Shadow Slave novel Chapter 978

The Rhino let out a disturbing, screeching sound and came to a shuddering stop. Sunny remained on the roof for a few moments, looking down with a grim expression on his face, then jumped down. Landing softly in the snow, he took a few steps away and studied his battered APC.

The mighty machine... had seen better days.

Its armored hull was littered with deep gouges and makeshift patches of scavenged alloy. The wedge-shaped ram at the front of the Rhino was deformed and painted dull red, its deployment mechanism irreparably damaged and stuck in the lowered position.

The six mighty wheels were still intact, but all the additional thrusters were either spent or destroyed.

What worried Sunny the most, though, were the sensitive internals of the APC. Despite the fact that Kim and Samara had been desperately trying to keep them from deteriorating completely, most of the systems were slowly dying. The Rhino had been put through too much abuse, and now, it seemed to be on the verge of failing.

A sad, bitter sigh escaped from Sunny's lips.

'Damn it.'

...Behind him, the rest of the caravan was in a similar condition. The column of dilapidated vehicles stretched for many kilometers, each showing some signs of battle damage and stress. Most vehicles had not suffered as much as the Rhino, which served as the vanguard machine, but then again, most of them were also not as shielded and robust as the custom APC of the Irregulars.

After studying the state of the caravan for a minute or two, Sunny turned around and walked forward. Passing between the massive shape of Abomination and the much smaller, but similarly fearsome shape of Blackie, he stopped and looked at the vast valley below.

As he did, the Crow landed on his shoulder.

Sunny and the three Echoes remained silent for a while.

The valley was covered in snow, but it could not hide the upturned soil and the signs of a devastating battle that must have raged here once. Craters and mounds of frozen earth littered the landscape, hinting at a heavy artillery bombardment. A ghastly mountain of charred bones towered near the slopes, and some distance away from it lay a graveyard of broken war machines.

Thousands upon thousands of Nightmare Creatures were moving through the snow.

Worse than that, thirteen active Gates ringed the valley, tearing reality apart.

"What a terrible place."

Sunny hesitated for a moment, then looked at Naeve, who had just reached the crest of the hill. The Nightwalker was looking down with a sour face, his broken arm still resting in a makeshift sling. He had been wounded in a random battle a few days ago and was yet to fully recover.

Sunny smiled.

"...Yeah. It was even more terrible when seven new Gates opened right when we tried to deal with the six that had already manifested, encircling the whole division. That was how Antarctica welcomed us, all that time ago."

Indeed, Sunny knew that valley well. It was where he had fought his first real battle in the Southern Quadrant, unleashing Saint to defend the mundane soldiers. Looking down, he could recognize the spots where he had slain the Gate Guardians, as well as the spot where the division had burned its dead before moving on.

Was he feeling... nostalgic?

Well, it did not matter, anyway.