There was not much time to prepare and make plans, since the abominations were going to reach LO49 in mere minutes. The shrill alarms blasted throughout the facility, and powerful spotlights ignited on its walls, flooding the snow-covered plain with light. Civilians rushed to shelters, while soldiers ran to man the defensive fortifications.
Sunny and his cohort followed, summoning their Memories as they calmly prepared for battle. As they walked through bitter cold, he spoke:
"After we deal with the Nightmare Creatures, everyone is to remain awake until we board the ship. You know the drill. We won't be sleeping for a week, at least. Maybe two. Get the stimulants from Quentin and keep each other in check."
The Devils grumbled. They had already completed a few long missions in areas where sleep was deadly. A week was unpleasant, but doable… two weeks, however, was going to be a hellish challenge.
'I just hope that Ariadne arrives on time.'
It was not like they had any acceptable choice other than sit and wait...
At that moment, someone called out to Sunny.
"Hey, you… uh, Master Sunless, or whatever… what is going on?"
He looked to the side and saw Beth — Professor Obel's assistant — shivering in the cold in her civilian clothes and flimsy lab coat. The young woman's hair was gathered in a bun, like always, but a few stubborn locks had wrestled free and were now dancing in the wind.
Her pale face wore an irritated scowl, but he could see fear and alarm hiding behind that temperamental mask.
In the past week, Sunny had spent most of his time with or near the scientists. When he was away, one of his shadows usually kept watch. He had spoken with the old man a lot, learning all kinds of things about the tumultuous times of the First Generation, the world before that, and the scientific understanding — or rather, the lack of it — of the Nightmare Spell.
So, he had come to know Beth rather well, too. That was why he knew for a fact that she was pretending to barely remember his name on purpose.
'Gods. She is even more petty than I am!'
As the bleak steel of the Undying Chain appeared from nothingness and embraced his body, Sunny looked at the young woman and smiled.
"What do you think is going on? There's a big Gate and a lot of nasty Nightmare Creatures coming this way. We'll go deal with them real quick. You head back, gather the scientists, and lock yourselves in the safe room. Alright?"
She lingered for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah… alright."
With that, Beth turned around and ran back into the door of the research center. Sunny shook his head and continued forward. Soon, they reached the top of the northern wall and observed the vast expanse of the coastal plain.
None of the abominations had reached the facility yet, but it was just a matter of time. As turret towers whined, ramping up their engines, Samara placed her rifle on the lip of the wall and looked through its scope.
Verne, who was now clad in polished plate armor, holding a shield and a short sword in his hands, looked at Sunny.
"What do you think?"
Sunny remained silent for a moment. His shadows were still following the swarm of Nightmare Creatures, so he was studying them.
He had been honest — of course — when he said that they were lucky. As far as Category Three Gates went, this one was surprisingly weak. He was even confused by the fact that it affected the strength of the Call so much. The power of the wave of abominations brought by it was incomparable to the Stone Hive, for example. Back then, the Irregulars had to face a whole score of Corrupted creatures.
This time, there were only two, and the strongest of them was merely a Demon. Of course, the word "merely" could hardly be applied to a Corrupted Demon, but still…
Finally, Sunny spoke:
"It is not a big deal. I will deal with the Gate Guardian, and you deal with the other Corrupted. Awakened Kim will support you. Can you handle it?"
Asking an average Awakened to fight a Fallen abomination was not an easy request. However, asking an average Master to face a Corrupted one was less so, because all Masters were elites by definition. There was a fundamental distinction between Awakened and Ascended, since most of the former had no choice in what they had become, but the latter could only be what they were by choice.
So, Sunny was reasonably sure that Verne would survive a battle against a Corrupted scavenger.
The local Master hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"I'll handle it."
Sunny grinned.
"That's the spirit."
With that, he stepped forward and leaped off the wall into the cold darkness below. The soldiers of the garrison seemed startled by his sudden jump, but the Devils remained nonchalant. They were long accustomed to their captain's bizarre actions.
Landing on the snow, Sunny considered the situation for a moment. He was thinking whether he should summon Saint… eventually, he decided against it, for now. Her help would only be needed if the enemy turned out to be more dangerous than he had judged.
Sunny did, however, summon the Sin of Solace.
As his hand took hold of the onyx hilt of the beautiful longsword, ghostly whispers assaulted his mind. It was already strained by the insidious and exhausting pull of the Call, so the additional burden seemed even heavier. Sunny winced and shook his head, chasing them away.
'So annoying…'
The Sin of Solace scratched at his sanity, its murmurs slowly growing clearer, louder, more insistent...
At that moment, Samara's rifle discharged, and the sound of a magical slug breaking the sound barrier boomed from somewhere above. A moment later, the turrets came to life, sending a hail of tungsten rounds into the swarm of approaching abominations.
Grinning, Sunny sent essence flowing into his muscles and chased after the bullets.