On a vast plain dotted with winding streams and shallow lakes, a battle of apocalyptic proportions was being waged. Legions of nightmare creatures moved like a great dark tide, with several titanic figures marching among them. The ground shook and trembled with each of their steps, and the sky darkened beneath a whirlwind of hungry crows.
Below, humans fought against the abominations in the shadow of their wings.
Today, a great number of humans had gathered to achieve a astonishing feat: to kill multiple titans and their entire army.
Seven Saints led the battle.
The Saints were Wake of Ruin, Whispering Blade, Silent Stalker, Beast Master, Sky Tide, and Dire Fang.
Accompanied by over a hundred Masters who served as officers of the human army.
And Shade was one of those Masters.
In fact, he was simply observing the entire battle from a high vantage point. He was sitting comfortably, enjoying a cup of hot coffee.
On the ground, the screams of both humans and abominations conveyed a constant atmosphere of tension.
Elsewhere, the battle the Saints were waging against the titans shook everything violently; its repercussions on the battle reshaped the battlefield.
"You look quite calm, Seishan," Shade commented, bored. "Aren't you worried the Transcendents might lose?"
Seishan looked at Shade for a moment.
"No," she replied with great calm. "The situation is under control, so it's only a matter of minutes until the titans die."
"In fact, I thought you would throw yourself into fighting a titan on your own."
"Just because I can fight titans doesn't mean I have to. Besides, I'm here as a spectator, so..." Shade took another sip of his coffee, "I'll limit myself to enjoying the show. Let everyone do their job, and I'll rest."
"You've been resting since the battle began."
"This is a completely different kind of rest," he explained.
"Do you want me to release my subordinates into battle?"
"No, they're in reserve for a reason."
"See? So I'm resting and my subordinates are resting. Am I not the best boss in the world?"
Seishan rolled her eyes. Talking to that boy always gave her a headache.
Shade laughed softly. His gaze settled on the other side of the giant turtle's shell, where he could see Cassie, Nephis, Sunny, and Jet with Morgan.
Cassie turned her head, staring directly at him, and he greeted her with a cordial smile.
The blind girl merely nodded slightly before speaking with Morgan, who once again changed her tactics.
After finishing his coffee, Shade took out a large flask and refilled his cup, whistling a simple tune as he watched the entire spectacle.
After all, there was nothing better than drinking a good hot coffee while enjoying peace in the midst of chaos.
Shade remembered how he ended up here.
After being assigned as an envoy to the Song Clan, he headed to the siege cities they would protect: the port areas, to keep the corridors open for constant evacuation.
In this, Beast Master's aspect shone. She enchanted thousands of abominations to protect the cities, as well as to let the soldiers eliminate them to acquire new memories and echoes.
Although the Saint's ability was powerful, Shade noticed that Soul's ability had greater range and scope, as well as control capability.
Debtor of all, Soul was a transcendent terror with mental powers. Her influence extended for tens of kilometers, and she controlled everything below her rank and class.
Anyway, he was digressing.
After a few weeks where he carried out one or another important mission with Beast Master or the silent Silent Stalker, or had a training bout with Seishan, Wake of Ruin requested that the emissaries of both clans join forces against a great horde of nightmare creatures that had formed around the titans.
The emissaries, despite their differences and their plans, answered the call against the common enemy. Once the battle was over, they would try to kill each other again.
So they gathered after tracking the trajectory, and the battle had begun.
Shade looked up at the sky, seeing a huge three-headed vulture of terrifying size being consumed by thousands of hungry crows, causing hundreds of wounds.
The crows moved away, letting lightning rain down on the titan. Then, a huge bird of prey crashed into its body.
Shade looked away, looking elsewhere, where a mountain of deformed flesh crawled across the plain, assimilating everything beside it. As it assimilated, it grew even larger.
Shade watched as Whispering Blade became invisible. Although he was invisible, Shade could more or less sense him.
It was a bit strange. He remembered in his fight against Morgan the feeling of strangeness and the sensation that there was something in the atmosphere, so he deduced that it was the Saint of Valor.
He watched as enormous cuts opened the titan and killed dozens of abominations in less than a second.
Elsewhere, three Saints fought against a Corrupted Titan of vines, keeping it at bay and slowly reducing it.
Finally, the last titan, a mass of grayish mist, moved, consuming everything inside it.
The immobile abominations moved, throwing themselves onto the titan like countless ants devouring its flesh, all thanks to Beast Master, whose power over abominations was the most useful on this battlefield.
Although the titans were being held back by the Saints, there were still thousands of abominations for the Masters, soldiers, and Awakened to fight.
Shade frowned as he finished his coffee.
"I should have made more," he murmured listlessly.
He watched as Nephis finally moved along with her fire guardians. Then Sunny and Jet joined the fray.
"Aren't you going to join?" asked Seishan.
"No." Shade leaned back lazily as darkness surrounded him, taking the form of a small cat. "I'm just an observer," he finished while looking at the battlefield.
"How can you change your form?" asked Seishan with interest.
"It's a combination of my Aspect. I use my ability as a Sleeper, along with my Awakened and Ascended abilities. I've done it for so long that it comes naturally to me."
"Can you take any form, or is it restricted?"
"Yes, if I know the body composition and have an understanding, I can become anything. For example, I can be a stone knight, a dragon, a wolf, or something terrifying," he explained simply.
"Your Aspect is certainly very versatile."
"Every Aspect is versatile. You just have to find the way to use it correctly and get the most out of it."
Seishan said nothing more after that, focused on watching the battle and on Morgan, in case she tried something strange.
Shade calmly watched the fire guardians fighting under the hand of the Changing Star.
Elsewhere, he watched Sunny in the form of a four-meter demon, massacring abominations with unbridled fury and unmatched ferocity, taking the lead and capturing the interest of anyone who saw him kill abominations.
On the other hand, the Changing Star shone on the battlefield both literally and metaphorically.
Her flames annihilated dozens of abominations without hesitation. Her impassive face did not change beyond an unsettling calm and unshakeable determination.
Then Shade looked at Jet. While Sunny and Nephis were the center of attention, Jet was subtle, always seeking death with each attack to get more essence into her soul core.
A few minutes passed, and things began to get complicated. However, Shade did not intervene. He watched as Tyris brought down the fallen titan, then the cloud of black poison, and then the titan's death at Sunny's hands.
Once the titan died, it was like a subtle wave that rippled across the battlefield, which changed. In less than a couple of minutes, the remaining titans were eliminated, as were the thousands of abominations shortly after, thanks to the power of the Saints.
After the whole situation calmed down, Shade moved away from Seishan and headed to a tent where the five Masters were staying.
Upon entering, Shade noticed the atmosphere was quite relaxed. He could even hear Effie teasing Sunny about his transformation.
"Oh, it seems my presence here is unnecessary," Shade said, amused.
"Where were you, little one?" asked Effie.
"Enjoying the show. From a VIP position," he replied as he took out some peaches. "Here, eat these. They'll give you some essence," he said with a friendly smile. Jet took one and began to eat it, as did Effie and Kai.
On the other hand, Sunny and Nephis looked at the peach with distrust, remembering the Forgotten Shore.
"Right, before I forget... my good and beloved Effie," said Shade, making Effie suddenly feel nervous. "Do you know where my bed is?"
"I swear I didn't take it," she said quickly.
Shade looked at Kai, who nodded.
"She's telling the truth."
Shade sighed. "That's a shame. And here I was, wanting to throw a dragon in your face... Well, I've stayed too long. I need to kill some abominations with my adorable subordinates. See you." With that, Shade left just in time to receive the order to join the battle to contain the abominations.
Calling his army, they joined the front of the fight, where Shade decided not to transform into any creature, as there wasn't enough darkness to use it.
Invoking the White Flower, he threw himself against the abominations, beginning to eliminate them by the dozen.
Shade joined his three hundred soldiers, methodically clearing the battlefield of fallen and Awakened abominations while dealing with the strong ones.
This continued for almost a full hour until Saint Cor once again descended in his Transcendent form, eliminating the remaining abominations.
Shade withdrew to rest after fighting.
His soldiers were exhausted and needed to rest, so he would let them rest for a few hours.
As he walked through the camp, he noticed a man belonging to Valor who apparently had been talking with Morgan and Madoc, who were still arguing about something.
Shade looked at the Awakened and his trajectory, so he casually walked towards him. The Awakened stopped for a moment upon seeing him.
"Ha, Ascended Uriel," greeted the Awakened.
"Greetings, Awakened..."
"Warren."
"Yes, Warren. Well, sorry for being in your way. I see you're in a hurry."
"Yes," said the Awakened with the same tone and a small cordial smile.
"Well, then I won't delay you further," he said, walking around the Awakened, and as he walked away, he said:
"Good luck with your little plan, Mordret," he murmured just loud enough for Warren, who was actually Mordret, to stop for less than an instant, looking at Shade's back, who did not look back at him.
Mentally, Shade laughed heartily at seeing Mordret's reaction to being discovered. He was surely wondering how he had managed it, conjuring up endless theories when the reality was much simpler.
It was simply something he knew would happen and that he had read.
'It was truly worth it,' he thought, joining his soldiers to play poker for a while.