Sunny remained silent for a long ti, then leaned back with a sigh. His thoughts were dark and heavy. Deep in his heart, an ember of anger smoldered, divorced from all reason, pushing him to do dangerous and short-decided things. It was almost as if the Sin of Solace was whispering into his ears.
'Kill them all... how hard would it be to simply kill them all?' Probably not much easier than slaying the Winter Beast, and with much more dire consequences.
Shaking his head, he looked at Jet. They had never spoken about it directly, but she definitely knew the real reason why the great clans were coming to Antarctica. After all, Soul Reaper had a much more extensive information network... she was deeply embedded into the hierarchy of the governnt, and had a personal connection to so of its leaders.
Of course, the governnt was only a second-rate player in the grand sche of things. Still, they played an important role, and as such, had access to a lot of secrets. He lingered for a few monts.
"...What do you think will happen now?"
Jet covered her mouth with a hand, yawned, and then smiled. "Right now? Well... let think. I guess the first thing that will happen is that I am going to receive a ssage from the old man." Just as she finished the sentence, her communicator lit up, displaying a new notification. Soul Reaper chuckled quietly, then concentrated on the screen of the military-issue device.
"See... it's a curse, to always be right. Give a minute."
Sunny waited for her to finish reading the important ssage... and it was important indeed.
The old man Jet had ntioned was none other than Saint Cor, the Wake of Ruin, one of the two governnt Transcendents. Sunny had t him briefly after coming to East Antarctica, and the man definitely left an impression.
Wake of Ruin was a tall, gaunt man in his late fifties. Although his skin was showing signs of aging, his hair still remained perfectly black, like the feathers of a raven. The Saint had sharp features, a piercing gaze, and a stern deanor, acting like a person who was used to both wielding power and bearing responsibility.
Wherever he went, a slightly sweet, sickening scent followed. Sunny was intimately familiar with that scent - it reminded him of the sll of the battlefield. Or rather, of what remained after the battle was over.
Saint Cor... was not a likable person. However, it was hard not to feel respect toward him.
The governnt Transcendent was not as renowned and aweso as the Saints of the Legacy clans - in fact, for a Saint, he was strangely low-key - but his age alone told volus about what kind of man he was, and what ordeals he had lived through.
Wake of Ruin was not quite in the sa league as the legendary figures like Immortal Fla and Nightwalker, since he had been a young child when the Spell first descended. However, he was still a mber of the First Generation, and as such, had watched - and helped build - the world order of today.
Even if Saint Cor had beco Transcendent later than the mbers of the Second Generation like Anvil and Ki Song, he was still, in a sense, their elder.
Sunny did not know what the arrangent between the governnt and the great clans was exactly, but the re fact that Wake of Ruin was allowed to be the exclusion from the rule and did not serve any of the Sovereigns hinted that there was more to the old man than appeared on the surface.
He was the field commander of the whole Antarctica operation. ...And Jet seed to enjoy quite a close relationship with the veteran Saint. She was one of his most trusted agents. So, it wasn't a surprise that Soul Reaper would be one of the first people to be contacted by Wake of Ruin after the news of the Legacy forces coming to the Southern Quadrant were made public.
'Lucky .'
Sunny did not have close ties to the upper echelons of the governnt, but as Soul Reaper's confidant, he would be privy to the vital information almost as soon as she.
Co to think of it, he also had eyes and ears inside Valor thanks to Nephis and Cassie... and enjoyed the friendship of one of the heirs of the House of Night. He even had a bond with Saint Bloodwave and was friendly with the White Feather clan.
'Huh. I guess I am better connected than I thought I was.'
And that was without even considering his venerated status in the Evacuation Army. Waiting for Jet to finish reading the ssage, Sunny grinned.
'Maybe I should seduce one of Seishan's sisters... just to complete the trifecta...'
Those won from the great clan Song - Ki Song's adopted daughters - were all a bit scary, though.
'Well, there's Mordret, as well...'
The naughty shadow gave him a sly glance, making Sunny blink a couple of tis.
'What? What the hell are you on about?! I didn't an it that way! I was talking about befriending the bastard, not seducing him!'
The shadow tilted its head. If it had a face, there would have been an innocent smile on its lips, and sparks of dubious sincerity in its eyes. Sunny gritted his teeth.
'Damnation... I've only known you for a couple of days, but I am already starting to regret it. What is wrong with you, miscreant? Look at the other guys! None of them were ever problematic!'
To prove his point, Sunny gestured at the other shadows, who stared at him in response.
The gloomy shadow crossed its arms, as if trying to say... "Who are you pointing at, you idiot?"
The happy shadow nodded energetically, expressing sothing like "Of course! We would never cause problems for our Master! Master, you're the best!" with all its being.
The creepy shadow was staring at him with its usual creepy inexpressiveness, but its thoughts were easy to guess... it had to be sothing like "I wonder what it would feel like to slice the new guy open. What do his insides look like? What is the texture? Hmm... do shadows have insides? I want to know..."
The haughty shadows wore their usual arrogant look, radiating the "Keep out of this plebeian conversation, peasant" feeling with their disdainful pose.
...The naughty shadow glanced at Sunny with amusent.
Sunny sighed.
'Alright. Point taken...'
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