Shadow Slave

It was not every day that a famous Saint visited the Brilliant Emporium, so Sunny went all out with cooking up a feast.

And Effie was, without a doubt, very famous.

The world had changed a lot from the day he Awakened. Back then, there had been barely a few dozen Transcendents in existence, each representing the absolute pinnacle of human tenacity and achievement. They were distant and dazzling, like living legends.

Today, though, there were more than a hundred Saints out there. They were still revered and venerated, and each of them was still an absolute elite — an exalted warrior and champion, the best of the best humanity had to offer.

But, still. Not all Saints were made equal. All of them were remarkable, but some were more remarkable than the rest.

In general, the hundred Transcendents were often divided into three loose tiers. The lowest tier — if such a description could even be applied to these legendary figures — was the largest, and mostly consisted of those Saints who had reached Transcendence after the Southern Campaign.

They were younger and less experienced, and their path to Sainthood had been a little easier than that of their predecessors. So, these undoubtedly outstanding warriors were still considered a bit weaker than the rest of the Saints.

The middle tier consisted of the few most talented representatives of the new generation, as well as of the old guard — of those seasoned veterans that had reached Transcendence before the Chain of Nightmares. Saints like Sky Tide, Summer Knight, Silent Stalker, Bloodwave, and Wake of Ruin were among them.

These powerhouses wielded fierce powers and possessed a frightening amount of experience, each towering above the rest of humanity like mythical giants.

...However, there was still someone above them. Each of these unique individuals was a singular existence, a presence that broke all the rules. Their terrifying power could hardly be measured, and they stood apart from even the Saints, inferior only to the Sovereigns themselves. There was no word for what these people were, but everyone knew their names.

The government possessed three of these exceptional champions: Raised by Wolves, Nightingale, and Soul Reaper.

Clan Song possessed three, as well. They were Mordret, Seishan, and Beastmaster. And lastly, Clan Valor possessed two. They were Nephis and Morgan, the Sword Sisters.

...Of course, there were Saints of equally terrible power who were completely unknown. One of them was Cassie.

one was

that was pretty

was currently visiting the Brilliant Emporium. Saying that she finally understood what the female Fire Keepers

Sunny frowned subtly.

Cafe? Hmm. I haven't heard of it. Do I have

popping up in Bastion almost every day, so he was not very diligent about

with her experience in the Brilliant Emporium. Then, she can tell the Fire Keepers to stay loyal to it. Her own soldiers,

one of his bodies to start serving

dishes, a mountain of dumplings, tender barbequed meat, black bean noodles, steamed buns, spring rolls, red rice cakes, and perfectly cooked rice... he had

the dining hall, Effie had

"Ah! This is great!"

gave his avatar thumbs up and

another one

Sunny's smile wavered.

***

had invited Sunny to join them, but he

sharing some information about the meeting she

Which is today. By tomorrow, many Sleepers from the waking world would be sent into the Dream Realm, scattered all across its territory. With how many humans are here now, most will find their way to the nearest settlement without much problem. The rest will be picked up by the patrols we've jointly established. Well... apart from those

quiet for a moment, and then

there very well may be poor bastards like us two. Since not all regions of the Dream Realm have human presence, they can be lost. No one wants the Forgotten Shore to be repeated, so this time, there is an initiative to widen the search area. Valor is even sending a team into

Aiko frowned.

me guess who is going to draw the short straw. They're

Effie sighed.