Shadow Slave

The gears of war were turning.

In the northern reaches of the Eternal City, the Dutchman and its wraith army were engaged in a fierce battle against the corrupted immortals, slowly pushing their way toward the Palace.

In the southernmost part of the city, the Shadow Legion had conquered a foothold and was now preparing to advance.

Far in the east, the gargantuan Clocktower oversaw the silent streets; in the west, the Lighthouse shone with brilliant silver light.

Sunny felt a sense of urgency as he commanded his shades to march north. ’This is not at all like the Burned Forest...’

His campaign to conquer the outskirts of the Burned Forest had been a slow affair. Fierce skirmishes had been followed by swift retreats and prolonged periods of relative peace - Sunny would dismiss the remaining shades and evade the pursuing Black Millipedes alone, waiting for his growing legion to restore itself and wage another battle.

It had been like a dreadful game of cat and mouse.

The battle for the Eternal City was going to be different. Soon enough, the Shadow Legion was going to clash with the fallen immortals once again — and once it did, there would be no pause and no reprieve from the daunting violence of war until it was all over... one way or another.

’That marathon battle was going to be far more strategic and involve far more moving parts, as well, so he expected to suffer unimaginable mental strain and truly put Mind Weave to the test, exploring its very limits.

Sunny did not feel wary or apprehensive, though. He did not feel particularly excited or on edge, either — instead, he was calm and collected, full of focus and grounded determination.

After all, war was nothing new to him after all these years.

”Time is running out.’

At the moment, his five incarnations had split up, and so did the Shadow Legion.

There were three islands bordering the one connected to the Wharf. Therefore, one of his incarnations was retreating back to the Night Garden with Jet - they were going to sail along the edges of the Eternal City and make landfall directly at the Lighthouse.

The second incarnation was augmenting the Puppeteer atop the Dark Castle, and the remaining three were accompanying different contingents of the Shadow Legion, each moving toward one of the island bridges.

The first contingent was led by Saint, who was supported by Fiend. The third contingent was led by Slayer, with Serpent keeping her company. The second contingent... was a bit special, since that one was the smallest and led directly by Sunny and the Puppeteer Moth.

’This is going to be interesting.’

Sunny’s consciousness split between the countless shades of his legions, spread across three advancing forces, with the Puppeteer serving as the focal point of the entire army.

Intangible strings of black silk spread in the sky above the Eternal City, visible only to Sunny.

The Saint Army reached the edge of the island first. Out there, the ornate buildings receded, opening to a vast emptiness. Far below, raging currents crashed into the basalt foundation of the city, foaming as they rushed with awful speed.

A wide bridge arched as it spanned half a dozen kilometers that separated the two islands, and on the other side, the fallen immortals were already moving between buildings.

Sunny observed the vast chasm and the dark water seething at its bottom, wondering if the Eternal City had always been separated into islands or if it had shattered while plummeting from the Black Skies to the bottom of the sea. In any case, falling down seemed like a bad idea.

It was not that creatures of the caliber present in the Eternal City would be severely damaged in the fall or had no ways of climbing back up, but rather the fact that the elevation difference would give their enemies a fatal advantage. More than that, he could vaguely sense movement in the water.

There had to be some kind of abominable beings dwelling at the bottom of the Eternal City, and from the looks of it, they were different from the corrupted immortals — the beautiful youths seemed to be wary of the edges of the islands, at least, which made him feel reluctant to dive into the dark waters himself. ”How curious.’

What could these immortal fiends fear?

Sunny hoped to never find out.

In any case, that did not matter at the moment.

The shape of the bridge itself dictated the nature of the battle. Since it was arched, the side that controlled its crest would possess a minor advantage — it would face the enemy from an elevated position, while the enemy would have to fight on an upward slope. So, Saint and her soldiers had to occupy the crest as soon as possible.

That could be accomplished easily enough.

As the first of the immortals rushed across the bridge, the massive figure of Fiend dove into the shadows. Usually, using Shadow Step was a swift ordeal — all one had to do was enter the shadows and step out of them. However, due to Fiend’s prodigious size, the simple act of submerging his towering body into the embrace of shadows took some time.

He still rose from the shadows on the crest of the bridge before the immortals, though. The infernal colossus of blackened steel met them with a torrent of flames, incinerating their horrid bodies - by the time they were revived, Saints and her shades had already caught up to him, building an orderly formation and advancing at a steady march.

At the forefront of the Saint Army were the shadows of Godgrave and a large number of monstrous millipedes, their long bodies encased in impenetrable black chitin.

Once Saint took control of the crest of the wide bridge, the strategy of her army became simple: she built an indestructible bulwark and allowed the enemies to crush themselves against it.

Saint stood in front of her soldiers, clad in fearsome jade armour and wielding her usual round shield - Fiend was beside her, as well, with his indestructible steel body. Behind them was a wall of black chitin, with the monstrous shadows of Godgrave serving as the fangs of the largely defensive formation.

Saints regarded the approaching immortals with her usual air of indifference, and then struck the rim of her shield twice.

Fiend let out a thunderous roar, and behind him, countless millipedes clicked their mandibles, causing a loud rumbling to roll across the bridge.

In the next moment, an avalanche of abhorrent flesh collided against the formation of Saint’s army, and all hell broke loose.