Chapter 1072: Brief Levity

The small dinner was very enjoyable for Sunny. In fact, after being under crushing pressure for pretty much the entire past four months, this sudden moment of levity made him feel like he was on the verge of melting into a puddle of jelly.

It was as though the outer edges of his being had been turned into a harsh, rigid shell by the immense strain of the disastrous war, and now that the shell suddenly disappeared. he could not quite remember how to keep himself together without it.

Still, he managed.

The five of them ate and chatted relaxedly, sharing small details about their lives in recent months. Sunny especially had a lot to say.

All of them were experienced combatants, but he now possessed precious knowledge of the intricacies of the type of war Effie and Kai would soon be exposed to.

The Southern Campaign was different from the usual tribulations Awakened faced in the Dream Realm. The terrain was different, the climate was different... even the cycle of day and night was different. More importantly, the forces arranged against them were different, as were the forces on their side.

In Antarctica, Ascended and Awakened had the support of mundane soldiers and modern technology. Sunny had learned a tremendous amount of lessons about how to bring the two together - in no small part because he had commanded a mixed force of Awakened and mundanes in conditions so desperate that anything less than perfect cohesion would have meant certain death.

Unlike him, who had been a part of a small and exceedingly elite unit, both Kai and Effie were placed in command of large detachments consisting of rank-and-file soldiers. To them, this practical knowledge was more valuable than gold.

Small things like using fire resistance enchantments to increase the tactical flexibility of MWP flamethrowers, efficiently triaging mundane soldiers that had been infected by the Spell, managing the ammo consumption of the vehicle turrets in relation to the essence consumption of the Awakened - and a thousand more things like this could only be learned through experience... or being taught by someone with such experience.

Of course, his friends were bright people and immensely talented warriors. In time, they would have reached the same conclusions, but that time could very well cost many lives. That was why Sunny was in a hurry to share his hard-won expertise.

The only problem was that actually going over everything was bound to take way more time than they had... so, at some point, he simply used the [Blessing of Dusk] enchantment of the Graceless Dusk to establish a mental connection and share his insights in a more direct fashion.

Needless to say, his sudden ability to transmit thoughts telepathically startled his friends greatly.

Effie flinched, almost falling from her chair. and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Aaah! What the hell, Sunny?! You're in my head!"

Sunny let out a resentful sigh.

"Damn them!'

He gritted his teeth, staring into the distance with a harsh expression. Suddenly, the shadows in the corners of the hall seemed much darker.

"This is... insanity."

Sunny shook his head, feeling a strong desire to break something.

"This is pure madness, Neph! I've been told that the great clans have long given up on the waking world. Standing aside and watching the lives of hundreds of millions of people be destroyed is already unforgivable. But coming to mess things up even further is just beyond all reason! I just... I just don't understand."

Changing Star looked at him evenly. Then, a strange, joyless smile slowly appeared on her face. "I can help you with that."

Sunny frowned.

"What exactly do you mean?"

Nephis sighed, then looked away.

"You've done a lot in the past four months, Sunny. Cassie and I might not have gone through as much as you have, but we haven't been idle, either. We've managed to discover a few things... although not as many as I would have liked. After all, it has only been a few months. They don't trust me much, yet."

She paused for a moment.

"This war between Valor and Song has always seemed a little strange. And now, I think I know why. A lot of things still remain unclear, but we did solve the most important mystery."

Changing Star looked at him and said:

"The true reason why the great clans are at war. Do you want me to tell you? That will certainly help you understand."