Shadow Slave

Still some distance from the convoy, the whole width of the highway was blocked off by something that looked like a tall wall of alloy. It was surrounded by a scene of pure mayhem, with torn pieces of metal and massive chunks of concrete laying on the road in a chaotic mess.

Sunny scowled, trying to make sense of what he saw. After a second or two, he uttered a silent curse.

Ahead of them, the barrier between the thoroughfare and the railroad was shattered to pieces. The object he had thought to be an alloy wall was actually the roof of a train carriage laying on its side. One of the armored behemoths must have been derailed here at some point in the past, turning a whole section of the highway into a nightmare of broken concrete and mangled alloy.

'Damnation...'

Sunny had ridden an armored train once before, so he knew how fearsome these moving fortresses were. What could have even destroyed an alloy beast like that? He wasn't sure that an earthquake would be enough to derail one of them, even though it was the most reasonable theory he had.

In any case, Sunny had more pressing problems than guessing the fate of the crashed train.

The convoy was not allowed to slow down... the fragile equilibrium they had been able to create was all dependent on the assumption that the column would keep moving. If they lost speed or, even worse, were forced to stop, there would be no escape from death. They would simply drown in Nightmare Creatures.

"Sam and Quentin, make the Echoes fall back to the Rhino."

Then, he closed his eyes for a moment and reached forward with his senses.

After becoming a Master and before coming to Antarctica, Sunny had received no opportunities to test the limits of Shadow Manifestation in combat. Now, he knew that his Ascended Ability was more powerful than he had thought... so, he was going to call upon it again.

Before the convoy reached the wreckage, the shadows on the slope of the mountain came to life and flowed forward, forming long tentacles. These tentacles tore through the alloy of the overturned carriage, taking hold of it, and then pulled the massive structure aside. A deafening sound of metal scraping against concrete filled the air.

'Come on... come on...'

The carriage was moved just far enough to create an opening for the approaching Rhino. The APC pulverized several chunks of the concrete barrier with its ram, clearing the road, then maneuvered to the side and slid past the mangled alloy structure.

Behind it, the highway was revealed to be in terrible condition, so it took a lot of skill to navigate the Rhino past the mess of broken metal. Luster was just the man to do it, though. He masterfully avoided all the serious obstacles and rammed through those that could be destroyed without ever slowing down. The rest of the vehicles weren't as large as the APC, so it was not too hard for them to follow.

Several abominations crawled from the wreckage to lunge at the convoy, but were swiftly pierced by arrows and poisoned bullets.

Soon, the convoy left the field of debris... but instead of being relieved, Sunny only gritted his teeth.

Obscured by the remains of the armored train, there was another swarm of Nightmare Creatures ahead of them - this one much larger and dangerous than all the previous ones. Worse still, since they were late to discover it, there was not much time to thin the abominations out with ranged attacks.

The convoy was under real threat.

'Goddammit!'

Sunny briefly glanced at the black bow in his hands, knowing that just its power alone was not going to be enough this time. The situation was dire. ...Which meant that it was time to call the cavalry.

He considered summoning Nightmare near the Rhino and stylishly jumping into the saddle from the roof, like he had seen cool heroes do in webtoons, but then decided against such theatrics. It was not that Sunny was not capable of landing on the back of a galloping horse from a moving vehicle, it was just that Nightmare's saddle was a Memory, and had to be hoisted on the black steed by hand each time he was summoned.

By now, Sunny was capable of riding his horse without a saddle, but using any kind of melee weapon effectively without stirrups was more or less out of the question. Stirrups were essential to mounted combat, insignificant as they might seem.

He sighed.

I guess I'm just not cool...

With that, Sunny summoned Nightmare directly onto the roof of the Rhino, simultaneously calling upon the Sin of Solace and the [Overpriced Saddle].

Soon, the fearsome black stallion was standing in front of him, looking forward with ferocious crimson flames burning in his eyes. Nightmare snarled, revealing two rows of metal fangs that resembled those of a wolf. It seemed that he had plenty of sleep, and now hungered to tear some abominations apart.

Moonlight glinted on the dark surface of the courser's adamantine horns.

"Don't you worry... you'll get a chance to rampage in just a few moments..."

Sunny swiftly put the saddle on the courser's sable back, fastening it into place. Just at that moment, Samara's rifle barked, sending a shining round flashing into the darkness. A chorus of bestial howls was the reply.

He cursed, grabbed the hilt of the Sin of Solace, and jumped into the saddle.

Sunny closed his eyes for a moment, sensing insidious whispers assault his mind. Today, they seemed especially clear.

He took a deep breath, then looked forward and sent Nightmare charging.

The black steed lunged forward, jumping from the roof of the Rhino in a tall arc.

...Inside the APC, Luster flinched as adamantine hooves thundered right above his head, and then craned his neck to stare at the swift shape of the leaping steed.

"Aaaa, what the h-hell!"

He paused for a moment, and then added in a stifled voice:

"...Damn majestic."

Plummeting toward the mass of abominations, Sunny gripped the hilt of the Sin of Solace tighter and poured essence into the Dying Wish, activating its sole enchantment.

'Let's teach these bastards the meaning of true fear, Nightmare...'