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Chapter 1994: Call to Arms
Shadow Slave

The writing was on the wall.

The Sword Army seemed to be prevailing against the enemy, for now, but as its losses mounted and the horde of the dead puppets grew… there was no escaping the eventual defeat.

If Sunny could see it, then Anvil could see it, as well.

And yet, the King of Swords was not doing anything. The only orders he gave were minor commands, like sending reserve units to reinforce the faltering sections of the battlefront or pulling back heavily battered battalions. His tactical prowess was immaculate, true, but that was hardly enough to remedy the situation.

At the moment, the Sovereign was simply watching the carnage silently, his steely eyes not revealing any emotion. It was as if he was waiting for something, or maybe simply putting too much trust into his domineering authority.

His presence was, indeed, more suffocating than the sweltering heat. Sunny scowled behind his mask.

'...He's not planning to obliterate both armies, is he?'

Out of the two Sovereigns, only Anvil possessed such an option… thanks to Saint Tyris, who could break the veil of clouds above the battlefield. But no, that could not be true. Not because Anvil wasn't capable of implementing a monstrous strategy like that, but simply because Sky Tide would never agree to heed such a command. She had a will of her own, after all, and had disobeyed the Sovereigns before. More than that, her own daughter was currently down there, somewhere, fighting on the frontline with other warriors of the White Feather clan. Even if Anvil threatened to cut Tyris down, she would simply invite him to try. So… what then?

As if to answer these thoughts, the King suddenly turned away from the battlefield and looked at something. Sunny was confused for a moment, not knowing what he was looking at, but then realized that the answer was obvious. Ignoring the people crowding around him, Anvil was gazing at Nephis, who stood some distance away. He studied her for a few moments, and then asked evenly:

"What do you make of it?"

Sunny's scowl deepened. Why was that bastard putting Nephis on the spot? Sure, she was technically his adopted daughter… but everyone knew that it was merely a charade to justify a political alliance. Even if it had not been, Anvil wasn't known for treating his children with warmth or attention. Nephis seemed surprised by the question, as well… of course, to everyone except for Sunny, her expression would have looked just as calm and composed as ever. She looked up at the King of Swords, remained silent for a few moments, and then shrugged. "It's appalling."

Something unexpected happened in the next moment. The King of Swords… smiled. His smile was faint and cold, but it was undeniably there. Anvil looked back to the battlefield. "...I see that you are more like your mother than your father."

His voice was just as emotionless as ever, but there was a hint of something personal in it. It almost sounded human.

Nephis frowned. "In what way?"

Anvil did not respond for a few moments. Eventually, he spoke in a detached tone:

"Your mother… cared about everyone. But your father only cared about himself, and that which was his." He lingered for a moment, and then added quietly:

"Perhaps that was why she left before the rest of us."

The King of Swords then glanced at Nephis, his heavy gaze crushing into her with almost physical force. "Since you are appalled by this slaughter, you must care about the soldiers below." A corner of his mouth rose subtly once again.

"...Or do you simply consider them yours?"

Sunny felt a cold chill run down his spine. Was that an innocent question? Or was it aimed to test Neph's loyalty to the Sword Domain?

Or…

Was this Anvil showing that he did not trust her at all?

Or was he hoping that he could?

In any case, something told Sunny that many things depended on how Nephis answered.

The rest of the Saint seemed perturbed by the strange conversation between the commander of the Sword Army and its most radiant champion, as well.

Nephis remained silent for a while, the wind playing with her silver hair. Then, she sighed, stretched her neck with a tired expression, and walked over to the railing of the wide platform.

Jumping over them in one fluid motion, she landed on the steel skin of the enormous Echoe and took a few steps to the edge of its head. There, she turned around and looked at the Sovereign calmly. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" Nephis shrugged. "I am going down. I grew tired of standing here and doing nothing."

He considered her silently for a few moments. "Haven't I forbidden my Saints to fight the enemy unless the enemy attacks first?"

Nephis met his heavy gaze expressionlessly. "You did. You haven't forbidden us from entering the battlefield, though."

Anvil smiled for the third time in a single day. This time, his smile was a little terrifying. "And if your arrival provokes the enemy to attack you?"

Nephis just stared at him impassively. After a few moments of silence, she said in an even tone:

"Then I will break them."

Anvil's chilling smile turned into an equally frightening sneer, but he did not stop her. Witnessing this, some of the Saints present on the viewing platform moved, as well. Roan gave his wife a brief look, then headed to the railing. "I think I would like to stretch my leg, too."

Saint Helie, who had been standing by her lonesome on the opposite side of the platform from Sunny, glanced at Nephis and sighed. "I am actually afraid of heights. Spending some time on the ground will be quite nice."

Rivalen of Aegis Rose stared at them in confusion. "Ah, yes. Me too… I mean, I want to stretch my legs too, Your Majesty. Not that I am afraid of heights."

The rest of the Saints had begun moving, as well.

The King of Swords did not spare them a look, continuing to study the battlefield.

Sunny wasn't sure if that was because everything was going according to what the Sovereign had wanted, or if he simply did not mind.

Nephis did not wait for the Sword Saints. Summoning her wings, she leaped off the head of the gargantuan Echo and plummeted toward the battlefield like a falling star. …Saint Jest, who had appeared next to Sunny at some point, let out a chuckle at the sight and shook his head. "Young people are so hot-headed these days!"

Then, he looked at Sunny and grinned. "What about you, Shadow? Are you joining the fun?"

Sunny turned his head and stared at the old man coldly. When he answered, his arrogant voice carried a hint of displeasure.

"No way. Haven't I told you before?"

He lingered for a moment, and then added evenly:

"I am a pacifist." With that, Sunny sighed, pushed himself off the railing, and turned into a shadow. The shadow disappeared from view a moment later, heading in the direction of the battlefield with stunning speed. Jest scoffed and shook his head again. "This kid… is such a terrible liar…"

Shadow Slave
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Comments 47

  1. Offline
    wotpe
    wotpe
    + 5 ⋅ 0 -
    Jest has probably figured out Sunny's (reversed) Flaw. He might get the Harus treatment
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  2. Offline
    ZEXOS
    ZEXOS
    + 7 ⋅ 0 -
    Chapters 1997 and 1998: Telegram Link
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      ZEXOS
      ZEXOS
      + 18 ⋅ 0 -
      1997. Human Cost


      The pilgrims were consumed by the tidal wave of steel warriors, only managing to fell the vanguard of unfeeling Echoes. There were more of them on other parts of the battlefield, but here at the epicenter of the calamitous clash between the two great armies, the Knights of Valor were too shrewd and callous to allow the dead to rise en masse.

      The indomitable formation of the Sword Army elites surged forward like an iron wave, crashing into the Seventh Legion and shattering its offensive line. However, not long after, the momentum of the Valor forces stalled.

      And then, it was exhausted entirely, leaving them in a deadly mire. Their enemy was not to not be trifled with, either — the seven Royal Legions consisted of the best warriors of the Song Domain, and among them, the Seventh Legion was the fiercest.

      It only lost to the First Legion, perhaps, which had vanished into the darkness of the Spine Ocean and was not present on the battlefield today.

      After suffering the initial blow, the broken formation of the Song warriors did not buckle, and the warriors themselves did not lose themselves to fear. They were not routed — instead, they descended upon the Knights of Valor and their auxiliary forces like a deadly swarm, burning with wicked resolve and primal fury.

      These men and women were neither enthralled by the promise of glory nor intoxicated by the raucous hymns of war. However, they weren't willing to taste the bitterness of defeat, either.

      ...A wide swath of the hellish battlefield turned into an even harsher hell, with thousands of powerful Awakened and hundreds of fearsome Masters clashing in a deadly melee.

      The cacophony of deafening thunderclaps, the litany of human screams, and the violent tremors of the bloodied ground fused into a nightmarish choir of destruction, as if the world itself was in the throes of death — or rebirth, maybe. Perhaps it was the dead deity of Godgrave that was being reborn, its ancient bones soaked by human blood.

      In any case, the warriors of both the Sword Army and the Song Army seemed to have forgotten themselves, consumed by the dire and macabre necessity of battle. Their previous doubts were washed away by the shock and awe of the harrowing battlefield, and their minds were hollowed by the dreadful, demented noises of the disastrous havoc.

      The world had gone insane.

      Rain was so afraid that she did not even feel fear anymore. It was as if that part of her that had been responsible for knowing fear overheated and went up in flames, leaving only cold ashes in its wake. Now, all she felt was fury and resentment.

      She did not even know what she was furious about, and whom she resented.

      In the absence of an answer, Rain could only focus her reeling mind on the enemy in front of her.

      Tamar was the first to clash with the warriors of the Sword Army, vaulting over their loose battle line with the help of her Aspect Ability and using the second floating step to abruptly arrest her momentum, twist on one leg, and lunge herself at their backs.

      As soon as her foot touched the ground, her brutish zweihander flashed in a wicked horizontal arc, breaking someone's armor and throwing them aside.

      She was putting herself in terrible danger, of course, all alone behind the enemy line…

      But a moment later, her soldiers collided with the front of the enemy formation.

      Attacked from both sides, the Feather Knights momentarily fumbled.

      That was all the opportunity Rain and her comrades needed, tearing into them with urgent determination.

      Steel rang against steel, and tasted human flesh, as well.

      Blood spilled on the pristine white surface of the ancient bone.

      Rain raised her tachi and forced her hands to stop trembling.

      Somewhere not too far away…

      The elites of Clan Valor were struggling to hold against the vicious attack of the Song warriors. Acting with astonishing precision and stalwart poise, they maintained their formation and refused to give ground, which was already drenched in blood.

      The enemy would not allow them to retreat, anyway... and there, behind them, the dead were already stirring, ready to rise.

      If they were to be saved, they had to carve a bloody path to salvation with their own hands.

      And so, they held fast…

      However, a few moments later, a swift figure in crimson garments flashed between the soldiers of Song and crashed into the formation of the ironclad knights. It was a beautiful woman who wore no armor, her ebony hair fluttering behind her in the wind.

      Her skin was pale like snow, and her eyes were just as cold.

      Her scarlet lips were pressed tightly against each other.

      She was one of the Blood Sisters who followed Princess Seishan... A Master of the Song Domain.

      Wielding a sharp dagger with a wavy blade, she collided with the warriors of the Sword Army and pushed them back. Her thin hand moved with inhuman speed, slicing up the throat of one soldier, blinding another, piercing a third one's chest.

      The knights staggered back in a haze of blood, opening a breach in their formation.

      The Blood Sister dashed forward, ready to widen the gap...

      Only for her kris to be stopped by a sword's blade.

      Sid, one of the Fire Keepers who had been sent into battle with the Knights of Valor, pushed the enemy Master back and looked at her with a scowl.

      Her dirty-blonde hair was wet with sweat, and her shield Memory was gone, destroyed by a ferocious Echo... which was a real shame, considering that it had been wonderfully modified by the charming guest of their island not too long ago.

      As the breach in the formation widened and the soldiers of the two armies descended into a frenzied melee, she sighed and spoke with a hint of regret:

      "Elly."

      Her voice was somber.

      "...You should have stayed away from this war, stupid girl."

      The Blood Sister - the former Handmaiden - forced out a defiant smile.

      "It's good to see you again, Sid."

      With that, she raised her beautiful dagger and prepared to attack.

      A moment later, the two former members of the Dreamer Army clashed under the merciless grey sky, aiming to end each other's lives.
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        ZEXOS
        ZEXOS
        + 17 ⋅ 0 -
        1998. Old Friends


        Sid knew the Handmaiden... the Blood Sister... quite well.

        Her name was Felise. The two of them had been at the Academy together, and arrived at the Dark City at the same time.

        There were many others that year, as well... although not everyone made it to the Bright Castle alive. Those who had either turned out to be lucky enough to become Guards or were left to rot in the outer settlement.

        Sid and Felise were not lucky, but they happened to possess a few soul shards by then, so they paid the tribute and entered the Castle together. Naturally, they stuck close to each other once inside.

        Their shards did not last long, though. Eventually, they had nothing left to pay tribute with... that day, Sid decided to leave for the outer settlement, while Felise decided to become a Handmaiden.

        Sid did not blame her for that decision. Felise was... a soft girl. The harsh life in the outer settlement would be a death sentence for someone like her, most likely.

        Hell, Sid was quite pessimistic about her own chances of survival.

        But she did survive, somehow.

        Their friendship did not end immediately, either. Felise used to sneak out food for her when she could, in those first few months on the Forgotten Shore. The two hid in a threadbare shack and shared their hopes, their fears, and their scars — both physical and mental.

        But it was hard to maintain a connection when separated by the impenetrable walls of the Castle. Eventually, they grew apart. Felise became one of Seishan's people, while Sid became a hunter of the outer settlement.

        And after the war for the Bright Castle and the siege of the Crimson Spire, well... Sid followed Nephis of the Immortal Flame, while Elly followed Seishan of Song. Their paths did not cross again in the many years since.

        ...Until today.

        'Gods...'

        Sid had been a passable fighter all the way back on the Forgotten Shore otherwise, she would not have survived the streets of the Dark City. And in the years since, she only grew more deadly.

        The Chained Isles, the Southern Campaign, the Second Nightmare, and the countless battles fought side by side with Changing Star both across the Sword Domain and here in Godgrave - had tempered and sharpened her already outstanding skill, turning Sid into a unique existence among Ascended.

        She had even fought the Lord of Shadows once!

        That monster...

        And yet, she was being pushed back by Felise.

        Her former friend was just too swift, too strong, and too cunning. Her kris was shorter than the arming sword Sid wielded, and yet, it seemed to be everywhere all at once. Worse yet, the moment their blades clashed, Sid felt her hand trembling from the dire force of the impact.

        It did not make any sense. Having long saturated her core and armed with Memories that no amount of money could buy, Sid was at the peak of what a Master could be, while Elly's Aspect — its Dormant Ability, at least — was tailored to Utility. How had she become so monstrously powerful?

        Staggering back, Sid barely managed to activate her Awakened Ability in time. Her body became intangible for a split second, and the wavy blade of the beautiful kris passed through her forearm without cutting her tendons.

        Sliding back on the bloodied surface of the sun-bleached bone, she regained her balance and raised her sword into a defensive stance, breathing heavily.

        It did not make any sense at all...

        "...When did you become so strong?"

        Her voice came out hoarse and heavy.

        Felise gritted her teeth, and then lunged forward with the speed of lightning.

        "I... have always been strong..."

        Sid used her Aspect to give herself a few moments of tremendous might, and battered the sharp kris aside. There was a deafening boom, and an explosion of fiery sparks.

        Her free hand turned into a fist, flying toward the Handmaiden's beautiful face...

        ...Some distance away, Rain pushed an enemy aside, deflected a downward slash aimed at her head, and slammed the pommel of her tachi into the visor of another Awakened foe's helmet.

        Gaining a moment to breathe, she swallowed a mouthful of searing air and looked around.

        All around her, the warriors of the Seventh Legion were intertwined in a bloody struggle against the elite forces of the Sword Domain. The Feather Knights had turned out to be tough adversaries, even if they were no match for the true monsters of Valor.

        Still, they possessed that eerie quality that all soldiers of the Sword Army possessed... they moved as one, seamlessly weaving a net of sharp steel to defend themselves and cut the enemies down. This strange ability was hard to explain with words, but very easy to become a victim of.

        Many were already dead.

        ...Many dead were already rising from the ground, too.

        That sight was both deeply horrifying and shamefully reassuring.

        At least the Queen was with them.

        Rain shuddered.

        Not too far away, a vaguely familiar Blood Sister was fighting against a Knight of Valor, her crimson garments and his vermilion cloak turning into a red blur. The enemy Ascended was bleeding from a dozen hideous wounds, but it only seemed to make him stronger.

        Apart from him, there was another dire problem on their section of the battlefield...

        It was one of the Feather Knights — a young woman wearing light armor and a white cape, her pauldron and the plume of her helmet adorned with white feathers. Her youthful face was pretty and somber, and her hair seemed to be gold.

        From the way she moved and her threatening presence on the battlefield, she gave Rain the same impression most Legacies did.

        Sharp, grounded.

        Deadly.

        Among all the Awakened warriors they were facing, the young woman was the most dangerous, having already killed several of Rain's comrades.

        That was why Tamar had fought her way in that direction, and was facing her personally.

        ‘Damn it…’

        Their battle was both breathtaking and chilling, since both were at the very pinnacle of what ordinary Awakened strived to be... but mostly chilling, for Rain, because her heart skipped a beat every time the enemy's sharp blade whistled past Tamar, missing her vitals by a few centimeters at most.

        Feeling an ominous premonition, Rain exhaled through gritted teeth and lunged back into the furious melee.

        She was trying to make her way to where Tamar and the young Feather Knight were clashing, but it was taking her a long time…

        There were too many people fighting, bleeding, and dying between her and the two Legacies. There was too much mayhem.

        She could become one of those dying people at any moment, too, falling to the ground in a fountain of blood...

        Even if her brother was a powerful Saint, he was not omnipotent. On a battlefield like this one, life and death could be decided in a split second.

        And Rain... Rain was wasting too many seconds trying to reach Tamar.
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        1. Offline
          mariokaa
          mariokaa
          + 8 ⋅ 1 -
          Rain bout to shadow step all over these mfs to reach tamar asap i think. Also, would sunny interfere in this fight? She's roan and sky Tide's daughter after all, at least that's my best guess.
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            ArMiks
            ArMiks
            + 8 ⋅ 0 -
            there's a good chance he'll step in. even if not for rain, but for sky tide's daughter. after all, no matter how seemingly apathetic sunny usually is, skytide and her husband are two of the few people he genuinely respects
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              Tram
              Tram
              + 1 ⋅ 0 -
              И кому он действительно задолжал за всю оказанную помощь
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        2. Offline
          DanielPlay
          DanielPlay
          + 4 ⋅ 0 -
          Seishan's transformation ability allows her to turn other people into pseudo vampires like herself, this explains why the bloodsisters are so strong, I would like to know what powers they gain.
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    2. Offline
      Lrb
      Lrb
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      Obrigado pelos capítulos peepo025
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      1. Offline
        ZEXOS
        ZEXOS
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        de nada
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  3. Offline
    kollosus_na
    kollosus_na
    + 7 ⋅ 0 -
    Dagnabbit, i have caught up again!

    Let the hoarding or chapters resume…
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  4. Offline
    ZEXOS
    ZEXOS
    + 15 ⋅ 1 -
    Chapters 1995 and 1996: Telegram Link
    In case chapters are not posted here yet, check this channel.
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      ZEXOS
      ZEXOS
      + 24 ⋅ 2 -
      1995. Grim Reality


      Rain had been experiencing this strange feeling as of late...

      It was as though she was walking through life while asleep, stuck in a long and lurid nightmare.

      The first months of the war had been a dreadful and appalling ordeal, but she had always felt wide awake back then. Ascending the titanic arm of the dead deity, crossing over to the collarbone, establishing a camp in the middle of the abominable jungle, and marching into its depths to claim the Citadel for the Song Domain... those were the horrors she knew and accepted.

      What had happened next, however, was not.

      Rain was a bit lucky, perhaps, to be a part of the Seventh Legion. After playing an important role in the conquest of the Collarbone Citadel, they had been allowed to rest and recover for quite some time. Even later, the Song Army had held the Seventh Legion back as much as possible, letting other divisions spearhead the offensive on the Breastbone Reach.

      It had taken a long time before Rain saw people killing other people, and was forced to spill human blood herself.

      She had been dreading that moment for a long time, but when it happened, it happened quickly. It was kill or be killed - the other person would not hesitate to end her life if given the chance...

      Only they would, if they were like her. And that was precisely the point - they were like her. The soldiers of the Sword Army were fellow humans, no different from Rain, and the thought of killing another human for no good reason was just as appalling to most of them as it was to her.

      They were all Awakened, and therefore no strangers to bloodshed. In fact, they were all natural killers, having experienced the visceral rush of fighting and slaying living beings many times. However, there was a stark difference between killing Nightmare Creatures and killing humans — real humans, not nameless phantoms conjured by the Spell in the illusory Nightmares.

      If anything, their experience only made the act of killing harder. Those who routinely faced Nightmare Creatures knew how precious human lives were, after all, because they knew that humanity was surrounded by the enemy - by the abominable other from all sides.

      The soldiers of the two great armies might have been enemies, but they weren't... the other. They were the same.

      Still, war... was war.

      The first time Rain had to aim at a human, she felt nauseated and afraid. She froze for a moment, unable to let go of the string, and then lowered her bow a little - an action that was somehow both involuntary and completely conscious. As a result, her arrow struck the enemy archer in the thigh instead of piercing his heart.

      It had never become easier. There were a few of these moments later on sometimes, Rain was sure that while her arrows seriously wounded many, they did not kill anyone...

      Sometimes, she was not.

      But it was all happening so quickly. There was no time to think. Before she could even fathom the implications of her actions, there was a new enemy rushing at their position, and after one battle was over, another would be starting too soon.

      Strangely enough or maybe quite predictably - the aim of the enemy archers was often just as terrible as hers.

      Melee fighters like Tamar and Ray did not enjoy the same privilege. And yet, they too did not seem burning with a feverish desire to see the enemy die. In the bloody havoc of battles, they often aimed to incapacitate their opponents instead of killing them... as often as they could, at least.

      But how often could that be?

      People were still dying.

      The skirmishes in Godgrave were swift and brutal. One army attacked, and the other one defended. Usually, it quickly became apparent which side held the advantage - the other side retreated, unwilling to suffer heavy casualties for an empty cause.

      Sometimes, the Ascended officers would try to implement a more ruthless strategy and held the wavering soldiers back... but the officers themselves were human, too.

      They were just as appalled by the senseless bloodshed, and just as dismayed by the hideous reality of war.

      The more people died, the more discontent the soldiers and the officers became, and the more elusive the initial reason for the war seemed.

      In the end, the soldiers on both sides were shaken and disturbed. The army camps, which had been lively once, were now subdued and full of silence. Rain often saw people sitting on the ground and staring into the distance with empty eyes, some still covered in blood from the recent battle.

      As an archer, she was usually cleaner than them... but otherwise, she was very much the same.

      All of it seemed too ugly and wrong to be real.

      And so, she couldn't shake the feeling that reality was merely a nightmare.

      It would be quite fitting, actually. Rain had cheated the world by Awakening without undergoing the First Nightmare... so, there was perverse justice in the fact that her life had become a kind of nightmare in turn.

      But, of course, she knew that what was happening around her, and to her, was no nightmare.

      The war was very real, and the horrors of the war were very real, as well.

      There was no escaping that fact, and all she could do was blame herself for coming to this godforsaken hell instead of burying her head in the sand and cowardly running away to hide in Ravenheart.

      Rain found some solace in the company of her cohort... Tamar, Ray, and Fleur. The four of them were going through this terrible ordeal together, and searched for ways to survive it in sound mind together. Even in the depths of her dejection, she couldn't imagine abandoning them.

      But most of all, what helped her stay sane... was the company and support of her brother.

      Her... brother.

      It had taken Rain a while to come to terms with the fact that her mysterious and often sinister teacher was not, in fact, some dark deity or errant spirit, but instead her older brother.

      And entirely human, on top of that!

      A completely improbable, astonishing, and absurd human. How did his existence even make sense? How could he be one of the most powerful Saints in the world, her brother, and Changing Star's boyfriend to boot?

      Still... although confounding, his presence by her side was not unwelcome.

      It was a source of warmth and strength for her, instead.

      And Rain desperately needed both of those things.

      Especially today.

      Because today, the two great armies had gathered on a vast bone plain, and the Seventh Legion was thrown into the jaws of a calamitous battle.
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        ZEXOS
        ZEXOS
        + 20 ⋅ 1 -
        1996. Fodder


        There had been countless skirmishes and several larger battles between the two armies before, but never anything of that scale.

        There had never been a battle this great and this terrible in all of human history... at least not in the history of their world.

        But then again, this wasn't their world.

        The Seventh Legion was in the most dire section of the battlefield — the very middle of the center, serving as the spearhead of the entire Song Army. The enemies they faced were not young Awakened who had become carriers of the Spell in the aftermath of the Chain of Nightmares, either, but the hardened core of the Sword Army instead...

        The seasoned veterans of the royal clan's own storied forces. The Knights of Valor.

        They were like a steel bulwark that refused to be shaken or pushed back, repelling one fierce attack after another. The Ascended Knights commanded Awakened Squires, maintaining immaculate discipline and the indomitable will of the elite troops.

        They were all clad in heavy steel armor and wielded potent Memories as weapons, their vermilion cloaks standing out vividly against the white backdrop of the sun-bleached bone. Powerful Echoes fought in front of the formation — some of them earned as rewards from the Spell, some crafted by the enchanters of Valor.

        Rain was concentrating on destroying these Echoes while trying to ignore the terrible cacophony of battle and the screams of dying soldiers that washed over her like a heartbreaking song.

        'Damn it, damn it, damn...'

        But how could she ignore it?

        The shaking ground was slick with blood, broken bodies laying here and there and staring at the blinding sky with empty eyes. Most of them were strangers, but some of them... some of them, she had come to know over the months spent fighting side by side in Godgrave.

        That man there… she had seen him survive the deadly embrace of a monstrous tree in the Hollows. He had survived the abominable jungle only to die here, cut down by a human blade.

        The woman there — she was quite infamous in the Seventh Legion for the habit of singing her heart out in the baths despite possessing absolutely no musical talent. Rain had never spoken to her, but she had heard the painful singing many times.

        The woman would never sing again...

        'Damn it!’

        Gritting her teeth, terrified out of her mind and immensely angry at the same time, Rain tried to take aim through the tears veiling her eyes and let go of the string.

        ... Of course, there were not that many bodies littering the ground. Not because very few people had died, but simply because the dead did not stay still for long on this heinous battlefield.

        Just as Rain's arrow pierced the neck of a rampaging Echo, the dead singer moved and slowly rose to her feet. Her Memories were gone, and her tunic was painted red by blood, revealing a harrowing wound. Nevertheless, the young woman did not seem bothered by the pain.

        She turned her empty gaze to the steady line of heavily armored knights, and headed toward them with calm steps.

        All around her, other pilgrims were marching toward the enemy, as well.

        And inside the enemy formation, their own fallen were standing up to attack it from within.

        …The Knights of Valor were a ruthless bunch, though. As soon as one of them perished, the body would be dragged back by the soldiers of the rear rows and either destroyed or debilitated before it could rise.

        The Sword Army had been learning how to resist the authority of the Queen, as well.

        Witnessing the dreadful scene, Rain remained motionless for a few moments, her breath ragged. Her muscles were aching from the strain of drawing the heavy bow, and she was suffering from the unbearable heat. Even with the [Pièce de Résistance] cooling her down, it was too intense and oppressive, sweat rolling down his skin and stinging her eyes.

        She felt dirty.

        The noise of the battle was deafening, and its sight was horrifying.

        Rain was lost for a moment.

        Then, her shadow moved, and a familiar voice whispered into her ear:

        "Snap out of it!"

        She flinched and tried to regain her composure.

        "Summon your sword. Things are about..."

        Before her teacher... Sunny... was done talking, a loud horn rolled across the stretch of the battlefield where the Seventh Legion was fighting. Rain failed to register what the unexpected sound meant, at first, but then shivered.

        ‘It's the Knights…’

        The Knights of Valor were being called to advance.

        She was currently standing on a toppled wagon, surrounded by fellow soldiers. Tamar's centuria had participated in an assault on the enemy formation not too long ago, and then retreated to rest and lick their wounds while other members of the legion continued the frantic attack.

        But they weren't that far from the melee.

        If the enemy threw all their power into an offensive push...

        ‘Ah…’

        Rain dismissed her bow and manifested the Mark of Shadows into a black tachi.

        Tamar had already risen from the ground by leaning on her enormous zweihander. Fleur had been treating one of the soldiers, so Ray grabbed her and pushed her back to safety.

        The steel wall of fearsome knights suddenly surged forward, making the ground quake.

        They suffered a few casualties while toppling the pilgrims, then crashed into the soldiers of the Seventh Legion a few moments later. Instantly, the carnage and mayhem of the battle turned ten times more intense, with all remaining order evaporating in one harrowing moment. A deafening clangor arose, drowning out the sound of human screams.

        Before too long, the frontline of the legion was broken and pushed back, and the enemies were upon Tamar and her worn-down warriors.

        Rain jumped off the wagon, thinking that they were lucky.

        At least the enemies they faced were not the indomitable Knights of Valor, this time. Instead, they seemed to belong to one of the vassal clans... their cloaks were white instead of vermilion, at least, and many had decorated their armor with feathers.

        The world shook as countless Aspects were unleashed and raged across the battlefield, and the merciless sky continued to batter the two great armies with radiance and heat.

        Gripping her sword, Rain gritted her teeth and followed Tamar to fight the soldiers of the Sword Army.

        ...Her shadow followed too, of course.
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        1. Offline
          ZEXOS
          ZEXOS
          + 22 ⋅ 1 -
          I think Rain is going to encounter Sky Tides daughter.
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        2. Offline
          kanenightshade13
          kanenightshade13
          + 8 ⋅ 0 -
          White feather clan???
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        3. Offline
          Jeraldir
          Jeraldir
          + 2 ⋅ 0 -
          Спасибо, что выкладываешь главы, читаю в основном именно здесь, т.к. это удобнее и проще.)
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          1. Offline
            ZEXOS
            ZEXOS
            + 2 ⋅ 0 -
            Всегда пожалуйста
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  5. Offline
    RAMSES
    RAMSES
    + 3 ⋅ 1 -
    Finally someone knew suny for what he is😹
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  6. Offline
    REN・DOVERঐ
    REN・DOVERঐ
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    The biggest issues for me are Austronaut man and the Sword lady. They're an unknown variable and I hate the unknown
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    1. Offline
      Elrenegat
      Elrenegat
      + 1 ⋅ 1 -
      Misses futanari ?
      Read more
      1. Offline
        REN・DOVERঐ
        REN・DOVERঐ
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        What's that? 12
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        1. Offline
          Elrenegat
          Elrenegat
          + 1 ⋅ 1 -
          I wouldn't know
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        2. Offline
          ÐIABLÔ
          ÐIABLÔ
          + 0 ⋅ 1 -
          Been a while bend over
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    2. Offline
      The Priest of Negari
      The Priest of Negari
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      "the astronaut man" sounds kind of uncertain, like you don't know who it is. just in case. let's clarify that this is the third sovereign
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      1. Offline
        REN・DOVERঐ
        REN・DOVERঐ
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        It's not his identity that I'm worried about. It's the fact that he stirred up even before the war started and we still know nothing about him, his motives, his powers, nothing at all. The most mysterious is that Sword Lady..... Creepy gloom
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        1. Offline
          Amistar
          Amistar
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          Who is that Sword Lady you are speaking about? Morgan?
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          1. Offline
            REN・DOVERঐ
            REN・DOVERঐ
            + 1 ⋅ 0 -
            No. There was a mention of a woman with a sword in her chest close to Anvil just before the war started
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            1. Offline
              Amistar
              Amistar
              + 1 ⋅ 0 -
              Man... It was Ki Song....
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              1. Offline
                REN・DOVERঐ
                REN・DOVERঐ
                + 0 ⋅ 0 -
                I couldn't picture it
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        2. Offline
          The Priest of Negari
          The Priest of Negari
          + 1 ⋅ 0 -
          actually, this is the strongest of the current sovereigns. We know that he has the bloodline of the god of the heart. The god of the heart is also the god of souls, emotions, memory, hunger and growth. Mordred also mentioned that he has a special domain. He didn't even want to remember it because He would have found out about it. Actually, there is enough information about him to raise concerns
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          1. Offline
            REN・DOVERঐ
            REN・DOVERঐ
            + 0 ⋅ 0 -
            Yes I know this but knowing and seeing are two different things man. Aspect, legacy, a lot of things haven't been uncovered yet
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    3. Offline
      caneca_caneca
      caneca_caneca
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      parece os soberanos !!
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      1. Offline
        REN・DOVERঐ
        REN・DOVERঐ
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Sim, mas quais são os motivos dele?
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  7. Offline
    Lrb
    Lrb
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Agora que parei pra pensar quando Sunny subir como um soberano a humanidade vai praticamente ganhar mais 6... Ou 7
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    1. Offline
      REN・DOVERঐ
      REN・DOVERঐ
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      Mas a área de influência terá de se estender muito, muito longe para acomodar os outros soberanos
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  8. Offline
    DanielPlay
    DanielPlay
    + 9 ⋅ 3 -
    I hope we finally have real battles from now on, I'm already getting a little tired of this war, all this fighting against the scarlet jungle and searching for citadels is already boring me. Since Ariel's Tomb we haven't had a good fight with Sunny and Nephis showing all their power, in fact I'm starting to think that Modret is the protagonist of this volume because he's always demonstrating his power and humiliating extras.
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    1. Offline
      Lrb
      Lrb
      + 1 ⋅ 1 -
      Sunny e muito menos Nephis podem mostrar seu poder total. Esse arco está literalmente sendo feito pra derrubar os soberano, agora imagine eles mostrando somente agora uma força muito maior que eles tem na frente dos soberanos e principalmente anvil que não confia neles, é literalmente um pedido de morte. Enquanto Mordret ele simplesmente não se importa ele só quer a cabeça de Anvil, então ele não se segura
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      1. Offline
        DanielPlay
        DanielPlay
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Is he by any chance being watched 24 hours a day by the sovereigns? What else he had was the opportunity to show all his power, fighting against some horror in the hollows, going to the Shadow Realm to fight with the inhabitants there, having fought with some really powerful creature while wandering in the dream realm, but clearly g3 is saved for the final climax, the fight against the sovereigns.
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  9. Offline
    Reii
    Reii
    + 17 ⋅ 0 -
    "This kid… is such a terrible liar…"


    How dare you! He's the most honest man in the world! Two worlds, even! swindler
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    1. Offline
      zigzagzarf
      zigzagzarf
      + 4 ⋅ 2 -
      not with weavers mask on
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      1. Offline
        BearBlood
        BearBlood
        + 4 ⋅ 1 -
        You must be fun at parties
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  10. Offline
    Elrenegat
    Elrenegat
    + 4 ⋅ 0 -
    Honestly, there is one major flaw in anvil's plan
    It's that he needs his saints to safeguard his territoires, without them, he would lose both his territoires and his citadels, which would in term weaken him drastically, and I don't see song's saints working for him if he succeds and if any is left, especially when he is getting his ass whooped right now
    The only way I can think of that would bail him out of this situation is if he thought that he could reach sacredhood with the rest of the citadels and that doing so would somehow allow him to protect all of his territory, but that's a big if
    Because let's be real here, mordret and sunny could pull it off with all of their bodies if they had the same stage, but people like anvil, ain't no way
    We know that domains don't make them omnipotent and even if it did, they couldn't be everywhere at once, thus leading to the downfall of their empire
    For song it's different though
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    1. Offline
      Evinie
      Evinie
      + 4 ⋅ 0 -
      The real flaw is starting this f#cking war while the apocalipse is coming... But yeah, no way he has enough hands to defend all of his territory.
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      1. Offline
        Elrenegat
        Elrenegat
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        That too
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        SilvaSteins
        SilvaSteins
        + 2 ⋅ 1 -
        What if this is like Dark City's sharpening of the swords before the apocalypse. Like Nephis did after defeating the Lord of Dark City. Erode the weaklings, and out of their ashes an army worthy of salvation shall rise...
        I've seen G3 do a lot of referencing to Forgotten Shore...just think this might be another... swindler
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        1. Offline
          Doksoo
          Doksoo
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          nonsense, without Neph they would have died anyway, the difference is that with her they had a chance to get out and some of them actually got out. Without her, in fact, humanity would have lost 1/2 of the divine aspects, Seishan, Kai, Effy, Cass (that is, 5/6 of their strongest saints and about a hundred Masters/The Awakened ones of the highest level)
          and here we have a stupid war that carries more losses than benefits.
          there are those who say that 1 Supreme is better than 2-3, but where is the evidence, in general, this is nonsense. The same Asterion seems to be at least at their level (Anvil/Ki Song), and he does not need territories like these idiots. Now imagine at least 1 more such on the side of humanity (which is quite possible if it were not for the suppression by two "Sovereigns" and even more saints). + we have a certain example in the form of Dayron and the Twilight people, who, as we know, had only 1 Supreme. As a result, they did not have enough strength and they fell
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