Shadow Slave

Chapter 1870 Career Advancement Eventually, it was Sunny's turn to enter battle.

By then, the expedition force had already pushed the jungle many kilometers away from the slopes of the Collarbone Plain. A temporary camp was established near the system of massive lifts that the army had used to descend to the lowlands, and the soldiers from the first war party were fast asleep despite the suffocating heat, their tired bodies covered in sweat.

Flakes of ash were swirling in the air.

By then, Sunny had replaced Weaver's Mask with [Definitely Not Me], shaping the lesser Memory to resemble the Divine one. After some hesitation, he also commanded it to change the color of his hair to white.

It was a bit nostalgic. The reason for the sudden masquerade was entirely pragmatic, though.

After observing Nephis and Gilead lead their parties into battle, he realized that it was important to not only kill the Nightmare Creatures, but also to be seen killing them by the soldiers — the very sight of their commander fighting could instill the warriors with strength, provided that the commander was a menacing presence on the battlefield.

Both Nephis and Summer Knight were highly visible wherever they went. Nephis had her white armor, silver hair, and blinding radiance. Sir Gilead was simply made of light when he assumed his Transcendent form. Sunny, however, was like a mass of darkness when he fought. Considering his dire mobility, the soldiers would barely be able to tell where he was.

Therefore, he used the enchantment that [Definitely Not me] had inherited from Autumn Leaf to change the color of his hair. Hopefully, that was going to alleviate the problem somewhat.

Sunny had also discussed the upcoming battle with the Saints assigned to his war party. There were eight of them, all hailing from the vassal clans of Valor. He had no prior impression of most of them, except for Saint Rivalen of Aegis Rose — who was either the father of the young Master Tristan, whom Sunny had beaten in a duel once.

Saint Rivalen, also known as Shield Wall, possessed an Aspect that excelled in defense and terrain control. Both were useful qualities in a battle such as this, so Sunny had high hopes for him.

He had almost expected that the proud Legacy Saints would be reluctant to obey a stranger with no background like as himself, but they accepted his authority silently. The words spoken by Nephis seemed to have had the desired effect — all Transcendents were warriors tempered by countless life-or-death battles, and those who had met death respected strength above all else.

was no time to second-guess your orders and question your superior — to survive, one had to trust their commanders

was well-versed in all

scorching surface of the bone, and assembled into a battle formation behind the combat

last instructions to his

this is a marathon, not a sprint. There will be another battle tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, until we either reach the Second Rib or all die miserable deaths. In fact, the fighting will become much fiercer once we ascend

them from behind his

your bodies. Conserve your essence. Above all else, safeguard your life… you might think that it is a noble deed, to sacrifice yourself

gave him a measured look, then sighed

that most of us have siblings, spouses, children, and friends out there among the soldiers. It is a reasonable thing, to sacrifice a few to save many… but if there is someone you treasure among those few, all reason goes out

stared at him

yourself, then. As a Saint of the Sword Domain, I expect you to prioritize the needs of the army above your own. If you

a little indignant. The gallant man ground his teeth

will jeopardize

Sunny looked away.

"Good. Now, prepare…"

to follow his own advice, as well. Not the part about staying alive and keeping a cool head, but the part about rationing his essence and treating the battle as

his essence as they went. However, Sunny still had to be

he absolutely needed to, and could not rely too much on Shadow Manifestation. Which was fine… Shadow Manifestation was mostly useful to deal with large amounts of

a deep breath and looked at the furious

"Go!"