The Rhino let out a strident, disturbing sound as it came to a sudden, shuddering halt. The noise of the engine muffled the sound of footsteps as Arthur descended calmly.
The cold mountain wind hit his face as he observed the views from such a height. His boots left prints in the snow while his head began generating worried thoughts as he analyzed what they had to do next.
Letting out a sigh, he turned and left the views of the valley that stretched for kilometers. At the end of it was an alloy wall that was at least seventy meters tall.
Its many bastions housed devastating railguns, which seemed like they had been scavenged from decommissioned battleships. Thousands of turrets were placed along the wall's length, some aiming at the ground, others staring into the dark sky.
The killing field around the city was littered with countless corpses, most of the abominations completely torn apart. Teams of engineers moved among them, gathering soul shards and valuable materials.
The whole might of the First Army was gathered here.
And to that might had just been added two Ascended Titans, an Ascended Terror, Jet—who was equivalent to an Ascended Tyrant at this stage of the campaign—and thousands of soldiers, both mundane and Awakened.
One could say that with all that brute force added to the existing defenses, Falcon Scott seemed… too big to fall.
Arthur met up with the rest of the Masters a few steps away. They were looking at the condition of the vehicles while reviewing the plan to finish the mission of returning to Falcon Scott.
Although they were only a few kilometers from the Siege Capital, the distance between it and them was filled with wandering Nightmare Creatures.
He managed to hear what Sunny had asked.
"So… now what?"
Jet smiled.
"You'll see."
A Memory materialized in a shower of silvery sparks in her pale hand, taking the form of a waxed clay tablet. She simply drew a jagged line on it and dismissed it.
Not long after that, the sortie that was supposed to lead most of the Nightmare Creatures away from the valley commenced. It started with a heavy missile barrage, which was then followed by a full company of MWPs appearing on the far side, accompanied by many cohorts of Awakened.
Upon observing such action, everyone ran to their vehicles.
As soon as the horde of Nightmare Creatures shifted to the far side of the valley and spilled out of it, pursuing the retreating diversion force, the Rhino lunged forward.
The long column of vehicles followed behind.
The caravan rolled down into the valley. Before any of the remaining Nightmare Creatures could react, an onslaught of bullets, arrows, and magical projectiles fell upon them, tearing the monsters apart.
During the process, some creatures realized something was wrong and turned to observe the column of vehicles descending the mountain. Their howls and shrieks informed the rest of the creatures, and a mass of them staggered, struggling to change targets.
His golden eyes reflected the scene, and he didn't hesitate to take part in the process.
There was a very important reason for his intervention that didn't only involve the convoy's safety.
The Rhino was already heading toward the distant entrance to the mountain road when Arthur and Sylvie appeared atop the vehicle.
Looking at each other, they both already knew what they had to do without needing to mention a word.
Arthur took the right side of the convoy while Sylvie took the opposite. Both began moving at a speed similar to the first vehicle transporting civilians while carrying out a massacre of the creatures that threw themselves at their swords.
At the front of the convoy, their Rhino took the lead, but not for long.
Regis had already left his core moments before, and manifesting in all his glory in front of the APC, he took the front.
Using his claws and fangs, he began bestowing the gift of death.
Along the rest of the convoy, the soldiers began using their bows and weapons to achieve the same objective.
Sunny, standing atop his Rhino, didn't stop sending arrow after arrow. His bow stretching to the correct power for the next victim. Each arrow pierced an especially vulnerable spot on the bodies of the Nightmare Creatures, killing them instantly.
Soon, the caravan was already climbing the steep slope, well on its way to leaving the valley. Naeve had arranged for an improvised minefield to be set up in the way of any potential pursuers, so their retreat had a good chance of happening without a hitch.
And indeed, to everyone's surprise, nothing went wrong.
The journey was a bit bumpy, but eventually, they made it.
As soon as the shadows of the city wall fell on him, Arthur and Sylvie returned to the Rhino, with Regis having already done so previously.
The gates of Falcon Scott started to open, and a sigh of satisfaction formed inside him.
'We're back,' Sylvie said mentally while they both looked at the interior buildings of the Siege Capital.
---
Falcon Scott is a major city of the Southern Quadrant and the main gateway to the Antarctic Center. Built across the foothills of a mountain range and atop towering cliffs, it is closely connected to the ocean through a heavily fortified port-fortress below the city.
The port and city are linked by massive industrial elevators, allowing cargo, troops, and artillery support to move between them. The cliffs also provide a natural defensive barrier, making a direct assault on the city extremely difficult.
Before the evacuation, Falcon Scott was an important infrastructure hub with a constant flow of people and supplies. During the Antarctic campaign, however, the city became severely overcrowded, eventually sheltering nearly 200 million people after the remaining siege capitals of the Antarctic Center were evacuated there.
Several massive alloy battleships remain anchored around the port. These battleships have the mission of transporting the population across the strait toward Eastern Antarctica, where the First Army still maintains a degree of control.
Arthur gently set the image of the city down on the table and remained seated, waiting for the rest of the people to arrive.
Not even a few minutes passed since his arrival before they were called to attend a meeting. It was so urgent that he couldn't even see his mother, who was in one of the offices waiting for him.
His father hadn't arrived at Falcon Scott yet, so he wouldn't be present at the meeting—but he already knew the information that would be given there.
From what he knew from Jet, they would have to protect the city for the next three weeks to evacuate all the civilians from inside the walls.
For such an objective, the most necessary thing was to have a good idea of what had to be done and the threats that could destroy the plans.
The conference room was relatively large with black walls and not much. Arthur judged that about thirty people could easily fit inside, with space for five more. Though this depended heavily on the physiques of those five people…
The table was made of a dark metal, and on it were different refreshments and snacks for the participants of the meeting.
He was sitting on a white plastic chair while to his left was Sylvie, eating some sweet snacks. To his right sat Seishan, and like him, she wasn't eating anything.
In a corner of the room was Sunny, sitting among the shadows while eating a package of snacks identical to Sylvie's.
Jet sat a little further away from them, having already fulfilled her part of the deal and taken on the role of Colonel. To her right was Winter with her dark glasses and a smirk on her face, whispering things into the former's ear.
Dale was also beside them. The last member of the First Irregular Company still alive, not counting his father.
Randall, Jesse, and Davis had died in these last three months.
Arthur already knew about Davis and Randall but had no idea about Jesse. Which brought an uncomfortable sensation to his throat.
Because his parents were important people within the government branches, he had known all the members of the First Irregular Company from a young age. To him, they were something similar to aunts and uncles.
And the news that those aunts and uncles had been killed while carrying out their missions was something that provoked a slight weight in his heart.
Lucky, the sound of the door opening and closing distracted him from his thoughts.
People kept entering the conference room—most were Masters, but there were also some Awakened present. Soon, only two people were missing, and they didn't take long to arrive.
The door opened, and two people entered the room. The atmosphere inside instantly changed.
The first was the Saint of Sorrows, who had been the one to bring him to Aurora Vale at the beginning of the campaign.
The second was a man with smooth ebony skin and perfectly white hair, his eyes glinting with shades of indigo and deep blue.
'Bloodwave,' the name came from Sylvie.
A Saint of the House of Night Clan.
Saint of Sorrows greeted everyone gathered in the room, then proceeded to take a seat at the head of the table. Bloodwave simply leaned on the wall after exchanging a few words with Naeve, forcing a few Masters to shift uncomfortably as his presence brushed against them.
The Song Saint didn't waste time.
"Most of those present know more or less what the situation is, but I'll give a brief explanation…"
The Saint briefly described the general state of the First Army, the scope of the tasks lying ahead, and the enemy forces deployed against them.
Every word that left his mouth made the expressions on the faces of the rest present darken a few degrees more. The situation… didn't look very good.
The Song Saint continued his explanation with a neutral tone, pointing to the map of the city on a tablet and its surroundings.
"Now that the concentration of civilians is located only in Falcon Scott, the swarms of creatures will approach here at rapid speed. In fact, they already are."
The tablet's image changed.
"Still, those are our lesser concerns." He paused briefly and added, "The reason for this meeting is to discuss the objectives that have priority and create a way to deal with them."
"The preliminary analysis shows that these Nightmare Creatures represent the most acute threat to this city."
The images showed a cloud of flying vermin devouring the landscape, an unclear image of a river of darkness flowing through a deep gorge, a still image of the LO49 facility, and an image of the sea with a colossal creature at its center.
Others were a hazy drawing of a grotesque beast hiding behind a veil of snow, and finally, the interpretation of a beautiful, completely black butterfly.
Arthur knew about most of the creatures thanks to Jet, yet the number of threats managed to surprise him. That was without counting their classes and ranks.
There was also the fact that the Saints had already eliminated one, and they had eliminated Goliath. Without those two wins, the chances of success would have been nil.
'What complicated three weeks we're going to have…'
'Indeed,' Sylvie responded while sighing.
Noticing that everyone had already seen the images, Saint of Sorrows continued.
"The first target is a swarm entity known as the Devouring Cloud. Our diviners were able to determine that it is not a powerful Nightmare Creature, but instead the remains of one. The Devouring Cloud was most likely a Fallen Terror, one that had its main consciousness destroyed at some point in the past. The swarm of its brood remains, however, and that is what we need to counter."
He glanced at Jet's side.
"Master Winter, considering your proficiency in ranged and area-of-effect attacks, you will be in charge of bolstering the city defenses when it comes to deflecting aerial threats."
Winter nodded.
"The second target is a creature that was designated as the Heart of Darkness. Not a lot is known about it, except for the fact that it is composed of numerous insect-like drones, wielding powers connected to elemental darkness and possibly spatial distortion."
Knowledge of such a creature was brought by Sunny at the beginning and later enriched by Arthur.
The Heart of Darkness was the creatures that had emerged from Goliath's corpse once they killed him.
"The third target was designated as the Terror of LO49. Once again, its exact Rank and Class are unknown, although the creature is most likely to be a Corrupted Terror. It is responsible for destroying the battleship Ariadne, as well as massacring the garrison of the LO49 installation. Master Sunless is the only known survivor of the attack, so he is the best person to inform us about this threat."
Sunny lingered for a few moments, then shrugged.
"There's not much to tell. The creature likes to hide underwater and kills people by luring them into the ocean with immensely powerful mind manipulation. It also places a mind hex on everyone else to make them ignore the victims. That is the pattern of behavior that I witnessed, which is not to say that the creature does not have other means of attack. You can read the details in the reports we submitted."
He thought a little, and then added:
"If there is one strange thing about that Terror, it is that it emerged from the Gate alone. It does not seem to have an entourage of weaker Nightmare Creatures to defend it, either, which might be a vulnerability. Oh… also, there has to be some kind of limitation to its ability to wipe out large groups of people. Otherwise, it would not have waited weeks to kill everyone at LO49."
Saint of Sorrows nodded.
"Saint Bloodwave, Master Naeve. Since the creature appears to be aquatic in nature, it is going to be your responsibility to hunt it down. The Terror cannot be allowed to approach the city."
The emissaries of the House of Night simply nodded.
"Another maritime threat is the confirmed Corrupted Titan designated Leviathan."
Saint Bloodwave spoke this time.
"The Titan is extremely strong, and its body is very resistant. Its powers seem to be basic in nature, but they are not weak at all." A self-critical smile found its way to his lips. "I alone cannot kill it, and the priority of such an action is of maximum importance."
Saint of Sorrows nodded and commented for the rest.
"The plan to deal with Leviathan is to concentrate the three Saints and face it. This plan is still being developed, so at the end of the meeting, you can stay to discuss it or add ideas."
Then it was his turn to put on a self-critical smile.
"The Winter Beast… was recently confirmed to be a Corrupted Titan. I can't kill it, even with Saint Cormac's help, but we will contain it. Dealing with the creature will be our responsibility."
Disregarding the somber mood brought on by the last two pieces of news, he returned to the final image.
"Finally, there is the presence of Black Butterfly. The information available on the creature is very scarce, and we only know its class, which is also Titan. This was also brought by Master Sunless."
Sunny shrugged again.
"I can't say much about it. I only saw it once and managed to confirm its class, but nothing more. Its powers are a mystery, as is its rank."
The Saint of Sorrows studied him for a few seconds and nodded. Then he was about to continue speaking, but several communicators in the room notified their owners about a received message.
Arthur noticed that the owners were none other than Saint of Sorrows, Bloodwave, and Jet.
The Song Saint read the message and did not react. The other Transcendent sighed, then briefly showed his communicator to Naeve and hid it. Jet glanced at the screen and showed no reaction whatsoever, remaining in her usual relaxed pose.
He noticed Sunny approaching Jet to ask what had happened, and he focused on listening to the conversation.
An advantage of his good hearing was listening to gossip…
"What was that about?" Sunny asked.
Jet glanced at him and shrugged.
"A Saint died this morning in the Dream Realm, while heroically defending a Citadel from some vicious Nightmare Creature. One of Valor's."
"Some vicious Nightmare Creature, huh?"
She smiled a little.
Seishan beside him had apparently also heard the conversation, and the corner of her lips curved slightly. Anyone else wouldn't notice, but he did.
After so much time together, he could read her perfectly.
'Sylv, who died?'
Sylvie kept looking forward, didn't change her expression, and kept listening to the meeting.
'I don't know the Saint's name, but it wasn't exactly a Nightmare Creature that killed him.'
Arthur frowned internally… Saints didn't die very often, and especially not if it wasn't a Nightmare Creature that killed them.
'You need to improve your gossip skills, princess,' Regis mocked.
He remained silent, thinking. After a few seconds, he said a name.
'Another Saint or maybe Mordret?'
'I think it's the latter. At least that's the information I have.' Sylvie confirmed.
---
Hours earlier, in an unknown Citadel of the Dream Realm.
Mordret sat on a rock, watching the river in front of him take on a crimson color.
The gray eyes of the vessel he was using at the moment took in the views while a smile was drawn on his face.
Floating in the water was the corpse of one of the Saints who had helped imprison him in the Night Temple.
Beside the corpse, countless Nightmare Creatures shared the same fate as the Saint.
He had black hair and gray eyes. The constitution of his face was very similar to the vessel Mordret was using.
'To be dying and have the last thing you see be the face of your sister sitting on a rock without the intention of helping you must have broken his heart.'
Even after imagining such a scene, Mordret couldn't feel anything.
Letting out a sigh, he deigned to stand. Taking a napkin from one of the pockets of his black and white suit, he dried his hands and continued looking at the corpse for a while longer.
This guy had become a Saint recently, which was why he fell into his own trap so easily. If he hadn't been so attached to his sister, he wouldn't have fallen either.
A shame that even if he had survived the number of Nightmare Creatures he had gathered in the lake, his sister had already died some time ago.
She hadn't been innocent either, and had helped imprison him as well. Though she was only a Master.
His smile widened even more, and then he bowed to the corpse and disappeared into the reflection of the sea.