Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1040

1040 The Fall of Falcon Scott (58)

'Right... now, we just have to get to the secondary defense line. Once we're within the city instead of on a plain, evading the abominations should be much easier, so the last stretch of the way won't be as hard.'

Sunny glanced at his companions, evaluating their state. Everyone was exhausted, dirty, and covered in blood — both their own and that of Nightmare Creatures — but alive.

The only problem now was to somehow extricate themselves, and the two hundred surviving Awakened, from the attacking horde.

At that moment, as if to answer his thoughts, Bloodwave turned to look at the mass of abominations. Then, the enigmatic Saint glanced at Master Jet.

"Take your soldiers and go, Soul Reaper. I will hold the beasts back for a bit... tell your commanders to activate the explosives as soon as you're past the defense line."

Sunny stared at him in shock, feeling that these words sounded a bit like... a farewell.

"You... you..."

Bloodwave gave him a strange look.

"Ah... I think you might have misunderstood, Sunless. I am not trying to sacrifice myself. It's just that an explosion like that won't harm a Transcendent too much. The Awakened, however, or even someone like you... better not risk it."

Sunny slowly nodded. Indeed... Corrupted Nightmare Creatures could survive a nuclear explosion without too much trouble, some Fallen as well. Rampart Protocol was not going to kill a Transcendent like Bloodwave, or even seriously inconvenience him.

Master Jet nodded.

"We'll be going, then."

The Saint nodded, then took a deep breath and started summoning several Memories. Sunny did not know what exactly the Memories were, but judging by the fact that Bloodwave had promised to hold back the horde... the whole horde... all by himself, the abominations were in for a nasty surprise.

Jet looked at him, then said quietly:

"Once we start running, don't stop until you're safely behind the army fortifications. I'll stay back a little, to make sure that everyone who is still alive gets safely out of the blast zone before Army Command begins the party. Expect to enjoy fireworks as soon as we see each other again."

Sunny forced out a pale smile.

"...It's going to be terribly loud, isn't it? Damn. My poor ears."

With that, he spared her one last glance and turned to his cohort.

"Come on! Go!"

Almost as soon as they dashed toward the nearest breach in the wall, Master Jet's voice boomed once again, spreading across the whole length of the battlefield.

"...Retreat!"

The surviving Awakened of the First Army did not make her ask twice. Delivering one last attack, they used their remaining strength to momentarily push the enemy back, then turned around and ran.

To call it a retreat was a bit of a stretch. There was no order or strategy to it, just a desperate wish to survive. The defense line instantly collapsed, and the soldiers dove into the ruins of the city wall, their backs to the enemy.

But those armaments had grown silent now, destroyed by the fiery gaze of Goliath. At least across the whole southern section of the defensive barrier, not a single turret was firing.

For some reason, the silence filled him with dread.

'Almost there... just a few more minutes...'

Sunny spread his shadow sense outward, just to make sure that there were no dangers around. He even sent two of his shadows to scour the path ahead, to be safe, and ordered Saint and Nightmare to stay alert.

But there was nothing there, just abandoned buildings and snow-covered ruins.

Sunny did not see anything that could pose a threat to the cohort.

His shadow did not see anything, either.

Neither did Nightmare and Saint.

...The only one to notice it was Luster, who just happened to turn his head in the direction the attack came from by pure luck.

His eyes widened.

It was a split second later that Sunny sensed it... a swift shadow flying toward the cohort, even though there was nothing there to cast it. But it was already too late for him to react.

In the next moment, Luster suddenly lunged forward and pushed Kim aside, throwing her to the ground. Something flashed through the cold air, and it was instantly filled with hot blood.