Dorn, Kim, and Luster brought other news from the Dream Realm, too. All of it was fragmented and chaotic, since the First Army itself did not seem to have a strong hold on what was happening throughout the Antarctic Center.
With all modern forms of communication down, whatever information that trickled in and was disseminated through the Dream Realm was doomed to be incomplete, and often became obsolete on arrival. The lack of reliable intelligence was the worst fear of all armies.
The strange blizzard raging across the Antarctic Center was the cause of the collapse of the communication network. It was attributed to one of the Titans that had emerged around a month ago, designated as the Winter Beast. The Titan's current location was unknown, but its influence could be felt throughout the region.
The field army tasked with evacuating the Antarctic Center was in a rough spot. The southern reach of the landmass — where Sunny and his cohort were currently stuck — was lost and all but abandoned. People were scrambling to preserve the remaining six siege capitals, not knowing when and where the Titans would strike next.
Even worse, the Titans were merely the harbingers of a new phase of the Chain of Nightmares. The frequency and potency of the opening Gates seemed to have increased drastically, and countless Nightmare Creatures were pouring into the waking world every day.
…In other words, humans in the Antarctic Center were in trouble, and Sunny was in the biggest trouble of all.
'Wonderful.'
His soldiers had not only received information, but also reported the cohort's current status and location. The information was going to take some time reaching Master Jet, and then more time would pass to get her response back to Sunny. For now, he had nothing to do.
Sunny contemplated for a few minutes whether he should start moving north immediately, or remain in place for a few days to give his soldiers time to recuperate and learn more about what was happening in the region. In the end, he decided to postpone the decision for when the second shift of sleepers returned from the Dream Realm.
Keeping the Rhino static in the open was not an ideal situation, but neither was blindly venturing into the mountains. Either way, there was a big chance that a disaster would find them, but at least the former choice gave his soldiers a chance to get back to their peak battle states.
There were also the two civilians to think about.
After Kim, Luster, and Dorn finished their report, Sunny moved to the compact kitchen of the large vehicle, summoned the Covetous Coffer, and concentrated on preparing a hearty breakfast for the crew of the Rhino. Cooking always made him feel calmer.
He wondered about a lot of things. How close was the Second Army to being assembled? What were the Great Clans doing? How hard would it be to reach the distant siege capital, which stood near Mount Erebus?
That city was famed for its rich geothermal fields. At least they would not be cold anymore after getting inside its walls.
He also wondered how Rain was doing. Was she worried about his long silence, perhaps? Was she in the midst of a First Nightmare?
He could visit the Ivory Tower and ask one of the cohort members to check up on her. Effie was quite close with Rain, and so was Nephis. Kai kept in touch with Aiko, who was responsible for taking care of Rain in Sunny's absence, and Cassie seemed to know everything about everyone, in general.
But no… he couldn't go right now. There was a difference between taking a nap and leaving for the Dream Realm. The former would make him several seconds late to react to danger, but the latter would make him miss it completely. With how dire the situation was, he could not allow himself to be absent.
Soon, the smell of cooking food brought everyone inside the Rhino to the lounge area. Even Professor Obel and Beth woke up because of it. Sunny secretly studied the old man, trying to ascertain his condition.
The Professor seemed to be holding up well, considering how sudden their departure had been. He still seemed ancient and fragile, but there were no signs of a sudden deterioration of his health. Nevertheless, Beth used a portable medical scanner to take a few readings, and then produced a batch of medicine pills and supplements from her bag, acting like a concerned nurse.
Sunny placed plates of fragrant curry on the table, as well as a pot of coffee and several bars of dark chocolate for the dessert. Considering their situation, this modest meal seemed strangely opulent.
Before eating, Professor Obel looked around with curiosity, then smiled and said in his usual friendly tone:
"That is an impressive machine you have here, Master Sunless."
Luster, who was already bringing a spoonful of curry to his mouth, paused and grinned.
"It is, isn't it? Of all the vehicles I've driven, our Rhino is the most fearsome! This one time, we had to plow through a whole swarm of low-rank Nightmare Creatures… ah, it was spectacular."
The old man smiled.
"It's good to see this design still being used and kept up to date. I knew the engineer who initially created this APC concept, you see. Of course, back then, it was far less advanced. Spelltech was not even in its infancy, so the solutions she proposed to make such a massive vehicle move at an acceptable pace were nothing short of revolutionary."
Sunny tilted his head, trying to imagine it. A world without spelltech… it was hard to conceive of such a thing.
And yet, Professor was obviously right. Just half a century ago, it had not existed.
'Huh.'
Everyone ate, knowing that they would need a lot of energy to face what was about to come. At some point, though, Beth threw a complicated glance at Sunny and asked:
"Now that things seem to have calmed down a bit… can you finally explain what prompted this sudden turn of events, Master Sunless? Why did we have to leave LO49 in such a hurry? Uh… not that I am doubting your decisions, though…"
He remained silent for a bit, sipping his coffee.
What was there to say?
Sunny shrugged.
"It's because the Ariadne was destroyed, and LO49 is gone. Everyone back there is dead. The nine of us are the only ones who survived."