Shadow Slave

There were a lot of startled glances directed at Sunny. Of course, it couldn't be helped - even though he was a Master, thus receiving a certain amount of respect and veneration from all Awakened, the warriors of a great clan still tended to treat government soldiers with a bit of disdain.

Watching a mere government envoy, no matter how distinguished, pull out two Transcendent Devils and a Terror out of nowhere must have been a bit of a shock for them. Especially because of how unlike the retainers of Valor Sunny looked - he was neither tall nor physically imposing, and in fact appeared more slender than athletic. In addition, while pretty much everyone around him was clad in a suit of heavy plate armor, he wore only a light tunic and a pair of dainty silk shoes.

It was almost as if Sunny was not taking the situation seriously.

...Or was powerful enough to be able to disregard the protection of durable armor despite the dire danger of the situation.

There was one intangible quality, though, that convinced the warriors of Valor that it was the latter rather than the former: Presence.

It was not a secret that Saints possessed a certain presence about them, and the most powerful of Masters did, too. Like Jet who emanated an illusory aura of cold, or Nephis who sometimes seemed to illuminate the space around her.

Presence was often hard to describe, but it was unmistakable. And the feeling Sunny gave off when he got serious was of the dark, cold, and deeply frightening variety. Like staring into the eyes of your killer, or maybe even of death itself.

So, the warriors of Valor were more than a little surprised. Obviously, Morgan was surprised the most. He stared at Sunny for a few long moments with a somewhat comical expression, then slowly shook her head and turned away.

"You are a man who is full of surprises, Master Sunless. This is a good thing... we might need to pull off a miracle or two today, in order to survive."

curious she was, now was not the time to engage in these

a distance to observe the clash. The two armies were

it, the Awakened followed. Sunny could not see the Reflections and the Saints,

mounted warriors shook the ground as they moved forward, gaining speed for a devastating charge. The phalanx of Awakened marched forward behind them, in perfect synchronicity, their formation like

air, assuming the form of the steel-winged thunderbird. The wind roared as she flew forward, and lightning danced around her body. Summer Knight was at the tip of

near them, both with grim expressions on their faces. Only Imp seemed unaffected by the dreadful scale and meaning of the scene in front of

are really doing it, aren't we?' As soon as he

far ahead, a cloud of arrows rose from the ranks of Song's Awakened, followed by a swarm of winged abominations.

them and descended on Sir Gilead. In a flash of claws of crimson eyes, Sunny made out the figure of a giant, monstrous panther that had swiped at the Saint's Echo

there was

the people participating in it. Each of the soldiers possessed unique Abilities and skills derived from them - no general, no matter how talented, could truly calculate and effectively guide such a great number of

two thousand devils were unleashed onto the desolate plain,

the two armies could do was set

of Awakened, the personal valor of the combatants was much more important than in a battle of mundane soldiers, or even

a single individual's contribution could also exert great

hoped for, at least. However, watching Valor cavalry collide with Beastmaster's thralls, he was suddenly not sure if anything he could do would