Chapter 1081: Lake Ruin

Soon, they reached the army outpost- There had been a few Nightmare Creatures that attacked them on the way, including an especially vile Corrupted Monster - Sunny tore the former apart with hands woven out of shadows, and cut the latter down personally with a blade created the same way.

These days, he tried to avoid getting his own hands dirty, mostly using Shadow Manifestation to slaughter the enemy. Sunny wanted to hone and refine his mastery of Manifestation, anti for that, he needed a lot of practice.

Additionally. he felt that it was unnecessary for him to get up close and personal with every godforsaken abomination standing in his way.

Perhaps it was the nature of his current mission as a solitary scout, or perhaps Sunny had simply received a chance to return to being cautious and stealthy after years of being forced to play the role of a frontline fighter... in any case, he strived to only enter melee range with an enemy if he was certain of killing the foe with a single strike.New n0vel chapters are published on

Usually, one of Sunny's strikes was enough. If not, he would avoid a confrontation entirely.

The army outpost was located underground, similar to the supply depot he had visited once in the Antarctic Center. However, as a member of the Special Reconnaissance unit, Sunny knew very well where all the army assets were hidden. Better yet, East Antarctica had no problems with communications... well, except for the usual interference of the Call... so he had been able to radio about their arrival in advance.

Sunny and the surviving MWP pilot were met by a cohort of sleep-deprived Awakened. Despite their visible fatigue, the soldiers stood at attention and saluted him respectfully. Their eyes betrayed a hint of reverence.

"this again..."

Sunny was met with such stares anywhere he went in Antarctica, at least among the soldiers. The First Army and the Second Army were merged into one military now, but within it, people who had been in the Southern Quadrant since day one of the Chain of Nightmares were treated with silent respect.

That went tenfold for those who had been a part of the Antarctic Center contingent. The Antarctic Center had been the most terrifying battlefield of the operation yet, and almost the entire field army sent there had been wiped out. There were only a few survivors here and there mostly those who had been among the evacuated wounded.

Needless to say, Sunny was both a veteran of the Antarctic Center and an Ascended. That was why most soldiers treated him with veneration.

"Master Sunless, sir!"

He nodded at the welcoming party and handed over the MWP pilot to them. The young woman had done well keeping pace with him on the way to the outpost, but now that they had reached safety, she looked to be on the verge of collapse. of course, it was not at all surprising...

Sunny sighed and glanced at the Awakened.

He bid himself in the shadows of a rusted wreck and studied the ruin. There were bodies of Nightmare Creatures floating near one of the towers, painting the water black. Each of them seemed to have been killed by a single arrow. Sunny observed the area for a few minutes, noticing strange ripples on the surface of the lake - there were more abominations hiding underwater.

Finally satisfied, he activated his comm and contacted Jet.

"Reaper, it's Devil. I have arrived."

A few seconds later, her voice came through the static.

"... Took you long enough. Where are you?"

He looked around.

"Southern shore, near an old wreck on the slope of a flat hill."

Jet took a few minutes to respond.

"I see it. Move west for about a kilometer, then follow a collapsed tower into the lake. From there, you'll be able to see three huge smokestacks. I'tn in the middle one. near the top, Get here as soon as possible... and be careful of the water. It is teeming with schools of tiny, hungry fishes."

Sunny lingered for a moment.

"Got it. What about the target?"

Soul Reaper responded in a few seconds, her voice sounding a bit tense:

"It's in the middle of the lake. I was waiting for you to arrive before trying to get a better look."

Nodding, Sunny glanced at the ripples in the cold water one more time, and then dashed out of his shelter.