Chapter 895: Catcher in the Night
Sunny was the only one who could prevent more people from silently walking into the cold ocean. Even if he returned the borrowed Memories and gave the Undying Chain to someone else, the other person would not be able to enjoy the augmentation of the four shadows. So, the mind hex would remain unbroken.
If there was one good thing about the situation, it was that after Sunny had rid himself of the hex, he did not need to keep up his mental defenses at such a high level anymore. It was as though he was now inoculated against the unknown creature's influence.
At least for now.
He returned the charm, the mercurial cloak, and the flint dagger to their owners. One shadow continued to follow Professor Obel, while the other three remained wrapped around the Undying Chain, just in case. After that, everyone got to work.
Although Sunny was the only person who could perceive the mesmerized, it did not mean that nobody else could help prevent more people from vanishing. Now that Verne knew what they were dealing with exactly, he could tune the safety protocols of the fortress to make it harder for the enemy to snatch victims away.
Soldiers received new instructions, while all non-essential personnel were confined to their living quarters. If they couldn't leave, they would most likely be unable to reach the water, after all.
Sunny, meanwhile...
Walking onto the dark beach, he sighed, then placed an intricate wooden chair at the very edge of the rustling waves and sat down with his back to the ocean. Facing the wall of the fortress. Sunny shivered in the cold wind for a few moments, leaned back, and leisurely crossed his legs.
'It's a bit chilly..."
The world was dark, and the only sounds surrounding him were the howling of the wind and the incessant murmur of the waves. Sitting with his back to the ocean was not pleasant, especially with a Corrupted Terror hiding somewhere beneath its lightless surface.
The only thing that made Sunny feel better was the unmoving silhouette of Saint, who was hidden in the shadow of the wall with Morgan's Warbow in her hands. Even then, Sunny had a lot to worry about.
Would he really be able to stop people from reaching the water?
Would they resist, or would they allow themselves to be brought back inside L049?
...Most importantly, what would the Terror do if its source of sustenance was suddenly cut off? Somehow, Sunny doubted that the creature was going to just leave them be.
He just had to hope that the rescue ship would arrive before the eventual retaliation, and take them away before the creature could cast its hex on the crew, as well.
With a sigh, Sunny released his shadows and sent them forward. The shadows climbed the wall and separated, assuming watching positions in three different spots.
Then, all he could do was wait and listen to the rustle of the waves behind him.
A minute passed, then another. Then, a few more.
Sunny opened a thermos he had brought with him and poured himself a cup of fragrant coffee. Sipping it in the bitter cold, he continued to wait and pretend that the ocean did not concern him at all.
After about an hour, a human figure finally appeared on the wall. Sunny slapped himself in the face to chase away sleepiness, then put the thermos down and stood up. One step through the shadows brought him to the mesmerized person.
The man... he knew that man. It was one of the Awakened officers in charge of the local garrison. This soldier had usually been cheerful and energetic, even after staying awake for close to two weeks. But now, there was a blank, empty expression on his face, and no light in his hollow eyes.
Sunny stood between the slowly walking Awakened and the lip of the wall.
This time, he did not step aside to make way.
Instead, he hesitated for a moment, then put his hand on the soldier's shoulder, stopping him. The man made a few more awkward steps, not realizing that he was walking in place.
Then, he ceased moving and slowly turned his head, staring at Sunny with calm, glassy eyes.
'Damn. That's creepy!'
Sunny opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, a strong blow sent him flying back. Crashing into the rampart, he broke through it and tumbled off the wall, landing on the rocks far below in an undignified heap.
'Argh. What the hell?"
The strike was much, much stronger than anything a mere Awakened should have been able to deliver. Even without augmenting his body with the shadows, Sunny was a Master. He also had four cores and a sea of essence at his disposal.
Why was the mesmerized officer so strong?
Cursing, he slowly rose from the ground. At the same time, the Awakened landed on the rocks a few steps away from him, swayed a little, and continued marching toward the dark waves. Since Sunny was not blocking his path anymore, the soldier did not pay him any more attention.
"Not so fast, you damned fool..."
Creating a long chain out of the shadows, Sunny made a loop out of it and tossed it forward, ensnaring the mesmerized man. Taking the unexpected strength that the soldier had shown into account, he added another chain for good measure and grinned weakly.
"Huh... just like the good old times.'
The memory of throwing a chain loop at the Mountain King was still vivid and fresh in his mind.
Making sure that Verne's officer was immobilized, Sunny dragged him back, and then scaled the wall.
A few minutes later, slightly out of breath, he reached the old observatory and walked inside. There, the first few containment units had already been built, and a working crew was hurriedly creating more. They glanced at Sunny with confusion, but then quickly lost interest, distracted by the mind hex.
Ignoring the workers, Sunny walked to the nearest unit, threw the mesmerized officer inside, and locked the door. Even for an Awakened, escaping from a prison like that was not supposed to be possible.
A moment later, several furious strikes landed on the walls of the containment cell from inside, making it shudder. However, in the end, the sturdy construction held. Realizing that he would not be able to break free, the mesmerized soldier walked to the corner that was the closest to the ocean, pressed against it, and froze.
He just stood there, unmoving like a statue, not doing anything.
Sunny slowly exhaled.
'Well. that's not bad.'
He had been afraid that the mesmerized would bang their heads against the walls of their cages. attempting to reach the ocean even if it was not possible.
"Oh... Master Sunless? When did you get here?"
Now that he was not holding the soldier, the workers finally noticed his presence. They stared at Sunny with surprised eyes.
He blinked a couple of times. then smiled.
"...Carry on. I am just passing by."
At that moment. his shadows noticed another human climbing onto the wall.
Sunny sighed. lingered for a moment, and then stepped through the shadows once again.
Chapter 896: The Obstacle
Sunny felt like he was going insane.
He was tired, sleep-deprived, and cold. He was stuck in a fortress on a remote continent, which had been built around an eerie abandoned observatory. The fortress was being besieged by an unknown horror from the depths, and he was the only person who had managed to escape from the horror's hex.
The strangest thing about all that, however, was that Sunny was sometimes invisible. Every time he subdued and dragged one of the victims to the containment facility built inside the old observatory, everyone in the settlement acted as though he did not exist.
No, not exactly invisible... people were able to observe him. But the fact of his existence seemed to flow out of their consciousness almost immediately after being registered there. As long as Sunny was in the presence of one of the mesmerized victims, the residents of LO49 looked at him, frowned, and then went about their business, instantly forgetting what they had seen. It was really unnerving.
In his exhausted state, Sunny felt a deep and irrational fear that if this went on, he would be forgotten by everyone, forever.
He wondered if that was how the Demon of Oblivion had felt.
...Luckily, the bizarre effect seemed to only last for as long as Sunny was transporting prisoners to their cells. As soon as he placed them in the containment units, his existence was made normal once again. Well... as far as his existence could be called normal, to begin with.
On the first day of his catcher duty, Sunny had fought, subdued, and imprisoned twenty-nine people. His muscles were sore, and his armor was wet from being close to the water for so long. Despite his efforts - and to his relief - the Terror had not reacted to the sudden obstacle that appeared in the path of its satiation. At least not yet.
Saint continued to hide in the shadow of the tall wall of the fortress, monitoring the deep, dark, cold waters of the ocean.
At midnight, Sunny reported the results of his effort to Verne. They walked over to the observatory together, where the other Master remained silent for a long time.
"Are you telling me that there are people in these cells?"
Sunny struggled with a yawn, failed to suppress it, and then nodded.
"...Yeah. Around thirty of them."
Verne stared at the cells with a deep frown for a minute or two, then shook his head in bewilderment.
"Strange. Even though I know that they're there, I can't see anything. To me, the cells seem empty."
Sunny was a bit late to react.
"Oh. Believe me, they're there. They just stand near the southern side of their units and do nothing. At least they are staring at the walls, and not at us. That would be really creepy."
Verne looked at him with dark amusement.
"...I think this situation is sufficiently creepy as it is."
Then, he turned away from the cells and asked in a somber tone:
"Any change in the Terror's behavior?"
Sunny shook his head.
"No. At least not that I've noticed."
Verne remained silent for a moment, and sighed.
"Good. Continue, then. The Ariadne should be arriving soon, so... we just have to endure a little bit longer."
Just like that, Sunny continued his eerie task. He waited by the water, caught the people trying to drown themselves in the ocean, and locked them up in cells while suffering from being invisible.
'Damn cold..."
He had long summoned the Memory of Ice and continuously fed it with essence to save himself from the chilling wind.
Just like that, another day passed. During that day, Sunny rescued thirty-five people from being devoured by the waves. His skill of making chains out of shadows improved by a lot.
A few minutes before midnight, Sunny was sitting on his chair with an empty thermos in his hand, and stared at the sky. Today, there was no moon, and no aurora. Only the stars remained, shining softly up above.
'The waves sound differently today...
He rubbed his face, then turned around and stared at the undulating black surface of the ocean with intense distrust.
Just then, something seemed to change about the world. Sunny frowned, but before he could do anything, another figure appeared on the wall, forcing a long sigh to escape from his lips.
'Forty... it is accelerating.'
He stood up, ready to step through the shadows and subdue the fortieth victim, but there was something strange about the figure. Instead of moving toward the edge of the wall like the rest of them, it stopped and raised a hand, as if signaling to him.
"Huh?"
It was Quentin.
Sunny conserved his essence by jogging forward, then lowering his body slightly and mounting the wall with one inhumanly high jump. He landed on the concrete surface of the rampart, walked a few steps, and looked at Quentin with a deep frown.
"What? What happened?"
The chivalrous healer smiled, excitement shining in his eyes.
"Captain! The observatory... you need to see..."
Without wasting any time, Sunny jumped down to the roof of the nearby building, and then hurried toward the white dome at the center of the settlement. Walking inside, he instantly heard a swarm of confused, frightened, and angry voices.
"What? Where am I?"
"What happened?"
"Hey! Someone! What the hell is this?! Let me out!"
He stared, dumbfounded.
These voices... were coming from within the cells. They belonged to the victims he had imprisoned. Somehow, they seemed to have shrugged off the mind hex and regained their awareness.
And it wasn't just them.
Sunny turned his head and looked at the maintenance workers that were in charge of keeping the containment units secure. They were all speaking with excitement and glancing at the cells with relieved faces. They heard the victims. too.
...Which meant that the hex was not affecting them anymore, either.
"Thank the gods!! That abomination must have left!"
Despite the happy circumstances, Sunny was suddenly overwhelmed by a deep, cold, urgent feeling of unease. It grasped his heart and remained there, growing slightly stronger with each second.
He shivered.
'..What is going on?'
Chapter 897: Silent Ocean
After Sunny had broken through the mind hex and spent two days rescuing the mesmerized people, saving dozens of lives, the horror hiding in the cold black waves seemed to have left the vicinity of LO49.
The victims had regained their senses, and every person in the settlement was able to see and hear them clearly once again. In the next few hours, no one showed any sign of being under the influence of the hex. The vanishings stopped.
And the Ariadne was supposed to arrive soon.
The exhausted, frightened, and shaken inhabitants of the fortress were tentatively starting to unwind. Their fragile hope bloomed and blossomed.
However, the person most responsible for the positive change - Sunny - did not feel any of their cheer or relief. On the contrary, with each passing minute, his unease and sense of foreboding only grew stronger.
He did not like what was happening, not at all.
Walking through the snowy streets of the settlement, Sunny studied the lively faces of patrolling soldiers with a troubled expression on his own. It was dark and somber.
'...Doesn't make sense. None of it makes any sense.'
Approaching the security center, he placed his hand on the panel of a sophisticated biometric lock. The sensor was supposed to initiate a thorough scan, but as seconds passed, nothing seemed to happen. The damn thing was on the fritz.
Sunny stared at it for a moment, then sighed and banged on the heavy alloy door with his fist. Soon, it was manually unlocked from the inside by a sleepy soldier, who then allowed Sunny in.
Walking inside the security center, Sunny dusted snow off his shoulders, looked around, and headed toward Verne.
"What is the situation?"
Verne sent one of his officers off with a list of orders, then looked at his younger colleague and shrugged.
"Nothing changed. The Terror - or whatever that abomination was - seems to have truly moved on."
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"When has a Nightmare Creature ever moved on? You're deluding yourself."
The older Master frowned.
"We can't know for sure, of course, but the disappearance of the hex speaks for itself. Don't sell yourself short. Although creatures capable of mind manipulation are exceedingly dangerous, they often lack direct means of launching an effective attack. Maybe it decided to search for easier prey after you proved capable of dismantling its mental attack."
Sunny stared at him for a bit, then shook his head.
"A Corrupted Terror is a Corrupted Terror. We probably haven't seen even a fraction of its power yet, so why would it simply give up and leave?"
Verne tiredly rubbed his face and sighed.
"Do take into account that the creature's Rank and Class are only your conjecture. We don't really know how powerful it actually was. In any case, how else do you explain the fact that the hex is gone, and no one is vanishing anymore?"
Sunny hesitated for a moment.
"Maybe it decided to change tactics. Maybe it is gathering power for a singular, overwhelming attack. Maybe it just enjoys toying with its prey. Who the hell knows?!"
His counterpart looked away with a somber expression.
"...Alright, but what do you want me to do? It's not like I've relaxed the security measures. We are still on high alert and prepared for battle. We are still keeping the civilians locked up and concentrating our defenses on the southern wall. I don't see what other contingencies are there to prepare."
Sunny let out a frustrated sigh.
"All I am saying is that it's not a good time to become complacent. On the contrary, we must be preparing for a rapid escalation of the crisis."
Verne stared at him blankly for a few seconds.
"And all I am saying is that we are already doing everything we can. No matter how small, the possibility that you are right still exists, so we must. That is my position as the officer responsible for the safety of every person inside this facility. But personally... I think that exhaustion and paranoia are getting the better of you, Sunless. It's been hard on all of us."
Sunny remained silent for a bit, then said in a subdued voice:
"My paranoia has never led me astray, though."
With that, he winced and left.
'Maybe I am really wrong this time. Even if I'm not, Verne is right... what else are we supposed to do? Until the damned ship arrives, there's not much more we can prepare.'
But why did he feel so disturbed? Why was his sense of unease so urgent?
Walking out of the security center, Sunny stood in place for a while with a dark expression on his face. After some time, he noticed Luster loitering around, and called him over.
"Uh... yes? You wanted something, Captain?"
Sunny lingered for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah. Gather the others and tell them to stick close to the Rhino. Also, make sure that it's ready to move, in case we need to get the hell out of this damned place in a hurry."
Luster blinked a couple of times, looking at him with a startled expression. Then, he gulped.
"Ah... understood, sir. I'll go do that, then."
Letting the young man go. Sunny turned south and stared at the distant wall for a bit. Frowning, he then headed toward it.
The beach was cold and shrouded in darkness. like always. The black waves continued their eternal, fruitless assault on the shore. They came and went with a wide, reverberating rustle, making it seem as though the whole ocean was breathing.
His chair was still standing at the edge of the water, with an empty thermos laying on the stones nearby.
Descending from the wall. Sunny slowly walked toward the water and stopped just outside its reach, staring at the vast undulating expanse of the cold ocean with a deep scowl. His tired eyes were hidden in shadows.
Looking at the waves, he whispered:
"Where are you, bastard?? What are you planning?"
...Of course, the ocean remained silent. There was no response.
Chapter 898: Going for a Swim
Sunny sttod at the edge of the water for a while, looking at the ocean with a wary expression on his face.
'Funny...'
Back when he had first developed the habit of climbing the southern wall of the fortress, he stared at the ocean in hopes of witnessing the fearsome silhouette of the mighty battleship appearing from the darkness. But now that the Ariadne was about to arrive, his thoughts were far away.
Eventually, Sunny sighed and finally dismissed his chair, planning to return into the warmth of the settlement.
...However, just before he turned away from the dark water, something attracted his attention. A subtle gleam a few steps further down the shore, revealed from beneath the retreating waves. As though bleak starlight was reflecting from a small piece of glass.
Sunny hesitated for a few moments, then walked a meter or two forward, stopping at the spot where he had spotted the gleaming object. A new wave rushed in, licking his armored boots. He had to wait for it to crawl back before kneeling and taking a closer look at the wet rocks.
There, between them, something glistened, buried under several shards of ice. Sunny brushed the ice away and picked the object up, then stood up before the next wave came.
His frown deepened.
In his hand was a simple brass button, similar to those that could be found on the countless winter coats issued to soldiers of the First Evacuation Army as part of their kit.
By itself, the button was nothing special.
However...
"Huh?"
However, Verne and the soldiers under his command were not part of the First Evacuation Army. They were locals of Antarctica, and had served at LO49 long before the Chain of Nightmares. As such, their uniforms were slightly different. In fact, they were of a far better quality, considering that the First Army had been assembled and outfitted in a tremendous hurry.
Their kits were far better suited for cold weather, and included well-designed parkas that could keep a person warm in most dire of circumstances instead of cheap mass-produced coats.
So how did this button end up here?
Sunny stared at the round piece of brass for a few minutes, and then slowly looked up, facing the darkness of the ocean. There was a strangely resigned expression on his pale face.
With a sigh, he closed his eyes and extended his shadow sense forward, as far as it could go.
'Alright. Fine. Come on... show yourself, bastard. I know you didn't leave.'
His senses spread forward, diving deep under the black surface of the cold water. Everywhere light reached, there were shadows, after all. And even where light never entered, there was its absence.
However, Sunny did not sense the Terror no matter how hard he tried. He did find something, though.
Twenty or thirty meters away from him, deep underwater, there was a large shape. It rested on the seabed, moving slightly from time to time as the currents pulled it back and forth.
The shape was irregular and mostly flat, with a very slight curve. Its edges were sharp and jagged.
That was all Sunny could say from sensing its shadow... that and the fact that the shape was not that of a living thing, considering that the shadow lacked the quality of being cast by something possessing a soul.
He had no idea what it was.
The ocean contained all kinds of junk, so why would he care?
But for some reason, he did.
Opening his eyes, Sunny looked at the undulating waves for a bit. Then, he slowly took a step forward, and then another. And then, another.
The cold, freezing water reached his shins first, then his knees. Then, his waist. He shivered, gasped for breath, but continued walking forward.
'I... I am not mesmerized, am I?'
No, he couldn't be... he had broken the hex... his mind was his own...
When the water reached his chest, Sunny took a deep breath and dove down into the black depths. Swimming in a suit of steel armor was not an easy task, even one as thin and light as the Undying Chain. However, he possessed strength and endurance that far surpassed a mundane human, so Sunny persisted, plunging deeper and deeper into the ocean.
Despite the Memory of Ice hanging from a string on his neck, a cold like he had never experienced enveloped his body, making it hard for him to breathe, think, and move his limbs.
Gritting his teeth, Sunny ignored it and swam toward the distant shape.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the seabed and pushed himself along its uneven surface, getting closer and closer to his target. Far away on the shore, Saint emerged from the shadow of the wall and approached the edge of the waves, raising her bow. If anything happened, she would be able to send an arrow flying instantly.
That made Sunny feel a little better, even though he did not know how powerful the arrow would remain after piercing tens of meters of water. Considering the strength of Morgan's Warbow, it should still be deadly, but...
The efficacy of the arrow, of course, would depend on the power of the potential enemy.
'Don't think about that yet..."
Concentrating on his task, Sunny moved forward, reached the strange shape and opened his eyes. He observed it through the mass of murky water.
The shape... was a piece of torn alloy. It was around ten meters in length and slightly less in width. The tough material was viciously bent and broken, with jagged edges and deep cracks crawling through its surface. It seemed to have been torn away from a larger whole by something large and incredibly powerful.
However. there was no rust on the damaged metal, suggesting that it had not spent a lot of time in the water.
Sunny got closer, feeling as if he recognized the composition and characteristics of the alloy. His mind raced, trying to confirm that familiarity...
He placed one hand on the cold metal, remembering.
Then. his eyes narrowed, and a few bubbles of air escaped from his mouth.
...Of course, he knew where this strong and thick alloy was used. The same type of metal comprised the inner layers of a naval vessel's reinforced armor.
The deformed mass of twisted alloy..
It was a broken piece of a battleship's hull.
Chapter 899: Only Hope
Gasping for breath, Sunny rolled out of the shadows and fell on the wet rocks at the edge of the rolling waves. Streams of water flowed from his armor, and his whole body was trembling.
"C-cold... ah, s-so cold..."
Gritting his teeth, he stood up and shivered as the wind assaulted him. At that moment, not even his Ascended constitution and the Memory of Ice could protect him from being chilled to the bone.
But even then, the claws grasping his heart were much colder.
"Curse it..."
Sunny took a step forward, stumbled, then righted himself and stopped. His fists were clenched.
'Ariadne. It must have been the Ariadne.'
The broken piece of the hull, the brass button, it all made too much terrible sense. Of course, this evidence alone was not enough to make a definite conclusion, but Sunny was sure of it.
His intuition told him that much.
No one was coming to rescue the people trapped inside LO49.
...And the Terror was going to descent upon them soon, without a doubt.
Suddenly forlorn, Sunny glanced at the wall of the fortress with a lost look on his face. A few moments passed, accompanied by the howling of the wind. Then, he looked down, closed his eyes, and groaned.
"Ah... I'm so tired."
It was the cold that made him shrug off this moment of indecisiveness and start to move. No matter the situation, he had to get somewhere warm first.
One step, and he was on top of the wall. A second step, and he was standing on one of the streets of the settlement. A third step, and he suddenly appeared in the corner of a research laboratory where a group of scientists, including Professor Obel and Beth, were staying under guard.
The young woman was the first to notice him. She was slightly startled by the sight.
"...Ascended Sunless? What are you doing here?"
Sunny looked at her and forced out a pale smile.
"Don't mind me. I just got cold outside."
He stared at Beth with a strangely heavy expression for a few moments, and then shook his head.
"In any case, I'll be going now."
Sunny had to see Verne first. He dried himself off, then went back to the security center, feeling the urgent sense of alarm growing louder and louder in his head.
Before, Sunny had not known its source, and thought that he had days to discover it. But now, he wasn't so sure...
Maybe there were only hours left before the disaster his intuition was warning him about would happen.
...Maybe even minutes.
***
"...You're not listening."
Sunny glared at Verne as the seconds ticked away. Tick-tock. With each second, their fates were coming closer to being sealed. And yet, the tall Master was being difficult.
"I am listening."
Sunny suppressed the desire to hit the table with his fist. Not only would the table shatter and create a lot of noise, but it would also not help his argument in any way. More than that, he was too tired, and had no energy to go around breaking furniture.
"Then why the hell are you not doing anything?!"
Verne sighed.
"What am I supposed to do?"
Sunny blinked.
"Gather everyone, load them into the transports, and drive away from this cursed place! What else?!"
Verne looked at him for a while, his frown growing deeper.
"With all due respect, Sunless, you are not making a lot of sense. You are trying to convince me that the Ariadne is not coming, but your only piece of evidence is a button and a piece of metal that you found underwater. We both know how much junk and old wreckage was left in the oceans after the Dark Times. That armor fragment could have come from anywhere, rust or no rust."
Sunny wanted to answer in anger, but managed to hold himself back. Verne was not wrong to doubt his rather unsubstantiated theory. Any good leader would question the validity of such information. The problem was that Verne did not have the benefit of being intimately connected to the Strings of Fate, like Sunny was. He did not have Sunny's intuition.
He was blind to fate.
"Listen... this is what my gut is telling me. Staying here would be a terrible mistake."
Nevertheless, Verne remained unmoved. He lingered for a few moments, and then shook his head. His next words sounded polite, but had a sense of weight to them.
"I can't gamble with the lives of fourteen hundred people because of your gut, Sunless."
"This damned fool!"
Sunny let out a frustrated sigh.
Verne... was an experienced government officer. From their brief but intense partnership, it had become clear that he was reserved, methodical, and did things by the book. He had received orders from Army Command to reinforce LO49 and wait for the naval rescue, and that was what he was determined to do. Breaking an order was not an easy thing for him. His mind was not flexible enough.
"You have to admit that I at least might be right. So, staying is also a gamble. We are outside the parameters of standard procedure, Verne! Can't you think for yourself, for once?"
Although that last statement was a bit rude, Verne did not react much. He just stared at Sunny with his usual serious expression, then turned away and sighed. A few moments later, he said quietly:
"It doesn't matter, anyway."
Sunny scowled. The words caught him by surprise.
"What the hell does he mean?'
"..What?"
The older Master looked down.
"Sunless... we are cut off from Army Command. The situation in the north is bad. We don't know how bad, but it has to be dire for so many Nightmare Creatures to travel freely through the mountains. The last thing we heard was that several Titans had emerged. We don't even know if any of the siege capitals still stand."
As he spoke, his tired face grew darker and darker.
"The terrain between here and the last known encampment of the First Evacuation Army is a maze, with countless swarms of abominations prowling in the dark. Our tech is barely working, if at all. Our soldiers are all exhausted or on the verge of collapse. What I am trying to say is that a convoy transporting hundreds of civilian non--combatants won't survive the journey. Not with what we have left to protect it."
Verne gritted his teeth.
"So, it's not that I refuse to entertain the idea that the Ariadne won't arrive. It's that I can't.. because that ship is our only hope."
His words echoed in the empty room of the security center. making Sunny feel even colder.
Chapter 900: Don't Look Back
A somber silence settled in the conference room of the security center. Eventually, Verne was the first to break it. Straightening, he looked at sunny and said in a heavy tone:
"The... the best I can do is ask for volunteers among my Awakened. To risk falling asleep. Some of them might die, but a few should return with the news from the Dream Realm. Then, we can discuss evacuation by land."
Sunny stared at him without saying anything. His anger was suddenly gone, and instead, all that was left was fatigue, regret, and a vague feeling of dark resentment.
'Damn it all...'
If Verne indeed sent volunteers into the Dream Realm, even knowing that it would be a one-way trip for some of them... they would return in about eight hours. Finding out what was happening up north would help Sunny tremendously.
But eight hours was too long.
His growing panic was already almost suffocating. He did not know if they had eight minutes left, let alone eight hours.
"There's no time. You can't."
Verne leaned on the table and closed his eyes for a moment. It was hard to know what was going through his mind, but Sunny somehow knew that he would not be able to convince the stern officer.
His heart felt cold.
'Ah, that feeling... this bitter feeling. I have not tasted it in a while, I think.'
At that moment, Verne suddenly said:
"...A large convoy won't make it. But a single, robust vehicle probably can."
Sunny frowned, struggling to follow the line of thought, perhaps due to his exhaustion.
"What exactly do you mean?"
The older Master looked at him and shrugged with strange calmness.
"I mean that we don't have to put all our eggs in one basket. Your mission is not to protect every person in this facility, Sunless. Unlike mine. Your mission is to rescue one specific, high-value target. Both of us have to carry out our duty to the best of our ability, though. So... take Professor Obel, load up your APC, and leave immediately. This way, even if your theory is right, it won't be... a total loss for humanity."
There was a lot that had been said, and a lot that had remained unsaid. But there was no need to speak some words aloud. The two Masters looked at each other for a few moments, a silent understanding between them. In the end, the corner of Sunny's mouth twitched.
"I still think that you are wrong. People don't know what is possible and what is impossible until they try it. Well... that was often the case, at least, in my life."
Verne simply nodded.
"Then prove me wrong, Sunless. I wish you luck."
Sunny grimaced, lingered for a second or two, and then turned around. A moment later, he was gone from the room.
He had nothing more to say, and no time to waste.
There was no time at all.
Feeling a frightening sense of urgency, Sunny used Shadow Step to appear directly inside the research center. This time, Beth was even more surprised to see him.
"Are you... wait, no way... Master Sunless, do you perchance keep frightening me just for fun?"
He shook his head, looked around, and then beckoned for the young woman to come closer. What he had to say needed to be kept from other ears.
Frowning, Beth left Professor Obel's side and walked over to where he was standing. Grabbing her by the shoulder, Sunny unceremoniously dragged the young woman to an adjacent room.
"Wha... what the hell do you think you're..."
He closed the door and turned around, his sunken, manic eyes making Beth shudder.
"Be quiet and listen. There has been a change of plans."
With no time to explain everything in detail, Sunny just told her the necessary parts - that the Professor was in danger, and that he had to be evacuated immediately. That sudden revelation was hard to digest, and there would be a potentially fatal delay if Beth refused to listen immediately, so Sunny constructed his words in a way that played on her deeply ingrained values - loyalty to the old man and the desire to keep him alive.
Beth's eyes widened.
"But... but why come to me? Why didn't you just approach the Professor?"
"Professor Obel is a noble man. He would be reluctant to leave his people to save himself... so, I need you to persuade him. Fast. You know him best, after all."
The young woman still did not understand.
"But... but can't we just take everyone?"
Her voice was small.
Sunny looked at her somberly, knowing that was something that he couldn't do.
"My vehicle can only carry so many people. Now, go and do what I said. Every minute we waste can mean the difference between life and death."
Beth nodded in a daze, then slowly turned around, rearranged her lab coat, and left the room.
Sunny looked through the crack of the opened door at the scientists surrounding the professor, and then turned around in shame. However, this self-indulgence only lasted a second.
He had no time for regret, too.
Not caring about the expenditure of essence, Sunny traveled through the shadows and soon appeared near the Rhino. He could feel three shadows inside, while Luster, Kim, and Quentin were standing in front of the APC.
Noticing him, they straightened their postures.
"Captain, sir! Uh... I did as you told."
Sunny glanced at Luster and nodded.
"Go and run the startup sequence. I want the Rhino to be ready to depart at any second."
The young man's eyes turned into circles, but he swiftly dove into the hatch without asking any questions. Sunny, Kim, and Quentin were left alone in the biting cold.
Feeling his heart beating wildly, Sunny looked up at the sky.
The sky was covered by white haze.
'...The blizzard is starting again.'
At that moment, Quentin cautiously asked:
"Captain... I am sorry, but what exactly is happening?"
He gave the gallant healer a short glance.
"We're leaving."
Both his subordinates seemed startled.
"Leaving? Right now? But... why?"
Sunny lingered with the answer.
"Because we have orders to keep the VIP alive."
That seemed to make them stop asking questions.
A minute passed, then another. His bloodstream was full of adrenaline, as though he was in the middle of a battle. Time crawled at a snail's pace, and for some reason, Sunny felt as though he was locked inside a pillory, waiting for the guillotine's blade to come down.
'Walk faster, damn it!"
His instincts were screaming that they had to leave LO49, now.
Finally, two figures appeared from the milky-white haze. Professor Obel was walking stiffly, with a troubled face. Beth was both supporting him and carrying a small bag.
The old man stopped near Sunny and looked at him with a solemn expression. He hesitated to speak.
"Young man... I hear that you will be taking us away now."
Sunny nodded.
"Yes, Professor. Get inside, please. Hurry. I'll explain later."
They entered the Rhino and closed the hatch. While Beth was looking around with subdued curiosity, Luster sent the heavy vehicle moving.
The sentries had already been informed by Verne, so they opened the gate and allowed the Irregulars to drive through them.
...Until the last second, Sunny was certain that something would go horribly wrong. But, somehow, it didn't.
The Rhino drove away from the fortress, passed by the fleet of transports parked outside, and disappeared into the white wall of the blizzard. Only when the lights of the facility vanished from view did Sunny feel an almost overwhelming sense of relief.
He leaned... no, almost crashed... on the bulkhead behind him and let out a trembling breath.
'We made it. We made it in time...'
Although there were many confused and concerned gazes aimed at him, Sunny remained silent. Slowly, the distance between the Rhino and the Lunar Observatory Forty-Nine grew larger and larger. A kilometer, then another... then a dozen.
They were leaving it behind.
***
Some time later, when the heavy vehicle traversed approximately half the length of the coastal plain separating the ocean shore from the mountains, Sunny commanded Luster to stop and hide the Rhino in the wreckage of a massive war machine left behind from the Dark Times.
He closed his eyes and concentrated for a few minutes. His shadows made sure that there were no Nightmare Creatures laying around in wait.
After that, Sunny inhaled deeply.
"The Call is not too strong here. It should be condition green, so... congratulations, guys. You can finally rest."
Despite their unease and doubts, his soldiers reacted to that statement with visible excitement. They, too, were on the verge of collapse from fatigue and exhaustion.
"Luster, Kim, and Dorn. You guys sleep first. The other three, keep watch and take care of our guests."
They nodded, already knowing their roles.
"Yes, sir! But... uh... Captain, what about you?"
Sunny looked at Belle with a dark expression.
"...I have something to do."
He headed for the exit hatch. Beth tried to get in his way with a question, but he simply looked at her, and the young woman suddenly backed away.
Exiting the Rhino, Sunny walked into the blizzard, and then summoned the Nightmare. His loyal steed rose from the shadows, its eyes burning with dreadful crimson flames. Jumping into the saddle, Sunny sent it galloping through the snow.
He left one shadow to stand guard near the Rhino, of course.
By now, the range at which he could control it was past thirteen kilometers. That was more or less half the current distance between the Rhino and LO49.
He flew back south, summoning the closed featureless helmet of the Undying Chain to protect himself from the cutting wind. His shadow sense spread outward, replacing sight that was useless in the furious snowstorm.
Stopping at the very edge of Shadow Control's range, Sunny remained in the saddle, and sent another shadow forward. It slid south with tremendous speed, and eventually reached the walls of the facility.
There were formidable turrets on them, powerful spotlights flooding the immediate vicinity of the fortress with light, snowflakes dancing in the wide beams. The gates that the Rhino had left no more than an hour ago were tightly shut. A fleet of transport vehicles was parked in front of it, covered in snow, their initial purpose long forgotten.
The blizzard obscured the world, and for a moment - just like when he had first arrived - Sunny felt a pang of fear. It was as though the whole facility was empty, with only ghosts populating its streets.
...Only, this time, his fear came true.
There was no one standing watch on the walls. No soldiers patrolled the deserted streets. The buildings stood empty, with screens still showing recordings of entertainment programs, food laying on the plates, and coffee growing cold in the mugs.
But there were no people.
There were no scientists in the research laboratory, and no officers in the security center. The feed of the functioning security cameras showed no movement throughout the whole settlement.
The doors of the living quarters where the civilians had been confined were still locked. but there was no one inside. There were no signs of struggle, and no fresh footprints in the snow covering the ground outside.
Everything was just... still.
Fourteen hundred people had disappeared into thin air. They seemed to have simply vanished. like they had never existed at all.
...Many kilometers away, Sunny looked at the southern wall of the fortress through the eyes of his shadows. He felt compelled to send the shadow forward, and gaze at the dark ocean once more.
But in the end. with a shiver, he decided against it.
Soon, the shadow returned. Wrapping it around his body, Sunny commanded Nightmare to turn around, and rode into the blizzard without looking back.
Maybe he did not want to...
And maybe he simply did not dare.
Chapter 901: Degrees of Danger
Well, actually, it was black. Shrouded in the darkness of the long night, Sunny rode north through the wailing hurricane of snow. To his eyes, which could see through any shadows, the snow appeared as light-grey, bordering on white.
The way back was not long enough to deal with thoughts and emotions raging in his heart, but luckily, Sunny had too many worries about the future to drown in the regrets of the past.
'...Doesn't matter, anyway.'
Verne was dead, and everyone else was also dead. None of the people Sunny had come to know in the past weeks survived. Now, all he could do was make sure that his soldiers, Professor Obel, and Beth did not share their fate.
That was not going to be an easy task.
Soon, the wreckage of the old war machine appeared in view. Sunny dismissed Nightmare, walked into the rusted metal frame and lingered for a few moments in front of the Rhino.
Then, he opened the hatch and climbed inside.
Quentin, Samara, and Belle were keeping watch, each of them tense and ready for battle. Noticing him, the Irregulars sighed with relief.
"Captain. You're back."
Sunny nodded.
"Did anything happen in my absence?"
Quentin shook his head.
"There were no Nightmare Creatures yet. Professor Obel and Miss Beth were both exhausted, so they're sleeping. We settled the Professor in your quarters. I hope you do not mind."
He remained silent for a moment, then added with a hint of melancholy in his voice:
"...Of course, we are keeping an eye on them. In case one or both have become carriers of the Spell."
Sunny did not particularly care about the accommodations at that moment, so he simply nodded. The first point of Quentin's short report was the most important.
'No Nightmare Creatures, yet..."
That could change at any point.
In fact, he had taken a risk by allowing his soldiers to sleep and leaving the Rhino, even if one of his shadows had stayed back to observe the surroundings and be a potential exit point of Shadow Step.
Out here in the wild expanse of the Antarctic Center, it was Nightmare Creature country now. Hordes of them moved through the mountains, many spilling down onto the coastal plain.
A transient swarm could have stumbled on the cohort's camp at any moment, so it was not secure.
But security was a thing of the past now.
Before, he had had choices that were safe, and choices that were dangerous. But after leaving the protection of LO49 and its thick walls, he could only choose between different degrees of danger. It was all about calculating the probable risk.
...Even then, with his [Fated] Attribute, such calculations were more or less useless.
Grimacing, Sunny covered his face with a hand and then rubbed it. He was too tired and numb to care right now. He needed rest, too.
"Well. I am going to take a nap, then. Wake me up if there's movement outside."
Since his comfortable bed was currently occupied by Professor Obel, Sunny climbed into one of the free sleeping nooks and closed his eyes.
How risky was it to fall asleep right now?
Before letting his consciousness plunge into the comfortable embrace of darkness, he summoned Saint and ordered her to guard the Rhino from the shadows.
That was all Sunny could do...
***
The night never ended, and morning never came. When Sunny woke up, the world was exactly the same as it had been before. The raging blizzard enveloped the world, obscuring the cold dark sky. He had been pulled out of his dreamless slumber by the wholesome of a sleeping pod opening nearby.
Opposite him, a panel on the wall of the Rhino slid away, revealing a sleeping niche hidden behind it. Dorn's massive figure could be seen inside. The giant man had drawn a short straw when they were assigned the transport vehicle, since standard pods were a little bit too small for his prodigious body. Watching him climbing out of one was slightly comical, every time.
Sunny did not smile, though.
Making Sure that his shadows and Saint did not perceive any threat, he left his niche. Soon, Luster and Kim woke up, too.
"Quentin, Belle, Samara - you turn."
The three Irregulars could not wait to get some long-awaited rest. Their exhaustion and desire to sleep were so overwhelming that they did not even linger to listen to the report that their colleagues had brought from the Dream Realm. A minute later, all three were gone into the sleeping pods.
Sunny studied Kim, Luster, and Dorn. They looked much better than they had yesterday. Even though one night of rest was not enough to remove all the accumulated fatigue, Awakened were resilient creatures.
Sunny, who had only slept a few hours, felt utterly broken instead of rested himself. However, that feeling would pass soon.
"So?"
His soldiers glanced at each other. After a few moments, Dorn was the first one to speak.
"It's not good, Captain."
...This time, Sunny did smile.
"Wow. Who could have thought."
The giant man nodded awkwardly, and then started the report.
"From what we were able to find out, East Antarctica is still under human control, but the Antarctic Center... it's all a big mess."
His face darkened.
"The Saints were eventually able to kill one of the Titans, but two more remain. A chunk of the mountain chain was destroyed in the battle, too. But that's not the worst of it..."
Sunny let out a frustrated sigh.
"Tust come clean with it."
Dorn looked down.
"The siege capital that our division was supposed to establish... it is gone. Wiped out of the map completely. The survivors, whoever remains - both soldiers and civilians - are in the process of trying to retreat to other strongholds. There's no organized First Army force left from here to Mount Erebus, sir"
Sunny remained silent for a long time, a resentful expression appearing on his face.
'Just like that.'
Their four hundred kilometers journey... seemed to have just turned into a thousand kilometers journey.
Chapter 902: State of Affairs
Dorn, Kim, and Luster brought other news from the Dream Realm, too. All of it was fragmented and chaotic, since the First Army itself did not seem to have a strong hold on what was happening throughout the Antarctic Center.
With all modern forms of communication down, whatever information trickled in and was disseminated through the Dream Realm was doomed to be incomplete, and often became obsolete on arrival. The lack of reliable intelligence was the worst fear of all armies.
The strange blizzard raging across the Antarctic Center was the cause of the collapse of the interaction network. It was attributed to one of the Titans that had emerged around a month ago, designated as the Winter Beast. The Titan's current location was unknown, but its impact could be felt throughout the region.
The field army tasked with evacuating the Antarctic Center was in a rough spot. The southern reach of the landmass - where Sunny and his cohort were currently stuck - was lost and all but abandoned. People were scrambling to preserve the remaining six siege capitals, not knowing when and where the Titans would strike next.
Even worse, the Titans were merely the harbingers of a new phase of the Chain of Nightmares. The frequency and potency of the opening Gates seemed to have increased drastically, and countless Nightmare Creatures were pouring into the waking world every day.
...In other words, humans in the Antarctic Center were in trouble, and Sunny was in the biggest trouble of all.
'Wonderful.'
His soldiers had not only received information, but also reported the cohort's current status and location. The information was going to take some time reaching Master Jet, and then more time would pass to get her response back to Sunny. For now, he had nothing to do.
Sunny contemplated for a few minutes whether he should start moving north immediately, or remain in place for a few days to give his soldiers time to recuperate and learn more about what was happening in the region. In the end, he decided to postpone the decision for when the second shift of sleepers returned from the Dream Realm.
Keeping the Rhino static in the open was not an ideal situation, but neither was blindly venturing into the mountains. Either way, there was a big chance that a disaster would find them, but at least the former choice gave his soldiers a chance to get back to their peak battle states.
There were also the two civilians to think about.
After Kim, Kuster, and Dorn finished their report, Sunny moved to the compact kitchen of the large vehicle, summoned the Covetous Coffer, and concentrated on preparing a hearty breakfast for the crew of the Rhino. Cooking always made him feel calmer.
He wondered about a lot of things. How close was the Second Army to being assembled? What were the Great Clans doing? How hard would it be to reach the distant siege capital, which stood near Mount Erebus?
That city was famed for its well-off geothermal fields. At least they would not be cold anymore after getting inside its walls.
He also wondered how Rain was doing. Was she worried about his long silence, perhaps? Was she in the midst of a First Nightmare?
He could visit the Ivory Tower and ask one of the cohort members to check up on her. Effie was quite close with Rain, and so was Nephis. Kai kept in touch with Aiko, who was responsible for taking care of Rain in Sunny's absence, and Cassie seemed to know everything about everyone, in general.
But no... he could not go right now. There was a difference between taking a nap and leaving for the Dream Realm. The former would make him several seconds late to react to danger, but the latter would make him miss it completely. With how dire the situation was, he could not allow himself to be absent.
Soon, the smell of cooking food brought everyone inside the Rhino to the lounge area. Even Professor Obel and Beth woke up because of it. Sunny secretly studied the old man, trying to ascertain his condition.
The Professor seemed to be holding up well, considering how sudden their departure had been. He still seemed ancient and fragile, but there were no signs of a sudden deterioration of his health. Nevertheless, Beth used a portable medical scanner to take a few readings, and then produced a batch of medicine pills and supplements from her bag, acting like a concerned nurse.
Sunny placed plates of fragrant curry on the table, as well as a pot of coffee and several bars of dark chocolate for the dessert. Considering their situation, this modest meal seemed strangely opulent.
Before eating, Professor Obel looked around with curiosity, then smiled and uttered in his usual friendly tone:
"That is an impressive machine you have here, Master Sunless."
Luster, who was already bringing a spoonful of curry to his mouth, paused and grinned.
"It is, isn't it? Of all the vehicles I've driven, our Rhino is the most fearsome! This one time, we had to plow through a whole swarm of low-rank Nightmare Creatures... ah, it was spectacular."
The old man smiled.
"It's conducive to see this design still being used and kept up to date. I knew the engineer who initially created this APC concept, you see. Of course, back then, it was far less advanced. Spelltech was not even in its infancy, so the solutions she proposed to make such a massive vehicle move at an acceptable pace were nothing short of revolutionary."
Sunny tilted his head, trying to imagine it. A world without spelltech... it was hard to conceive of such a thing.
And yet, Professor was obviously right. Just half a century ago, it had not existed.
'Huh.'
Everyone ate, knowing that they would need a lot of energy to face what was about to come. At some point, though, Beth threw a complicated glance at Sunny and asked:
"Now that things seem to have calmed down a bit... can you finally explain what prompted this sudden turn of events, Master Sunless? Why did we have to leave LO49 in such a hurry? Uh... not that I am doubting your decisions, though..."
He remained silent for a bit, sipping his coffee.
What was there to say?
Sunny shrugged.
"It's begive rise to the Ariadne was destroved, and LO49 is gone. Everyone back there is dead. The nine of us are the only ones who survived."
Chapter 903: Abstract Numbers
His words caused a dead silence to settle over the Rhino, Luster, Kum, and Dorn froze, grave expressions appearing on their faces. Professor Obel looked down, suddenly appearing even more fragile and old. A heavy sigh escaped from his lips.
Beth's eyes widened.
"W-what... what do you mean, dead? That is impossible."
Sunny looked at her silently, and then shook his head.
"This is the era of the Nightmare Spell. Anything is possible, and terrible things are doubly possible. In fact, they are all but inevitable. We were lucky to get out in time, but the others were not. That is all there is to it."
His voice was full of grounded confidence, but in fact, Sunny felt very unsettled. He was not entirely sure if he was trying to convince Beth, or himself.
Professor Obel, who had been born during the Dark Times and lived through the horrors of the First Generation, seemed to understand what Sunny was trying to say. He must have experienced many such calamities throughout his long life, and lost a lot of friends. His young assistant, however, did not.
Looking at Sunny with a pale face, she forced out:
"B-but..."
He interrupted her.
"Don't think about it too much. Concentrate on your own survival instead. We are not out of the woods yet, and what is to come is far more important than something that is already over. And it is over."
With that, the conversation died down. The previous lively atmosphere disappeared as if it had never existed. Sunny studied the faces of people gathered in the lounge area, and then stood up.
He did not really want to console and manage anyone's feelings right now. They were all adults... actually, he was the youngest person here, so why was he the one who had to take care of everyone?
Well... because he was in charge, both in terms of power and authority. And with those, uninvited, also came responsibility.
'...Ugh. How irritating.'
Sunny hesitated for a few moments, and then said:
"The best way to honor those that are gone is to make sure that we don't follow them. So, rest well and gather your strength. I'll keep watch outside."
He sighed and walked away, leaving them behind.
Climbing to the roof of the Rhino, Sunny commanded Saint to dismiss Morgan's Warbow and summoned it into his own hands. Then, he shivered, enveloped by snow. Chilling wind howled through the rusted frame of the ancient war machine, the remains of which rose from the ground like the bones of a giant beast. Even though staying outside was cold and uncomfortable, right now, he preferred it to being in the company of other humans. There was a lot for him to think about.
Observing the surrounding area through the senses of his shadows, Sunny closed his eyes.
There was no way back, and the path ahead was dangerous and unclear. Remaining in this spot was not at all safe, as well.
Funnily enough, the unnatural blizzard not only made it harder for humans to see the approaching Nightmare Creatures before they launched into a frenzied attack, but also hid them from the sight of the abominations. Unless a swarm stumbled directly on the rusty wreckage, it would pass by this shelter without catching the smell of human souls inside.
That, at least, played in Sunny's favor.
Before he knew it, his thoughts wandered back to the lost personnel of LO49.
Fourteen hundred people... sixteen, even, if he counted those that had died in the weeks before. Just like that, so many lives had been lost.
It was... expected, actually.
With a strange grimace, Sunny remembered hearing about the Chain of Nightmares from Master Jet for the first time. Back then, he was rather callously indifferent. What did the fates of humans in Antarctica have to do with him? Their number was much higher than fourteen hundred, too. There were seven hundred million people living in the Southern Quadrant, and he had not been inclined to give a damn about a single one. At least not enough to risk his life over it.
He was still indifferent.
Seven hundred million was too large of a number to conceive of. It was too distant and abstract. When speaking about millions of people, people stopped being people and turned into numbers. Sunny did not wish them ill, but he also could not bring himself to care about mere numbers.
But soldiers and civilians that had died in LO49 were different. Even though fourteen hundred could not compare to seven hundred million, to him, they were real. He had lived with them, shared bread with them, and fought side by side with them. He had come to know them as people, and not numbers.
So, their deaths affected Sunny much more than the potential evisceration of the whole quadrant. Knowing what he knew now, he couldn't help but see the First Army and its mission in a different light.
...There would be much more death, for sure. The government had an ambitious goal of evacuating the whole continent, but their plan was already bursting at the seams. Many more people were going to die. Millions of them. In the end, how many of the seven hundred million would be saved? Six hundred? Five? Even less?
Of course, he had no way of knowing.
So... how did it make him feel?
Was he outraged? Motivated? Burning with resolve? Did he find conviction?
Not really.
Letting out a bitter breath, Sunny whispered:
"Such a waste..."
All he felt was contempt. It was such a waste, all of it. Of human lives, resources, and potential. It made him sick to know that the world was gobbling up so much...
While the people who could have prevented it from happening were too busy fighting among each other. Those bastards.
In the end, all Sunny could do was follow his advice and concentrate on himself, and that which belonged to him.
He couldn't save seven hundred million people, but he could make sure that he, his soldier, and civilians in his care would make it to the other side of this disaster alive.
That, at least, he could possibly manage.
Chapter 904: A Journey of a Thousand Miles
Two days later, they finally received a word from Master Jet. The message, which had passed through several people before reaching Sunny, was simple - retreat to Erebus and rendezvous with Davis and his cohort of Irregulars there.
Godspeed.
Sunny took a deep breath after hearing the news.
It was as he had expected, even though a small hope that some miraculous help would be sent to assist them on the thousand-kilometer journey had been still somehow aflame in his heart. Now, it was completely extinguished.
With that, the cohort's short period of rest was over. It was a good thing, too.
Over the past couple of days, Sunny killed several Nightmare Creatures that had wandered close to the camp. Strangely, there had not been as many of them as one would have expected, and he was quick to dispose of the bodies. Still, the smell of blood was slowly permeating the area, and pretty soon, it was bound to attract bigger threats.
The blizzard was still raging outside the wreck of the old war machine. Piercing the swirling snow with beams of light, the Rhino growled as it drove forward and abandoned its temporary shelter. Accelerating, it then moved north, toward the slopes of the towering mountains.
The atmosphere inside the vehicle was tense, but as minutes passed without anything lunging an unexpected attack on the APC, everyone calmed down a little.
...Except for Sunny. He had no plans of calming down until they safely reached the stronghold of the First Evacuation Army. In fact, he would prefer if his people remained tense and paranoid, as well.
But there was such a thing as too much pressure, too. People tended to break if subjected to persistent and overwhelming stress without any chance to take a breath. Actually, his soldiers were holding up surprisingly well, considering everything they had gone through in the past two months... and for a good reason. One of the criteria he had chosen these particular Awakened by was their mental resilience, after all.
Even Luster, who seemed like a carefree fool most of the time, was enduring the rigors of the calamitous Antarctica campaign with a surprising tenacity. Maybe it was exactly that lighthearted and frivolous personality of his that made the young man so immune to despair.
'...Do I need to learn from Luster?'
That was something Sunny had never expected to think about.
The Rhino drove forward, and, hidden by the veil of snow, Saint and Nightmare followed it from a small distance. Even though the mountains were obscured from view by the snowstorm, the jagged peaks were getting closer and closer. Sunny's shadows prowled outside, scouting the path ahead.
Just before they reached the terminus that separated the coastal highway, which stretched along the whole length of the Antarctic Center, from the road leading to the former LO49 and the path that took a turn to climb high into the mountains, one of the shadows noticed something strange in the snow.
Sunny hesitated for a few moments, frowning. Then, he moved closer to the pilot's seat and spoke calmly:
"Turn to the left a little and slow down. We are going to take a stop in a couple of kilometers."
Luster obediently followed his instructions, gradually slowing down. Eventually, the massive vehicle came to a halt.
Sunny opened the hatch and dove into the blizzard, the polished black wood of the Cruel Sight's shaft falling silently into his hand. Struggling against the wind, he then walked forward and stopped in front of a tall pile of snow.
Less than a hundred meters forward was the terminus of the coastal highway, with several empty buildings standing with their doors ajar. Some distance away to his left was the ocean, which made Sunny feel very tense.
Right now, however, his attention was concentrated on the tall mound in front of him. Under a thick layer of snow, portions of a massive carcass could be seen. The Nightmare Creature had not been dead for long - a day at most, maybe two. From a cursory look, it had been a Demon, probably of the Awakened Rank.
Judging by the vicious wounds covering its body, it had not been killed by human weapons, and as if to illustrate that point, large sections of the carcass seemed to have been devoured.
'...Strange.'
Nightmare Creatures were known to fight amongst themselves on occasion, but only in the Dream Realm. Out here in the waking world, there were too many human bodies for them to tear apart, and too many human souls to devour. So, even when different tribes of abominations collided with each other, they rarely showed any sign of hostility. Hunting down much tastier prey always took precedence.
However... with how many Nightmare Creatures were currently rampaging across Antarctica, and how concentrated the human population had become due to being moved to a small number of siege capitals, things could have changed. If there were instances of infighting between the abominations, it could potentially help the mission of the First Army tremendously.
Of course, Sunny prevented himself from becoming too optimistic about that prospect.
He had more important and immediate concerns, anyway. A Nightmare Creature capable of slaughtering an Awakened Demon had to be sufficiently strong, and it could still be near.
What kind of abomination was it, and where had it gone? Was it alone or accompanied by a whole swarm of other monsters?
If he managed to deduce something about the nature of the enemy from the corpse, he would be able to better prepare to deflect the threat.
Sadly, the dead demon did not offer any clues. The only thing Sunny found out was that the killer was not too fearsome, since there were signs of a furious confrontation all over the place. If the other party was truly powerful, their victory would have been entirely one-sided.
'Waste of time...'
Shaking his head, Sunny was just about to turn back when he sensed something through his shadows. One of them had glided a bit further up the highway, and was currently observing some disturbances in the blizzard.
He slowed down, turning to the north.
'...What is that?'
A moment later, a troubled expression appeared on Sunny's face.