Shadow Slave

Seven new Gates. A flood of Nightmare Creatures. Thousands of tired soldiers who had hoped for a well-deserved reprieve after the long and furious battle, only to have that hope snuffed out in an instant.

Sunny could feel the resolve of humans surrounding him falter… but in the end, they quickly collected themselves. The officers barked orders, the soldiers hurriedly gathered in proper formations, the lumbering mobile war platforms repositioned to open fire on the new threat.

Truth be told, the new development was well within the division's ability to handle. Luckily, none of the Gates showed signs of reaching Category Three, so they did not pose more threat than the previous six. The human force had barely suffered any casualties, if any at all, in the recent battle, and they had a theoretical chance of repeating that success.

If there was one problem, though, it was that the division — just like Sunny and his soldiers — had overexerted itself in the previous engagement. Logistical vehicles hastily moved forward to give the fighters an opportunity to reload their empty magazines and recharge their armor suits. Artillery needed new batches of explosive shells, infantry needed energy cells and ammunition, MWP companies needed to cool down to avoid a forced shutdown...

All that demanded time, which caused humans to blunder the immensely important opening act of the second offensive. Additionally, they had lost the precious terrain advantage and strategic control due to the fact that one of the Gates opened behind them.

…That just meant that the warriors of the Awakened detachment had to pick up the slack and buy their mundane comrades a chance to regroup and properly enter the battle.

That included Sunny and his soldiers, too.

"Damnation."

Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, studying the approaching flood of Nightmare Creatures as his mind went into an overdrive. He had no doubt that hundreds of Awakened accompanying the division would be able to stall and destroy the threat… eventually. However, this time, the human force was not going to achieve victory with minimal losses. Many people were going to die.

Was it time to unleash his trump cards, already?

'This is just day one, for heaven's sake!'

He had come to Antarctica in search of greater strength. Saving the lives of his fellow soldiers sounded very much like something that a man of conviction would do. However… Sunny was not convinced.

Why should he go above and beyond to help these people to even the odds? It was not like they were going to suffer a crushing defeat. Victory was all but guaranteed, with only its cost remaining in doubt. Showing his aces, on the other hand, was a bit risky.

Sunny would have felt more comfortable if he and his cohort were acting alone, but here in the middle of a massive battlefield... the thought left a bad taste in his mouth. He was tempted to bide his time.

...There was a grim feeling slowly rising in his heart, though.

Indeed, it was the very start of a campaign that promised to be long and arduous. If Sunny did not go all out and his division lost a bunch more soldiers as a result, the losses would not be anywhere near substantial, in the grand scheme of things.

However, what would happen if a bunch of soldiers died tomorrow, too, and then the day after that, and the day after that? Pretty soon, there would be no one left to fight by his side. And that… was a big problem.

Suddenly, a simple and chilling realization struck his mind. Sunny's eyes widened slightly.

The thing he had come to understand was so straightforward that it bordered on obvious:

Antarctica… was not a place where one could hold back. Even though the Chain of Nightmares was far away from reaching its full magnitude, everyone had to exert themselves to the absolute limit already, or face eventual and inevitable destruction.

In fact, even that might not be enough.

Sunny gritted his teeth.

He had known that this cataclysm was going to be a dreadful trial, of course, but now it became starkly clear that even Sunny had underestimated the true scope of the disaster. Theoretical understanding was very different from actual knowledge.

Standing on top of the corpse of a mighty Gate Guardian, he sighed, and then glanced at his soldiers.

"That Gate over there seems to be bringing our old eyeless friends to the real world. Since we already know how to handle them, it will be our next target."

As one of the very few Masters in the division and a captain of the First Irregular Company to boot, Sunny had a larger responsibility than most. It was a given that his cohort would have to lead the charge on one of the seven Gates.

However, he couldn't be in several places at the same time.

The Gate that had opened behind the human formation — the one that posed the most threat and prevented the division from presenting a united front, thus constraining every soldier on the battlefield — was too far away from his position, and so the Irregulars had no hope of reaching it in time.

Someone else would have to handle it.

"Move out! Samara, change position to get a clear line of fire on the designated Gate. Kimmy, stay close to Luster and assist him in covering the vanguard's back. Stay alive... kill them all!"

Without wasting any more time, the cohort rushed forward to meet the onslaught of frenzied abominations. Hundreds of Awakened joined them, creating a buffer between the Nightmare Creatures and the line of mundane soldiers. Buying time for the division to form an effective response.

…A dozen seconds after they left, however, something moved in the shadow of the massive carcass.

Suddenly, a terrifying black steed emerged from it, carrying a fearsome dark rider. The rider observed the battlefield with cold indifference, and then sent her destrier into a gallop. Their eyes burned with infernal red flames.

Nightmare and Saint were heading away from the approaching abominations... toward the hastily assembled battle formation of human soldiers.