good...'

Countless refugees had already been evacuated, but millions more remained. If only the Evacuation Army had been given a few more months - enough for the legion of Sleepers to undergo Awakening - things would have been different.

But Mordret, the damned lunatic, had made that impossible. So, the power of the great clans was still too important.

fact that, while the great clans were odious, they were also needed. They were like

way made him feel dirty. It

of Ruin and

about it. So what the hell do I

that, thanks to Mordret, a bloody and destructive all-out battle between the forces of Valor and Song was now both close and inevitable. They could entirely obliterate each other, which would be the worst outcome, since there would be no one left to continue defending the

one way for him to achieve the best

no way to prevent the battle, he had to do everything in his power to help one side achieve victory... and not any kind of victory, at that. A pyrrhic one would be no different from mutual destruction. Only an overwhelming victory would minimize the losses of one of the sides, thus leaving enough fighters alive to make a

'Wait... wait...'

froze, growing even

His eyes widened.

His hands trembled.

smile that seemed more than a little mad appeared on his

room, he looked at someone who stood

young woman with silver hair and cold grey eyes, clad in an intricate armor of black

He looked at Nephis.

Sunny slowly exhaled.

what

what she had told him a lifetime ago, during the opulent

had ordered him to,

their fates were

rejected Nephis and refused to follow her into the embrace of Clan Valor. Instead,

much had happened since

he was, planning to fight side by side with her under the banner of the great clan Valor, helping them

of his

reached with one hand and touched his neck, as if checking to see if there was

this bitter

escaped