Shadow Slave

Saying that, Sunny inhaled deeply and glanced at Jet.

”Jet.”

She nodded and rose to her feet, walking over to the edge of the runic hall.

“I’m on it. I’ll need some time to set everything up, though, if we want to do it properly.’

Below her, the surface decks of the Night Garden sprawled into the distance, with the silent shades slowly repairing their battered formations. The Dark Castle towered at the bow, and the colossal, eerily motionless form of the Puppeteer loomed above it all like an eldritch deity.

She glanced at the dark skies above the Eternal City, her icy blue eyes reflecting their unfathomable splendor.

Nightwalker frowned.

”What exactly are you doing, though?” Sunny shrugged.

“Calling in the cavalry.’

The breathtaking youth blinked a few times, then said in a hesitant tone:

“What the... I thought you were the cavalry.’ Sunny smiled.

“I am more of a special reconnaissance and sabotage specialist. A commando, if you will”

He scratched the back of his head. ”Actually, since we’re on a ship, I guess I’ma marine. A marine shock trooper? Well, anyway, it doesn’t matter. Point is, lam an ardent proponent of refined, elegant, and surgical warfare. Brute force, barbaric carnage, and total annihilation are someone else’s forte.”

Nightwalker gave him a dubious look at the mention of elegance and refinement, but chose to remain silent.

Sunny went to help Aether to a chair while the Night Garden circled the Palace. Soon enough, they escaped from its vast shadow, and not long after that, Naeve and Bloodwave joined them on the bridge. ”What a sight.”

Sunny glanced ahead with a concerned expression.

Out there, in front of them, a swirling veil of mist obscured the northern reaches of the Eternal City.

The sight of the fierce battle raging under the cover of mist was obscured, but they could still feel its horrifying scope, and sense the echoes of its dreadful violence. The tumultuous, billowing torrents of mist were suffused with a ghostly viridian glow that intensified from time to time in sudden flashes, illuminating them from within like bolts of lightning born of a ghostly storm.

Rumbling thunderclops rolled across the turbulent surface of the water, and ghastly dark silhouettes were revealed in the ethereal light, moving quickly in the fog. Those were the ghastly silhouettes of the immortal abominations. The wraiths were indistinguishable from the mist, so Sunny could not see them... he could infer their presence from the movements of the immortals, though: where they rushed, where they were stopped, and there they fell, cut down by invisible blades.

The wraith army had already reached the final island before the lake that surrounded the Palace. Strangely enough, the bridges leading to the heart of the Eternal City were all destroyed, stretching above the water like the broken ribs of a colossal beast — the sorcery of the Demon of Repose seemed to have no effect on them, for some reason, so they remained broken and shattered.

Sunny wondered if that was the work of Daeron or if the broken bridges were ancient scars left on the Eternal City by Storm God, which even the power of the Demon of Repose could not erase. In any case, it did not matter... he doubted that the deadly waters of the lake would pose an obstacle for the Dutchman and his spectral armada.

The malevolent ship itself was looming in the mist behind its army, half-hidden from view by the deep chasms of the canal it was sailing. Looking at it, Sunny could not help but feel a sudden chill.

He did not know what means the Dutchman was using to subdue the immortal abominations, but the wraiths seemed to be steadily pushing the enemy back. There was an ocean of them washing over the islands of the Eternal City, and the battlefront was stretched across multiple districts, slowly forming a crescent shape around the shores of the Palace lake.

The Night Garden moved across the water until it reached the northern face of the

Palace. There, it gradually slowed down and drifted forward at a crawl, standing like a fortress wall between the wraith army and the heart of the Eternal City.

It was then that Sunny shivered, sensing a cold gaze piercing him. He glanced at the distant silhouette of the Dutchman, knowing that its captain was staring back. Forcing out a smile, Sunny gave the ancient Nightmare Creature a half-hearted bow.

“Take a good look. I am the person who will send your sinister hide to the Shadow Realm.”

There was not much time left before the flood of wraiths reached them, though.

”Jet, how much longer?”

She looked at him evenly.

”A bit longer. They are busy on their side as well, you know?”

Sunny sighed.

This was not good.

However...

Had he not promised to give the Dutchman a present?

It was time to deliver the gift.

Sunny smiled.

“The more the merrier, right?”

Just then, the red river that had been following the Night Garden along the shores of the southern islands reached the billowing veil of mist and poured into it, full of demented frenzy.

All the immortal abominations of the southern part of the Eternal City collided with the right flank of the wraith army, joining the undying fiends that had already been fighting there. There were only a few of them at first, but as more and more arrived, the situation on the battlefield seemed to change.

The forces of the Dutchman buckled and were pushed back, causing the entire wing of the ghostly armada to collapse. The mist swirled, and the viridian glow bleeding into it grew much brighter.

Sunny’s smile turned into a grin.

“Deal with them before you come bother me, you bastard!”

The Dutchman surged forward, and at the same time, its forces seemed to shift. More wraiths poured toward the collapsing flank, which in turn slowed down the advance of the rest of his forces.

It did not stall the wraith army for long... But it did stall the wraiths just long enough. Because at some point, a cold wind blew across the lake.

And a radiant line suddenly split the fabric of the world above it.