Chapter 985: The Fall of Falcon Scott (3)
The next conference room was much larger, and there were even some refreshments for the participants of the meeting. Sunny found the darkest corner of the room to settle in and tore open a packet of sweetened snacks - after making sure that there was no honey involved in their creation, of course.
Chewing on something that felt like a dried berry, he glanced around.
The most prominent figures of the First Army were arriving one after another. There were a few mundane commanders, but most of them were Ascended. Eventually, he counted no less than twenty-one Master - including the four Irregulars.
Naeve and Roan were also present, so he gave them a wave.
Master Jet, who was relaxing on a chair next to Sunny, gave him a curious look.
"What interesting friends you keep, Sunny."
He shrugged.
"What about them?"
Soul Reaper chuckled.
"No, nothing. It's just that here's a room full of government Ascended, and the two you're waving to are both connected to the great clans. If I didn't know you better, I'd think that you have a bit of a fondness for social climbing."
Sunny scoffed.
"The only climbing I'm fond of is... actually, never mind that. Weren't you the one who helped me broker a deal to get out of joining Valor, anyway? Surely you understand that a precious jewel like me doesn't need connections to earn the favor of a great clan..."
Hearing Jet laugh quietly, he added with a straight face:
"Oh... thanks for that, by the way. The mere thought that I could have been living like a prince somewhere in Bastion instead of spending quality time here in Antarctica makes me feel slightly nauseous. Who needs luxury when you can have unlimited military rations, right?"
Winter stared at him from behind her sunglasses and grinned.
"I did not know that Valor tried to recruit you. And you refused, huh... was she really ugly?"
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"No? What do you mean?"
Winter shook her head.
"I mean the bride they offered, of course, to marry you into the clan. Either she was really ugly, or you are really stupid... huh, I guess I have my answer?"
He opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment, the door opened, and two people entered the room. The atmosphere inside instantly changed.
The first of them was Saint Tyris, just as striking as stem as Sunny remembered her. The second was a man with smooth ebony skin and perfectly white hair, his eyes glinting with shades of indigo and deep blue.
Sunny had only seen the man once, and from afar, but he knew who the stranger was.
Bloodwave, a Transcendent of the House of Night. He was in charge of the naval convoy that had delivered the field army to the Antarctic Center, and the Saint Sunny had witnessed diving into the black water as a monstrous killer whale once.
'Oh! He is also in Falcon Scott?'
It made sense, in retrospect. The naval convoy was assigned to ferry the refugees across the strait, so of course, Bloodwave was involved. He was most likely in charge of making sure that nothing destroyed the ships during the relocation.
The emissaries of the House of Night were not a part of the First Army, which was why Sunny failed to realize that there was actually a fourth Transcendent in the Southern Quadrant right now... no, there had to be even more, since the other three convoys also required a mighty guardian to protect them.
Initially, they were not supposed to involve themselves with the ground operation, but the situation seemed to have changed somehow.
Sky Tide 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.
...Sunny felt it, too.
'What an awesome man.'
As he studied the mysterious Saint through his shadows, Sky Tide started the briefing.
"You all know what must be done..."
Without wasting any time, Saint Tyris briefly described the overall state of the First Army contingent, the scope of tasks in front of them, as well as the enemy forces arrayed against them. Her voice was calm and composed, as though they weren't facing an existential threat of dreadful proportions.
To be honest, Sunny struggled to imagine Sky Tide losing composure in any circumstance. What would that even look like?
'...Actually, I hope to never find out.'
Most of what she told them were things that he already knew to some extent, but hearing all of it listed in a structured manner was helpful to get a solid glimpse of the big picture.
The big picture... did not look too good.
Pointing to the projected map of the city and its surroundings, Saint Tyris continued:
"...now that Falcon Scott is the only target in the region, the infighting between Nightmare Creatures will increase drastically. The terrain limits their approach, which means that various swarms and tribes of abominations will have to compete with each other for the right to attack the wall. Many will be slaughtered long before they reach us."
Her gaze was cold and heavy.
"So, we should not worry too much about being overwhelmed with pure numbers. What we do need to worry about, however, is that only the most brutal, lethal, and powerful creatures are going to make it through. The main purpose of this meeting is to identify priority targets among these creatures and come up with a way to deal with them."
Saint Tyris gestured to the projections, where several images replaced the city map.
"The preliminary analysis shows that these Nightmare Creatures represent the most acute threat to this city"
Sunny looked at the images, feeling a grim weight settle on his heart.
He was already familiar with most of them.
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. A hazy drawing of a grotesque beast hiding behind a veil of snow.
And a walking mountain with a single inhuman eye, emerging from a sea of incandescent lava to attack a vast city.
Sunny sighed.
'...Three weeks, huh?'
Chapter 986: The Fall of Falcon Scott (4)
Saint Tyris waited for a few moments, then spoke again:"Some of you have already faced one of these monsters.Master Sunless over there has even survived encountering four out of five..."
Without prompting, everyone in the room turned to stare at him, their expressions varying from pity to astonishment. He even heard a few whispers:"Four? And he's still alive?""That kid must be cursed or something.""Devil's own luck, ha..."
Sunny cleared his throat."Ah, yes. Using this moment, I might as well sincerely thank Army Command for giving me the opportunity to complete my collection and get to know the Winter Beast, as well."
A wave of laughter spread through the room.
Sky Tide gave him a stern look."I'll mark you as a volunteer, then."
Before Sunny could protest, she 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, per se, 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."
She glanced at the Irregulars."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. After explaining a few more details, Saint Tyris continued:"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. The knowledge of this being was brought to us by the First Irregular Company."
That would be Sunny and the members of his cohort, who had been diligently reporting everything about the enemies the convoy encountered during their visits to the Dream Realm.
Sky Tide looked in the direction of the four Irregulars."The Heart of Darkness has been present in the Antarctic Center since before the Chain of Nightmares. Its Rank and Class are unknown, but the current theory is that the Irregulars disturbed the creature's evolution to titan... if so, we might have avoided an even bigger disaster. In any case, the people most suited to deal with that threat are..."
She named three unfamiliar First Army Ascended. Apparently, their Aspects would work well against a myriad of murderous, darkness-infused beetles. Sunny was happy to hear that he would not have to face the damned insects himself again.
...If things went according to plan.
"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 bastard hides 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."
Sky Tide 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....Sunny hoped that they had enough mind-protection Memories.
Meanwhile, Saint Tyris turned to the image of the Winter Beast. A hint of contempt appeared on her beautiful face."The Winter Beast... was recently confirmed to be a Corrupted Titan. I can't kill it, but I will contain it. Dealing with the creature will be my responsibility."
Many of the people in the room paled at the mention of the creature's Rank. Master Roan especially seemed to have a grave expression.
Ignoring the somber mood, Sky Tide turned to the last image."Which leaves us with the Fallen Titan Goliath, the creature responsible for the obliteration of Erebus Field. Do note that, as of now, we have only experienced its physical might. The exact nature of Goliath's powers is still unclear, so... we do not know enough to determine how to destroy him."
The Masters grew silent, staring at the frightening image of a stone colossus walking across a desolate landscape.
...In that silence, there was suddenly a calm voice:"I'll kill Goliath."
Everyone turned around, staring at Sunny with confused expressions. He smiled."What? The bastard owes me a new armor. Plus, I've never killed a titan before... should be an interesting experience."
Most of them shook their heads."This is not a good time for empty boasts, kid."
Sunny shrugged."As good a time as any."
Saint Tyris studied him for a few moments, then turned away."In any case..."
Before she could finish, though, several communicators in the room notified their owners about a received message.
Sunny raised an eyebrow. That was... unusual. Falcon Scott was still in the area of effect of the Winter Beast, so there was no network connection anywhere inside the city walls.
There was a powerful communication array, though, connected via a chain of special relays to Eastern Antarctica.
Its bandwidth was very limited and mostly monopolized by Army Command - Sunny had to spend a considerable sum of contribution points to receive a small quota, which allowed him to get in contact with Rain.
Still, the quota was small enough for him to have to count symbols when composing messages, and instead of a constant connection, data packets were uploaded and downloaded twice a day, according to a strict schedule.
He glanced at his own communicator to check time. It was around ten in the morning in the Northern Quadrant, which, translated to local time, would be... nowhere near the scheduled activation period of the array.
'Interesting...'
Even more interesting were the people who received the message. There were only three of them - Sky Tide,Bloodwave... and Soul Reaper Jet.
Saint Tyris read the message and frowned slightly. The other Transcendent sighed, then briefly showed his communicator to Naeve and hid it. Master Jet glanced at the screen and showed no reaction whatsoever, remaining in her usual relaxed pose.
Sunny hesitated for a moment, then leaned toward her and asked quietly:"What was that about?"
Master 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."
Sunny was taken aback a little. Saints did not die too often...
"Some vicious Nightmare Creature, huh?"
Soul Reaper smiled a little.
"Yeah... things are going to accelerate a lot now. Not that it matters to us here. For now..."
Chapter 987: The Fall of Falcon Scott (5)
Sunny was sitting on the battlement of the defensive wall, looking at the apocalyptic sight of a giant horde of Nightmare Creatures advancing on the city. There were so many of them that it seemed as though the ground itself was moving, flowing forward as it seethed and churned.
The darkness surrounding the city was chased away by dozens of flare rockets, which slowly drifted down from the black sky like bright falling stars. On the ground, rivers of flame were devouring the carcasses of the abominations that had been slain in the previous assaults. The incendiary mixture burned long and hot, but luckily enough, the stench of scorched flesh could hardly reach the top of the wall.
Pillars of smoke rose into the sky, twisting as they struggled to support its weight. And above it all, obscured by dark clouds, ghostly lights of the aurora swirled with shades of crimson.
The battle was about to begin.
As the advancing sea of Nightmare Creatures crossed an invisible line, the powerful mass drivers installed on the bastions of Falcon Scott came to life, flashing with electric light as they sent heavy tungsten rounds flying forward with terrifying speed. The rail gun fire was accompanied by deafening thunderclaps, making the whole wall shake and vibrate.
Even though the tungsten rounds were not explosive, they impacted the horde with enough force to produce flashes of light and a devastating shockwaves that pulverized dozens of Nightmare Creatures and cut bloody swathes through their mass.
The horde, however, continued forward unperturbed. A moment later, the breaches created by the first salvo of the rail guns were entirely gone, and the abominations rushed forward with murderous frenzy.
As the mass drivers accumulated new charges, the heavy- caliber turrets placed along the wall joined the fray. Long tongues of fire bloomed from their barrels, and thousands upon thousands of bullets filled the air. The shining streams of them twisted as they slid across the horde, decimating countless creatures. The noise of the turret barrage was dire and cacophonous.
Sunny winced unhappily.
War was a lot of things, but mostly it was... loud.
He glanced at the seventy-meter drop below him, then concentrated on his hands again. His fingers were spread apart and moving, as if performing an elaborate dance. From the side, it looked as if Sunny had either gone crazy or was trying to cast some strange hex.
Of course, he was doing neither. Instead, he was weaving shadow strings - it was just that the slowly forming threads of essence were only visible to him.
Luckily, the members of his cohort were long accustomed to their leader's eccentric antics, so they were not paying it any attention. Instead, all six were tensely observing the approaching horde.
Once the hundreds of MWPs stationed on top of the wall braced themselves and opened fire, Samara placed the barrel of her rifle on the battlement and leaned into the scope. Before she could charge a shot, however, Sunny placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
...His third hand, that was, since he was currently using four two of them made of flesh, two of them made of shadows. Samara glanced at him with a slight frown.
"Sir? Why not?"
Sunny continued to weave shadow strings as he answered:
"There's no need. The garrison has the situation under control, for now, so don't get involved unless the Nightmare Creatures scale the wall. Conserve your essence."
He lingered for a moment, then added:
"According to the latest reports, the Devouring Cloud is only one day away from reaching Falcon Scott. We are going to need all our strength tomorrow."
The Irregulars shifted uncomfortably, remembering their last brush with the flying swarm. Sunny, meanwhile, disregarded his own advice and turned his attention back to the invisible threads of essence.
The battle progressed more or less as he expected. The horde advanced despite suffering heavy losses, and not long after the MWPs unleashed a hail of rounds and missiles into the mass of abominations, the mundane soldiers joined, followed by Awakened sorcerers and archers.
The siege was a strange one, considering that most of the defensive measures of the city were only able to deal with Dormant and Awakened Nightmare Creatures. To slay the Fallen ones, Awakened fighters had to abandon the safety of the battlements and sortie out, emerging either from heavily armored hatches in the wall or from hidden tunnels stretching beneath the killing field.
Those tunnels were also used to intercept those abominations that were capable of burrowing through the ground, and could be easily collapsed in case the enemy took control of one.
If a Corrupted Nightmare Creature appeared, the Masters were sent out to destroy it.
It all sounded well-planned and controlled, but the actual reality was pure chaos and mayhem. Abominations possessed all kinds of vile powers, so each assault was unpredictable and dangerous. Each victory took a lot of human lives to achieve.
Noticing a line of hatches open lower down the wall and a dozen swift figures jump out of them, Sunny sighed. He caught a glimpse of Dale's heavy armor, which meant that something truly dangerous had emerged. Army Command was strangely protective of the Irregulars, mostly keeping them in reserve for now. They were probably meant to do their part of the dying once the priority targets showed up.
Considering that Knight's cohort had been unleashed, though, the current battle must have been going less smoothly than he thought.
And indeed, not long after Dale eliminated his target and retreated, the horde broke through the protective barrage and reached the wall. It seemed that the abominations had learned to use the piles of corpses left behind by the previous assaults as cover.
The lowest part of the wall was also the most reinforced. All materials retrieved from the carcasses of well-armored Nightmare Creatures went into making it hard to breach, so the horde stalled at the bottom for a while, suffering under a flood of bullets and explosive projectiles.
Then, however, the abominations started to pile one on top of another, forming morbid ziggurats of bodies. The ziggurats grew, rising higher and higher as more Nightmare Creatures climbed the ladders made of writhing flesh. Ten meters, then twenty, then thirty... eventually, it became clear that there was a substantial risk that the horde would scale the wall.
With a sigh, Sunny paused his weaving and stood up, easily holding his balance on top of the battlement. A black bow appeared in his hand, and an arrow that seemed to be made of lightning ignited on its string.
'They know how to build siege towers now?'
Drawing the bow, Sunny lingered for a moment, and then sent the Strike of Thunder flying down.
A moment later, the howls of the Nightmare Creatures tore through the clamor of the battle, and the Spell whispered into his ear like a sonorous choir.
The battle raged on...
Chapter 988: The Fall of Falcon Scott (6)
...And it still raged on by the time Sunny and his cohort were done with their shift. Or maybe it was already another assault — by now, it was often hard to tell where one attack ended and a second one began.
Descending from the wall, the Irregulars passed through the busy camp below. Lumbering loaders were racing to send heavy ammunition containers up, wounded soldiers were being triaged and tended to, fresh reinforcements were waiting their turn to enter the elevators. Here and there, a damaged MWP stood, being hastily repaired by a crew of technicians.
Leaving the staging area, they soon reached the Rhino. The mighty vehicle was not in the best shape, but it could still be used to get around the city. Plus, while the members of the cohort had decided to bunk in comfortable barracks, Sunny chose to remain in the familiar APC. He had even learned how to drive it... well, more or less... from Luster.
"Are you coming with us, Captain? Oh... sorry... Major."
Kim looked away awkwardly after asking the question. Sunny simply shook his head.
"Not today. I have a couple of errands to run, so just take the Rhino to the barracks and then park it in the usual spot. Oh... and rest well. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Although the cohort had ended up not doing much today, everyone was still tired. They quickly drove off, leaving Sunny alone.
...Day four of their stay in Falcon Scott was coming to an end.
Circulating his essence to fasten its replenishment rate, Sunny walked for a few minutes, breathing in the cold air as the hum of distant explosions washed over him. Then, he jumped on the step of a moving transport and allowed it to carry him closer to his destination.
The vistas of a city at war floated past him, too many refugees crammed into too few buildings. Everyone was doing their best to create some sort of passable environment for themselves and their neighbors... but there were a lot of problems, too.
Most of these people were shaken and traumatized, some very close to breaking down. There were a lot of conflicts and violent outbursts, and even more dark feelings.
...There were a lot of Nightmare Creatures being born from the bodies of failed Aspirants, as well, since the Spell ran rampant among the refugees and there were not nearly enough soldiers to find all the infected before the worst happened.
A suffocating atmosphere of fear, tension, and sorrow permeated the air.
And yet, people lived on. Their resilience and adaptability triumphed over everything, allowing them to endure and even find moments of happiness in this hell.
Sunny saw plenty of smiles, heard plenty of laughter, and witnessed many small details of how the refugees were handling their changed conditions while looking forward to being evacuated.
'They still have hope...'
Eventually, he jumped down and walked the rest of the way on foot, reaching a section of the staging area where large white warehouses stood in several rows, surrounded by a mass of activity.
That was where scavenged materials were being processed and refined for the use of the First Army.
A tired-looking engineer met him at the gate.
"Major Sunless?"
Sunny nodded and allowed the man to lead him toward a particular row of warehouses.
"Yeah, we received your request. The approval came fast enough, so as long as you have enough contribution points, you can cut a good chunk for yourself. Not that I know what you need it for... usually, it's the mundanes we arm with processed material that dream of wielding Memories, not the other way around..."
Sunny smiled.
The warehouses were full of Nightmare Creature carcasses — those valuable enough to be retrieved from the battlefield and processed by the army.
The corpse of the Remnant of the Jade Queen — the Corrupted Tyrant he and Sky Tide had killed — had been placed here once, for example. The incredibly durable jade carapace of the monstrous beetle was then refined and used to reinforce a section of the wall.
Most of the processed material was instantly used to strengthen the fortifications of the city or the First Army itself. There were all kinds of things that could be done with various parts of Nightmare Creatures, from crafting melee weapons and upgrading the armored shells of MWPs to powering exotic spelltech mechanisms.
That was why Sunny had to push his weight around, bargain a little, and spend a bunch of contribution points to receive a modest quota.
Studying the warehouses, he asked:
"There was a Corrupted Devil yesterday that managed to breach the wall. Where is it kept?"
The engineer stared at him for a few moments.
"Uh... I'm sorry, sir. I have no idea which one of them breached the wall. We just receive the carcasses and come up with ways of dismantling them. Another team then thinks of a way to actually use the parts."
Sunny blinked a couple of times.
"Makes sense. Just show me the Corrupted material you have, then."
He was led through several warehouses, studying a series of ghastly corpses, one more frightening than the other.
There was a creature that resembled a giant mole covered in heavy plates of bone armor, and a creature that looked like a mass of spikes, with a small skeletal body hidden somewhere in its center. There was a carcass of something that seemed like an eight-legged metal tick, the size of a house, and a stone sphere covered with bumps that looked eerily like human faces.
'Damn...'
Finally, Sunny found what he was looking for. In the spacious warehouse, a large carcass was laying on the floor, surrounded by alloy scaffolding. The creature was vaguely humanoid in shape, bone-white, with countless rows of needles bristling from its back.
Each needle was about three meters long, wide enough for him to barely be able to grasp it with a hand, and weighed too much for several adult men to lift it. They were made of a strange material that seemed to be somewhere between metal and bone, and wickedly sharp.
Yesterday, the Devil had shot these needles at the wall, shredding the armored alloy as though it was paper.
Sunny stared at the dead abomination, then nodded.
"Yes, that should do."
The engineer glanced at him with interest:
"Ah, the needles? How many do you want?"
Sunny shrugged.
"One should be enough."
Deciding not to bother the processing team, he summoned the Sin of Solace and listened silently to its whispers while cutting one of the needles.The engineer observed him with suriosity.
"I'm sorry, sir, but can I ask what do you need it for?"
Sunny grunted as he lifted the needle and placed it on his shoulder. Then, he glanced at the man.
"...Sorcery practice."
Chapter 989: The Fall of Falcon Scott (7)
Carrying the needle on his shoulder, Sunny chose to walk to his next destination. The thing was heavy enough that even a Master like him felt a bit of strain after a while, so he had to wrap himself in the shadows at some point.
People were giving him weird glances, but no one said anything - the Puppeteer's Shroud identified Sunny as an Awakened, and Awakened were known to do strange things on occasion. Sunny also found that mundane people often acted shy in front of him ever since he had become a Master, which pleasantly cut the number of awkward conversations he had to have. So, he just had to be careful not to hit anyone with the unwieldy needle by accident.
As he walked, Sunny decided to check on his runes out of boredom.
Shadow Fragments: [2471/4000].
He smiled a little.
The siege of Falcon Scott might have been a terrible affair, but one thing it did not lack was enemies to kill. The rate at which he earned fragments increased a lot in the past three days. By now, the change made by each individual fragment was insignificant, but it added up.
He was now considerably stronger than he had been at the start of the Antarctica campaign, and the fifth core was not as unachievable as it had once seemed. Nephis was still far away from reaching Terror, too, which meant that he finally had a chance of catching up to her Class... at least for a short while.
'Does it even matter now? In the end, both of us will either be titans, or dead.'
Nightmare was subjugating many dreams these days, as well. All in all, Sunny was in good shape. His cohort had been forged into one of the deadliest combat units on the continent, with each member honing their skills to a truly fearsome degree.
All that was left to propel him to an entirely new level of power was for Saint to emerge from her evolution. Maybe... just maybe... they would indeed manage to hold Falcon Scott for three weeks.
Sunny made way for a column of military vehicles and looked at the crowd of refugees around him.
'Yeah... doubtful.'
With a sigh, he made a turn and approached one of the hastily erected dormitory towers. This one looked more substantial than most, but not by much. Looking up, he saw a vast expanse of glowing windows, with thousands and thousands of humans taking shelter from the cold within.
He glanced at the devil's needle, then awkwardly spun it and thrust the point deep into the ground. Taking it into the building would have been a hassle, and Sunny was sure that no one would steal it - the thing weighed more than any mundane human, or even a group of them, could carry away.
...The problem, though, was that the needle was so sharp that it continued to sink into the frozen soil under its own weight. Sunny stared at it resentfully for a moment, then repeated the process, this time thrusting it into the ground with the dull end.
Finally satisfied, he walked to the entrance to the tower, where a lone civilian was shoveling snow away. As he was passing, the man flinched and stared at him with wide eyes.
Sunny sighed inwardly.
'Am I really so scary?'
"Captain? Captain Sunless, is that you?"
Surprised, Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"Uh... yes? Technically, it's Major now. Do I know..."
Before he could finish the sentence, the civilian dropped the shovel and grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously. Sunny froze.
'What the hell is going on?'
"It is you! Master Sunless, sir... my family and I are only alive because of you. After Erebus Field, I thought... ah, sorry... but you brought us all here. Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Sunny did not know how to behave in that situation, but thankfully, the civilian finally let go of his hand and hastily opened a small bag hanging on his belt. A moment later, Sunny found himself holding a carefully packed sandwich.
"Please take this! I know it's not much... but my wife made it herself. You probably don't get a lot of home-cooked food, standing there on the wall!"
Sunny wanted to return the sandwich to the man, but then lingered. The refugees were not starving, but he knew for a fact that most of the rations they had access to were no different from what he had been accustomed to in the outskirts. Getting the ingredients to make this simple sandwich must not have been easy... it was made with love and care. Which meant that this small, but sincere gift meant much more than it seemed.
He smiled slightly.
"Thank you. I'll enjoy it well."
The man seemed exceedingly happy to hear that and gingerly let Sunny go, picking up his shovel and returning to clearing away the snow while whistling a tune.
Walking inside the building, Sunny glanced at the sandwich and frowned a little. He did not really know how to feel about the strange encounter. On the one hand, it was nice to see a tangible result of his efforts. After the caravan reached Falcon Scott, the refugees were quickly processed and assigned to various dormitories, so Sunny had not seen any of them again.
On the other hand, the cheerful man was clearly deluding himself if he thought that Sunny had saved him and his family. All Sunny had done was postpone their deaths by a few weeks... they would only be truly saved once carried across the strait, to Eastern Antarctica. Until then, a sharp sword still hung above their necks.
'...All the more reason to hold the damn wall for as long as we can, then.'
Suddenly thoughtful, Sunny used an elevator to descend underground and approached a particular door. A few moments after he knocked, Beth opened it and gave him a long look.
"Oh. It's you."
He raised a hand with a wide grin.
"I brought sandwiches. Well... a sandwich."
She stepped aside to let him in and turned around.
"Professor! Your favorite Awakened is here!"
Sunny dismissed the boots of the Puppeteer's Shroud before coming inside. That small action made him feel strangely nostalgic.
'Huh... civilian life. How come I barely remember what it is?'
Chapter 990: The Fall of Falcon Scott (8)
Sunny had no particular reason for this visit, apart from simply wanting to check on how the old man had settled in. From his first impression, the dormitory apartment was too small and bare-bones for someone of Professor Obel's stature.
There were five compact bedrooms connected to a shared living room, kitchen, and bathroom, with three of the bedrooms occupied by other people. He could hear a child's voice behind one door, which meant that there might have been entire families of refugees living here. In that regard, maybe the fact that the Professor and Beth each received an entire room for themselves was already a privilege.
'Still... what the hell...'
Maybe he should not have been surprised. Professor Obel was indeed a distinguished scientist who had made great contributions to humanity, but the Antarctic Center was the administrative center of the whole Quadrant. With two hundred million people concentrated in Falcon Scott, there must have been a whole lot of distinguished people waiting for their turn to be evacuated.
Beth led him to the kitchen and put a kettle on the stove. Now that they were not busy trying to keep the caravan from falling apart, Sunny noticed that the young woman looked a bit haggard in comparison to how she had been at LO49.
There were dark circles under her eyes, a slight uncertainty to her movements, and a grim slant to her brow. Beth's temper, however, had not changed one bit.
"Tell me straight... is the wall going to hold?"
Sunny lingered for a bit, stumped by the frank question.
"How should I know? Sure, it is going to hold... until it doesn't."
Beth scoffed, pouring synthetic tea into three cheap alloy cups.
"And yet you seem to be terribly calm."
Sunny scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"Do I seem calm? Well, I guess I am. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"
The young woman stared at him with outrage.
"Death! You can die!"
He thought about it for a few moments.
"I'd rather not die, of course. But death is definitely way better than some other things. Believe me."
Sunny had lived through several ghastly experiences himself, and still remembered a few of the harrowing nightmares he had been subjected to by his shadowy steed. It seemed that he had developed an abnormally high tolerance to pain and fear somewhere along the way, without even noticing.
Of course, his aloofness would look strange to a mundane person.
Sunny opened his mouth, thinking that he should probably try to console Beth, somehow, but at that moment, Professor Obel finally appeared - sparing them both a moment of awkwardness.
"Ah, Major Sunless! How nice of you to spare time for this old man."
The three of them settled behind a small dining table, enjoying tea. At first, Sunny was the one doing most of the speaking.
"...so, city defenses are in good condition for now. Ah, but we expect a big assault tomorrow. Make sure to remain inside, and don't go to the surface levels of the building, no matter what happens."
Beth and Professor Obel shared a glance. For some reason, the young woman seemed to be unhappy with her mentor.
"Yes, everyone received instructions on how to behave when an air attack alert is activated. Thank you for reminding us, young man."
Sunny nodded, then hesitated for a while. Eventually, he asked in a cautious tone:
"I am sorry to ask, Professor... but why are you still here? I would think that you would be put on the priority list for the evacuation."
Every civilian in the city was designated as a member of a certain group, each having a different... value.
The high-value citizens were meant to be ferried across the strait first, with all the rest placed in a long queue by a randomized algorithm. Various factors could affect one's "weight" in the algorithm, though - families with young children had a much better chance of being placed higher, for example, while people with genetic defects would be placed lower.
Citizenship level also affected the algorithm, which meant that non-citizens from the local version of the outskirts would be evacuated last.
'Figures...1
However, none of it had anything to do with Professor Obel. By all accounts, he should have been on one of the first ships out of the harbor. The giant vessels had been coursing between Falcon Scott and Eastern Antarctica for several days now, bringing many millions of people away.
Beth gave the old man a scathing glance.
"Yes, Professor. Why are you still here?"
Before he could say anything, the young woman turned to Sunny and said with indignation:
"Believe it or not, the old f... the Professor gave up his position on the priority list, saying that he wouldn't leave without his assistant. And since I have nothing to do with the high-value group, we are both stuck in the standard selection group now. Gods only know when we'll be assigned a placement in the queue, let alone get to leave!"
Sunny blinked a couple of times.
"Is that true, Professor?"
The old man looked down in embarrassment.
"Oh... you kids don't understand. I am an old man, you know? My bones still hurt from the long weeks spent on the road. Can't I rest a little before jumping on a ship?"
Beth scoffed, and this time, Sunny was inclined to agree.
'What kind of bullcrap reason is that?'
There was obviously something deeper going on. Hopefully, the Professor simply did not want to leave Beth behind... which was already stupid... if he was on some self-sacrificial mission, though, Sunny had to set him straight.
He opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, the kid he had heard earlier barged into the kitchen, holding a makeshift toy in her hands.
"Grandpa Obel! Grandpa Obel! It broke!"
Professor Obel gave Sunny an apologetic look, then smiled at the child and picked up the toy.
"What? It broke all by itself, huh? Well, don't worry... I'll fix it up again. Your friend is going to be as good as new in no time..."
Sunny stared at the two of them, then said in a subdued tone.
"Professor, there's a difference between being brave and being suicidal. You have to get on a ship as soon as possible. The wall is not going to hold back the enemy much longer. Not everyone will..."
The old man patted the child on the head, then simply looked at Sunny and smiled.
"All the more reason for the army to make sure that it holds for as long as possible, then."
'It's not as if we're not trying! Wait... isn't that what I said myself?'
Sunny winced, then finished his tea in one gulp and stood up.
"I guess you are right. I'll be going, then."
He glanced at Beth.
"Contact me if you need anything."
With that, Sunny left the small apartment and returned to the surface.
Picking up the devil's needle, he grunted and put it back on his shoulder.
'Damned Professor... as if I don't have enough headaches, already...'
Grumbling quietly, Sunny carried the heavy needle as he headed toward the distant barracks.
Chapter 991: The Fall of Falcon Scott (9)
Sunny found the Rhino without any problem, since it was parked near the military barracks. Getting the Corrupted Devil's needle through the main hatch had turned out harder than he had expected, so he ended up climbing to the APC's roof and lowering it through the upper hatch there.
Eventually, though, he found himself inside the dark, silent interior of the slumbering machine. It was a bit weird to see the Rhino so empty... but not unpleasantly so. With the whole APC to himself, Sunny felt as though he could relax and took off the mask of the confident commander that he was forced to wear in front of most people these days.
"Ah... that damned thing is so heavy!"
He dragged the needle to the armory, dropped it on the floor, and returned to the lounge area to take a quick shower. Then, feeling fresh and rejuvenated - if a bit sleepy - he summoned the Endless Spring, plopped down on a couch, and put his feet up, using the Shadow Chair as a footstool.
Sunny took a sip of cool water, then carefully unpacked the sandwich and took a bite.
The sandwich, indeed, had been made with love. It was truly tasty.
Mentally thanking the generous refugee, Sunny enjoyed his meal in peace. It was going to be his last opportunity to rest tonight, so he made sure to chew as slowly as he could.
Very soon, however, the sandwich was gone, and it was time to get to work. Sunny closed his eyes, sighed, and walked to the rear section of the vehicle. There, a small pile of Memories lay on the holographic table of the command suite. Sunny summoned a few more, dropped them into the pile, and counted everything. A small grimace appeared on his face.
Sunny had not only been keeping watch on the wall the past few days. After reaching Falcon Scott, which had become the hub of everything in the Antarctic Center, he had been very busy spending all of his contribution points, as well.
Getting good Memories was hard, but luckily, he was once again going for quantity over quality. Additionally, Sunny had no reason to stick to the official channels - receiving anything through the army requisition system was a tough and slow process, especially with the network being down most of the time, so he just traded his points directly to the Awakened soldiers for the Memories that were useless to them.
He had even hired a few Sleepers from the caravan to be his errand boys, which made the whole process faster.
'...Not fast enough, though.'
Shaking his head, Sunny departed the pile of Memories alone, cleared some space on the table, and summoned two weapons. One of them was his old and loyal tachi, the Midnight Shard, and the other was Morgan's Warbow.
Sunny concentrated for a moment, allowing his gaze to peer through the surface of the two Memories. The intricate tapestry of ethereal strings hidden inside them was vast and mind-numbingly complicated. He could already feel a hint of a headache coming on.
Sunny was trying to do something that he had never done before... a few things, actually.
Firstly, he wanted to recreate an Ascended enchantment, which were much, much more expansive and complex than the Awakened and Dormant ones he had mostly copied before.
Secondly, he wanted to disassemble the structure of a particular enchantment into its basic elements, then heavily modify one of those elements and turn it into an independent enchantment of its own.
And lastly, he wanted to create a functional Memory from scratch. That he had done on many occasions before, but only in the most rudimentary form.
The first two steps were already hard enough, but it was the last one that had turned unexpectedly troublesome. As Sunny had discovered out, not all materials had the capacity to sustain powerful enchantments. They would simply disintegrate under strain, or be torn apart by the raging essence.
He needed refined material to create a powerful Memory... hence the needle of a Corrupted Devil. Since Sunny was planning to use Transcendent soul shards, nothing less would do.
Actually, he wasn't really sure if the needle was good enough for his purposes, either. But it was his best bet.
Sunny studied the weave of ethereal strings, and at the same time wove essence threads of his own - he was going to need a lot of them, so there was no time to waste.
Minute passed after minute, merging into hours. Sunny continued sitting motionlessly in front of the two Memories, with only the fingers of his four hands moving in the air.
Eventually, his deep concentration was broken by the sound of an incoming call. Sunny lingered for a few moments, then slowly shifted his gaze to the communicator.
As soon as he pressed on it, Master Jet's face appeared on the screen. She was chewing on a piece of roasted monster meat, seemingly very hungry or in a hurry to finish her meal.
"Hey. How... ah... is your side project going?"
Sunny stared at her incredulously.
"It's going. It would go better if I was not distracted by unexpected calls in the middle of the night, though... well, anyway. Did you manage to get what I asked for?"
Just swallowed the last piece of the roasted meat, wiped the juice off her lips, and smiled.
"Yeah. I gathered all the Memories that the members of my cohort have no use for. Anyway, why do you need them? That's a crazy amount of contribution points to waste on a bunch of Tier One trinkets."
Sunny grinned from the corner of his mouth.
"I am thinking of giving them to a beautiful lady."
A spark of curiosity glinted in Jet's eyes.
"Oh... better be quick with it, then. If she really is a lady, reaching her bedroom might be a slow affair. And we all might be dead very soon..."
Sunny blinked.
"What? No, that was not what I..."
Soul Reaper laughed.
"Gods, Sunny, relax. In any case, are you prepared for tomorrow?"
Sunny glowered at her for a couple of moments, then scoffed. "Yeah, sure. As prepared as I can be."
Jet sipped some water from her flask, then shut it and grinned again.
This time, her smile gazed very ominous.
"Well, good. Because tomorrow came a little early. Go get your cohort, Major Sunless."
...In the next moment, loud sirens of the aerial attack alarm howled eerily throughout the city, echoing through the crowded streets.
Chapter 992: The Fall of Falcon Scott (10)
'Damnation!'
Sunny scrambled to his feet, hastily dismissing the Midnight Shard and grabbing his bow. On the screen of the communicator, Jet's face disappeared, replaced by an incoming message that named the section of the wall he and his cohort were supposed to go to.
'South...'
This time, they were meant to fight right above the main gates of the city, on the part of the defensive barrier that faced inland - and where the battle was going to be the fiercest. It seemed that Army Command was finally done holding the Irregulars in reserve.
Sunny glanced at the clock. It was just past the earliest time the members of his cohort could return from the Dream Realm, if they had chosen to sleep tonight.
'That's good.'
He dashed to the pilot's cabin of the Rhino and ran the vehicle through the startup procedure. The APC sluggishly came to life, making many sounds that were probably not a excellent sign.
As Sunny waited, he mentally went over each member of his cohort, thinking about what task he would assign them and whether their Flaws would be detrimental in this particular battle. The chances of that were low, but he still needed to check.
No one with an especially crippling Flaw would have made it through years of service, and soldiers were not required to disclose them - sharing something that personal and potentially dangerous could only be done voluntarily. There was nothing about the Flaws in the dossiers Sunny had read, but after spending months fighting side by side with his people, he deduced most of them.
The Flaws of the Irregulars were indeed not too dire, and most of his people were mature Awakened who had had at least a decade to learn how to deal with them. Quentin, for example, seemed to be unable to break a promise. Kim was naturally unassuming. Samara had a leisurely rate of soul essence regeneration. Belle had to work especially hard on his impulse control. Luster... well, that one was beautiful apparent.
Dorn's Flaw was the cruelest, but it would only become detrimental years from now. His body was slowly, but constantly growing... and would most likely collapse under its own weight one day, some time in the future.
Nothing that would play a role in today's battle, though.
'All good.'
At that moment, the hatch of the Rhino opened, making the eerie wailing of the sirens much louder. The members of his cohort rushed in, summoning their armor and weapons as they did.
"Captain! Everyone's here!"
Without waiting for Luster to get to the cabin, Sunny lowered himself into the driver's seat and sent the Rhino forward. His driving skills were not really top-notch... or any good, really... but he could get the APC to the wall, at least.
"Get yourself ready. You all remember the plan, correct?"
Since Winter was going to take center stage in the battle against the Devouring Cloud, the Irregulars had come up with a few strategies in advance.
"Yes, sir!"
Sunny nodded.
"Well, then, go rub Luster's lucky charm. Gods know we're going to need some luck today."
Hearing the laughter of his comrades, Luster crossed his arms. "Hey! That thing really works!"
"Four out of the five most deadly Nightmare Creatures in the region... you call that luck?"
"Exactly! And I survived meeting every one!"
Chuckling, Sunny concentrated on controlling the massive APC.
The Rhino sped through the streets of Falcon Scott.
Thankfully, they were mostly empty by now - the air raid sirens had sent the refugees scrambling to get inside. He could see a lot of frightened people still hurrying to reach their assigned dormitories, but mostly, there were only military transports in sight.
Briefly, Sunny wondered about the man who had gifted him a sandwich. Hopefully, his family had a room below ground... if not, surviving the Devouring Cloud might not be effortless for them.
'Concentrate.'
Finally, the Rhino reached the staging area under the wall. Not bothering to park it properly, Sunny picked up Morgan's Warbow and headed for the exit hatch. His soldiers followed.
The army camp was in a state of perpetual, organized chaos - more so today than it had been before. A tense, anxious mood hung in the air. Everyone had a grim expression on their faces, sometimes glancing south with fear hiding in their eyes.
Sunny thought that he could already hear the distant, low hum of the approaching swarm.
"Look alive!"
His shout seemed to energize the soldiers. Glancing at him with hints of recognition and reverence, they parted, letting the Devils march through. Sunny made sure to put on the most calm and arrogant expression he could manage, as if the vast swarm of flying abominations was nothing more than a little annoyance.
His performance seemed to have worked, since some of the tension dissipated.
Even the members of his own cohort seemed to relax a little.
'What... why the hell are you relaxing, idiots?! You of all people should know how damn terrifying the Devouring Cloud is! I mean, even I am scared!'
...But he wasn't, not really. Mostly because the brood monsters had no means of attacking incorporeal targets, so his personal safety was not at risk. And because the Devouring Cloud was the least dangerous of the enemies converging on Falcon Scott.
It was still supremely dangerous, however.
The Irregulars entered an open elevator that took them to the top of the wall. Falcon Scott looked strangely empty from the moving platform, its usual liveliness gone. It seemed as if the whole city was holding its breath, hoping that the predator would not notice the prey.
'Zero chance of that happening...'
Stepping onto the wall, Sunny looked around and noticed a few familiar figures some distance away.
A minute later, he was standing side by side with Jet, Winter, and Dale, looking south over the battlements. The four of them remained silent for a while, until Soul Reaper finally spoke, her voice measured:
"Wow. That is... a lot of abominations."
Below them, in the distance, the ground was slowly disappearing behind an immense wall of swirling haze. It looked as if the world itself was being devoured, erased from existence by the approaching cloud.
...Suddenly, Sunny caught himself missing the calm darkness of the underground tunnel.
Chapter 993: The Fall of Falcon Scott (11)
The Devouring Cloud posed an existential threat to Falcon Scott, but strangely, Sunny was not too worried, at least for himself. Perhaps it was the Marble Shell that gave him confidence, or perhaps it was the presence of the other Ascended Irregulars. The four of them were a fearsome force by themselves, and there were thousands of other Awakened defending the city, to boot.
Not to mention countless mundane soldiers, impregnable fortifications, and two entire Saints.
Sky Tide had been away, fighting the Winter Beast somewhere in the wilderness. It was unknown whether she would be able to return in time to participate in today's battle, but Bloodwave was here, protecting the anchored ships. If things went south, he would undoubtedly interfere.
Master Jet studied the approaching brood swarm, her icy blue eyes cold and calculating. Then, she sighed.
"Something is different."
Sunny glanced at her with a silent question, prompting Soul Reaper to shake her head.
"The Devouring Cloud is behaving differently from how the reports described it."
He frowned, then glanced at the distant haze.
...Indeed, the swarm was acting a bit differently from how it had been before. It seemed slightly less erratic, slightly more driven. The speed with which the Devouring World consumed distance was greater than Sunny had expected.
Summoning his helmet, Dale shrugged.
"They probably sense the two hundred million souls behind us. Who wouldn't hurry to get to a feast?"
Winter smiled.
"Well, then... let's show them some hospitality."
She remained motionless for a few moments, then raised her hands and cautiously removed her sunglasses. A deep sigh escaped from her lips.
That was the first time Sunny saw Winter's eyes. They were entirely black, with pupils that resembled two drops of coagulated blood. Looking into them made him deeply, irrationally uncomfortable.
"Begin."
Several Awakened - three from Soul Reaper's cohort and one from Dale's - stepped forward. Following Sunny's nod, Luster did the same.
In this battle, Winter was going to be the tip of their spear.
Her Aspect would play a key role, and so, it had to be augmented as much as possible.
Several Memories started to manifest in the air around the Ascended archer - a beautiful handheld mirror, a small skull with a precious jewel embedded into its forehead, a silver coin with the image of a beautiful woman on one side and that of a hideous monster on the other - and at the same time, the four Awakened activated their own Abilities.
One started to draw a complicated circle around Winter, saturating it with essence as he went. Another concentrated on the Memories, somehow channeling more power into them... Luster simply placed his hand on her shoulder, and then sent Sunny a strangely pleased glance.
'That fool...'
Sunny rolled his eyes and walked a few steps away. He wrapped one shadow around his body and the other three around Morgan's Warbow, then evaluated how much essence he had left.
It was not as much as he would have wanted, but enough to summon the Strike of Thunder many times, as well as manifest countless [Soul Arrows] in between the shots. He would be able to activate the Dying Wish, as well, if the abominations managed to get close to the wall.
Today, Sunny had a personal goal - to slaughter as many of the brood beasts as possible. Hundreds of them, or maybe even a thousand. With almost all the vile creatures being Awakened, he would not be getting many fragments, but that was alright. What he wanted were Memories, anyway - the more, the better, no matter how weak.
"What do you think, Sunny? Are we going to win today?"
He glanced at Master Jet, who was calmly spinning a simple shuriken in her hand. The aura of illusory cold radiating from her seemed especially chilling right now.
He shrugged.
"Sure. Why not? It's just a bunch of ugly flying leeches."
Soul Reaper grinned and did not say anything else.
A few minutes later, the Devouring Cloud entered the firing range of the rail guns. Once again, the thunderous sound of heaving tungsten rounds shattering the sound barrier made the whole wall vibrate. Even though Sunny knew that the bombardment had to have killed countless creatures, it seemed as though the distant haze simply swallowed them. There was not even the smallest ripple or rift in the uninterrupted veil of flying horrors.
'...Crap.'
Then, the turrets and the MWPs joined the barrage and unleashed a hail of bullets. Numerous tracer rounds flew from the wall into the rolling cloud of brood beasts. It was strangely beautiful - as though a shining rain was falling from the ground into the sky, struggling to pierce the black veil of extinguishing darkness.*As if utterly untouched by the devastating onslaught, the Devouring Cloud continued forward without ever slowing down. By now, the hum of countless leathery wings had grown loud enough to seep through the clamor of the firing guns, spreading through the air like the murmur of a vast sea.
The creatures were already close enough for the illusion of a hazy veil to fall apart into the harrowing visage of myriads of black dots swarming in the air. Sunny grimaced, then drew his bow and sent the Strike of Thunder into the approaching horde.
Before the furious bolt of lightning reached it, he was already pulling on the string again, an arrow of pale gold appearing on it.
A flash of stark, eclectic light illuminated a tiny portion of the swarm, followed by the whispers of the Spell.
'Crap!'
At that point, the Devouring Cloud was supposed to slow down. It had just reached the edge of the vast killing field between the city wall and the mountains, coming into view of numerous piles of Nightmare Creature carcasses covering the ground. The brood beasts were supposed to turn their attention to that plentiful source of food before continuing toward Falcon Scott in full force.
However, they did not.
Acting in contradiction to all the analytical reports by Army Command, the swarm ignored the feast of rotting flesh completely, and instead accelerated forward even more.
...That was when Winter finally made her move.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her bow and summoned a single, fiery arrow. Her black eyes seemed to become even darker still, and the crimson blood drops of her pupils shone with an eerie, ominous glow.
The string of the bow rang, and the flaming arrow flashed through the darkness, leaving a blazing trail behind.When it hit, the darkness of the polar night was suddenly no more.
Chapter 994: The Fall of Falcon Scott (12)
The moment Winter's arrow reached the Devouring Cloud, a brilliant flash of light blinded everyone for a moment. A vast sphere of flame bloomed in the middle of the swarm, spreading far and wide like a rolling wave of destruction.
Then, it collapsed on itself and exploded once more.
Tongues of flame spread through the mass of abominations, swallowing countless brood beasts. Some were turned to ash, some fell down to the ground like burning stars. Others continued to burn as they streaked chaotically through the sky, their flesh boiling and dissipating.
But they did not die before colliding with some of their vile brethren.
The fire spread.
As if possessing a mind of its own, it continued to spread from one abomination to another, until it seemed as though the sky itself was aflame. The darkness was chased out by the furious orange-white glow, and Sunny felt something that he had never expected to feel in the middle of winter in Antarctica.
Scorching heat caressing his skin.
He sucked in a shaky breath.
'...Damn.'
It seemed that all their preparations were not in vain. Winter's opening was nothing short of breathtaking. It was outright frightening, if he was honest.
But it was just an opening, nevertheless- although the Devouring Cloud had sustained considerable losses and had to slow down, it was in no way stopped. Already, some brood beasts were charging through the wall of fire, lunging toward the city.
Grinning at the sight of the fiery slaughter, Sunny shook off his momentary shock and drew Morgan's Warbow again.
'More, more... I need to kill more...'
Another bolt of lightning slammed into the swarm, reaping a multitude of lives. An arrow of pale gold pierced a brood beast clean through, then continued to fly forward, killing several others. There were so many abominations that Sunny did not even have to aim.
The four cohorts of Irregulars, as well as all the rest of the Awakened defenders, poured all their strength into destroying the descending tide of winged horrors. Even though it seemed as if the sky itself was falling on them, vast swathes of it enveloped in flame, no one's courage broke.
It was natural to fear for one's life, but with two hundred million people depending on their protection, the soldiers of the First Army stubbornly clung to their positions despite the terror of the approaching swarm.
By his side, Soul Reaper waved her hands, dozens of throwing stars appearing between her fingers and shooting forward with terrible speed, shredding a whole swathe of the swarm like a steel rain.
A few steps away, Samara was methodically discharging her rifle, explosions of essence blossoming in the mass of Nightmare Creatures. Pieces of torn flesh and streams of blood rained down without stop.
The rest of the Devils were doing their part.
...Winter was not at all done with her part of the slaughter, either.
One after another, enchanted arrows flew from the string of her bow. With four Awakened elites using their Aspects to augment hers and a number of powerful Memories feeding her their power, the Ascended archer became a source of shocking devastation.
Sunny finally understood why Winter was sometimes called a walking artillery unit. There were a lot of arrows in her arsenal capable of widespread destruction, and augmented as she was, the scope of that destruction only grew. Thanks to her Aspect, the arrows never missed.
...And with Luster continuously feeding her soul essence, she had no reason to stop.
The Devouring Cloud was melting in front of his eyes.
'Morel'
Sunny strained his muscles to draw the string, the process of dismissing and summoning the Strike of Thunder back finally finished... just in time. A fierce bolt of lightning pierced the air once again.
[You have slain...][You have slain...][You have slain...][You have received...]
And yet, even with all that destruction summoned upon the brood swarm, it was still advancing on the city. Half of the vast killing field had already disappeared in its shadow, and the first of the winged horrors were already reaching the wall.
Somewhere to his left, a massive MWP stumbled, the appalling shape of a brood beast disappearing into the breach in the war platform's armor that it had just created with the circular, fleshy maw. The creature crawled into the pilot's cabin - in the next moment, the massive machine jerked erratically and stepped back, plummeting from the battlement into the darkness.
Sunny uttered a silent curse.
At the same time, Dale stepped closer to Winter. A spherical dome of transparent energy enveloped the two of them, as well as all the Awakened standing nearby. Their arrows and bullets easily passed through the dome to hit the enemies, but when a lone brood beast lunged at Winter from above, it collided against the wall of shimmering energy as if against solid stone. The creature's body bounced away in a rain of blood.
'I guess it's time for...'
"Sunny! Now!"
Jet's voice confirmed his own thoughts. They briefly glanced at each other, then dashed away from the Irregulars. Sunny dismissed his bow, took a deep breath, and summoned the Sin of Solace instead.
Instantly, an insidious voice - his own voice - spoke into his ear:
"Huh. Are you still pretending that you can actually save anyone? You know..."
'Shut the hell up! No one asked!'
Gritting his teeth, Sunny followed Soul Reaper until they reached a relatively empty section of the wall a couple of hundred meters away from the position of the Irregulars. She shouted at the nearby soldiers, commanding them to retreat.
Then, Jet turned to Sunny and flashed him a wicked smile.
"Are you ready?"
He nodded.
"Then activate that charm of yours!"
Sunny sighed, then poured essence into the Dying Wish. At the same time, he wrapped all four shadows around his body and activated the [Underworld Armament] trait of the Marble Shell, enhancing the effect of the charm.
His goals here were rather simple... he needed to give Winter as much time as possible to eradicate the swarm, and at the same time, prevent brood beasts from flying into the city.
What better way was there to achieve both than to present the Devouring Could with an irresistibly tasty target?
The plan was bound to work...
Its only downside was that, for a while, Sunny would have to survive the attention of the entire swarm.
Somehow.