Shadow Slave

Sunny had been relying on Army Command to keep him alive for about half a year now, but weirdly enough, he had never been to the actual headquarters of the Evacuation Army.

To be fair, Army Command had no definite location. It was spread across many siege capitals, strongholds, and even continents, all of them connected into a seamless network both by technology and Aspect Abilities of the Awakened officers. Most of the staff was here in Antarctica - like the members of the department where Kim was currently working - but not all of them.

That said, the underground fortress below the building where the reception hall was located seemed like the closest thing to the heart of Army Command. It was a hive of activity, with countless people - both mundane and Awakened - hurrying feverishly to accomplish a myriad of tasks in a timely manner.

Their work might not have seemed as dire as what the soldiers on the frontlines were going through, but it was nevertheless just as vital. Without efficient and timely support and management, the evacuation campaign would be doomed to end in a bloody disaster. From updating the status of various areas in relation to the strength of the Call in them to compiling data about countless Nightmare Creatures and guiding troop movements, Army Command was the brain of the army. Without the brain, the body would be utterly useless.

...Somewhere in here, there was also an office where the allocation of contribution points was decided. In any other circumstances, Sunny would have felt his heart start to beat faster, but right now, he was fully concentrating on something else.

His eyes were glued to the bleak man, who was walking behind Beastmaster and Seishan while acting perfectly unassuming. Or at least as unassuming as a Master could be.

Army Command was, indeed, absolutely vital to the war effort. It was also a treasure trove of access and information.

It would certainly be a shame if a particular psychopath got loose in its very heart.

’But what can I do?’

Sunny might have known who Mordret was and what he was capable of, but as far as stopping the Prince of Nothing went... there was little to be done.

Which was both unnerving and incredibly frustrating.

Luckily, Sunny was not alone in his frustration. Morgan and Madoc also threw somber glances at the unassuming Master from time to time, their eyes cold and sharp. Sky Tide had a complicated expression on her usually stoic face, as well.

Only Nephis seemed unconcerned... and why would she be? Of the five of them, she was the only one who had never met the Prince of Nothing.

She would learn to be wary of him soon, though.

’...Probably.’

In truth, their goals were closely aligned. There was no telling what Changing Star would do if she met Mordret face to face.

Actually, the same went for Sunny. Despite his wariness and hostility, the Prince of Nothing was not necessarily his enemy. It was just that Sunny knew how inhumanly ruthless and blood-chillingly cruel Mordret could be, if it suited his goals.

And how cunning he was.

That was why Sunny could not remain calm at the prospect of someone like that going on a rampage across Antarctica.

Would Mordret care how many innocent people burned in the flames of his retribution?

Most definitely not.

’...But what can I do?’

The same question returned, gnawing at Sunny. There were many things he could do, actually... just not any that would not end in him being killed at the spot by Wake or Ruin or Beastmaster. He could prematurely start a direct clash between Song and Valor right here in the army headquarters, even...

’First of all, calm down. You don’t even know if that is really Mordret. The guy might really be a random Master the emissaries of Song chose to bring along for whatever reason.’

Sunny could see the soul cores of humans and Nightmare Creatures, but that ability was useless against the Prince of Nothing. When Mordret possessed a body, he also possessed the soul, or at least enough of it to mimic how it was supposed to look like.

’Right. I shouldn’t rush to conclusions. Wait for now, observe, act later.’

Saint Cor led them to a large chamber that was filled with all kinds of equipment to display information, much of it being updated in real time. Sunny looked curiously at a large projected map of East Antarctica, with countless symbols denoting masses of Nightmare Creatures moving across it in a seemingly chaotic manner.

There were also numerous static marks showcasing the location of Nightmare Gates. He paled slightly, suddenly faced with a stark reminder of how many of them there were.

The marks littered the entire map like pustules, as if the continent was being slowly devoured from the inside by a lethal disease. There were a staggering amount of them in the wilderness, but the concentration grew exponentially in the vicinity of the siege capitals.

The moving symbols were all congregating toward the human settlements, too. The paths of the hordes of Nightmare Creatures might have seemed aimless at first, but if one looked at the bigger picture, it was painfully clear that all of them were slowly drawing closer to the twenty-seven cities.

It looked like an inescapable avalanche of death and despair. A nightmarish chain of doom and destruction that was tied around Antarctica’s neck, its cold embrace becoming tighter with each day.

That was what the Evacuation Army was facing.

Feeling a chill creep up his spine, Sunny lingered for a few moments, and then glanced at the people walking in front of him. His eyes grew darker, and the shadows nestling in the corners of the strategy room grew deeper, too.

’...Unforgivable.’

His hands would have turned into fists if he had not made a conscious effort to appear calm.

His heart, however, was dark and heavy.

’Unforgivable.’

Even knowing what was happening in Antarctica, these mighty people had come here to make it all worse. Sunny thought back to what Wake of Ruin had said about the comparative benevolence of the Great Clans, trying to remember the crumbs of sense he had found in those words.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t.

...In a sense, it was no different from the outskirts. The whole world was like that. No one cared if you lived or died in the outskirts, and the people who had the power to help you all chose to do nothing, or at least as little as possible.

In the same way, the people who held the true power were comfortable doing nothing to save the population of Antarctica. The Chain of Nightmares had happened in the Southern Quadrant, but the next time, it might happen somewhere else. Then, too, they would remain indifferent.

To those who lived in the outskirts, citizens seemed like people who inhabited a distant paradise. But to the great clans, the citizens were no different from the outskirt rats.

Of course, one could object and argue for the other side. The government was not malicious at its core, and its treatment of the people in the outskirts was born out of necessity. The outskirts existed because the planet could not sustain the whole human population... someone had to be sacrificed to make sure that the rest survived. Otherwise, there would not be enough resources to save anyone.

And it wasn’t like the unfortunate souls in the outskirts were completely abandoned... there was a constant supply of cheap synthpaste, there were jobs, there was electricity, access to entertainment, and so much more. People were not being left to die... they at least had the means to survive, if only barely. It was just that their lives were more or less doomed to be short and bitterly hard.

In the same way, the great clans were not entirely heartless. It was just that their plans for humanity were aimed at the Dream Realm, and not the waking world. Even then, they made a little bit of effort.

They had sent Sky Tide and Dire Fang... the House of Night might not have taken part in the ground operation, but they did supply enough Saints and Nightwalkers to guide the naval convoys to and from Antarctica.

But still... Sunny could not forgive them. He didn’t want to. All of it was a load of crap, as far as he was concerned.

He might have found a way to excuse the great clans if remaining passive was all that they had done, but they did not stop at that.

Not only had Valor and Song abandoned Antarctica to the Chain of Nightmares, they even planned to use it as a private battlefield and fight each other while countless people suffered and died around them.

That, he could not forgive.

...Sunny glanced at the back of the bleak man and smiled slightly.

’You want to slaughter the entire clan Valor? Wonderful. Slaughter them well.’

Then, he looked at Nephis.

’You want to destroy all of them? Even better. I’ll cheer you on.’

Sunny was not a forgiving man. In fact, he was quite spiteful.

’Let’s see how their little war goes...’