Shadow Slave

Sitting on the ground and watching snowflakes dance in the dim sky, Sunny rested and evaluated the performance of his soldiers — and his own — in the clash against the swarm of eyeless beasts. Overall, he was satisfied with the result. Why wouldn\'t he be, considering that the enemy had been destroyed while none of his subordinates had suffered a serious injury?

Everyone had performed well. Belle, Dorn, and Quentin had shown their value as elite combat specialists. Samara had confidently surpassed his already high expectations. Kim had been instrumental to their overall effectiveness and provided adequate support. While Luster\'s contribution had not seemed that spectacular, his presence actually made all the difference. The young man had also done well enough for himself as a second-line fighter.

However, things weren\'t that simple.

A subtle frown appeared on Sunny\'s face.

\'How troublesome…\'

The relative ease of their victory had been predicated on several factors. Firstly and most importantly, control over the terrain and the proper use of its advantages. Secondly, the immediate elimination of the Fallen commander of the swarm… without the Defiled Witness, none of the Nightmare Creatures had possessed fearsome unnatural powers.

The vile abilities that Devils and abominations of higher Classes possessed added an element of unpredictability to every battle. It was that instability that made any kind of strategy and planning unreliable. This time, Sunny had been able to remove the threat and maintain tactical superiority, but what about the next? He doubted that every future battle would be as orderly.

Lastly, the cohort had not held back and unleashed its full power to destroy the swarm. Sunny had avoided using his trump cards, but his reserves of essence were now depleted by more than a half. His soldiers were in an even worse situation. It was going to take a couple of days for them to recover… maybe less if Luster was involved.

Sunny did not regret going all out, since it allowed him to create a benchmark of what the cohort was capable of. However, he had a nagging suspicion that they would not be allowed the luxury of carelessly burning through their essence in the future. Who knew when the next combat engagement would come? There was no guarantee that the cohort would receive the time they needed to recharge.

\'Conserving essence is going to be a priority… I feel it in my bones.\'

His expression darkened. The more his soldiers were constrained in how to express their powers, the more risks they would have to endure.

Turning his head slightly, Sunny threw a calculating glance at Luster. The young man suddenly shivered and looked back.

"Uh… Captain? Why are you staring at me?"

Sunny gave him a reassuring smile, which only made Luster appear more nervous, for some reason.

"Oh, just thinking about the future. But since we are talking… take Kim and go collect us some soul shards. Don\'t bother with the Fallen abominations, though. Their hides are too tough, so it would be a waste of time to dress them."

The army would take care of this.

As the officer in charge of the cohort, Sunny was privy to the information about how saturated the soul cores of his subordinates were… not to mention that he could make a rough estimate himself simply by taking a look. Actually, they did not need too many shards. Dorn and Samara had long reached full saturation, while Belle and Quentin were extremely close to it. Only Luster and Kim lagged behind a bit due to their age.

The cohort was going to reach its full potential sooner rather than later.

As Luster and Kim left — chaperoned by one of his shadows, just in case — Sunny leaned on the hull of the Rhino and closed his eyes.

After spending years in the deadly and unpredictable expanse of the Dream Realm, he knew not to miss the rare and precious opportunities to rest.

***

For a while, the small mountain valley was calm and silent. Not too far away, behind the rugged slopes, the bleakness of the twilight sky was being torn apart by orange flashes of heavy artillery fire. The echoes of thunderous explosions reached the valley from time to time, but the mayhem itself remained somewhere in the distance, where the main body of the army division was engaged in a bloody battle against the small horde of Nightmare Creatures.

Soon, however, a low rumbling drew closer, and subtle vibrations spread through the surface of the broken road.

Opening one eye, Sunny looked down, where a long column of army vehicles was climbing up the slope. At its front, a squad of war platforms marched, their wide metal feet sending cracks through the asphalt with each step. A few of the smaller ones were holding rifles not unlike the coilgun wielded by Samara.

Of course, in their giant hands, the massive rifles looked small and lightweight, like modest sidearms at most.

The battalion whose path the cohort had been ordered to secure finally arrived. They were going to follow the road and flank the horde of abominations, finishing the pincer maneuver.

This probably meant that Sunny and his soldiers were done with their short respite.

Soon, the towering war platforms reached the crest of the hill where Rhino was parked, lingered there for a moment, and continued down into the valley. The army vehicles and members of the mechanized infantry arrived next, accompanied by a good number of Awakened.

One of them stopped near the spot where the cohort was resting and glanced at the carnage below. His face paled.

The man remained silent for a while, then glanced at Belle, who was relaxing on a boulder nearby.

"You… you guys killed all these abominations by yourself?"

The swordsman simply smiled.

"Sure did."

The Awakened stared at him incredulously.

"But there are hundreds of them!"

Belle blinked a couple of times, then shrugged.

"So? We\'re Irregulars."

The soldier opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

Belle, meanwhile, thought for a bit and added:

"Ah, don\'t be too impressed. Our captain probably killed half of them. We just stayed back and tried to make ourselves useful."

The Awakened soldier was clearly impressed. He looked at the swordsman with begrudging respect, remained silent for a few moments, and asked:

"...Who is your captain?"

Belle suddenly laughed.

"Our captain? He is the Devil! The Devil himself…"