The First Evacuation Army was accompanied by three Saints. One was loyal to the government, while the other two… the other two had been sent by the great clans.
Unofficially, Valor and Song had refused to participate in the Southern Quadrant campaign. Officially, however, they still had to keep up appearances. For that reason, each had provided a token force to support the evacuation effort, and the two Saints in question were in charge of these forces.
Sunny did not know who these Transcendents were. All he knew was that the government had wisely chosen to separate them, sending one to East Antarctica, while the other ended up in the Antarctic Center.
And now, apparently, that latter was coming to aid the Irregulars in vanquishing a powerful Corrupted abomination. He was not sure how to feel about that.
On one hand, the help of a Saint was more than welcomed. On the other hand… one of the reasons he had decided to participate in the Antarctica campaign was to get away from the great clans and their machinations.
Now, it seemed that he just couldn't escape coming in contact with the Sovereigns and their forces.
'Curse it all…'
With a sigh, Sunny sent Luster the coordinates of the rendezvous point and walked over to the pilot's cabin.
"We have new orders. Get to this location as fast as possible."
The young man yawned, studied the coordinates for a bit, and then nodded.
"Aye, sir."
He lingered for a moment.
"Uh… by the way, what's there?"
Sunny shrugged with a nonchalant expression.
"A Corrupted Tyrant? Something like that."
Luster paled, stared at him with wide eyes, and suddenly grew very quiet.
Rhino left the marching formation of the division and accelerated forward, quickly overtaking slower vehicles. Then, it made a sharp turn, left the wide highway entirely, and entered uneven terrain. Its massive wheels easily rolled through mud and rocks.
Thanks to the high-tech suspension system, the members of the cohort barely felt any disturbance.
In the next several hours, the armored vehicle briskly traversed the wild expanse of the Antarctic Center. Powerful spotlights installed on the Rhino's roof flooded the landscape in front of it with stark light, cutting the dimness with wide beams. Various sensors supplied Luster with additional information to better steer the heavy carrier.
The Antarctic Center… was very different from the wilderness of Asia that Sunny had seen during his brief train ride. It was just as lifeless, but in a different manner. There were fewer signs of past wars and disasters here, but at the same time, the land somehow seemed even more desolate.
It was much more uneven and mountainous, too. Basically, most of the landmass was covered by a vast mountain chain. Because of that, the horizon was obscured most of the time, and it was hard to notice any approaching threats. More than that, the landscape itself looked strange and alien.
Well, no surprise. After all, Antarctica had been covered by ice for millions of years, and only recently shrugged off its heavy veil. The passing of monumental glaciers had left many strange things behind.
The Rhino was doing an amazing job of navigating the complicated terrain. It moved toward the rendezvous point with sufficient speed, sometimes making use of existing roads, sometimes cutting through untouched wilderness. It climbed or descended tall hills and mountain outcroppings, traversed stretches of frozen marshlands, and waded through labyrinths of giant boulders with equal ease.
If there was one thing that kept Sunny tense, it was that he rarely had an opportunity to see far ahead. These days, the Southern Quadrant was not as lifeless as it had used to be. The life that was spreading through its reaches, however, was not the kind anyone in the waking world would welcome…
Eventually, he sighed and climbed on the Rhino's roof through one of the upper hatches. Since Samara was yet to return from the Dream Realm, Sunny was the only member of the cohort with decent means of ranged attack. Using the open lid of the hatch to shield himself from the cold winds, Sunny summoned Morgan's Warbow and peered into the dimness that surrounded the moving vehicle.
In the next few hours, he had to use his bow three times. Several stray abominations wandered into the Rhino's path, only to be slain by a swift black arrow before having the chance to approach it. Luckily, none of them turned out to be too powerful or laid a dangerous ambush.
'For now…'
By noon — which, of course, looked the same as morning, evening, and night — the Rhino reached the ruins of a small outpost, where two similar carriers were parked in the shadow of a broken wall. A handful of people could be seen gathered around a fire, having a cozy meal.
As Luster stopped the vehicle, Sunny jumped off the roof and walked toward the fire. Orange light gleamed, reflecting from the bleak metal of his armor.
"What are you guys drinking?"
The members of Queen's and Soul Reaper's cohort looked at him with wistful expressions.
"That, uh… just hot water, sir. The cargo capacity of our carriers is limited, so we couldn't bring anything better."
He shook his head, then summoned the Covetous Coffer. As the large chest manifested itself into reality and opened its toothy maw, Sunny thrust his hand inside, and then threw a can of instant coffee and an expensive chocolate bar to the startled Awakened.
"Oh… sir! Thank you, sir!"
The bunch of Irregulars did not look like people who were about to fight a Corrupted abomination of a high Class. They seemed relaxed and nonchalant about the whole ordeal, and paid more attention to the can of coffee than to a menacing mountain that loomed above them.
The Category Three Gate was situated on its peak.
As the grateful Awakened brewed coffee for themselves and Sunny's soldiers, who emerged from the Rhino and joined them, he looked around and noticed Master Jet and Winter. The two were standing some distance away, discussing something between themselves in low voices.
He headed toward them and caught the tail end of their conversation.
"...is definitely a woman. Hot as hell, too!"
"I am telling you, idiot, I saw that Mongrel guy myself once. He's definitely a man."
"Everyone knows that you're blind in both eyes when it comes to these things, Reaper. I mean… remember the time when that handsome Saint tried to hit on you?"
"What are you talking about? He was just hoping to cooperate with us to claim a new Citadel."
"Damn. You are hopeless, you know that? All men…"
At that moment, Sunny approached them, glanced at Master Jet, and then cleared his throat. Winter stared at him for a moment.
"See? Case in point!"
'What is that supposed to mean?'
As Sunny pondered what she alluded to, Master Jet smiled and waved at him.
"Ah, Sunny. You're just on time. The Saint should be arriving any moment now, too."
He couldn't help but frown.
"Who, exactly, is…"
At that moment, a vaguely familiar feeling suddenly overwhelmed him. Sunny sensed a massive shadow covering the ruined outpost, and then heard a sound that resembled the rustle of a thousand wings.
Suddenly, a fourth figure was standing among them.
Sunny blinked, momentarily lost for words.
"Saint... Saint Tyris? What are you doing here?"
In front of him stood none other than Sky Tide of the White Feather Clan.