Shadow Slave

The small convoy turned west, rolling down a narrow road that descended from the mountains and eventually met the coastal highway. The Rhino was moving at the front of the column, with four remaining civilian transports following it and the three battered military vehicles guarding the rear.

This was Sunny's siege army for the next six hours or so.

The three armored vehicles at Sergeant Gere's disposal still had some ammunition left - just barely enough to last them the rest of the way to Erebus Field, provided that their charge across the highway would be as dire as Sunny anticipated.

The civilian transports were not only flimsy, but also lacked any kind of integrated defense systems to ward off the attacking Nightmare Creatures. However, they were protected by something far more lethal - the Irregulars.

Samara was already setting up her rifle in an improvised gun nest on the roof of the rearmost transport. To allow the Awakened sharpshooter complete freedom in picking off targets from distance, Quentin was by her side, his sword and shield ready to strike down any Nightmare Creature that would dare to get too close.

Kim was on the roof of the next vehicle, with a dozen magazines of charged rounds prepared in advance for her carbine. The nameless Sleeper was keeping her company with a bow and a quiver of poisoned arrows.

Belle and Dorn were protecting the last two transports. Both had Memories capable of ranged attacks, but neither was a proficient marksman. Their main job was to prevent abominations from attacking the refugees directly. So, knowing that they would probably have to move around the roofs of their assigned vehicles a lot, the two fighters had neglected modifying the vehicles with any kinds of protective emplacements.

All four transports had been prepared for the charge as well as the soldiers could manage. There were plates of armor and alloy spikes welded to their sides, as well as makeshift rams attached to their fronts, in a pale imitation of the Rhino.

...And lastly, there was the heavy APC itself. Since Saint was gone, Sunny was sitting on its roof instead, holding Morgan's Warbow in his hands. Despite the howling of the chilling wind, he did not feel cold at all, fueled by adrenaline. His body was encompassed by the dull steel of the Undying Chain, the Dying Wish hidden beneath its sleek breastplate.

He was ready for battle.

Traverse the highway as fast as possible, killing anything before it had a chance to approach the convoy. That was the plan.

Not that Sunny really expected everything to go according to it...

Blackie and Abomination were running ahead of the column, serving as the vanguard and forward scouts, while Nightmare was still slumbering in the depths of his soul. The dark courser was already sufficiently healed to be summoned, but Sunny was holding back on calling upon him until things inevitably went south.'Which they will... I just know they will...'

Descending the mountains was easier than trying to push through them, so it did not take long for the convoy to reach the final stretch of the road before the coastal highway. The terrain had turned much smoother, and then entirely flat. Finally, the beams of light shooting from the Rhino illuminated the wide expanse of weathered concrete... and the dark waves rising and falling not too far behind it.

The highway was wide enough for ten APCs the size of the Rhino to drive side by side, but a section of it was separated from the main thoroughfare by a thick barrier. Behind it, closest to the mountain slopes, a railway stretched both north and south, meant to carry armored trains across the landmass. That still left them enough space to maneuver, but also placed the convoy closer to the ocean.

The full moon shone in the black sky, drowning in the undulating lights of the ghostly aurora. The highway was utterly empty and basked in the pale moonlight. All of it - the dark slopes of the mountains, the wide expanse of the road, and the black waves beyond it - looked eerie, ominous, and foreboding.

However, Sunny had no time to appreciate the ambiance.

'...That was fast.'

A few hundred meters ahead, the two Echoes had already caught the scent of Nightmare Creatures hiding in the darkness. Unfortunately for them, very few things could hide from Sunny's gaze in the gloom of the polar night...

Even before Abomination had a chance to lunge at the dark shapes laying on the road, a black arrow fell from the sky, piercing the head... at least Sunny thought that it was the head... of a monstrous centipede that seemed to have been resting on the concrete.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast...]

A moment later, the Echo's powerful jaws crunched on the chitinous carapace of a different abomination, while Blackie jumped on the third, trying to copy the ferocious attack of the larger hound. A second arrow helped him finish the job.

Without slowing down, the Rhino plowed through the corpses of the massive centipedes, tearing them apart and clearing the way for the rest of the convoy.Sunny felt the APC vibrating as it gradually gained more and more speed. The coastal highway seemed to be in good shape despite the recent earthquake, so nothing was slowing them down. For now, at least, it seemed as though they had a chance of making it to Erebus Field in a timely fashion.

However, he could already see more Nightmare Creatures in the distance, their frenzied eyes slowly igniting with dangerous flames as the lights and the noise of the convoy attracted their attention.

There were unclear shapes moving on the slopes of the mountains, too, rising from the darkness and starting to descend toward the highway to intercept the column of human vehicles.

...Much more disturbingly, the black waves continued to murmur to the speeding convoy's left as they continuously assaulted the shore, coming and going without showing any sign of a harrowing threat hiding beneath their dark surface.

That lack of movement filled Sunny with much more unease than the swiftly approaching silhouettes of murderous abominations.

'Whatever it is that is going to show up... just show up already.'

There was no response.

Gritting his teeth, Sunny turned away from the ocean and raised his bow.

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